We know that Mohamed Amoudi, one of the suspects arrested in the latest round of London terror arrests, was a student at Queen Mary University.
We also know that he was photographed listening to the hate preacher Haitham al-Haddad at an event at the university.
Queen Mary has long been a host for one of the worst university extremist scenes in the country.
Here’s the Queen Mary problem summed up in one minute. At another event, organised by the university’s Islamic Society in 2014, Haddad tells students that Allah “commands” jihad and wants martyrs. This way Islam will take the whole universe. The disparaging term “kafireen” is thrown in for good measure.
Queen Mary has been challenged by opponents of extremism for years now. From this blog all the way up to David Cameron when he was prime minister. Its response amounts to “what are you on about?”. Here is a report from 2015:
A spokesperson from Queen Mary said: “We take our responsibility to protect our staff and students against the risks that some organisations and individuals pose very seriously and have clear processes in place to meet this responsibility.
“We have a Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech that reflects national guidance for universities. All events that take place on our premises are subject to stringent checks to ensure they adhere to these regulations.”
And another:
Queen Mary’s principal, Simon Gaskell, said that his institution had never hosted an extremist speaker against police advice, had rigorous vetting policies and had no contact with the newly formed Extremism Analysis Unit, which had apparently drawn up the list.
“We would be happy to cooperate with them to ensure the information they have based their report on is accurate and would welcome sight of their definitions for ‘hate or extremist speakers’,” Professor Gaskell said.
Here’s your “definition”, Professor Gaskell and Co. Do spare a minute to look at it. And then stop this dangerous rot, if you don’t mind. Some of us would really rather not be blown up, you know.
