An event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) last night saw speakers defend convicted terrorists including Munir Farooqi and Anis Sardar. Called ‘Brothers Behind Bars’, the event was organised by the SOAS Muslim Students Association and sought to focus on “the Plight of Muslim Prisoners in the ‘War on Terror’”. The panel […]
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SOAS speakers claim undermined by event history
Last week, following a government press release which ‘named and shamed’ several universities for hosting extreme speakers, one of the institutions identified hit back at these claims. Laura Gibbs, registrar of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), argued in a statement that the college had “not hosted any extremist speakers in the last […]
Continue reading‘Students not Suspects’ continues to work with CAGE
Yesterday, the government launched its Counter-Extremism Strategy, which included the expectation that the National Union of Students (NUS) “avoid providing a platform for extremist speakers”. This follows a week in which NUS officers have toured the country spreading misinformation about Prevent, and shared platforms with a CAGE official at a number of events. They have […]
Continue readingNUS President denounced for cutting ties with CAGE
A number of activists within the student movement have signed an open letter denouncing the National Union of Students (NUS) President Megan Dunn for issuing a statement pledging to cut NUS ties with CAGE. Following Dunn’s claim that “working with Cage would not be compatible with the NUS’s policies on ‘anti-racism, anti-fascism and how we […]
Continue readingPreventing Prevent at SOAS
CAGE Director of Outreach, Moazzam Begg, whitewashed his history of radicalism during a controversial student event at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) earlier this week. The former Guantanamo Bay detainee claimed that: “before Guantanamo and Bagram I wasn’t politicised”. This is stark contrast to what he told the FBI in 2002, when […]
Continue readingMoazzam Begg to speak at NUS-organised event tour (Update: NUS statement)
UPDATE 04/09/2015: An NUS statement released to the Daily Mail has claimed that: “The events are being run as a coalitions with a number of other organisations, we are a large organisation and represent a wide diversity of views, some of our officers with different views have chosen to work with the coalition”. In July, […]
Continue readingNUS motion pledges to work with CAGE
Over the past two days, delegates from the National Union of Students (NUS) have been meeting in Liverpool for the organisation’s Annual Conference. Voting on new policy, the NUS once again showed its inability to challenge extremism, instead passing a motion resolving to oppose government counter-extremism work. Motion 517 declared that “NUS officers will not […]
Continue readingIslamic Society ‘Annual Dinner’ features extreme speakers (Update: Event details changed)
UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, the title of this event was changed to the first Annual Dinner of the ‘Al-Kawni Trust’. This organisation, alleged to be a front set up by members of City Islamic Society in 2010, has frequently promoted City events in the past. The City University Islamic Society has denied […]
Continue readingAfsana Kayum and online extremism at UEL
On Monday 16 March Afsana Kayum, a student at the University of East London (UEL), was jailed for 18 months for possession of a record containing information contrary to the Terrorism Act. This referred to a number of issues of Inspire, an online magazine published by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which were discovered […]
Continue reading‘Ten years of HHUGS’ highlight off-campus concerns
This weekend the charity Helping Households under Great Stress (HHUGS) will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a gender segregated event at an unannounced London venue. Promoted on Facebook by the Islamic Societies at Kingston University and the University of Westminster, this shows how online networks can expose students to extreme groups and individuals. HHUGS encouraged […]
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