‘This government has developed a taste for arbitrarily restricting free speech’
‘My aim isn’t just to clear my name. My aim is to open up a broader debate and conversation,’ says Dr Salman Butt, a controversial Muslim activist who this week began the first legal challenge to the government’s main counter-terrorism strategy. A British Muslim activist and writer, Butt started legal proceedings after being labeled a ‘non-violent extremist’ by the government. He spoke to Mehdi Shakarchi at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday at the end of day one of a three-day hearing. The judicial review proceedings concern the Prevent strategy, which came into force in September 2015 under Counter-Terrorism…
Who is an ‘Extremist’? Landmark case against UK Gov in High Court THIS WEEK
To contact Dr Salman Butt for interviews or further information please email [email protected] The Government’s entire counter-extremism strategy is to be challenged in the courts for the first time this week In this Judicial review case the Court has found that there is an arguable case on behalf of Dr Salman Butt, Chief Editor of Islam21c. Dr Butt challenged the government which dubbed him as an "extremist" and "hate speaker" on a 10 Downing Street press release last September. In August, permission was granted to take the case to trial. This will be taking place on Tuesday 6th to Thursday 8th…
7 tech companies will help Trump build Muslim registry
EVERY AMERICAN CORPORATION, from the largest conglomerate to the smallest firm, should ask itself right now: Will we do business with the Trump administration to further its most extreme, draconian goals? Or will we resist? This question is perhaps most important for the country’s tech companies, which are particularly valuable partners for a budding authoritarian. The Intercept contacted nine of the most prominent such firms, from Facebook to Booz Allen Hamilton, to ask if they would sell their services to help create a national Muslim registry, an idea recently resurfaced by Donald Trump’s transition team. Only Twitter said no. Shortly after the election, IBM CEO Ginni…
Luton Churches join Muslim community against PREVENT
Christians in Luton have come together with the Muslim community in condemning the PREVENT strategy. They have written to the Luton Borough Council in support of the Muslim community position and expressed intentions to seek changes to government policy. This is what they had to say: "Over the last few years Christians in Luton have contributed enormously to community relations in our town. There is a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. As we have worked alongside the Muslim community in the face of extremism in our community our relationships have strengthened. We can honestly say that they are…
650,000 people in Mosul left without water
Fighting between Iraqi forces and ISIL fighters has cut water supplies across a large part of Mosul, affecting 40 percent of residents in the city where poorer families are already struggling to feed themselves. Water was cut to 650,000 people when a pipeline was hit during fighting between ISIL and the Iraqi government forces trying to crush them in their northern Iraq stronghold. "We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe," said Hussam al-Abar, member of Mosul's Nineveh provincial council, adding that 1.5 million people were still inside Mosul. "Basic services such as water, electricity, health, food are non-existent." Barely more than…
People in East Aleppo are running out of time
Hamza Abduljabbar's gnarled hands wipe the dust off the dashboard of his white Isuzu minibus. Back hunched from decades sitting behind the wheel, Abduljabbar still wakes up each morning at 6am to check on his vehicle - the windows of which have long since been blown out by nearby air strikes - when his rounds of east Aleppo's Fardous neighbourhood would normally have begun. "Everything is dusty these days. The bombing never stops," he says. "Anyway, there's no fuel, so the car just sits here." Five years of war and five months of siege have aged the 45-year-old father of three well…
How they slowly almost turned into a racist Islamophobe
I am a happily married, young white man. I grew up in a happy, Conservative household. I’ve spent my entire life – save the last four months – as a progressive liberal. All of my friends are very liberal or left-leaning centrists. I have always voted Liberal Democrat or Green. I voted remain in the referendum. The thought of racism in any form has always been abhorrent to me. When leave won, I was devastated. I was curious as to the motives of leave voters. Surely they were not all racist, bigoted or hateful? I watched some debates on YouTube. Obvious…
Egypt votes for ‘Israel’ at UN for first time
Egypt’s representative at United Nations voted on Friday in support of Israel’s bid for membership of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Israeli media reported. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and its acceptance to membership of the UN, Egypt had never voted in its favour at the UN before last Friday. One hundred and seventeen countries voted in favour of Israel, 21 abstained, while only Namibia voted against the decision. Countries that abstained include: Qatar, Tunisia, Syria, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq and Algeria. Israeli sources said…
Dr Uthman Lateef on Rampant Consumerism
We are now living in a moment of global mass consumption. It has been estimated that in a single hour over £1.5 million is spent buying "things". Watch Dr Uthman Lateef address the consumerist culture we are living in.
Trump chooses raving Islamophobe as head of CIA
MIKE POMPEO, DONALD Trump’s pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, has at times depicted the fight against terrorism as a war between radical Muslims, on one side, and the Christian faith on the other. “This threat to America,” Pompeo told a church group in Wichita in 2014, is from a minority of Muslims “who deeply believe that Islam is the way and the light and the only answer.” “They abhor Christians,” Pompeo said, “and will continue to press against us until we make sure that we pray and stand and fight and make sure that we know that Jesus Christ is our savior…
