Blog Index

A controversial charity with alleged ties to extremism is appealing for money from students and Islamic student societies to build mosques abroad. As part of a fundraising initiative during Ramadan, a partnership entitled ‘The Mosque Project’, managed by the Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT) in partnership with a number of student Islamic societies, aims to build six ...

As part of their ‘Discover Islam’ week, Durham University Islamic Society (DUISOC) has distributed leaflets written by Dr. Zakir Naik, an Islamist preacher banned from the UK in 2010. The leaflet in question, entitled ‘Answers to Non-Muslims’ Common Questions About Islam’, arguesthat “every Muslim should be a terrorist to anti-social elements in society”. He goes on ...

Last Saturday, Nazir Afzal OBE, Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North-West of England and Chief Executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, spoke to The Times. Afzal confirmed the findings of much of our previous research, namely that a host of organisations within the Muslim community have been conspiring to undermine trust ...

Salman Abedi, the suicide bomber involved in the recent attack in Manchester, is known to have attended Salford University. In 2014, Abedi began studying a business and management course. He attended lectures for two years but eventually dropped out of the course and did not complete his degree. If he had continued his studies, he ...

On Tuesday 25th April, National Organiser Elliot gave a presentation on the Government’s Counter-extremism policy Prevent at the University of Sheffield’s Conservative Association. The talk started with a discussion of the different types of Extremist groups we find on campus and what makes them problematic. Afterwards Elliot set out how to challenge the myths and misconceptions ...

TIME: 13:00 – 14:00, 27th April 2017 VENUE: Westminster TBC SPEAKERS Emma Webb, Author, Spotting The Signs Nicola Benyahia, Founder, Families for Life Sean Arbuthnot, Co-founder, Tadris Consultants To register your interest, or for any further information, please email rsvp@henryjacksonsociety.org #HJSevents Many of those who have travelled from the United Kingdom to join terrorist organisations in Syria and Iraq had recent connections to higher education, or were ...

In September 2015, universities became subject to the legal duty to have due regard for the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism mandated by the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was tasked with regulating this duty, and institutions were required to submit policies outlining ...

here have been further examples of fascist and racist graffiti on UK university campuses this week, as a student bar at the University of Birmingham saw graffiti targeting ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as the disabled. The Birmingham University Guild of Students released a statement condemning the appearance of the graffiti, described on the Everyday ...

On Wednesday 8th March, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, gave a presentation to Newcastle University’s Politics Society. The event provided a good chance for open and frank discussion on Prevent, the Government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, and there was a lot of time for an in-depth question and answer session with a broad range of opinions. One student ...

Yesterday’s publication of a new Henry Jackson Society report detailing all Islamist terrorism convictions in the UK between 1998 and 2015 provides the most comprehensive overview of the threat posed by Islamism-inspired terrorism to the UK. In its profiles of 258 individuals convicted of offences, ‘Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of Offences and Attacks in the UK (1998-2015)’ ...

On Saturday 4th March, Friends of al-Aqsa and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) co-hosted the annual FOSIS Palestine Conference at University College London (UCL). The conference aimed to mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, in which the British government promised to work towards the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, with ...

The recent cancellation of a number of on-campus events slated to take place as part of ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ (IAW) appears to presage a significant change in the way institutions are dealing with the issue. A week-long program raising awareness of what its supporters see as ‘settler-colonialism’ in occupied Palestine, IAW activism has seen the erection ...

Over the weekend, a feature in the Guardian examined how UK universities have been “urged to tackle rising tide of antisemitism on campus”, interviewing students and documenting the spate of anti-Semitic graffiti previously reported by Student Rights. The piece included a quote from the National Union of Students (NUS) president, Malia Bouattia, in which she ...

On Tuesday, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, was hosted by the York University Conservative Association as he gave a lecture on extremism and the Prevent Strategy at the university. Elliot examined many of the complaints from students about Prevent, seeking to debunk misunderstandings and make the case for Prevent when it comes to extremist speakers ...

Last Wednesday, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Eliot Miller, gave a presentation on extremist speakers and the Prevent Duty at the University of Hull. The talk was hosted by the university Secularist, Atheist and Humanist Society (HUSAH), which champions free-thinking, and examined many of the complaints from students about Prevent in an attempt to debunk the misunderstandings ...

Update 13/02/2017: Since publication, further reports of swastikas being found on campus have come from students at the University of Exeter and University College London.  Student Rights has learnt from a number of students at the University of Cambridge that a spate of anti-Semitic incidents have been reported at the prestigious university. According to the student newspaper, ...

On Thursday 26 January, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, gave a presentation to the Atheist, Secular and Humanist Society (AHS) at Durham University, focusing on challenging extremism and the Prevent Duty. Angelos Sofocleous, President of the Durham AHS, speaking after the event, said it was: “A very insightful and informative talk. It has definitely been good ...

Since the start of the 2016-17 academic year, Student Rights has seen a concerted attempt by Friends of al-Aqsa to target students across the UK. In November, the group used Twitter to target student societies at 39 universities, promoting its ‘Hands off al-Aqsa’ campaign, and has since been advertising volunteer days to student activists. These volunteer events ...

Update 23/01/2017: Robinson posted a video on Twitter suggesting his event was cancelled, and it is unclear if it went ahead as planned. He also claims to be booked in to speak at two more universities in the coming months. The controversial former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) still appears to be due to ...

This Sunday, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) Conference will vote on a motion which calls for the organisation to cut ties with the National Union of Students (NUS) over the behaviour of NUS President, Malia Bouattia. Here, Goldsmiths student Binyomin Gilbert, one of the main proponents of the motion, highlights his concerns with Bouattia and ...

On Thursday 1st December, Elliot Miller, National Organiser at Student Rights, gave a workshop on challenging extremism on campuses to around 40 students at University College London (UCL). The hour-long session involved a presentation examining the varied forms of extreme or intolerant speakers and groups invited onto campuses, and a lengthy question and answer session. Some of ...

On Wednesday 30th September, Student Rights attended an event at University College London (UCL) entitled ‘Challenging Prevent: Defending our universities, communities and civil liberties’. The event formed part of the NUS’ launch of a Prevent helpline, whose purpose according to leaflets distributed at the event is to “support students and student union officers” and fight “racist ...

Last week, Student Rights’ National Organiser, Elliot Miller, gave on-campus presentations in Exeter and Leeds focusing on challenging extremism and opening up debate on the Prevent duty. On 23rd November, Miller gave a presentation focused on the myths and realities of the Prevent duty at the University of Exeter Atheist, Humanist and Secular Society (AHS). This examined ...

An article in the Times on 20th November revealed a worrying rise in the number of neo-Nazi referrals to Prevent, the Government’s counter-radicalisation programme, which are overtaking Islamist-related cases in parts of the UK. While Islamist extremism is still the most common referral reason nationwide, with 2,810 cases making up 70% of those flagged, figures released ...

Last month, University of Warwick student, Phoebe Davies-Owen, attended a conference addressing the Prevent duty in universities. Here, she gives her take on the one-sided message being spread by the attendees, and the difficulties she faced when attempting to challenge the claims of the anti-Prevent lobby. All views are her own, and do not necessarily represent ...