“The Silent Majority of Muslims”: Islamophobia and Counter Extremism in the UK

by Priya Rane   On October 19th 2015, grainy footage emerged of an elderly Turkish man facing horrific Islamophobic abuse on a North London bus, culminating in his zimmer frame being violently thrown. Such a racist tirade on London transport came with an unfortunate sense of familiarity. Just a week prior, an Islamophobic rant on a… Read More

The Political Case for Caring Inside the Academy

by Aliya Yule Academic institutions are not built for caring. My university is built for a class of men with money and time to spend reading, writing, and thinking. It is built from the profits of slavery, with statues celebrating famous colonialists adorning almost every building. With the creeping marketisation of education there is even… Read More

Why is the UK Home Office and Foreign Office distributing books in schools?

by Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya A few weeks back, a three-year-old was placed in a government re-education programme, on suspicion of being an ‘extremist’. Though shocking, this story is very much in line with the current surveillance of young Muslims by the UK government under the draconian anti-terrorism laws and the so-called ‘Prevent Strategy’ which aims to… Read More

Why the cynical focus on ‘Honour crimes’ won’t combat gender violence in the UK

by Amrit Wilson Last year, to mark International Women’s day, Cosmpolitan magazine ran an article titled ‘Why you’re lucky to be a woman in the UK‘. On an ordinary Saturday, it told us, ‘the average Cosmo reader might ‘wake up in the morning, slip into jeans and a T-shirt, jump into your car and head… Read More

Muslim Girls, Radicalisation and the Lure of Syria

by Heidi Safia Mirza ‘With all folks say in the news, you wonder if people can see beyond your headscarf to who you really are, instead of being blinded by their fear and the misperceptions of their own minds.’ – Michelle Obama, addressing students at Mulberry Girls School On a sunny day in June Michelle Obama… Read More

Private firms are profiting from the collective-punishment and surveillance of Muslims in the UK

by Ananya Rao-Middleton  The Prevent scheme polices, monitors and disciplines British Muslims through an all-pervading divide-and-rule neoliberal framework There was understandable outrage last month when Muslim primary school pupils in an East London school were asked to complete counter-terrorism questionnaires. Buxton School, at the centre of the scandal, released several (albeit dubiously conflicting) statements following… Read More

Schools in the UK Are Now Asking Muslim Children to Fill Out “Counter-Extremism” Tests

by Ananya Rao-Middleton Over the past couple of days, this photograph of a questionnaire/survey given to primary school children in East London has been widely circulated on social media. Statement from the executive head teacher of Buxton school, which is one in a number of schools involved in the pilot programme funded by the European… Read More

Muslim children as young as 7 are being branded radicals by their schools

Please Can I Tell You About A Child Who Is Muslim? by Shohana Khan He didn’t answer back to his teacher, because his parents taught him the importance of respecting those who you learn from. This respect comes from the tradition of Islam – the child is Muslim. Can I just tell you about a… Read More