It’s been a busy time for Prevent. The past weeks have been awash with media stories of key Prevent successes. A high profile legal challenge to the government’s Prevent strategy was defeated at the High Court on 26 July 2017. In late 2016, Salman Butt took legal action against the government. His appeal for judicial […]
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Universities UK unknowingly plays host to Hizb Ut-Tahrir
It has been revealed that Jamal Harwood, a spokesman for the British branch of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, was invited to give a talk earlier this year at the London headquarters of Universities UK.His talk, entitled “Is the Caliphate a viable alternative for the Middle East?”, took place in April 2017 at the Woburn House Conference […]
Continue readingLondon’s Palestine Expo reveals weaknesses of the UK’s counter-extremism strategy
Last weekend (8-9 July), Palestine Expo 2017 took place at the QEII Centre, a government owned building in the heart of Westminster. Many thousands attended a series of events intended to celebrate Palestinian culture. In practice, the conference also served as a platform for controversial speakers with a history of extremism. The Communities Minister Sajid […]
Continue readingSalford Student President who opposes Prevent reveals troubling views on social media
The news that Salman Abedi, the Manchester bomber, was briefly a student at Salford University between 2014 and 2016, has attracted a large amount of media attention. Questions have been raised about the extent of the university’s provision of staff training in extremism as well as their awareness of Abedi’s increasingly radical views, his frequent […]
Continue readingControversial group CAGE uses Facebook to ‘suggest’ advertisement
Student Rights recently received a ‘suggested video’ on Facebook from CAGE, the controversial prisoner lobby group, which was entitled ‘10 Reasons to donate to CAGE’. The video lists some of these reasons, including their belief that they speak “truth to power”, “campaign against Prevent”, “[defend] the oppressed”, “give a voice to the voiceless” and “[do] […]
Continue readingStudent Islamic Societies Raise Money for Controversial Islamic Charity
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 […]
Continue readingDurham students handed leaflets encouraging terrorism by banned Islamist preacher
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 […]
Continue readingFormer Chief Prosecutor’s Comments on Prevent Resonate After London Attacks
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 […]
Continue readingManchester Bomber’s Connections to Salford University
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 […]
Continue readingStudent Rights on campus at Sheffield University
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 […]
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