http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2754
The Next London Bombing by Daniel Pipes FrontPageMagazine.com July 11, 2005 In a confidential <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1688261,00.html> report, Young Muslims and Extremism, prepared jointly by the Home and Foreign offices in mid-2004 and presented to Prime Minister Tony Blair, we learn something about the inner thinking of the British government. Leaked to the Sunday Times of London, the report is now available in four parts in .pdf format at the newspaper's site, or more conveniently at GlobalSecurity.org <http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2004/muslimext-uk.htm> . Its goal is "to encourage moderate Muslim opinion to the detriment of extremism" and to that end proposes an "Operation Contest." Along the way, it contains much of interest in it, including these points: * "A number of extremist groups are actively recruiting young British Muslims" (pdf 1, p. 10). * These "extremist recruiters" are "circulating among university-based religious or ethnic societies" (pdf 1, p. 5; pdf 2, p. 10). * "By and large, most young extremists fall into one of two groups: well-educated undergraduates or with degrees and technical professional qualifications in engineering or IT; or under-achievers with few or no qualifications, and often a criminal background" (pdf 2, p. 9). * "Often disaffected lone individuals unable to fit into their community, will be attracted to university clubs based on ethnicity or religion, or be drawn to Mosques or preaching groups in prison through a sense of disillusionment with their current existence" (pdf 2, p. 12). * Islamist terrorists include "a significant number" who come from "liberal, non-religious Muslim backgrounds" or who converted to Islam in adulthood (pdf 2, p. 9). The report's policy recommendations are also interesting, such as the one (from pdf 1, p. 8) urging the importance "to persuade the public and the media that Muslims are not the enemy within." It goes on to propose that the government "needs to look for opportunities to highlight Muslim success stories and examples of Muslim contributions to society at national and local level." Besides that, "the term 'Islamic fundamentalism' is unhelpful and should be avoided, because some perfectly moderate Muslims are likely to perceive it as a negative comment on their own approach to their faith" (pdf 2, p. 2). In general, the authors of Young Muslims and Extremism are too politically worried to understand the phenomenon they are contending with. Take the matter of Muslim individuals and organizations: if they are willing to mouth certain pieties, and not overtly challenge the existing order, that is good enough to consider them moderate. My particular favorite "moderate Muslim" is Hamza Yusuf (pdf 1, p. 13), for he explicitly has denied this appellation, as I documented on my weblog at "Hamza Yusuf Fails My 'Test' <http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/327> ." They assert as fact points that need thoughtful consideration: "A strong Muslim identity and strict adherence to traditional Muslim teachings are not in themselves problematic or incompatible with Britishness" (pdf 1, p. 9). One could fill a long and substantial seminar on this topic. The point that most of all interested me, however, in reading Young Muslims and Extremism is where it draws on MI5 information to make this astonishing statement: Intelligence indicates that the number of British Muslims actively engaged in terrorist activity, whether at home or abroad or supporting such activity, is extremely small and estimated at less than 1% (pdf 2, p. 9). If one accepts the report's estimate (pdf 2, p. 5) that the Muslim population of Great Britain numbers 1.6 million, then up to 16,000 "British Muslims actively engaged in terrorist activity." "Extremely small"? Excuse me, but that number strikes me as an extremely large. That the British authorities do not recognize that they should worry about thousands of terrorists in their midst is reason to worry what planet they inhabit. Their waffling, myopia, and general incompetence make one despair for their country. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 3, 2006 update: The Independent's Jason Bennetto reveals that law enforcement estimates Al-Qaeda's sympathizers in Britain to number 8,000: "Of the estimated 1.6 million Muslims living in Britain, counter-terrorist sources have disclosed that they believe up to 0.5 per cent - about 8,000 - support al-Qa'ida's aims, and have links to Islamist extremists." A huge covert inquiry, known as project Rich <http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article1155174.ece> Picture, is watching them. -------------- Original message -------------- From: "Bruce Tefft" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Coming from a Muslim organization…this is a joke. For Muslims there’s no separation between a Muslim and an “extremistâ€â€¦this is a false, non-Muslim dichotomy. Bruce http://www.politics.co.uk/issueoftheday/domestic-policy/crime/terrorism/fosis-there-no-credible-evidence-extremism-$458426$458400.htm FOSIS: There is no credible evidence of extremism Friday, 17 Nov 2006 11:12 The Federation of Students Islamic Societies (FOSIS) has insisted there is "absolutely no credible evidence" that England's universities and colleges are being targeted by Muslim extremists. Speaking after the government issued guidance to lecturers on how to prevent the spread of radicalism, spokesman Amar Latif told politics.co.uk it was "important not to scaremonger" on the issue. "With this whole debate we need to bear in mind there is absolutely no credible evidence of extremism taking place," he said. Mr Latif added it was "unfortunate" that, unlike with previous guidance, Muslim students had no input into the advice. While FOSIS had "no issue with looking at this constructively", Mr Latif stressed it was important that Muslims were not "targeted or treated differently" as a result of the guidance. People working with universities were "fully aware and united" in saying the evidence of growing radicalism was unreliable, he argued. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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