Satmar Ideology and Lifestyle (part 2): The Charedi Worldview

This is a cross post by Izzy Posen In my last post in the series I used various illustrations in order to make sense of the interconnectivity of charedi communities. One of them was the imagery of nested circles. But truth be told, that was just an approximation. To more fully represent the way in which
Read more...

Satmar Ideology and Lifestyle (part 1): Introduction to Ultra-Orthodox Sectarianism

This is a cross post by Izzy Posen In the last couple of posts I explored Satmar’s history. In the next couple of posts I will be exploring aspects of Satmar’s ideology and way of life: How does Satmar view the world? What does it expect of its members? How do Satmar individuals live? How do
Read more...

Covid 19 and British Exceptionalism

When we talk about British exceptionalism, we usually mean the chauvinistic, jingoistic sense of British specialness that says because we are so brave, and clever, and jolly decent, destiny will always be kind to us, and to hell with facts, logic, evidence and all such stuff and nonsense – we shall prevail because we’re British.
Read more...

Comedians, sceptics and dissenters will be targeted by Scotland’s proposed “stirring up hatred” offence

You might have missed it in all the recent excitement, but last month, Scotland introduced legislation to abolish its antiquated and rarely used blasphemy law. That’s good news. Blasphemy laws are incompatible with freedom of belief and expression. We might describe blasphemy – politely – as “robust doctrinal disagreement”: and it is the reason that
Read more...

Satmar History (part 3): The Narcissism of Minor Differences

This is a cross post by Izzy Posen (Pictured: Ahron to the left of the image and Zalman Leib to the right) By the late 90s Satmar was flourishing in all chassidic centres around the world. Wherever chassidim lived Satmar had a strong influence. Institutions were being built at unprecedented rates and enough babies were being
Read more...

The Islamist Associations of Trevor Phillips’ Accusers

At the end of April, Trevor Phillips was the subject of a letter calling for him to be removed from an inquiry by Public Health England into the apparently disproportionate mortality rates suffered by members of minority groups from infection by the COVID 19 virus. A number of these groups whose names appear on this
Read more...

How did the Coronavirus Pandemic Begin? Conspiracy Theories and Alternative Explanations

The global devastation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic has prompted a deluge of questions about how exactly we got here. People have criticized lethargic governmental responses, the WHO’s malpractice, the utility of globalized supply chains, among many other things. But perhaps the most pertinent of these questions is the following: How did COVID19 first make
Read more...

Satmar’s History (part 2): Rebbes and Satellites

This is a cross post by Izzy Posen As I start the third post in this series, it is worth reminding my readers what I emphasised in the introduction to the series: I am not an academic historian. I have not extensively researched this topic from data and academic literature. Most of what I write
Read more...

Free Webinar – Reinterpreting the Islamic Penal Code: Abolition of Hudood and the Struggle against Islamism

Quilliam International is holding a webinar with Sheikh Dr. Usama Hasan and Maajid Nawaz on our latest report, “Reinterpreting the Islamic Penal Code“. Following the announcement of the Saudi government that it will end flogging as a form of punishment, the report is intended to explain the fit between a proper reading of contemporary Islamic
Read more...

Press Release: Abolishing corporal punishments will help defeat islamist extremism

PRESS RELEASE  1 May 2020  Abolishing corporal punishments will help defeat islamist extremism Saudi reforms directly challenge ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim Brotherhood & Khomeinist ideology  LONDON – Counter-extremism thinktank, Quilliam International, has published a powerful rebuttal of the argument that hudood punishments (severe corporal and capital punishment) are required by Islamic law.   In April
Read more...