This is a guest post by Yossarian, also of The Spittoon
This Saturday 11th July, Lampton School, a comprehensive in Hounslow, is to host the inaugural meeting of Hounslow Muslim Forum. At this event, this new group will be discussing Contest 2, the government’s latest counter-extremism strategy with a panel of speakers and Inspector Alan Murphy of Metropolitan Police “Prevent and Engagement” Team, Hounslow.
This is all well and good, but have a look at the bottom of the flyer where the groups which make up Hounslow Muslim Forum are listed. One name stands out – Hizb ut-Tahrir.
At the same time that the Sunday Timesrevealed Hizb ut-Tahrir’s violent ambitions, the Metropolitan Police is planning to get involved with (and a state school is planning to host) an event which advertises its links to Hizb ut-Tahrir on its flyers.
It gets worse. Have a look at those who will speak alongside Inspector Alan Murphy on this (partially) Hizb ut-Tahrir platform. Apart from Temoor Khan about whom I nothing more than what the flyer says – he is a “youth worker and local resident” – the other names are biggies. Moazzem Begg and Daud Abdullah.
Moazzem Begg has managed to forge a successful career out of being an ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee. Here is an interview carried out by Begg with Anwar al-Awlaki. Given the opportunity to challenge a proponent of violent jihad, Begg, er, invited him round for tea.
MB: Are you allowed to travel outside the Yemen? Obviously, many people want you to come to the United Kingdom and elsewhere, to come and give lectures, and you’ve only been out a few days! I think this is based on a question from a lot of your supporters, subhan Allah. Are you allowed to travel outside the Yemen to give lectures?
AA: Well, I would like to travel. However, not until the US drops whatever unknown charges it has against me.
Begg will probably be very comfortable in the knowledge that this event is mixed up with Hizb ut-Tahrir; here he is speaking at an HT rally about Gaza. The full messageon the banner behind him reads “Muslim Armies Must Defend Gaza. Hizb ut-Tahrir, Britain”.
Moazzem Begg speaks at Hizb ut-Tahrir rally
The other notable speaker is Daud Abdullah. He had a falling out with Hazel Blears after he signed a declaration legitimising attacks on anybody who stands with Israel wherever they are in the world and saying that any international naval force sent to guard Gaza’s coast would be a legitimate target for attack. This was after Gordon Brown had offered to send British ships to Gaza. As deputy director-general of the Muslim of Council of Britain, Abdullah also led the MCB’s disgraceful boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.
And here is Abdullah at the launch of Kafa.
(8:27) We will not be forced into saying that we are secularist, democratic, non-violent etcetera… We are Muslims
Quite apart from the questionable views and associations of the twomain speakers, there is another concern about this event. It appears to be a thinly disguised attempt to increase fear and mistrust amongst Muslims in the UK. It mentions the leaked apparent draft of Contest 2 which appeared in the Guardian earlier this year but never again – certainly not in governmental policy.
Latest attempts by Westminster to “engage” the Muslim community has seen the release of a controversial policy paper called ‘Contest 2′. Though not featured in the final publication, original leaked drafts indicated the government would blacklist anyone who emphathised with traditional Islamic standpoints such as faith in the Shariah, prohibition of homosexuality, the concept of Islamic governance and belief in the notion of Jihad.
The involvement of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the choice of these particular speakers and the focus on what is not policy reveals this event’s malicious agenda. It is not a legitimate public meeting discussing a matter of importance to everybody in this country, whatever religion they believe (or disbelieve) in. It is an attempt by extremists to turn Muslims away from democratic politics and towards extremism, segregationism and/or Islamism. What on earth are Lampton School and the Metropolitan Police thinking by going along with this?
