SOAS and the Middle East

Following my Freedom of Information request, today I had a Commons Motion published about the alleged links between the London School of Oriental and African Studies and the Saudis. The University allegedly has a number of other questionable relations with some individuals of some controversy. I have written to the Vice Chancellor for an explanation.

More details are below from the hard-hitting Student Rights organisation:
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(You can download the full report HERE)

Student Rights Press Release:

Our latest report uncovers the links with the Saudi Arabian Regime which has resulted in SOAS directly receiving £755,000 from the Saudi Arabian Royal family. Further scandals are also uncovered by this report.
The briefing unveils the fact that SOAS provided Mutassim Gaddafi, the National Security Advisor to the Murderous Gaddafi regime, with private English tutoring and that an agreement between SOAS and Al-Fateh University in Tripoli was signed just months before the uprisings began in Libya.

Perhaps the most shocking revelation is that Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a cleric who is banned from the UK and US for endorsing suicide bombings and the killing of pregnant women, is on the editorial board of the SOAS journal of Quranic Studies. Al-Qaradawi has in addition been condemned by over 2,500 Muslim scholars worldwide.

An article on our report has been written by The Jewish Chronicle and the brief is also the subject of a new Early Day Motion proposed by Robert Halfon MP.
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This is the response from SOAS:
On the issue of Sheikh Al-Qaradawi's membership of the editorial board of a journal hosted by SOAS, it said:

"Professor Yusuf al-Qaradawi and some other editorial advisers from the Middle East only advise on the Arabic section of the Journal, and not on the English section. His academic peers and Muslim scholars in the UK and across the globe consider him to be one of the most outstanding scholars of the Quran in the Arabic and Islamic world. No political or other consideration was involved in asking him to be on the board."

P.S. You can read and see more at the Harry's Place website HERE.

A very important speech - Cameron takes an uncompromising position against extreme Islamism

Before the election, David Cameron talked about draining the posion of extreme Islamism from our country.  Last December, when I asked the Prime Minister about Britain's exports of Islamists terrorist, to Israel, Afghanistan, and Sweden, he indicated his determination to deal with this problem.

Today, in perhaps his most important speech since becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron set out the Government's determination to deal with extremist Islamism.  What was remarkable, was that the PM spoke about the failures of multiculturalism and of the appeasement of so-called Islamic groups - which far from curtailing extremism -encouraged their spread.  It was if groups aligned to the BNP, had been supported in an effort to discourage those with fascist sympathies.

What really came through in this speech was the uncompromising position that the Government intend to take with extremist Islamism.  I hope this means dealing with the radicalisation in Mosques, penalising our universities which fail to deal with extremism, and proscribing Islamist organisations like Hizb ut Tahrir.

You an see the full speech HERE.  It is well worth reading through carefully.

P.S.   It is depressing that the response of a Labour Spokesman, has been to compare the Prime Minister's speech as a 'text' for the English Defence League.   At least Labour Muslim Backbench MP Kahlid Mahmood, has - to his credit - said he agrees with Mr Cameron:

 "I think generally most of what David said made sense. I think there is a real issue in the way we've funded organisations in the past and I think we need to move away from that and deliver a service, not just for one community, but how we integrate people better. I think he is saying a lot of stuff that I have campaigned on for the last 10 years. It is important that we don't muddle in the whole Muslim community and he has made that very clear, this is not about castigating all the community, this is about looking at the people who practice extremism.

"A lot of Muslims in the UK are very happy to be a part of the community they live in but at the same time practice their religion. I think that is quite right and that has to be communicated. I think what we need to do is clamp down on extremism where it exists... It's important that we do that because all of us want to be part of the community and want to get on. That is why the majority of them moved here, because they wanted a better life and better class of society and better distinction of human rights and civil liberties."

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Draining the poison

David Cameron makes some powerful points in a recent interview with a weekly newspaper about Islamist extremism in Britain:

"So we’ve got to deal with this and drain this poison. And there are three key things we need to do. First, stop letting people like Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Ibrahim Moussawi into this country to spread hatred. Second, ban those extremist groups like Hizb-ut-Tahrir who are already here. And third, do more – much more – to tackle radicalisation in our universities.

Of course, it’s important that academic freedom is respected and that our universities are a place where robust debate can take place. But this freedom has to be matched by responsibility – and that means making clear to university authorities and student unions that they need to help identify those who are vulnerable to influence from extremists or shown they are willing to promote hatred, just as they would in relation to any other suspected crime".

Islamist radicalism is a real threat from within in our country today. Not only do we face significant danger from terrorism but there is also a culture of extremism propounded by fanatics, prevalent in some of our universities and places of worship. Sadly, Gordon Brown's Government has either appeased, or done too little, too late to contain the problem. Many will be glad that the Tory Leader has been so firm setting out what a Conservative Government would do to 'drain this poison' from Britain.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com