FOSIS, the Islamist student group, came in for criticism during the recent “Prevent” policy review. Rightly so, as numerous episodes in its record covered in this post show. It has long denied the problems of extremism on campus while repeatedly inviting hate preachers to its own meetings. It is part of the problem.
Nothing has changed. FOSIS has joined the fracas over Raed Salah. Have a look at which voice it chose to echo:
Thomas-Johnson concluded that, “We join Knesset Minister, Taleb a-Sanaa and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in strongly urging the Home Secretary to release Sheikh Salah immediately and to recognise his innocence before he is regarded as guilty.”
Yes, Hamas is dead keen (sorry) on Mr Salah.
The title of the press release is “Muslim students call for the immediate release of Sheikh Raed Salah”. No they don’t. A handful of muppets at FOSIS have called for his release, not “Muslim students”.
Oh, look where Mr Thomas-Johnson was an intern last year:
This is not the first intervention by FOSIS in the Salah affair. They also contributed a piece to Daud Abdullah’s Middle East Monitor. It includes this absurd hyperbole:
All too often those who argue for the rights of the Palestinian people are dismissed and defamed. Accusations of extremism and radicalism are thrown so casually to the extent that believing in the right of Palestinians to life, liberty and land has become synonymous with anti-Semitism.
The writer then proceeds to employ antisemitic language himself:
The affair is a victory for the pro-Israel lobbyists who pull our government’s strings as they undermine the values of democracy, justice and balance for which the British were once famed.
For FOSIS, even Youtube videos of Salah cannot be considered “empirical evidence”:
It was once the case that the British could pride themselves on their balanced and democratic approach to even the most heated debates, yet as key members of the government continue to base their actions and policies on cheap tabloid journalism and YouTube videos rather than empirical evidence, that bragging right is slowly but surely slipping away.
It is good to know that Theresa May is among those who see FOSIS as part of the problem, just as she does their latest cause, Raed Salah.
Nabil Ahmed, president of FOSIS, claims “We have never worked with any extremist individual, nor should we or would we.”
