The Prevent review by William Shawcross is due out any day. It certainly has taken time with numerous delays but the report is eagerly awaited.
A recent leak to the Guardian suggested that the review will suggest a “renewed focus on Islamist extremism, including when individuals do not yet meet the terrorism threshold”.
The fact is that Islamist groups who promote extremism (without promoting violence) have skirted round laws and manipulated holes in legislation that have given them greater impetus in influencing the minds of young men and women. I will give you one example. The vast majority of violent Jihadis who have been involved in terrorist attacks would have been influenced by extremist narratives that suggest that the lives of some Muslims (as well as non-Muslims), were ‘fair game’ for attack; and exactly who these Muslims would be – Shias, for example.
If this is a central narrative in the mindset of violent extremists who have tried to murder British citizens as well as many across the Arab world, why is it that Her Majesty’s Government has done nothing about groups promoting this toxic hatred and extremism against Shias in our country?
The work of such polarising and divisive groups simply re-affirms the warped mindset of people willing to kill any one of us who does not fit their world view.
Or take, for example, the various tin-pot ‘representative’ groups and even a small number of Imams who are openly antisemitic or who have a history of staff promoting such hate. Virulent antisemitism is another cornerstone of Islamist extremist thinking. Yet, there has been no challenge or action by the government on this and it has been left, on numerous occasions, to Jewish civil society organisations to deal with. This has come at significant risk to them.
Recently the Lady of Heaven protests outside Cineworld in numerous cities also showed two competing issues. One is how to protest without acting like a mob, which some of the groups clearly were. This came down to different social values and with societal ‘norms’ being challenged by aggressive mob type tactics.
For me, the daily Falun Gong demonstrations through peaceful meditative protest outside the Chinese Embassy are a legitimate and inspiring form of protest. You don’t see the Falun Gong turning up in hundreds and threatening other citizens with fists raised in the air.
Yet there was a second issue of the many anti-Shia chants. It was evident that many making these chants were young Muslim men. Therein lies the bedrock of a mindset that so easily can be turned to dehumanise another Muslim sect, whilst leaders talk about Islam being the ‘religion of peace’.
Islam is a religion of peace. The problem is that we have a huge battle for progressives to win the soul of Islam so that it has a unique British Muslim flavour that is confident, outwardly looking and willing to accept internal critique. Until then, we can only hope that the government wakes up to what is happening right under our eyes.
