CounterpointStimulating debate with the British Council

Current research about ‘gangs’ explores the role of ethnicity/race, religion, politics and territory in gang formation, concepts of youth and masculinity, and the emergence of female gang members. A variety of approaches (sociological, psychological and biological) have been employed to explain the phenomenon of gang culture.

The actions of the Christmas Day bomber, supposedly ‘radicalised’ while studying at the University of London, have renewed debate about the relationship between education, radicalisation and security. Through mass student surveys, expert interviews, and focus groups this Counterpoint project will seek to analyse what “radicalism on campus” across the UK looks like today. The study will be one of the first to specifically look at student perspectives, and will broaden current debate about Islamic Radicalism on campus, by looking at radical activity in all its forms.

Current debate remains centred on whether we should ‘police’ students or respect their freedom, with the issue being framed solely in terms of religion, and more specifically, Islam. The following links are a useful starting point for understanding the issues surrounding this debate.

NATIONALIST EXTREMISM
The English Defence League has not had a good week. On Saturday a large rally by the EDL took place in Stoke, an area not known for its high concentration of ethnic minorities or Muslims even. So what was the point? Most likely, an effort to boost their membership and morale given that the area is relatively successful for the BNP (it has 8 local BNP councillors)

And evidence of those close links were obvious when hooligans from the EDL rally started chanting: BNP, BNP, BNP!. 17 people were arrested after six police officers were hurt.

MUSLIM COMMUNITIES
One of Britain’s oldest established Muslim communities is launching a campaign to win hearts and minds of Britons.

It is being launched by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association of UK, who represent a small sect of Islam, and will include ads on buses as well as doorstep leafleting.

TERRORISM, GUANTANAMO BAY
The White House admitted yesterday that they did not know when Guantanamo Bay will be closed.

The response came a year after President Obama vowed to close the controversial facility. But yesterday the White House admitted it a time-table was now up in the air.

In response to questioning, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said: "I don't know when the process will be done. I know they made great progress... establishing first and foremost case files and recommendations of who indeed was there and why. There has been progress on that."

TERRORISM
I've not heard of Minhaj-ul-Quran before. According to reports it seems to be a Sufi influenced organisation based in East London and is advising the government on counter-terrorism.

It is also issuing a 600-page Fatwa against suicide bombings and terrorism, declaring them un-Islamic.

NEWS
The Times reports this morning that an Islamic sect's plan to build a mega-mosque have collapsed. This shouldn't come as a surprise and was only a matter of time.

Newham Council had come under intense pressure from the media glare when tabloids went overboard in scare-mongering about the impact of the mega-mosque on the fabric of the nation. There were front page stories in the Daily Mail and Daily Express, and petitions by residents who were accused of being BNP members.

This is a guest article by author Andy Worthington

Back in March last year, I published a four-part list identifying all 779 prisoners held at Guantánamo since the prison opened on January 11, 2002, as “the culmination of a three-year project to record the stories of all the prisoners held at the US prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.” Now updated (as my ongoing project nears its four-year mark), the four parts of the list are available here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.

The first fruit of my research was my book The Guantánamo Files, in which, based on an exhaustive analysis of 8,000 pages of documents released by the Pentagon (plus other sources), I related the story of Guantánamo, established a chronology explaining where and when the prisoners were seized, told the stories of around 450 of these men (and boys), and provided a context for the circumstances in which the remainder of the prisoners were captured.

ISLAMIC EXTREMISM AND NATIONAL SECURITY
The attempted terrorist attack by Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Christmas Eve presents some major policy headaches for President Obama just when he was beginning to grapple with them.

It's a given that airport security will tighten further to near-ridiculous levels, even though some number-crunching by blogger Nate Silver shows that a person could board 20 flights a year and still have less chance of being caught in a terrorist attack than being hit lightning.