Islamist radicalisation at British universities

A Quilliam Foundation report

Study highlights intimidation of women, Jewish, gay and Muslim students

London , UK – 22 October 2010

The Quilliam Foundation’s latest briefing paper, Radicalisation on
British University Campuses: A case study, cites incidents at City
University in London during the last academic year (September 09 –
June 10) to show how a mainstream academic institution in the UK can
become an incubator for extremist, intolerant and potentially violent
forms of the political ideology of Islamism.

Links to an executive summary and the full report are listed below.

Responding to the Quilliam report, human rights campaigner Peter
Tatchell, of the LGBT rights group OutRage! said:

“This report is a wake-up call to complacent university authorities
and student unions. They too often look the other way while Islamists
foment hatred and intolerance among the student population.

“It is a strong defence of the vast majority of Muslim students who do
not share an extremist mindset and who frequently face ostracism and
denunciation by fundamentalists.

“Quilliam have produced a thorough expose of the way Islamist
extremists are bullying and threatening other students. It highlights
sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic intimidation, and the
victimisation of Muslims and non-believers who do not adhere to
hard-line fundamentalist Islam.

"Radicalisation often begins with the promotion of misogynistic,
queer-baiting and anti-Jewish prejudice; together with the stirring up
of hostility against Muslims who believe in other strands of Islam or
have abandoned their faith. Such intolerance is can be a gateway to
Islamist extremism. That's why it should never be ignored or
tolerated. City University would never host white supremacists who
incite racism and racial violence. Why the double standards?" queried
Mr Tatchell.

Here are some examples of two Islamist extremists who have been hosted
at City University:
 http://www.petertatchell.net/religion/kill-gays-preacher-hosted-by-london-universities.html

Kings College has also hosted extremist clerics. See here:
 http://www.petertatchell.net/religion/muslim-extremist-hosted-by-kings-college-london.html

A spokesperson the Quilliam Foundation said:

“University campuses have been recognised by policy-makers as key
places where Islamist ideologies can spread, but the processes of
radicalisation involved have often remained unclear. This paper seeks
to address this knowledge gap by identifying the factors on a
university campus that may contribute to radicalising an individual
towards Islamist-inspired terrorism. Whilst the paper does not suggest
that everyone exposed to these factors will become a terrorist, it
shows how and why exposure to them can increase the risk of
radicalisation towards terrorism as well as illustrating the
considerable disruption that such radicalisation can have on campus
life.

“The paper concludes with specific recommendations for universities,
students’ unions and government to prevent similar situations from
arising on other university campuses.

“Radicalisation on British University Campuses’ is the latest of
Quilliam’s publications to deal with areas where the risk of
radicalisation is either high or is poorly understood. Previous
reports released in the last year include studies of radicalisation in
prisons and on Arabic-language jihadist websites.”

An executive summary is available here.
 http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/images/stories/pdfs/radicalisation-on-british-university-campuses-executive-summary.pdf?dm_i=JI3,9VVO,2Q60WK,QMSG,1

A pdf of the full briefing paper can be downloaded here.
 http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/images/stories/pdfs/radicalisation-on-british-university-campuses.pdf?dm_i=JI3,9VVO,2Q60WK,QMSG,1

Quilliam Foundation:  http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/

ENDS