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Articles by John Holmwood
How Mandelson reviewer failed to probe counter-terror police failings on Southport killings
The murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport in July 2024 shocked Britain. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered. The perpetrator tried to kill eight other children and two others, including the class instructor. Speculation online about the killer’s racial and religious identity triggered a spate of serious rioting in cities across the country.
UK: Starmer slow to condemn violence after largest far-right rally in decades
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls to do more to counter a surge in far-right support after what is considered to be the largest nationalist event in decades. Over 110,000 people gathered at a protest in Whitehall in central London helmed by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and billed as a "festival of free speech".
UK armed police threat to pro-Palestine protester branded 'dystopian'
Campaigners have described footage of a pro-Palestine protester being threatened with arrest by two British police officers "dystopian", saying it highlights the fear and confusion felt in the UK following the proscription of Palestine Action.
Jeremy Corbyn to host 'inquiry' into UK role in Gaza atrocities
Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the UK's Labour Party, is set to host a “Gaza tribunal” in order to determine the extent of British complicity in Israel’s military campaign on the besieged Palestinian territory. Now an independent MP, Corbyn is a critic of the UK’s support for Israel in what rights groups and international legal experts have described as a genocide in Gaza.
Grooming gangs and Trojan Horse: The poisoned politics of Muslim integration
There has been a steady drumbeat, in right-wing and liberal media alike, about the failure of British Muslims to integrate. This drumbeat warns of self-segregated lives insulated from mainstream values. This is often fed by official reports that are occasioned by media "scares" and used to align public policy with media-driven concerns highlighting threats to public safety. Among the most potent of such concerns are those involving children and young people.
Labour's surrender to Reform's narrative means Farage has already won
Last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government won the vote on its controversial welfare reform bill, but not without major concessions. The government agreed to soften proposed disability benefit cuts and delay harsher assessments under pressure from its own MPs. The bill, set to return to the House of Commons on Wednesday for further scrutiny, reflects an ideological shift so sharp it would have been unthinkable for a centre-left party just five years ago.
UK riots: The sinister rise of 'white race-ism'
The recent violent disorder in the UK by far-right mobs has been widely deplored. However, there has been a worrying response by conservative and liberal commentators alike to suggest that there needs to be some reckoning with the underlying causes. These have been variously identified as a failure of multiculturalism leading to some communities failing to integrate, the distress of "left-behind" white working-class communities and legitimate concerns over immigration.
Elon Musk embroils himself in spat with UK police and politicians after riots
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is embroiled in controversy after posting a meme alleged to be Islamophobic. On Saturday, Musk posted the meme on X, formerly known as Twitter until Musk's acquisition of the social media platform. In it, four bearded and Muslim-appearing men stand watching over a white British police officer, a riff on the popular meme depicting four Black men standing over adult film star Piper Perri while she sits on a couch.
How an unholy alliance between fascists and far-right Zionists fuelled UK riots
It’s been a bad week for the massed battalions of politicians and journalists who have made common cause with fascists about the threat that Muslims pose to Britain. They should be named: Nigel Farage, who said with no evidence that three-quarters of Muslims pose no threat to Britain - meaning that one-quarter do.
UK Home Office revokes visa of Palestinian student after protest speech
The UK government has revoked the student visa of a Palestinian student who lost relatives in Gaza after she spoke at a demonstration at the University of Manchester. Dana Abuqamar, a law student who heads the Friends of Palestine Society at the University of Manchester, said the UK government revoked her visa on “national security” grounds, after claiming she was a risk to public safety. “The claim they are making is baseless and violates my rights as a resident here in the UK.
UK government to fund chaplaincy service that 'advocates for Israel' on campuses
The UK government is to give £500,000 ($624,725) to a Jewish university chaplaincy service that requires its chaplains to be proactive advocates for Israel as part of new measures announced on Thursday to tackle antisemitism on campuses. The announcement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office followed a meeting between Sunak and university leaders after students at a growing number of British universities set up encampments to oppose the war in Gaza and support Palestinian rights.
How the UK has failed to protect Muslim religious rights
John Holmwood 19 April 2024 A judge recently upheld a school prayer ban in Wembley, even though religion is supposed to be a central part of children’s education Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets students as he visits a school in London on 17 July, 2023 (AFP) The high court ruling that recently upheld a prayer ban at Michaela Community School in Wembley joins a depressing list of cases where the concerns of Muslim parents about their children’s schooling are condemned and misreported...
How the UK has failed to protect Muslim religious rights
The high court ruling that recently upheld a prayer ban at Michaela Community School in Wembley joins a depressing list of cases where the concerns of Muslim parents about their children’s schooling are condemned and misreported by mainstream media. Other examples include the Trojan Horse affair and the Birmingham parent protests about teaching of LGBT issues. “Hardline Muslims” are accused of threatening “integration” and undermining successful headteachers.
The trials and tribulations of research evaluation: Quantification to the rescue?
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Professors cut ties with US university, citing director's reported role targeting Muslim groups
Two US professors have withdrawn their affiliation from George Washington University's (GWU) programme on extremism, following a report that the programme's director had been involved in a coordinated campaign to label several Muslim organisations as being linked to terrorism. "Before affiliating I should have done my due diligence about the director’s research and professional activities; I didn’t and I regret that.
The Shawcross Review of Prevent: ‘Ideologically-Driven and Poorly Evidenced’ – Byline Times
The People’s Review of Prevent refutes the recommendations made in a major Government report into the controversial counter-terrorism strategy Share EmailTwitterFacebook The People’s Review of Prevent has today published its detailed response to the independent review of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy by William Shawcross. The Shawcross review of Prevent was published last month having been widely leaked to the right-wing media over the previous six months.
Trojan Horse: When 'facts' are contested, who decides the truth?
In December last year the British think tank Policy Exchange released a long report which claimed to expose “a concerted campaign to rewrite history around the ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal, where hard-line activists Islamised state schools in Birmingham”. Policy Exchange presented the report as a necessary response to the podcast released by the New York Times just over a year ago which sought to re-examine the “Trojan Horse” story.
Prevent: UK govt warned of 'widespread illegality' over programme's data practices
The UK government's controversial Prevent strategy has led to the unlawful collection and sharing of the personal data of those targeted by the counter-terrorism programme, and created conditions for "widespread illegality", a human rights advocacy organisation has warned.
US Muslims five times more likely to face police harassment due to their religion, study shows
Muslims are five times more likely to experience police harassment because of their religion compared to those of other faiths, a study by Rice University shows. More specifically, Muslim adults who identify as Black, Middle Eastern, Arab or North African are more likely than Muslims who identify as white to report that they have been harassed by the police because of their religion, according to the study published in the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
UK: Rishi Sunak's Prevent proposals are truly Orwellian
Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he would use Prevent - the government’s counter-extremism strategy - against those who "vilified" Britain has attracted much derision. At the same time, he proposed the redirection of Prevent away from right-wing extremism, to the dismay of researchers and teachers. They have identified a rising number of referrals associated with right-wing extremism and a lowering of the age at which young people are accessing extremist material online.
US: Muslim men sue Alaska Airlines after removal from flight over Arabic text messages
Two Muslim men are suing Alaska Airlines alleging discrimination, saying staff removed them from a flight for "talking and texting in Arabic". In a lawsuit filed on 2 August made public this week, Abobakkr Dirar and Mohamed Elamin claim the incident happened after they boarded an Alaska flight from Seattle to San Francisco on 17 February 2020. While they were awaiting departure, they made small talk with each other in Arabic.
Rishi Sunak launches plans to refer those who 'vilify Britain' to Prevent
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to treat those who "vilify Britain" as extremists to be referred to the government’s controversial Prevent programme, if he becomes the UK’s next prime minister. The Conservative Party leadership candidate will widen the definition of extremism to include those who are “vocal in their hatred of our country”, he pledged on Tuesday evening. “There is no more important duty for a prime minister than keeping our country and our people safe,” Sunak said.
An alternative to Prevent? How about democracy
In the People’s Review of Prevent (published in February this year), we showed that Prevent is not working, but also that it couldn’t work. What, then, is its purpose? Why do some people continue to advocate for it and in terms that involve the hostile name-calling of Prevent’s critics, including that they are extremists and enabling terrorism. The answer is that it serves an ideological and populist purpose by scapegoating minority communities.
Destination Unknown
The period of human history when European people could confidently characterise themselves as ‘modern’ lasted barely a hundred years, from the upheavals of the 1870s to those of the 1970s. This was the era in which the bureaucratic nation-state appeared to have been secured as the building block of geopolitical power, and the welfare state became essential to the pursuit of social justice.
In pursuit of Prevent
John Holmwood suggests that government anti-extremism strategies put universities’ place in UK democracy at stake The independent review of the Prevent duty under William Shawcross has been long delayed, but leaks to The Guardian suggest that a draft is now with the Home Office awaiting approval. The auguries are not good.
UK Prevent strategy harmful to democracy and children, reports find
The UK government’s Prevent strategy is undermining fundamental rights and freedoms and prioritising a national security agenda over child welfare concerns, according to two new reports critical of the controversial counter-terrorism programme.
The Trojan Horse Affair highlights Prevent’s flaws
Park View School, now Rockwood Academy, was at the heart of the so-called trojan horse affair. The recent, gripping New York Times podcast on the trojan horse affair has re-opened the injustice dealt to a poor, mainly Muslim, community in Birmingham, its schools, and the educators who worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for their children.
Trojan Horse affair: Why new podcast evokes both enthusiasm and rage
The new podcast on the Trojan Horse affair released by Serial and the New York Times has stirred up feelings of anger, passion, and even optimism among British Muslims, who for years have been entangled in the “war on terror”. It has been hard for Muslims in Britain to shake off allegations of extremism and radicalisation launched by media outlets and government officials, who have been relentless in reinforcing such stereotypes.
Trojan Horse affair: We need the truth. Only the New York Times has tried to tell it
A few days before the 1924 general election in Britain, the Daily Mail splashed a world exclusive across its front page. The Tory-backing paper claimed it had obtained a letter from Grigory Zinoviev, head of the Soviet Comintern, the international communist organisation, addressed to British communists about an alliance between Soviet Russia and Britain under the first Labour government.
Prevent report: Trojan Horse hoax led to ‘abuses’ of children
The extension of the Prevent programme into schools in the wake of the Trojan Horse affair has led to children being targeted in ways that amount to abuses of their human rights, a new report into the UK government's controversial counter-terrorism strategy has warned.
Prevent puts UK Muslims under pervasive suspicion. It must go
In 2011, the British Conservative government introduced a new counter-terrorism strategy to deal with non-violent extremism - Prevent. Following the furore over the Birmingham Trojan Horse affair in 2014 - a supposed plot to "Islamicise" schools - the Prevent strategy was ratcheted up. Public authorities such as schools, colleges, universities and health services were now required to monitor their pupils, students and clients for potential signs of radicalisation.
Against Academic Investment Capitalism
In the following article, Gurminder K. Bhambra and John Holmwood respond to Dylan Riley’s recent piece ‘Notes on the Curriculum’, published on the New Left Review Sidecar blog on 7th October 2021. Dylan Riley’s presentation of efforts to decolonize the curriculum lacks historical understanding. It is reminiscent of mainstream responses to other disruptions, such as those of Marxism, feminism, and queer theory.
Why 'political Islam' can be a gateway to democracy
The post 9/11 "war on terror", which fuelled a dramatic upsurge in Islamophobia across the West through the stigmatisation of all Muslims as potential terrorists or "jihadist sympathisers", has now been dramatically expanded into a war not just against actual terrorism, but also "Islamism", "political Islam" and non-Muslims labelled as "Islamo-leftists".
Why Keir Starmer failed to call out white supremacy
Labour leader Keir Starmer has spent the last few months trying to break with the legacy of Jeremy Corbyn, most especially in his support for causes such as Palestinian rights and opposing war. He recently refused to reinstate Corbyn as a Labour MP over the former leader’s response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission inquiry into Labour antisemitism.
Trojan Horse affair: When government and media colluded to vilify the Muslim community
Published date: 28 February 2018 11:18 UTC | Last update: 2 years 11 months ago Another week, another apology. Two newspapers, The Sun and The Daily Telegraph, have retracted claims that there was a conspiracy to Islamicise schools in Oldham, a town in the Greater Manchester area of northwestern England. The Sunday Times, which broke the story, has not done so - not yet, at any rate.
New Delhi accuses OIC of indulging in anti-India propaganda
Indian government issues strong rebuke of Organisation of Islamic Conference following resolutions passed on Kashmir during annual meeting in Niger The OIC is the world's second-largest inter-governmental organisation after the UN, with 57 member states (AFP/File photo) Published date: 30 November 2020 20:13 UTC | Last update: 16 sec ago The Indian government has issued a strong rebuke of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) after it purportedly passed a resolution calling on Prime...
Canadian firms invested in US cluster bomb makers, report says
Syrian government has routinely used cluster bombs since war in Syria broke out in 2011 A man shows a cluster bomb, which releases small sub-munitions, in Taftanaz, northern Syria (AFP) Published date: 26 June 2016 08:32 UTC | Last update: 4 years 4 months ago MONTREAL, Canada – Four Canadian financial institutions have invested in companies that manufacture cluster bombs, prohibited and highly destructive weapons that have been used in Yemen and Syria, according to a new report.
How Brexit and Biden fuelled chaos inside Downing Street
The British media has been convulsed in recent days by lurid stories about feuding and intrigue inside Downing Street. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street has been a cesspit right from the start, and it’s getting worse. For those new to this unedifying subject, I recommend reading Simon Walters, Britain’s most feared political reporter, in the Daily Mail.
UK government's undermining of EHRC is a threat to democracy
This week's report by the parliamentary human rights committee on Black people, racism and human rights makes for sobering and shocking reading. It was written in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of this year and the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. It details systematic racial inequality in the UK and deep concern by Black British citizens about fair and just treatment.
Trojan Horse, Prevent, Islamophobia: How the EHRC failed British Muslims
Founded in 2007, the equalities watchdog has consistently let down the UK's Muslim population In an interview with Middle East Eye last month, the former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn launched a pointed attack on the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mauritanian police accused of racism after kneeling on neck of Black man
Campaigners have drawn parallels with the killing of George Floyd by white officers in the United States Published date: 22 June 2020 15:03 UTC | Last update: 5 months 3 weeks ago Mauritanian police officers have been accused of “behaving like American police” after kneeling on the neck of a Black man, the same restraint technique that led to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
The Birmingham Trojan Horse affair: a very British injustice
In early 2014, the Birmingham Trojan Horse affair hit the headlines as a “plot to Islamicise schools”. This followed the publication of a letter purporting to come from one of those involved in the plot. The letter is widely regarded as a hoax, but its consequences have run on for almost four years. This has had great significance for public policies associated both with education and the government’s Prevent agenda.
The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair
In 2014 an investigation into an alleged plot to ‘Islamify’ several state schools in Birmingham began. Known as the ‘Trojan Horse’ affair, this caused a previously highly successful school to be vilified.
How to discuss Islam and education following the Trojan Horse 'plot'
Recent research shows more than a quarter of secondary schools in England do not feature religious education on the syllabus. This is despite the subject being compulsory for all state-funded schools – which includes academies and free schools. According to findings by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education, many schools could be “breaking the law”, with pupils “missing out on religious education”.
EXCLUSIVE: UK government to introduce 'mandatory deradicalisation' scheme
Scheme unveiled in annual terrorism report as parliamentary human rights committee warns counter-extremism policy is going backwards New Home Secretary Amber Rudd, appointed last week, whose department oversees the Prevent strategy (AFP) The UK government has announced plans to introduce a mandatory deradicalisation scheme, even as parliament’s human rights committee warned that its counter-extremism strategy was based on unproven theories and risked “making the situation worse”.
UK extremism screening for kids adapted from tests for convicted terrorists
Academics call for scrutiny of methodology behind Prevent strategy amid concerns that key radicalisation assessment tool is not evidence-based David Cameron, the then-prime minister, visits a prison in February 2016.
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