| Anthony Glees and Centre For Social Cohesion at it again. |
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| Thursday, 31 July 2008 | |
 Almost a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name
of Islam can be justified, according to a poll. The study also found
that two in five Muslims at university support the incorporation of
Islamic sharia codes into British law.
The YouGov poll for the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) will raise
concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. "Significant numbers
appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values," said Hannah
Stuart, one of the report's authors. "These results are deeply
embarrassing for those who have said there is no extremism in British
universities."
The report was criticised by the country's largest Muslim student body, Fosis, but Anthony Glees, professor of security and intelligence studies at Buckingham University, said: "The finding that a large number of students think it is okay to kill in the name of religion is alarming. There is a wide cultural divide between Muslim and non-Muslim students. The solution is to stop talking about celebrating diversity and focus on integration and assimilation." See Islamophobia Watch for the full post. Update: The YouGov poll asked Muslim students: "Is it ever justifiable to kill in the name of religion?" Only 4% agreed that it was justifiable "in order to preserve and promote that religion", while 28% agreed with the view that it was justifiable "only if that religion is under attack". This is where the "third of Muslim students back killings" headline comes from. In fact 53% agreed that killing in the name of religion is "never justifiable". Imagine a polling organisation asking students whether they think killing is ever justifiable in the name of their country. 4% say yes, in order to preserve and promote that country, 28% say yes, but only if that country is under attack, and 53% say never under any circumstances. Would the right-wing press report this as "one third of students back killings"? No, they'd report it as "half of students would refuse to fight to defend their country" and denounce the iniquitous influence of pacifism on university campuses! In fact, it looks to me as though the YouGov poll revealed that the British Muslim student population holds much more moderate views than the Islamophobes of the Centre for Social Cohesion had anticipated, which is why they have to spin the results so dishonestly.    Readers have left 9 comments.
Saarah:
Hang on, I'd just like to ask how the Glees report is relevant in mid-2008. There was a big hoo-ha in the Isocs regarding this exact document when I was at uni...almost 3 years ago. Not only is the Glees report extremely biased, it is old and decrepit. Get over it people!
(1)
2008-08-01 08:22:54
Taz:
Yes Glees is an Islampohobe that provide alarmist quotes to the media about Muslim students whenever he gets the opportunity. His fellow travellers at the Centre For Social Cohesion (a name rich in irony) seem to think that Muslims organisations that support the Palestinians are dodgy. Yet they don't seem to have an issue with Jewish orgs that support Israel. How telling. How very, very telling. Victory to the Intifadah!
(2)
2008-08-01 12:31:40
Zubair:
Typical behaviour by the CSC. Each time they publish a report it just further erodes what little bit of credibility they have left.
(3)
2008-08-01 16:51:07
MAQ:
Every year the same report gets published to scare our youngsters into apathy.
People like him are allowed to get away with it, yet no one challenges him on this.
(4)
2008-08-01 16:56:31
Miranda:
Why don't MPAC find out which universities yougov went to (apparently) and then ask the Muslim students if they were interviewed? That way you will find out how genuine this survey really is.
The irony is that when men go abroad and kill because their ideology (not their country) is under attack, they are welcomed back in 'hero's' parades -- such as soldiers killing in Afghanistan/Iraq etc. I wonder if the CFSC believes it is wrong to kill if democracy is under attack!
(5)
2008-08-01 17:37:52
Maududi:
FOSIS the Federation of Student Islamic Societies is a balanced, moderate yet principled outfit that was established in 1962 with noble intents and purposes. It has been serving Muslim students in this country ever since, this report can castigate them as usch as they wish, it will not deter the community from supporting it. Again these dummy's fail to understand that institutions that practically serve the welfare of their community and have upstanding reputations are honoured in the site of the people. With esteemed presidents who have gone on to be great statesman such as Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, Abdullah Gul of Turkey and Omar Bashir of Sudan, FOSIS will Insha'Allah be around for a long time to come.
(6)
2008-08-01 18:09:00
JB:
I once wrote to Mr Glees to express disbelief at his reactionary nonsense and this was his reply - check out the Freudian slip: "Muslim students should be treated differently from any other students". Very telling indeed.
Dear Mr Baker, Thanks for sending me this. The point I was making at the stage of the debate was not about Muslim students holding political beliefs, even radical ones, but that campus Islamic societies which purport to be about religion are, in fact, about politics. If Muslim students want to discuss political issues, and they should like everyone else, why not do it in the student societies that exist for this purpose? Muslim students should be treated differently from any other students. At the moment, they are. This is apartheid, and I am against it. As to political views, of course I believe in free speech within the law. There is no absolute right of free speech in our ethnically diverse society, nor should there be. However, we should certainly keep extremists out of our campus societies because there exists a link, as the Government itself recognises, between extremist political activity and recruitment to terrorist groups. If you believe in free speech under the law, as it seems you do, you are surely not keen to give its enemies the means with which to destroy it. best wishes, Anthony Glees
(7)
2008-08-02 01:50:14
JB:
I replied to Glees with the below email but he refused to engage with me further. This exchange was back in 2006 by the way - basically this man is a stuck record and lives up the rear end of the establishment. (P.S - isn't the 'Centre for Social Cohesion' the so-called think-tank that is run by the neo-con extremist Douglas Murray? A case of the pot calling the kettle black for him to be calling ANYONE an 'extremist' considering his disgusting views.)
Dear Mr Glees, With all due respect, what concern is it of yours if Islamic groups wish to discuss politics as well as religion? Didn't the great Rev. Martin Luther King Jr mix elements of his Christian beliefs with his struggle for equal rights for African-Americans and an end to the Vietnam war? I have many Christian friends who frequently discuss and campaign for an end to third world poverty - is this wrong too? Should they stick to talking religion and nothing more? Religion and issues of morality have always gone hand in hand. There is a great amount of involvement from Muslim students in non-Muslim societies in universities, in fact there has never been so much dialogue and co-operation between Muslim and non-Muslim students as there is today, but if Islamic societies wish to talk politics within their own societies, this is certainly no crime. I am not quite sure why you are getting so het up about it to be honest. This certainly isn't 'apartheid' and I find your use of the word in this context quite peculiar to say the least. This is just another crude attempt to talk about 'Muslim extremists', let's be honest - perhaps you could do another report and find out why young Muslims and young people in general are becoming so radicalised in the world today instead of continually blaming Muslims for everything. You may not be upset by what the UK government and its allies are doing to people in far off lands but don't be surprised to see that others are in fact quite upset by it.
(8)
2008-08-02 02:06:26
K. Urban:
Centre for Social Cohesion?
The only thing that that closet Nazi Douglas Murray needs to do is sit on superglue so that he coheses and stops talking out of his extreme end.
(9)
2008-08-03 16:56:34
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