Black Hebrew Israelites Turn to Antisemitic Terrorism

“Black Hebrew Israelite” is a term that is applied to a range of groups, whose origins lie in the great late 19th century flourishing of new religious movements which include the Nation of Islam. Just as the Nation of Islam is defined by its heterodox take on Islam, the Black Hebrew Israelites syncretise aspects of
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Bosnia, Kosovo, Syria: Western Inaction and Radicalisation

Since the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London, it has been commonplace to hear it argued that the “root cause” of terrorism is Western foreign policy: and specifically, the interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Radicalisation is not monocausal. Ideological, personal and psychological factors all have a role to play in the process. But if we are
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UK Terror Attack: Rehabilitating extremists is hard, but it can be done!

This week’s terrorist attack in London by Usman Khan shows yet again why the international community must remain more vigilant than ever against extremism. Khan himself was previously convicted and sentenced to 16 years for plotting to blow up the London Stock exchange and was deeply inspired by the American ideologue, Anwar Al Awlaki.  Furthermore,
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How Britain Failed To Stop Usman Khan

We now know that the London Bridge terrorist, Usman Khan, was “a student and personal friend” of the Al Muhajiroun leader, Anjem Choudary. Following his conviction for terrorist offences, he served six years in prison. As Hannah Stuart, Head of Research at the Commission for Countering Extremism, noted in 2017, a high percentage of British
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The Numbers Game

When the genie is out of the bottle, it’s not easy to put it back When I was growing up in the North of England in the 1970s, we were told of a mythical number of British Jews, a number which would always be there. It was 410,000. There had always been 410,000 and there
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The Alt-Right is Resurgent. Trump Doesn’t Seem to Care

It has been more than a week since the conservative student organization Turning Point USA’s unintentionally ephemeral event, in which Donald Trump Junior was supposed to speak on his newly released book, banally titled Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us. The fact that he was de-platformed by far-right activists
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The Perils of Mainstreaming Islamism: Sahar Al-Faifi and Plaid Cymru

In our paper for the Commission for Countering Extremism,  Mainstreaming Islamism: Islamist institutions and civil society organisations, published last month, we considered the energy that Islamist organisations devote to forming links with mainstream institutions, and the risks that those bodies run when they create such relationships. One of the focuses of our paper was the
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Money over Morality: The NBA’s Shameful Capitulation to Tyranny

From elementary to high school, whenever I would practice on the basketball hoop in front of my house, I’d imagine myself as then Phoenix Suns’ star point guard Steve Nash.  A recipient of back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards, feared sharpshooter, passing wizard, and all-around basketball masterclass, Nash is widely considered to be one of the
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Mainstreaming Islamism: Islamist Institutions and Civil Society Organisations

This paper has been commissioned and published by the Commission for Countering Extremism. You may read it in full, here. Throughout the 1990s and into the first decades of this century, a speaking circuit consisting of a series of preachers with a deep attachment to islamist political and religious theory toured a number of British
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Analysis and Comments on a Friday Sermon (Khutba) at Didsbury Mosque, Manchester, c. December 2016

With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful We, Usama Hasan and Salah al-Ansari, have between us, over 50 years’ experience of serving as imams in Egypt and England, since we both began as imams in our teens. This includes over 45 years’ experience of delivering Friday sermons, an important and influential religious duty since
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