The Media and the Quilliam

7/30/2019 The Media and the Quilliam

1/24

The media and the Quilliam Foundation

A certain anomaly

A search using the Nexis database with The Quilliam Foundation as a search term returns results

from the national press as follow: The Guardian (London) (20), News International Newspapers

Information Services Ltd. (9), The Times (London) (9), The Observer (7), The Independent

(London) (5), The Express (4), The Sunday Times (London) (4), Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday(3), The Daily Telegraph (London) (2), The Express Newspapers (2), The Sunday Telegraph

(London) (2), Independent on Sunday (1).

A certain anomaly can be said to appear in these results if they are compared to those set out inthe Centre for Social Cohesion and the Media and Civitas and the Media sections, which is a

legitimate comparision given the relationships between the organisations. They seem inverted, in

that, in these other sections it tends to be Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Times and TheSunday Times which have provided the most results, and the greater focus of attention on the

think tanks. This is particularly unusual given the Daily Mails proclivities and the nature of the

Quilliam Foundation as an organisation. Given that Quilliam is run by two self-confessed ex-

extremists and heavily funded by the Labour government, it is reasonable to expect that the DailyMail would provide a series of stories expressing alarm, if not hysterical panic, along the lines of

those it provides when prisoners gain compensation and so on; or that the Mail would continue

with its negative portrayals of Islam and Moslems provided by Steve Doughty and others. Forthe Mail, Quilliam is perceived of and presented as part of the governments counter terrorism

operations, and any questioning and skepticism of its role (evident to some degree in other

newspapers) is non-existent.

Guardian clients and stooges

The Guardian contains a range of material on the Quilliam Foundation (QF) including supportiveletters from QF members, but also assertions that the Preventing Violent Extremismprogramme,

known as Prevent, is being used to gather intelligence about people who are not suspected ofinvolvement in terrorism, and that Prevent is essentially a surveillance operatation involving theQF. Arun Kundnani, the author of Spooked: How Not to Prevent Violent Extremism, published

by the Institute of Race Relations argued along these lines in the Guardian, October, 2009:

While the government denies the programme has a surveillance element, this iscontradicted by its adviserEd Husain of the Quilliam Foundation, who says intelligence

gathering is a part of Prevent. He also believes it morally right that professionals such as
http://quilliam_foundation/http://centre_for_social_cohesion_and_the_media/http://civitas_and_the_media/http://index.php/?title=Steve_Doughty&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Preventing_Violent_Extremism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Arun_Kundnani&action=edit&redlink=1http://ed_husain/http://quilliam_foundation/http://quilliam_foundation/http://ed_husain/http://index.php/?title=Arun_Kundnani&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Preventing_Violent_Extremism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Steve_Doughty&action=edit&redlink=1http://civitas_and_the_media/http://centre_for_social_cohesion_and_the_media/http://quilliam_foundation/


2/24

teachers should alert the authorities to those who hold views considered extremist.

Indeed, through its Radicalisation Awareness Programme, the foundation is receivingsignificant public funds to advise local authorities on how extremist views among

Muslims can be identified by public service workers.[1]

Although Kundnani does not seem to view the QF as part of the governments covert work, hedoes believe that professional distinctions are being confused and that policing itself is beingwidened to include the surveillance of radical opinion, although this is nothing new. The article

responded to Vikram Dodds earlier Guardian report[2]

which argued that the 140m Prevent

programme was a cover for spying on Muslims in Britain, based on sources directly involved inrunning Prevent, who were being asked to gather intelligence about the thoughts and beliefs of

Muslims who are not involved in criminal activity. It also quoted Ed Husain, of the QF, together

with noting his previous position advising both Labour and the Conservatives on extremism, andthat QF receives 700,000 in Prevent funding, and views itself as part of a morally right

attempt to give law enforcement agencies the best chance of stopping terrorists before they

strike. This report also noted that:

Prevent is run by the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism, part of the Home Office.

It is widely regarded in Whitehall as being an intelligence agency.[3]

Indeed, Ed Jaggerof the QF not only has a background in the military, but his biography at QF

states:

He was deployed operationally to the Middle East several times experiencing andobserving the effects of Al Qaeda terror cells first hand whilst conducting counter

terrorist operations. These experiences drive him in his role at Quilliam.[4]

It is of course notoriously difficult to establish the true nature of covert projects, which are bydefinition secret and tend to be deniable or indeed designed to deliberately confusing andopaque: but the job of the intelligence services is to know. In the Guardian, Husain has been

quoted as stating that Prevent was created to increase the security services knowledge of

extremism in Britain.[5]

Previous to these revelations the Guardian has used the work of Husain and others in its L eader

column.[6]

It has also offered its pages as a forum to Maajid Nawaz, the director of the QF.[7]

It

(like many of the other newspapers described below) also drew upon an un-named QFspokesman from the UK counter-terrorism thinktank to sum up its observations on potential

terrorist organisations posing as charities.[8]

Vikram Dodd drew on Ed Husain to assess the draft of the governments counterterrorism

strategy, Contest 2, wherein Husain is quoted as stating that the root causes of terrorism were

extremist views, even if those advocating the views did not call for violence; a somewhatabstract intellectual essentialism. Indeed Husains views are used to support the extension of the

definition of who qualifies for monitoring in the context of a separate (leaked) secret Whitehall

counterterrorism report advocating the widening of the definition of who is considered an

extremist.[9]
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-0http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-0http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-0http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-1http://ed_husain/http://index.php/?title=Office_for_Security_and_Counter_Terrorism&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-2http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-2http://index.php/?title=Ed_Jagger&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-3http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-3http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-3http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-4http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-4http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-5http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-6http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-5http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-6http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-7http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-7http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-8http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-8http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-8http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-8http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-8http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-7http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-7http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-6http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-5http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-4http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-4http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-3http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-3http://index.php/?title=Ed_Jagger&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-2http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-2http://index.php/?title=Office_for_Security_and_Counter_Terrorism&action=edit&redlink=1http://ed_husain/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-0http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-0


3/24

One (more or less lone) exception to this inclusive trend that the Guardian (and other

newspapers) exhibit towards the QF, is Seumas Milnes observation that a group ofneoconservative-leaning think tanks including Policy Exchange, the Centre for Social Cohesion

and the Quilliam Foundation, have had a disproportionate influence of government policy largely

because the government ends up talking to its own creations and attempting to use cash to buy

political docility. Milnes focus was also on the governments 175-page Contest 2 documentand its failure to realise that peoples right to defend themselves against invasion and

occupation, and the willingness to sympathise with the Palestinian cause, have become deeply

problematic, not least, in terms of establishing an accurate definition of who is or is not likely to

carry out a terrorist offence.[10]

Milne had earlier called the role of the QF into question when he argued in 2008, that the

trigger for the governments abandonment of a chance to engage with thousands of British

Muslims at a large Islamic cultural and political event:

seems to have been an article by the increasingly extreme anti-Islamist campaigner, Ed

Husain, comparing the event to a British National party rally. His case for such a patentlyabsurd claim was that some of the organisers had had links with Hamas or the Muslim

Brotherhood, though the details are contested. But it was enough for Hazel Blears, whose

communities department has been taking an ever-harder line against the most politically

active sections of the Muslim community, to insist on a boycott.[11]

Milne states that a ministerial edict went out to boycott theIslamExpo event and an attack onShahid Malik, Britains first Muslim minister, was staged by Dean Godson, research director

ofPolicy Exchange together with a smear leaked by a Whitehall source. For Milne the intrigue

here amounts to a game of clients and stooges played by the government.

One other voice questioning the QFs role was the playwright David Edgars (2008) analysis thatalso aimed to contextualise the thinking behind the attitudes of the nexus of rightwing think

tanks Milne outlined:

The dominant story is of a second generation who grew up in the Paki-bashing 80s andsuffered a profound identity crisis on reaching adulthood. Torn between the culturally

based Islam of their families and the pressures of contemporary society, these Muslims

proved easy prey for radicalisation by exiled clerics from hardline groups, who presenteda narrative of historical oppression going back to the Crusades. With variants, that model

is put forward by rightwing thinktanks, Conservative ideologues, former Hizb ut-Tahrir

activists and erstwhile leftwingers. At its core is the idea that even non-violent

organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain and those connected with groups likethe Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood are on what the former left commentatorNick Cohen

calls a continuum whose terminus is pathological hatred. Or, as Newsnights Richard

Watson puts it: Todays suicide bombers are yesterdays Islamists.[12]

Edgar also noted that Ziauddin Sardar outlined that the problem with the QF:
http://policy_exchange/http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://quilliam_foundation/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-9http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-9http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-9http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-10http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-10http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-10http://dean_godson/http://policy_exchange/http://nick_cohen/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-11http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-11http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-11http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-11http://nick_cohen/http://policy_exchange/http://dean_godson/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-10http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-10http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-9http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-9http://quilliam_foundation/http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://policy_exchange/


4/24

is not that it is anti-fundamentalist or anti-segregationist, but that it is anti-political; it

wants Muslims to keep quiet. In fact, as Kundnani argues, a whole generation of BritishMuslims has rejected the folkoric religio-cultural practices of their parents in search of

new ways of being Muslim, in public, in contemporary Europe. What could be more

welcome?

Duncan Campbell had previously (July, 2008) written sympathetically about the difficultiesfaced by Maajid Nawaz due to his association with the group Hizb ut-Tahrir. At this point the QF

was described as an anti-extremist Muslim thinktank.[13]

Earlier still, also in July (2008), the

Guardian had published (in its Leader page) a letter from a small group expressing doubt about

the QF:

We represent a cross section of the Muslim community, and reject the simplistic narrative

about the dangers of Islamism espoused by the Quilliam Foundation (Response, April25). We believe this is just another establishment-backed attempt to divert attention from

the main cause of radicalisation and extremism in Britain: the UKs disastrous foreign

policy in the Muslim world, including its occupation of Muslim lands and its support forpro-western Muslim dictators. The foundation has no proven grassroots support within

the Muslim community, although it does seem to have the ear of the powers that be,

probably because it is telling them what they want to hear.[14]

The letter was published alongside two others: one praising Ed Husains book The Islamist,

and the other arguing that the real root causes of Islamism and jihadism: Islamic theology

itself.

Previous to this (again in the Leader page) Maajid Nawaz argued the case against the Guardians

portrayal of the QF at its launch and stated that the QF was not established by two former

members of Hizb ut-Tahrir but :

It is amazing that the foundation, which includes advisers such as Paddy

Ashdown, Sheikh BaBikr Ahmed BaBikr, the Rev Giles Fraser, Catherine Fieschi and

ProfessorTimothy Garton Ash, can be reduced to neocon ex-extremists. Sardar goeseven further: Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Bukhari, a great man of peace who spoke at our

launch, is described as a neocon Sufi despite his dedication to campaigning for

cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis and his anti-war message. I wonderwhether Sardar would describe his friend Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, another adviser, as a

neocon?[15]

The problem with this line of argument (which also asserted that the coverage was ill-

informed) is that most of the names mentioned are have been involved in the game of clientsand stooges Milne outlined above: they are essentially a coterie. Ashdown worked for MI6 since

the 1970s[16]

, Timothy Garton Ash was part of the governments Westminster Foundation for

Democracy (WFD), the UKs leading democracy-building foundation, was described by its a

founding governorMichael Pinto-Duschinsky as engaging in a process whereby:
http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-12http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-13http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-13http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://paddy_ashdown/http://paddy_ashdown/http://index.php/?title=Sheikh_BaBikr_Ahmed_BaBikr&action=edit&redlink=1http://catherine_fieschi/http://timothy_garton_ash/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-14http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-14http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-15http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-15http://timothy_garton_ash/http://westminster_foundation_for_democracy/http://westminster_foundation_for_democracy/http://index.php/?title=Michael_Pinto-Duschinsky&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Michael_Pinto-Duschinsky&action=edit&redlink=1http://westminster_foundation_for_democracy/http://westminster_foundation_for_democracy/http://timothy_garton_ash/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-15http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-14http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-14http://timothy_garton_ash/http://catherine_fieschi/http://index.php/?title=Sheikh_BaBikr_Ahmed_BaBikr&action=edit&redlink=1http://paddy_ashdown/http://paddy_ashdown/http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-13http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-13http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-12http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1


5/24

The WFD was intended as an instrument that would permit the British Government to

fund political activities within foreign countries, thereby promoting democracy andBritish influence. Such interference in the political affairs of foreign nations had

previously been covert and had caused problems when secret financial assistance had

leaked into the public domain (as occurred in the United States in the 1960s concerning

certain political projects of the Central Intelligence Agency of the US).

[17]

The WFD was based on the USNational Endowment for Democracy and according to AllenWeinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishingNED, in 1991: A lot of what we [NED]

do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.[18]

And much the same could be said of theother establishment figures cited to back up the claim that the QF is misrepresented:Catherine

Fieschi was part of the think tank Demos which operated in the Foreign Offices Wilton Park in

much the same manner as the WFD and is now the Director ofCounterpoint, the BritishCouncils think-tank; David Goodhart is the editor of Prospect magazine which aspired to

become the new Encounter (i.e. a magazine subvented by the secret state) Fieschi is also a

contributing editor to Prospect; David Green is the founder of the rightwing thinktankCivitas

who shared a space with Demos and similarly grew out of the Institute for Economic Affairs andlatterly have created the Centre for Social Cohesion.

Nawazs response was based on Ziauddin Sardars complaint about the lionisation and feting of

former extremists together with neocon luminaries at the expense of those who have worked

to foster inclusion by constructive community activity. This argued that:

I am troubled by the fact that former extremists are seen as the only people who know

how to deal with extremism. Just because you have been an inmate of a mental hospital

does not mean you are an expert in clinical psychology. But former extremists are being

lionised because they confirm the basic tabloid prejudice that violence is a natural part of

being a Muslim. So whose ignorance is being vindicated? Certainly the potential of anopen, unapologetic belief in Islam as a valuable part of British society is not on theagenda.

[19]

A day earlier the Guardians Religious affairs correspondent, Riazat Butt had summed up the

QFs proposals:

The foundations inaugural policy document suggests identifying potential terrorists, withsupport from family members and visitors to mosques, and exposing them hopefully

voluntarily to genuine religiosity through mainstream imams. Another tactic is to

encourage students to wear clothing suitable for mainstream society and not Pakistani

ethnic attire suitable for a different climate.[20]

Together with Owen Bowcott, Butt had reviewed the QFs launch and quoted Nawaz who:

insists the foundation is independent. (The money has come) mainly from Middle

Eastern businessmen and Muslims who are concerned about how Islam is being

abused.[21]
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-16http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-16http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-16http://national_endowment_for_democracy/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-17http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-17http://catherine_fieschi/http://catherine_fieschi/http://index.php/?title=Counterpoint&action=edit&redlink=1http://david_goodhart/http://index.php/?title=David_Green&action=edit&redlink=1http://civitas/http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-18http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-18http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-18http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-19http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-19http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-19http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-20http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-20http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-20http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-20http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-19http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-19http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-18http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-18http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://civitas/http://index.php/?title=David_Green&action=edit&redlink=1http://david_goodhart/http://index.php/?title=Counterpoint&action=edit&redlink=1http://catherine_fieschi/http://catherine_fieschi/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-17http://national_endowment_for_democracy/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-16http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-16


6/24

The Nexis results only reveal fairly recent articles and more recently the Guardian has been

critical of the QF. The author of Neoconservatism: Why We Need It Douglas MurraysOctober 2009 article noted the contradictions between Maajid Nawaz and Ed Husain, the co-

directors of QF, which he describes as a strange double-speak, noting:

Nawaz has clearly decided that the best way to deal with the authoritarianpronouncements of his co-director is to divert attention under the belief that contradictionis better than retraction. The importance of this episode is that it highlights something

that has become increasingly clear: that QF has become part of the problem rather than

the solution.[22]

Although largely bitching in tone Murrays criticisms are interesting because they cast somelight into the relationships between the clients and stooges, and the ruffled feathers of the

pecking order: who is recruiting and handling who?

I know very well how these people work because I used to employ some of them. Around

the time Ed Husain came to public notice, I recruited him to work with me(throughCivitas, the organisation that originally hosted the Centre for Social Cohesion).

He liked my views and I had great hopes for him to become a source for real reform. This

gave him the time and financial freedom to set up QF. But the increasing oddness of hisopinions (particularly relating to my own freedom of speech) meant that eventually we

parted ways. What is scandalous is that QF set up to counter extremists such as their

former colleagues in Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) has done nothing substantial to challenge HTin the UK or radicalisation on UK campuses, the things it was actually set up for.

[23]

Murray makes criticisms of the governments Contest agenda[24]

and Prevent strategy arguingthat it is not about spying, or rather it is about spying by social workers, youth-offending teams

and other such bodies. But the thrust of the article is an attack on QF: the toxic juncture atwhich intense personal ambition and government propaganda meet.

The Sun, Brit Muslims

News International Newspapers coverage of the QF is really only 4 stories in the Sun that putacross the QFs Brit Moslems stereotype, one of the articles was written by Ed Husain, that

somewhat glides over the problem of British foreign policy by arguing that Muslim leaders in the

UK and the culture they create are the heart of the problem:

WE have tens of thousands of Muslims who live in Britain physically but psychologically

are connected to Pakistan or other Muslim societies.

There is a huge radicalisation problem in the prison service there are 10,000 Muslims in jailsharing space with terrorism convicts. Our foreign policy might be an issue but there are four

million Muslims in America and it is at war in Afghanistan and in occupation in Iraq. Yet theydont have that kind of radicalisation. Why? My answer is there is a greater sense of belonging,

integration and shared participation between Muslims in America and we dont have that here

yet. Muslim leaders are in denial about the nature of the problem and would rather blame foreign
http://douglas_murray/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-21http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-21http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-21http://civitas/http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-22http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-22http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-22http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-23http://ed_husain/http://ed_husain/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-23http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-22http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-22http://centre_for_social_cohesion/http://civitas/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-21http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-21http://douglas_murray/


7/24

policy and the government than admit that we have got an infrastructural, institutional,

ideological problem.[25]

The second, earlier story is a profile ofMaajid Nawaz by the Suns Oliver Harvey (Chief

Features Writer[26]

), which is surprisingly sympathetic and yet establishes the narrative of the

reformed militant who:

travelled to terrorist haven Pakistan, aiming to spark a military coup and establish an

Islamic superstate [...] has drastically changed his views since those days [...] It wasduring the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and I felt increasingly that my society was

institutionally letting me down. [...] he was a prime target for being recruited into Hizbut-Tahrir, or HT then led by hate preacher Omar Bakri. [...] Quilliam Foundation

which is Government funded [...] Now Im proud of being British, proud of my country

and proud of being a Muslim. I dont see any contradiction.[27]

The third Sun story, from the month before, simply quotes the QFs survey findings that a

staggering 97 per cent of Muslim preachers in Britain are foreign [...] It is claimed this makes itdifficult for young British-born Muslims to get guidance from their local mosque.[28]

The fourth

Sun story, also from the previous month, quotes the QF as offering direction to moderate

groups as to how they can parrot the governments line on foreign policy:

THE Gaza conflict could spark a violent Islamic backlash in Britain, Muslim advisers

warned the PM yesterday. [...] Maajid Nawaz, of counter-extremism think-tank the

Quilliam Foundation, said moderate groups needed to be able to explain theGovernments stance to British Muslims. This would help them counter the view put by

hate-mongers that it was not doing enough or did not care about Palestinian deaths.[29]

This establishes the QF as Brit Muslims. Taken as a whole the Sun presents a very positiveimage of the QF: giving it space to write, drawing on its research, and quoting it as an authority.It ignores the questions raised about the QF in the Guardian and elsewhere and taken together

present a picture of the QF as playing a role indicative of a psychological warfare campaign.

The Times: but Quilliam says

After initially noting the launch of the QF in April (2008) as part of its Faith News,[30]

the

Times then later expressed interest that:

Almost 1 million of public money is being given to a think-tank run by two former

Islamic extremists, despite reservations being expressed by members of the Governmentand the Opposition.

[31]

Here Husain and Nawaz were also respectively described as a bestselling author, and [...] aformer political prisoner in Egypt, and the QF is described as:

working to tackle the extreme Islamist ideology coming out of mosques, universities

and madrassas in countries such as Syria and Pakistan. It also advises police and security
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-24http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-24http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-24http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-25http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-25http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-26http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-26http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-27http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-27http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-28http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-28http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-28http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-29http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-30http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-30http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-30http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-30http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-29http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-28http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-28http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-27http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-26http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-26http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-25http://index.php/?title=Maajid_Nawaz&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-24http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-24


8/24


9/24

Presumably our first expert is Evan Kohlmann a semi-professional expert whos credentials

would suggest that he is amenable to reinforcing a particular line on counter-terrorism.[35]

Alongwith Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy it has a close relationship with

several US agencies (alumni include George Tenet the former US CIA director, notable faculty

members include former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Undersecretary of

Defense Douglas Feith, former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, and formerSpanish President Jos Mara Aznar.But what do we know of The very reason that Abu

Qatada has been detained. Victoria Brittain in the Guardian (2 December 2008) noted along

with many other contributors in the Guardian[36]

that with Abu Qatada (also known as

Muhammad Othman)

Mr Justice Mitting, Othmans special advocate Angus McCollough, and his barristers

Edward Fitzgerald and Danny Freedman, all played their part in a complex legalprocedure in which the states secret evidence can never be effectively challenged.

Brittain notes the role of the authorities in leaking to the press:

The only clues, if they were indeed clues, and which came as the result of a leak from the

British authorities privy to the secret evidence, came in an article in the Sun, which

claimed that Othman was planning to break his bail and flee from Britain to Lebanon.[37]

In this vacuum the opinions of certain pundits expands. Kohlmann (employed on much the samebasis as Quilliam) and the QF are the main sources for the story that Qatada can communicate

from Jail, as the BBC reported it two days later.[38]

But this is couched in terms such asaccording to [...] said to be and adds that the Prison Service says Quilliams claims that it has

been incompetent are completely unfounded. According to the BBC:

statements have been appearing online under his name, circulating on both English andArabic language websites. In the statements, the writer using the name Qatadacongratulates al-Qaeda fighters, claims that the British government opposes Islam and

says Muslims should never join the police or army in a non-Muslim country.

What is simpler to achieve: smuggling writing out of a jail or simply typing in a name on a key

board? The BBC report adds that:

There is no direct proof that the statements were issued by Abu Qatada but Quilliamsays evidence links the posts to Islamist associates of Abu Qatada. The content of the

messages is also consistent with Abu Qatadas previous statements.

The QF are quoted as saying Time will tell how its done not providing evidence as to how itsdone. The BBCs report achieves the opposite effect of the uncritical Times story and quotes

Justice Minister Shahid Malik as stating:

Their so-called research doesnt actually have any evidence, theres no basis for thesecomments.
http://index.php/?title=Evan_Kohlmann&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-34http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-34http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-35http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-35http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-36http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-36http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-37http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-37http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-37http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-36http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-36http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-35http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-34http://index.php/?title=Evan_Kohlmann&action=edit&redlink=1


10/24

The fact is this is alarmist, theres no evidence thats been given to us, the research seems pretty

lame at best, and Ive got to say this is good for the Quilliam Foundation because theyre all

about publicity, theyve generated a lot of that.

So we can note that for Sean ONeill and Richard Fords report in the Times it is a fact that The

extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word rallying cry to his followers from insideone of Britains most secure prison units, not an unsubstantiated assertion. The basis for their

assertion is that security experts say. Kohlman (sic), is stated to have found the letter.

The QF can be seen in a more politically active role and aided by Times who quote the QFs

accusations concerning Osama Saeeds, adoption as the SNPs candidate in Glasgow Central,

unless he changes his views:

The foundation claims that Mr Saeed, a former spokesman for the Muslim Association of

Britain and who has set up the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF), has written in support

of a global Caliphate that would see the worlds 1.3 billion Muslims united in a

superpowerunder one leader a position, says the foundation, that is also espoused byal-Qaeda.[39]

The report does offer the SNPs view that this was a disgraceful smear and utterly

disreputable. The QF are also unhappy with the Saeeds Scottish Islamic Foundations Islamic

festival being given 215,000 by the Scottish government.

Sean ONeill, one of the authors of the credulous Kohlmann/Quilliam story, also warned of other

dangers:

A mosque frequented by the leader of the airline plot terrorist cell has been a recruiting

ground for extremists for more than 20 years. The Queens Road mosque inWalthamstow, northeast London, where Abdulla Ahmed Ali met his associates, is

controlled by the ultraorthodox Tablighi Jamaat. Intelligence services around the world

believe that Tablighis fundamentalism makes some of its followers easy prey forterrorist recruiters.

[40]

The report draws on security sources although the only one is identified:

Ed Husain, of the Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist think-tank, said the first contact

with radicals for many young Muslims was at British colleges and universities. In the1990s it was Arab political refugees, not Pakistanis, that helped radicalise many British

Muslims, he said. Pakistani militants provide training for wouldbe violent Islamists.But they go out radicalised and willing it is folly to think that visits to Pakistan arepoints of first contact with extremism.

Although ONiell does draw on his own experienceI remembering that 20 years ago he attendedone of those meetings as a reporter in August 1989 and heard young men decry the evils of

drink, discos and free intermingling of the sexes. The point of the story is to argue that:
http://index.php/?title=Osama_Saeed&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-38http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-38http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-38http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-39http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-39http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-39http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-39http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-39http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-38http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-38http://index.php/?title=Osama_Saeed&action=edit&redlink=1


11/24

Islamist extremism is deeply rooted in elements of the large Muslim population.

The Observer

Ed Husain of the QF was the first to write of the QF in the Observer with an (2008) article titled

Its Arabs who are showing us how to tackle extremism which says almost nothing abouttackling extremism.

[41]

The following month it provided a sympathetic report on the death threats the QF stated it was

receiving:

Websites set up by opponents have carried photographs of its director engaged in what

they deem to be un-Islamic behaviour. Particular vitriol is reserved for Jemima Khan

the former wife of the Pakistan politician and former cricketer Imran Khan who will beattending the launch.

[42]

Jamie Doward, the Observers Home Affairs Editor, used QFs Ed Husain and internationaldirector of the Centre for Islamic PluralismIrfan al-Alawis testimony to argue that Dr DaudAbdullah, deputy director-general of the Muslim Council of Britain and the Islam Expo should

be vilified. The story appeared in three different forms.[43]

The only other story on the QF in the Observer was written by Maajid Nawaz filling in forNick

Cohen.[44]

So none of the debate present in the Guardian by Milne is evident in the Observer.

The IndependentApart from an e-mail exchange which applauded the QF for trying to debate with the QF are

mentioned in connection to and enquiry as to whether British Muslims were involved in the

terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The QF are quoted amongst security officials and an unnamed

senior source:

Ed Husain, director of the Quilliam Foundation, a think-tank that campaigns against

extremism, said of the reports of British involvement in the attacks: British Muslim

leaders need to take their heads out of the sand and begin systematically dismantling thewarped theology that has inspired these and other attacks. Unless our government is

bolder in identifying Islamism as the root cause of extremism, we will only be respondingto and not preventing terrorism. Extremist Islamist groups continue to hold events inEngland and recruit new followers. Radical Islamism has no place in our country.

[45]

Some months later Ed Husains article Where is the Muslim anger over Darfur? appeared,which questioned anger directed towards the West:
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-40http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-40http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-40http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-41http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-41http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-41http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Irfan_al-Alawi&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-42http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-42http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-42http://nick_cohen/http://nick_cohen/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-43http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-43http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-44http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-44http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-44http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-44http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-44http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-43http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-43http://nick_cohen/http://nick_cohen/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-42http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-42http://index.php/?title=Irfan_al-Alawi&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-41http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-41http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-40http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-40


12/24

When the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese leader,

President Bashir, in March, Muslim politicians from Senegal to Malaysia rallied behindhim. The same people who demand international justice for war crimes in Lebanon and

Gaza abruptly changed their tune. Instead of denouncing Bashir as the architect of ethnic

cleansing, they congratulated him for defying the conspiracy to undermine Sudans

sovereignty so the West can take its oil. The Iranian Parliamentary Speaker, Ali Larijani,said the ICC warrant was an insult to the Muslim world.[46]

This was then generalised to I have lived in Arab countries and seen first hand the racism and

bigotry that commands the minds of the Arab political class.

Husain draws on academic sources here including the neoconservative Salim Mansur

(and Wole Soyinka). Mansur is with the neoconservative Center for Security Policy, and he has

often written in praise of the Israeli State:

Any decent human being, including Muslims, should ask the simple question what is the

basis of Arab claim to historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its political and spiritualcentre? The answer is transparently simple. Arab rights to historic Palestine rest on the

force of arms and military conquest. But what is garnered by sword may also be taken

away by sword.[47]

In a (lengthy) diatribe Daniel Pipes notes[48]

Mansurs involvement with the Center on IslamicPluralism, run by recent convert Stephen Suleyman Schwartz which resembles the QF to a

certain extent. Schwartz was also with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Husains use ofMekuria Bulcha then enables him to put forward the opinions that: Blacks are

viewed by Arabs as racially inferior, and Arab violence against blacks has a long, turbulent

record [...] Arabs and Islam are guilty of the cultural and spiritual savaging of the Continent;and that Any attempt to confront persistent Arab racism is shouted down by appeals toArab/African solidarity against the neo-colonialist West, a sentiment that seldom moves beyond

slogans. Quotes such as Slavery is part of Islam. Slavery is part of jihad and jihad will remain

as long as there is Islam. It has not been abolished, drawn from Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, amember of the senior council of Wahhabi clerics responsible for writing Saudi school text

books. In some respects Husains comments mirror those ofCaroline Coxs work on Darfur,

only with more extreme language.

For Husain all that the Arab League summits deliberations on Darfur amounted to was the

usual denunciations of Israel and America. He closes by noting that:

Muslims amnesia about Darfur is also symptomatic of the malaise affecting the public

face of a faith that lacks the confidence to engage in constructive debate or renewal. Until

Muslims can be self-critical without being condemned as heretics, there will be atrophywhere there should be vibrancy, and polarisation and extremism where there should be

tolerance and inclusiveness. Darfurs tragedy is fast becoming an indelible stain on the

collective name of Islam and Muslims.
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-45http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-45http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-45http://index.php/?title=Salim_Mansur&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Wole_Soyinka&action=edit&redlink=1http://center_for_security_policy/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-46http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-46http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-46http://daniel_pipes/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-47http://index.php/?title=Center_on_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Center_on_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Stephen_Suleyman_Schwartz&action=edit&redlink=1http://foundation_for_the_defense_of_democracies/http://index.php/?title=Mekuria_Bulcha&action=edit&redlink=1http://caroline_cox/http://caroline_cox/http://index.php/?title=Mekuria_Bulcha&action=edit&redlink=1http://foundation_for_the_defense_of_democracies/http://index.php/?title=Stephen_Suleyman_Schwartz&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Center_on_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Center_on_Islamic_Pluralism&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-47http://daniel_pipes/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-46http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-46http://center_for_security_policy/http://index.php/?title=Wole_Soyinka&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Salim_Mansur&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-45http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-45


13/24

The purpose of the article was to try to encourage Muslims to turn their anger away from Gaza

and the Lebanon to join in Western condemnation of Sudanese leader, President Bashir.

The Express

The Express earliest mention of the QF included a flattering appreciation ofJemima Khan,which noticed that she had become:

the target of death threats from Islamist fundamentalists when she pledged her

allegiance to a new organisation set up to fight against just the kind of religious hatredshe is now experiencing.

[49]

The report (the threats are unspecified) which coincided with the launch of the QF argued that it

was set up to fight against just the kind of religious hatred she is now experiencing, and that

she was no stranger to such dangers:

In a recent newspaper column, she recalled the 2004 election campaign when shementioned studying a Salman Rushdie novel for her university thesis. A mob of crazedand politicised mullahs allied to the party created by [Pakistan President] Pervez

Musharraf insisted that this admission was tantamount to apostasy, that my citizenship be

revoked and that I be thrown out of the country, she wrote. They took out full-page

newspaper ads inciting people to riot outside our home. Bearded fundos took to thestreets with placards bearing my name and the word infidel. The incident was far from

isolated.[50]

The article conflates this type of hate campaign with criticisms of her role as a patron of the

Quilliam Foundation, particularly with mention of a website called Quilliam Exposed and

possibly tarnished Khans reputation further by mentioning that Yasmin Alibhai-Brown supportsher.

Indeed one of the many unexplained aspects of the instigation of the QF was how its patrons and

advisory board was put together and for what purpose.

Almost a year later the express picked up on a new report to state:

A number of Muslim schools in England and Wales are promoting Islamic extremism

and encouraging pupils to grow up despising Britain. Youngsters are discouraged fromplaying cricket and board games, listening to western music and even reading

Shakespeare or Harry Potter by fanatics targeting classrooms, the research says. Somechildren are even being told to shun the evil system of western culture and encouraged

to live in ghettos. The vile diktats appear on school websites or on other sites linkeddirectly to school sites. Moderate Muslim groups welcomed the findings and called for

the attempts by extremists to target children to be stamped out. The propaganda comes in

a report called Music, Chess and Other Sins from the Westminster-based think tankCivitas.

[51]
http://index.php/?title=Jemima_Khan&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-48http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-48http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-48http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-49http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-49http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-49http://index.php/?title=Yasmin_Alibhai-Brown&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-50http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-50http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-50http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-50http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-50http://index.php/?title=Yasmin_Alibhai-Brown&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-49http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-49http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-48http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-48http://index.php/?title=Jemima_Khan&action=edit&redlink=1


14/24

The last line is slightly confusing (or indeed something of a clarification) and was presumably

intended to mean that Civitas reported on propaganda rather than provide it. Maajid Nawaz,although mentioned as director of the Quilliam Foundation set up to counter extremism, is

quoted as saying: If this is whats written on websites, I dread to think whats going on in

classrooms. But Civitas and the QFs relationship is unexplored. Much the same story was run

under the byline of Macer Hall the Express Political Editor. Here the propaganda line waschanged to say:

The propaganda is highlighted in a report called Music, Chess and Other Sins from the

Westminsterbased think tank Civitas.[52]

The Civitas report was written by Denis MacEoin who has a PhD degree from Kings College,Cambridge and may be remembered from the (December 2007) BBC Newsnight programme

which argued that evidence on which MacEoins report on radical Islam forPolicy Exchange,had been forged.

[53][54]MacEoin was appointed as editor ofThe Middle East Forums neocon

propaganda outlet the Middle East Quarterly.[55]

MacEoin is also part of the Centre for Social

Cohesion.

The other article in the Express which mentions the QF stated that: Its claimed, but it does not

say by who, that up to 4,000 young Muslims, from many areas of the UK, have turned theirbacks on their homeland. Bitter and resentful, they appearwilling to travel to any part of the

world to fight against invading forces from the West.[56]

The story seems to emanate from the military as it notes:

In the past few months they have reported eavesdropping on accents from the West

Midlands, Yorkshire and East London. These areas are said to be hotbeds for recruitment

by extremist Muslim groups, which are targeting mosques, colleges and prisons in anincreasingly dirty war against the West.

Other sources as MI5 and Ed Husain of the QF is offered as an example, with his testimony

reinforced by James Brandon.

There is no criticism or explanation of the activities of the QF offered in the Express.

The Sunday Times

The Sunday Times first story on the QF, in April 2008, offered Jemima Khans support of the

QF as its focus with its title Jemima Khan backs reformed jihadists. Its introduction posed thedilemma that the government faces which it framed in the question: how far should it use

draconian legal measures to combat terrorism and how much should it trust moderate Muslimsand reformed jihadists to win over extremists.


15/24

saying he attended a meeting at the Home Office in 2007 where he set out his plans for

deradicalising extremists to Tony McNulty, and was offered funding:

I told him [McNulty] everything [about my radical past]. I told him I understand the

[radical] mindset perfectly at the end of it we were offered money. I said no to the

money. Ive made this problem myself. I can deal with it myself. I just want you guys tosupport me.[57]

After casting some doubt on Butts loyalties[58]

, the Sunday Times article states that the QF hasnot received any government funding, and is engaged in the process of promoting the view that

mainstream Islam does not condone violence or jihad. Ed Husain, is quoted as saying:

For the first time in western Muslim history, a Muslim group is challenging extremistsusing a scriptural and theological paradigm. There has not been a categorical refutation of

Islamism by any Muslim groups, we are the first to do it.

It also quotes Majid Nawaz, as stating (somewhat confusingly and reminiscent of Mrs Thatcher):

Extremist groups should be starved of the oxygen and tackled in debates. It will be along struggle, but its something we need to do.

Husains claim of originality led to a letter by Taj Hargey claiming that his organisation,

the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, had waged a campaign for Muslim theological self

empowerment by exposing the fallacy of traditional scriptural readings, and that it had started is

own think tank: the Oxford Centre for British Islam.[59]

The Sunday Times other story is an uncritical enthusiastic appreciation of the QF and notes that

it will have a deradicalisation unit to penetrate cells and schools and the poor, excluded areaswhere extremism breeds, it adds:

Peter Neumann, director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political

Violence, says of Quilliam: These guys are uniquely positioned to take on the

arguments. They have credibility. This is definitely a step in the right direction.[60]

The article also offers an extension of its argument into a wide generalisation influenced by

abstract qualities:

But, however insulted the majority may feel (and if the blogs are anything to go by,

feelings are running high), the Quilliam Foundation has reminded Muslims that althoughthey may be blameless individually, the community has not yet lived up to its moralobligation to confront the dark side, the lunatic, fanatic fringes of its own.

[61]

The fourth Sunday Times story reproduces a short version ofJames Brandons allegations thatAbu Qatada smuggled three rallying cries to potential terrorists out of prison

[62]

The Daily Mail
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-56http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-56http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-56http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-57http://index.php/?title=Taj_Hargey&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Muslim_Educational_Centre_of_Oxford&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-58http://index.php/?title=Oxford_Centre_for_British_Islam&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-58http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-58http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_the_Study_of_Radicalisation_and_Political_Violence&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_the_Study_of_Radicalisation_and_Political_Violence&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-59http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-59http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-60http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-60http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-60http://james_brandon/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-61http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-61http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-61http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-61http://james_brandon/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-60http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-60http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-59http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-59http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_the_Study_of_Radicalisation_and_Political_Violence&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Centre_for_the_Study_of_Radicalisation_and_Political_Violence&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-58http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-58http://index.php/?title=Oxford_Centre_for_British_Islam&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Muslim_Educational_Centre_of_Oxford&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=Taj_Hargey&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-57http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-56http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-56


16/24

The Daily Mails coverage of the QF began with a focus on Jemima Khan and gives undue

attention to the threats made to the QF, noting in April 2008, that the source of the information

on the death threats seems vauge:

ISLAMIC fundamentalists have threatened Jemima Khan with death for supporting a

Muslim think-tank which preaches religious tolerance. Mrs Khan is a patron of theQuilliam Foundation, recently set up by two reformed members of the outlawed extremistorganisation Hizb ut Tahrir. The organisation has received death threats by phone and

email for all involved one has even referred to Mrs Khan by name, it is believed.[63]

After quoting from fundamentalist websites who criticise her lifestyle, it quotes Khan as

saying:

I cant claim to speak for Muslims. I am certainly very far from most peoples image of

what a good Muslim is and that makes me an easy target for those who dont want

Quilliam to succeed. Someone has to stand up and tell the truth that there is no conflict

between being British and being Muslim. Someone has to give moderate Muslims aoiceand I believe that Quilliam is that organisation.

It also tells us that was Ed Husain threatened two weeks ago by disgruntled members of Hizb ut

Tahrir, but there is no actual detail on what the QF does or intends to do, or why Khan was

involved or who else is in the organisation.

The Daily Mail also ran a February 2009 story by Stephen Glover, broadly supporting Geert

Wilders that presented him as staying within certain bounds and bemoaning:

Why, then, should Mr Wilders have been banned from coming here? [...] an age-old and

cherished principle that of free speech has been torn up and thrown away.

[64]

Glover contrasts this treatment with a lengthy list of counter-examples relating to Muslims andeventually a paedophile:

Yet our Government has indulged and protected a number of extreme imams who havegone far further than Mr Wilders in preaching hate. For example, the radical cleric Abu

Hamza was allowed to rail against homosexuals and women in bikinis for years before he

was finally sentenced for soliciting murder. As Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone

embraced a Muslim cleric called Yusuf al-Qaradawi when he visited City Hall in 2005with the full permission of HM Government. Al-Qaradawi had been criticised for

condoning suicide bombings and for having anti-Semitic and homophobic views. LastNovember, the same Jacqui Smith, who now raises the drawbridge against Mr Wilders,granted a radical propagandist called Ibrahim Moussawi a six-month visa so that he could

speak at a conference in London on Islam. Moussawi once allegedly described Jews as a

lesion on the forehead of history. There are endless examples of the Government turninga blind eye to extreme Islamists so that they are allowed to say whatever they want in this

country. Nor is it above accepting people who have been sentenced for serious non-

religious offences, including a 61-year-old convicted paedophile who had lived in
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-62http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-62http://index.php/?title=Stephen_Glover&action=edit&redlink=1http://geert_wilders/http://geert_wilders/http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-63http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-63http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-63http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-63http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-63http://geert_wilders/http://geert_wilders/http://index.php/?title=Stephen_Glover&action=edit&redlink=1http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-62http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-62


17/24

Australia for 56 years. Many people would judge him a much greater threat than Mr

Wilders.[65]

It contrasts the view of the Home Secretary with that of the QF, who, it argues support Wildersright to speak. No detail on the QF is provided apart from that it exists to: to promote moderate

Islam. Stephen Glovers article also expresses outrage that the Church of Englands GeneralSynod voted in favour of banning priests from belonging to the British National Party, which heassures us is a legal organisation. The article concludes by asserting that the Home Secretary is

is guilty of further corrupting our precious values, and maintains:

In the banning of Mr Wilders there is a collision of two traditions you could say aclash of cultures. One, which is partly associated with the more extreme forms of Islam,

opposes open debate and seeks to ban its opponents, or otherwise, to shut them up. The

other, which is in the spirit of Western Enlightenment, accepts differences. Voltairefamously said that he might not agree with his opponents beliefs, but he would fight to

the death for his right to express them.

The Daily Mail also ran a story on a charity worker, Dr Faisal Mostafa, twice cleared of terror

charges in this country who was being hunted in Bangladesh after explosives were seized at an

orphanage he founded. Mostafa was said to have ran Green Crescent, a charity that providedhumanitarian aid to families in Bangladesh and Pakistan. A spokesman for counterterrorism

think-tank the QF is quoted as saying:

If Green Crescent has been involved in militant activity, this will reflect very poorly onthe Charity Commission, particularly given that Mostafa, the head of the charity, had

previously been put on trial twice for terrorist offences. Ineffectiveness by the Charity

Commission in identifying and tackling extremist charities leads to the British taxpayer

directly subsiding militancy.

[66]

The story was also picked up by the QFs James Brandon and reproduced on The JamestownFoundations website.

[67]

The Daily Telegraph

Two stories on the QF appear in the The Daily Telegraph: Charles Moores attack on HomeSecretary Jacqui Smith in relation to Geert Wilders invitation to the House of Lords and his

anti-Muslim film Fitna. This offers Moores thoughts on Wilders: who he believes set out that

Islam is irredeemably evil which he does not comment on, and Moores view that Wilders

belief that Islam is not another leaf on the tree of religion but a totalitarian political ideology,which Moore believes is wrong, on a technicality concerning monotheism (the totalitarian

aspect remains unchallenged.[68]

Although he sways between mockery, Moore asserts that the

treatment of Wilders contravenes a key democratic principle about the power of legislators to

talk to one another. Moore argues that Wilders has set out that Islam is irredeemably evil,

for Moore then, Wilders is only half right, and he offers a correction:
http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-64http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-64http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-64http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-65http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-65http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-65http://users/williamclark/Documents/neocon%20work/The%20Quilliam%20Foundation%20and%20the%20Media%20-%20Neocon%20Europe.webarchive#cite_note-66http://james_brandon/http://index.php/?title=The_Jamestown_Foundation&action=edit&redlink=1http://index.php/?title=The_Jamestown_Foundation&action=edit&am