MY BROTHER THE ISLAMIST

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b010758h/My_Brother_the_Islamist/

Do check out this doco as it is great. Just the sort of thing I wanted to make all those years ago. Because the guy is the film makers brother he is allowed to tell a realistic story about the good and the worrying things about his brother rather than one wrapped up in a load of crap. Good on him.

More about the experience here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12900460
..

Camerons Muscular Plan

...Speaking to a security conference in the German city of Munich, Mr Cameron said that the threat of terrorism must be confronted not only though intelligence and surveillance, but by taking on the ideology of Islamist extremism at home.

"Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism," the Prime Minister said.

While a "passively tolerant" society allowed its citizens to do what they like, so long as they do not break the law, a genuinely liberal country "believes in certain values and actively promotes them," Mr Cameron said.

"Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Democracy. The rule of law. Equal rights, regardless of race, sex or sexuality. It says to its citizens: This is what defines us as a society. To belong here is to believe these things.

"Each of us in our own countries must be unambiguous and hard-nosed about this defence of our liberty."

The Prime Minister stressed that right-wing extremists and Christian fundamentalist preachers of hate must also be condemned.

He also insisted that a clear distinction must be made between the religion of Islam and the political ideology of Islamist extremism...

..

One in four is Muslim

A report from an American think-tank has estimated 1.57 billion Muslims populate the world - with 60% in Asia.

The report, by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, took three years to compile, with census data from 232 countries and territories...

..

Communities Talking

...This weekend John Denham compared today's far right to Oswald Mosley's 1930s fascists, and announced a drive to counter the extremists within white working-class communities. Yet it won't do for the government to extend its current counter-terrorist policies to treat the white working classes as another "at risk" category. It should first reflect on just how effective the policy has been...

... Last week, the imam giving the Friday address at the Harrow mosque invited those outside, who were calling for no more mosques in Europe, inside for talks. That would be a good start: polemics cannot be a substitute for understanding and reconciliation.

I am heartened by the reaction from the Imam. In Finsbury park years ago I tried to arrange an opportunity for members of the UBA to put their concerns to Mr Hamza as a lot of them had come all the way from Yorkshire. Not surprisingly in the situation it didn't work which I thought was a shame but I managed to record one interesting exchange when they returned a little while after Hamza's arrest.

What are we fighting for?

Very good question from Panorama

..

MORE JENVEY

OK, so it looks like The International Analyst Network didn't like Mr Jenvey's recent updates and have removed them, so they are currently only available on a Pravda forum.

I don't know Mr Jenvey but have had contact with him about all this as recorded here, and I was helping him a bit with some editing of the second piece when this news came through. I have also heard from one of the Islam4UK guys (Mr Waleed) about their recent encounter with Mr Jenvey.

He said that not surprisingly a lot of them didn't really know how to deal with meeting him when he came down to London and spent the day with them, but that after meeting him they feel his conversion is genuine. He told me that they had been reasurred by the Koran which carries stories of Mohammed's enemies converting.


As I have also said before, none of this makes any difference to me but I do find it all fascinating. Being an ex- born again Christian myself who used to knock on peoples doors and tell them about Jesus conversion stories are obviously going to be an interest of mine. Maybe this seems like an unnatural interest but I don't think I will be converting any time soon. I think I am still a bit of a slave to some addictions, even ones which I don't partake in anymore cause me worry sometimes but I don't really see the hand of Satan in it all, its just brainwaves, direction, motivations and concepts.

I found myself watching Abu Haffs lecture about Music Are You On the Right Track on the Islam4UK site. I think I asked this guy if he wanted to make some films after their meeting in Euston one time. Personally none of this moves me or resonates with me at all. I spent most of my time watching it thinking "Get to the bloody point!" but then I am a bloody musician innit so thats probably not surprising. Reading my own writing I am obviously happy for Mr Jenvey, if he is happy.

There are bloggers I know about as well as I know him who might have reason to dislike and mistrust him, I have no idea if these reasons are founded or not. To me he is now just another colourful Muslim I have come across who doesn't believe people should blow up random strangers here and as long as they don't I feel I must treat all of them the same way really.

To maybe provide a bit more perspective of where I am, I missed all this because I was in France doing a show. I just got word of some pictures on a britanny photographers Flash based website. If you click here and follow the links > "Spectacles"> "Vos galeries (...privées) > "The impossible" you can see them.

This sort of thing is much more my focus these days. I rarely examine my beliefs or my perspective on what is "success" in terms of film. In terms of filming Islamists or anyone else for that matter I still think the main thing I believe in is simply documenting. Although I haven't had any success in worldly terms I find I still hold this belief quite strongly and although I live in London and have done for a while now I try to keep hold of a very un-London attitude to hurry. This only seems to bother other road users for some reason.

UPDATE: Omar Hamza Jenvey has reappeared here
..

INTEGRATION

This is Abu Waleed explaining where he is at in relation to this country and government policy at the moment in a talk about Integration at the London School of Shariah

Islamic Struggles in Scotland

via Andrew on pickledpolitics here

..."They've become so comfortable in their offices that they've ignored the social needs of their members, or are just so cut off that they don't even realise what's going on - street crime, gangs, burglaries, violence, drug abuse and dealing."

The old guard have been able to maintain the status quo by having sole control over who was selected to join the mosque management board, the young reformers' claim. On Thursday, talks between the two camps reached deadlock and two of the mosque's trustees, who normally remain neutral, backed reform. The president and secretary of the mosque will meet trustees next month to outline reforms.

Siddaqat Khan, 31, who negotiated for the reformers, said: "The older guys thought there was a threat to their kingdom. But society changes. The older generation are focused on being Pakistani, whereas we're focused on being British. That's where the clash happens. British society doesn't work by shutting itself off in a mosque."

According to Humza Yousaf, director of public affairs for the Scottish Islamic Foundation, breaking down the "gatekeeper mentality" of the older generation is essential for the long-term stability of the Muslim community.

..

ISLAM 4 QUAKERS

The Islam4UK meeting reported in some papers as cancelled, was moved from The Hilton hotel round the corner to the Quaker meeting house. The Quakers are quite well known for letting anyone hire a room. I was once told by a Quaker part of what sounded like a huge untold story about the importance of their meeting house in Belfast during "The Troubles".

As usual we were accomodated to film really politely without fuss. As usual also when I seem to film these things interesting things happen after the batteries run out.

A few speakers, most of whom I have seen before outlined the conditions for Muslims who spoke out being tortured around the world and languishing in British jails. They also told us Islam was going to take over, whether we liked it or not. Mr Choudhary is convinced that Muslims who stick out in the media are the ones who are going in the right direction. He reasons that the Koran isn't written about Muslims who kept quiet.

He finnished his talk putting straight the recent stories about him in the media, which we unfortunately missed filming. His relationships with journalists as they cast him on the border of acceptable free speech is one of the main things that interests me. Afterwards a happy looking Somali stood up to question, stating that he was proud to be British. He didn't have very good English and started telling more of a story than asking a question, but it was obvious he was a Muslim trying to challenge the platforms concept of Islam.

Afterwards he came over to me and took my phone number with an idea of using my tapes, and further explained his disatisfaction with how Islam was being presented by these people. I didn't really say anything as it isn't my religion and my problems would probably extend as much to his version of Islam as these guys. People often ask to use my tapes for this or that, I have had people approach me- people from the National Front, the BBC, various Islamic film makers all of whom I have had to turn down. It would be useless for me to spend such a long time gaining peoples confidence just to give my footage to a stranger to say what they like with.

I try and film what is. They certainly preach controversial things, yet they also preach clearly against terrorism, usually toward the end every time I have been to these meetings. Islam is coming. It is going to dominate whether we like it or not. Maybe it will come through violence. We don't know but the flag of Islam will fly over Downing street. This is a sort of Islamic revival meeting.

Afterwards journalists of all description ask futher questions, everyone conducts themselves in a calm manner and food is served. There was a very minimal Police presence outside at the beginning and when I left. They were obviously aware of what was going on but didn't want to be seen to be taking too much of an interest.

The day after I got a call from the Somali guy, claiming he had been spoken to in a bit of a hostile manner by some of the gathered Muslims, telling him not to come back.

This is unsurprising in environments which split the sexes, I saw this sort of thing in Finsbury but nevertheless I do find it dissapointing in that if Mr Choudhary makes a point of saying how The Quilliam Foundation had turned down his challenge to a debate in this country of free speech, I would hope he would welcome challenges to his own position within his meeting and allow those challengers to move unmolested.

I'd like to see how much control he has over his people, if he encourages this sort of thing or if he can nip it in the bud. It is this sort of thing which has the media and the Police comparing these controversial Muslim groups to paler groups of the far right. As I have said, everyone treats me OK. Lets see what happens. There were sobber looking real journalists there in the room so if they didn't go around screaming I am fucked if I am going to.

They talk about wanting to dominate but I can't imagine anyone in the room walking out dead set to dominate England tomorow. As far as a threat I feel much more threatened out on a typical saturday night often by people I would call my personal friends so work that one out. On our planet we have these people called news editors who cherry pick words from a distance and are paid to present these words to millions of people. I have some more film which will be up on my Youtube site soon as.

..

MCB

Really strange turn of events. I remember when I was first filming with Hamza et al they painted the MCB as enemies and government stooges. Now the MCB themselves are supposed to be extremists. Brian Whitaker makes some interesting points in The Guardian here, everyone is discussing on Pickled Politics here.

I don't really give a shit either way. MCB, JCB, PCP, whatever I just film people from time to time. I don't give a fuck about government money. Society is suffering because people don't talk to each other. Its really suffering. Talk to people.

I have been reading a lot about Nick Cohen says the left should "take a stance against" these people or some other person is "taking a stance" against Fingus McMuslim who says stuff I disagree with- I don't even understand what this means. I think these writers have a seriously overinflated idea about what the fuck effect "their stance" has on jibbering shit- probably because they are paid for writing stuff a lot of people who aren't tempted by extwemism read.

If I "Take a Stance" will it pwevent extwemism? Will it fuck. I am going to stick to just talking to people. It might make a difference, who knows?

..

Islam taking root in Kalash valley

CHITRAL: A young Kalashi boy who converted to Islam on Friday said that he was “feeling good after the conversion”. ...District Khateeb Maulana Khaleequz Zaman told the Hindukush Journalist Forum that a Karachi-based trust was supporting the conversion of indigenous Kalash people to Islam. “We motivate the Kalash people to embrace Islam,” the khateeb said. “It is our religious duty to make Kalash people Muslim.” Maulana Zaman appealed to all Muslims to help and support newly converted Muslim people. Experts warn that the indigenous Kalash culture will become extinct in the next 20 years as 15 per cent of the Kalash people convert to Islam every year.

Obviously as I am not a Muslim and I love Kallash culture this worries me.

..

LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE...

...Barack Obama is nothing more than a kaafir, who is vehement in violating the rights of Almighty Allah (SWT) in terms of His legislation and hence should be treated with much hostility calibrated according to the Qur'an and Sunnah.

As for those so-called Muslims who view his election as a ‘victory' for Islam and Muslims, it seems as if they have forgotten the very foundations of this Deen which stipulate the necessity of dissociating oneself (Muslim) from the camp of the disbelievers as well as rejecting taghout both of which are central components of Barack Obama and his evil administration....

Anjum Choudhary's full US Election address

THE MAGICIANS OF THE PHARAOH

OK. Taking it from the top, Anjum Choudhary called me yesterday. He took me by surprise as I don't know him and I was recovering from a pretty good Halloween, but if he hadn't have called I might have been tempted to go to some huge multi rig squat party last night and I'd have missed his event today, or worse still turned up with no sleep in fancy dress on some mad mission so all is well that ends well as they say. I turned up without shoes in Finsbury one friday but luckily a friend pulled me away. I am off too much head battering at the moment. I am sure they would say Allah is decreeing all of this. What did I hear tonight which I didn't hear in two years on the street outside Finsbury? Some stuff about going to the toilet and a story about a bull. Oh and there is a new government policy directed at their main man, Mr Bakri. More of all that in a bit.

I turned up at 2pm stopping off at my favourite place on Brick lane to pick up a singara. There were a lot of people, male and female waiting outside for the place to open. I recognised a coupla people from Mr Waleeds talk the other day. I was looking for familiar faces from Finsbury as there are a few people I am worried about and I'd like to make sure are OK. Its been a long time.

Like in Finsbury I stood back, and stood out racially, culturally and fashionably, not that I was fashionable. Although dressing a bit smarter would probably help me in a lot of situations, and people often tell me to do so I find it a lot easier doing these things being myself from the start. It saves confusion. I don't see any point pretending to be all paly with people or thinking that anyone would view me with anything but suspicion knowing that I am a journalist -of sorts.

Once the seating had been arranged I sat down and read my book. I've borrowed Last Night a DJ Saved My Life from Paula so I read about the early history of hip hop whilst projectors were set up, microphone feed back got sorted etc. I've heard a lot of Muslims joke about how they always turn up late for things, this meeting scheduled for two finally got underway at three o'clock.

I'm not very good at numbers, there were maybe 300? Muslims of which maybe two or three were white faces and a couple of journalists who sood out almost as much as me. I introduced myself to Mr Choudary who sat on the stage in the middle. He started the event talking about Muslim prisoners and a desire to see the black flag of Islam over Downing street. He said that Richard Watson from Newsnight was there, and said that he and the BBC were working for the government and would probably hand their tapes to the Police afterwards. He was quite happy for them to do this, and wanted the Police to be sure of what was going on at his meetings. From first impressions he seems the calmest and most serious Muslim leader I have met so far. He introduced Abu Muaz, Head of the UK Salafi Youth Movement.

Mr Muaz straight away spoke about Muslims living without the Sharriah for 84 years. He said Muslims had forgotten the law and their obligations according to the Koran. He said they had fallen for the western concepts of "I think" and "I believe" and that this was a disease amongst Muslims today. He said that Muslims were calling for communism, socialism and secularism and that a lot of them didn't even know that Islam was itself a social and economic system.

He spoke of a blind Sheik locked up in 1996 who couldn't even speak English. He spoke about Aafia Siddiqui, who had been abducted from Pakistan, raped and tortured in Bagram air base and that a kidney of hers had been removed. He spoke of Abu Qatada, held without charge for years. Now he had been relesed he was tagged and under house arrest for 23 hours a day. He spoke about a Muslim in Leicester who had been pepper sprayed for parking on a double yellow line.

He said that he had to go around with a pocket full of belts to give to kids to stop their trousers falling down. He had spent some time at a big Islamic conference called GPU where 30 or 40 thousand Muslims had gathered. He detailed how he had challenged them. They agreed that a lot of what they were doing was haram but said it was all worth it to get so many Muslims in one place. He said they were confused. They thought they needed to read the Koran for forty years before they understood it and only intended to set about implementing it after that. They read books but they don't struggle. What would Mohammed do if he was alive today?

People practice Islam inside the mosque but outside they are secular. In Saudi Sheiks pass fatwahs which decree that the Saudi army are the mujahadeen, yet their job is to kill Muslims who want to live under Sharriah law. Sheiks in this country decree that it is OK for Muslims to join the army and the Police who suppress Islam. Mohammed said that if you join them, you are them.

He said that he had confronted one of the main organisers of the GPU conference. He had asked him whether Muslims should uphold the law of the Sharriah or the law of the Queen. The guy had said this was a "fikdi(?") question- one he was not qualified to answer. He spoke of a Saudi Sheik (Bin Baz I think) who had decreed that it was OK for 500 thousand US troops to be in Saudi, but in the next breath had said that it was wrong for someone to have a christian maid.

The West pushes freedom but doesn't allow people to defend the freedom of others. The west champions freedom of speech, yet Muslims are jailed for words whilst paedophiles go free. He accused the media of being the "Magicians of the Pharaoh" who would always portray Islam in a negative light, using terms like Terrorist, Fundamentalist and Extremist to describe those who wanted to live under the Shariah.

"What do you expect from a dog? Even if you put the skin of a lion on a dog it is still a dog."

He said that they always invited the media, but they always twist and spin what is said because they are a mouthpiece for the government. The government were now passing instructions to schools to spy on Muslim kids, The NASUWT had approved this and were now informing the Police if a kid drew a picture of a Christmas Cracker.

Mr Choudhary then spoke some more about the labelling of those who belived in Islam as "Exremists" "Radicals" and "Fundamentalists". He said that Newsnight had connected every terrorist plot in this country to Omar Bakri. He said they were blamed for everything for just being Muslims, but all these labels would mean nothing on the day of judgement. He encouraged people to smile in the face of those who would attack them. He spoke of a new government policy, introduced by Jaqui Smith to "Name and shame" extremists and said that the first person on the list was Omar Bakri.

We watched a video detailing the fate of Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo, particularly the youngest prisoner who you have probably seen on the news crying for his mother. His mother said Muslims could help by sending money and by turning up at his court case. The video was paused to introduce Omar Bakri live from Lebanon. This didn't quite work out over the net, so Mr Choudhary phoned him from the stage and put the phone to the microphone.

Mr Bakri spoke against man made law and repression disguised as socialism and caplitalism. He said that people should go back to the Koran and the Sunna which contained the only solutions. He said that Muslims shouldn't obey man made laws and that if anyone ordered them to they should tell them they are a Muslim "Loud and Proud". They should walk, talk, sleep and eat like Muslims. He said that "They" want to silence you and branded the new law of inctement "crazy". He reassured people that names weren't important. Only Mohammed was important. Whatever disbelievers said about them they shouldn't worry.

Mr Choudhary said that they should never stop calling for Shariah law, then he introduced Abu Yahya, Spokesman for the Followers of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'aah who would give a talk about "Defending the Honour of the Muslims".

He was maybe the youngest person on the stage. Mr Yahya said someone had challenged a Muslim (In the Koran? I'm not sure) asking if Mohammed had decreed how to go to the toilet. The guy had countered that Mohammed had told them to wash with their left hand, some wierd shit I couldn't understand about stones (piles? clangnuts? fuck knows) and not to face "kiblah" when taking a dump. That probably shut the guy up. I think he said something about the fossilised remains of kaffirs having shit on their right hands. I'm not too sure.

He critisized Muslims for going to the UN. Mohammed had told them that if they went to the kaffirs with begging bowls in their hands "The fire would touch them". He also critisized Muslims for having selfish western attitudes which led them to look after themselves and their families and not worry about Muslims abroad. He told a parable to illustrate this.

If I have got this right, there were three black bulls and a white bull and a wolf who wanted to eat them. Whilst they stuck together they could see off the wolf. The wolf came to the back bulls and told them that if they stood without the white one at night he couldn't see them. The white bull gave them away. He said that this was the US policy toward Pakistan. The black bulls had a discussion like a lot of western Muslims did about Hamza and Bakri. They were a problem. They ditched the white bull.

The next night the wolf attacked the lone white bull who cried "Where are my brothers?". He equated this with the situation in Palestine. Over the next nights he took his chances with the black bulls and picked them off one by one. Mr Yahya equated this with Afghanistan and Iraq. He said that as the last bull died he realised that he had actually died the day he let his white brother down.

Muslims everywhere say "What has Bakri, Hamza and Quatada got to do with me?". Mohammed told them to stand with the Muslim whether he is an oppressor or oppressed. He spoke of the disease of nationalism amongst Pakistanis and Arabs. No one could call themselves a true Muslim unless they wanted for their brother what they wanted for themselves. Taking Shahada (becoming a Muslim) was totally a political thing. It couldn't be seperated from politics like some Muslims say. Musilms would be tested. He berated Muslims for doing nothing about 17 sisters in British jails.

He spoke of an 18 year old Muslim girl who had been taken from a camel train in a raid and presented as a gift to the King of Grenada who raped her. Some Islamic ruler upon hearing this swore that he wouldn't sleep with his wife whilst this girl remained a prisoner and conquered the whole shit, town by town until he rescued her.

He said that talk of the Taliban not educating women was propaganda. He said that the prophet had told them to take half their deen from his wife Aysha. The Taliban had only closed schools when there was a civil war. People laughed when they said Islams black flag would one day be over Downing street. People laughed at the prophet when he said they would one day conquer Persia too.

Mr Choudhary closed this first half of the meeting by stating his belief that a Covenant of Security existed for them in this country as their life and wealth was protected by our laws, but that they should never stop exposing man made law, and never stop calling for the Shariah which was inevitable. Just before the break Mr Choudhary said that all kaffirs were liars. Even if they spoke truth sometimes they were just kaffir liars who spoke the truth.

I couldn't stay for the second half. I left thinking that if everyone at Finsbury thought this lot were in league with MI-5 they were probably wrong. Its certainly an interesting theory which is no doubt popular with conspiracy heads. Maybe I will get round to asking them, to see what they say. Muslims in the press used to say that Hamza was giving Islam such a bad name that he was probably working for MI-5 himself. I also left wondering what I could do with these guys on film which hasn't already been covered. Maybe I could report what they say without "twisting or spinning" or becoming a "Magician of the Pharaoh". Maybe I could be a "Kaffir liar who spoke the truth." Some ambition eh.

Report what people say?

What- Journalism? Here? ha ha ha ho ho. Seriously?

Naaah.

Boring.

No one would be interested in that.


Islam4UKs own video footage of the event is here


Richard Watson presented some of his work on "The Rise of the British Jihad" and chaired a discussion at the Frontline club a few days ago which you can find online here.

UPDATE:

Islamic radicals make mockery of hate laws in The Evening Standard

Why Hasn’t Anjum Choudhry Been Arrested from Harry's Place

..

ABU WALEED

I'm an old mate of Atilla so don't worry I won't kill u!

I've been following the tabloid sensations of Abu Waleed over the last coupla weeks. As I said I never met him and questioned the tabloids associating him with Finsbury park. He emailed last night and phoned this morning. We had a long chat about a lot of things Hamza, Atilla, Quilliam Foundation, MI-5, Al Mujaharoun, Bakri, Abdullah Al Faisal, Al Qaida etc. I wrote four or five pages of notes.

We covered stuff from the 1990s right up to the present. Most interestingly for me, he filled me in on the tension between Al Muj and Finsbury park I used to hear about when I was up there and the difference in media style and focus between Hamza and Bakri over the years. He speaks quite fast and I don't do shorthand but I think I got everything. After the roller coaster of knowing Atilla I haven't been jumping to delve back into the story of Fundamental Islam in the UK but talking to Abu Waleed, like talking to Atilla I can't help but be intrigued by the particularly modern British nature of someone talking about such an age old religion.

I am a bit tied up at the mo but I will translate my notes over the next coupla days.

And the Bile Filled Lecturer...

Abu Waleed in the Midlands

And the bile-filled lecturer even joked about Al-Qaida handing out suicide-bomber backpacks in youth centres and snooker halls.

In video clips posted on popular website Youtube, Waleed mocks the British intelligence services and warns they have underestimated the strength of the violent jihad movement in the UK.

Is there a difference between what the guy actually says in the video and how they present what he is saying?

BORN, BREAD AND BUTTERED IN ENGLAND

Abu Bosher and Abu Saif had always thought they had a healthy relationship with the police, until their Stoke-on-Trent homes were raided on Tuesday...

...Mr Bosher added: "We disagree with the Government's foreign policy, and we will debate with people on that, but they are free to disagree with us. We don't want to force our views down anyone's throat.

"The police come to our stalls regularly and take away our leaflets. I'm sure every police officer in Stoke-on-Trent has one.

"Some of them know us by our first names, so we don't know why they've done this. We feel betrayed."...

also do check Peter Obornes article- Suspicion of the Muslim community has found its way into mainstream society – and nobody seems to care.

AHHH JIHADIS ETC

Can't blog or compute much as I have a bit of repetitive strain in my arm and have a gig on Saturday and must rest it.

Islamic fanatics are openly using the internet to recruit children in Britain, says Civitas

This article mentions Islambase who feature some of my videos.

Muslim children in Britain 'brought up to hate their homeland'

Muslim parents to blame for children turning to extremism

TALK. WHY NOT?

Norman Kember:

"I always think we are in danger of demonising Islam and I think we have to have a more open discussion about these things. The government obviously doesn't."

Mr Kember also wanted people to try to speak with Qatada more to "understand what his position is and why he takes it".

With all this in mind I popped round to Hajj's place at the weekend. I was a bit nervous because I knew there would be a gathering of his Muslim brothers there. I was also curious if I would recognise anyone from Finsbury park or if anyone would recognise me. My friends advised me to wear some smarter clothes but I always thought it better to be accepted for who I am which has never been a problem with Hajj. Things get too bloody complicated otherwise eh. Arriving at Hajj's front gate there were maybe 15 guys of various ages and races. Hajj was in the middle and spotting me saying

"No. Sorry. We don't allow any fundamentalists in here thank you!"

Kemal and another Jamaican brother called Ismael pounced on me with the Muslim hard sell..

"You can have a go" said Hajj "But I'm telling you now you'll be wasting your breath. Two years he heard Abu Hamza preach. Are we any better than him?"

Ismael meeting a fresh non-Muslim guest was undeterred.

"Seriously, help yourself." I said. "Say whatever you like. I understand that you want me to be a Muslim and I will answer as honestly as I can."

We proceeded to have the usual conversation I go through with Hajj's guests about why they believe there is a God, and why I am not sure if there is one or not. They all think that the world around us is proof that there is a God. It might be. How do I know? How do I know which one? Another friendly Cypriot guy joined in. He turned out to be a life coach. He had a great story about a house visit from MI-5. The usual. Someone who didn't like him had called them saying he was Al-Quaida. He ended up with the MI-5 guys number.

"Call me if there is any problems.."

I suppose turning up on my own to these sort of things where everyone is fervently discussing their "deen" must look like I want to become a Muslim. I explained my reasons for my first approaches to Finsbury park mosque and why I have carried on visiting Hajj.

I discussed Quilliam with them. Not surprisingly they were dead against the idea, accusing them of trying to invent a new Islam. I agreed that it looked to me that the Quilliam guys had got needlessly embroiled in arguments about theology but invited them to ponder whether the reasons the guys had started it up were pure ie- peace between "them" and "us". I said that I was worried that so many would look at them and condemn them without a conversation which might make their lives more difficult in future. I said I hoped that if they were unhappy with Quilliam they should still look for alternative channels to forge links with non-Muslims for all of our saftey and greater trust. I wanted to film with this in mind.

I think everyone believed I was genuine. I don't remember feeling uncomfortable once, let alone any hostility or suspicion. None of this surprises me, Hajj is the sort of person who if he accepts you his friends do too. Whenever they got together in the front yard to pray I nipped outside the gate for a cigarette. Kemal was all "Why didn't you bring your camera round?" which is a very good sign for future film work. We discussed Hamza. Again I found that those who knew him best were the nicest, and the most filmable of people. i explained that this made me want to pull my hair out, and my lack of success in convincing the family to film with me.

As people came and went we moved on to subjects we could relate about and I am very hopeful. Turns out Ismael used to play in a band in Jamaica. Hajj's garden is a very comfortable place to be on a summer night. I told a few of the guys about my website. Hajj said he had been on the phone to Atilla in Belmarsh and said he was OK.

PERSPECTIVES

Two very interesting articles which should be read all the way through. One is a critique of the other. They take a different line over those who replaced Hamza's posse at Finsbury park. The first in The New Republic:

...In 2003, British police shut the mosque, but Abu Hamza's followers continued to have a strong presence in the area. In February 2005, police helped broker a deal for the mosque to re-open under the leadership of the local chapter of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), a Muslim Brotherhood group. No sooner had the moderates gained control of the Finsbury Park mosque than they were confronted by Abu Hamza's angry followers, led by the pugnacious Atilla Ahmet, who calls himself "the number-one Al Qaeda in Europe" and who, in October, pled guilty to providing British Muslims with terrorist training. "They brought sticks and knives with them," recalls Kamal El Helbawy, spokesman for the new trustees at the mosque.

Undeterred, a few days later Helbawy gave the first Friday sermon, explaining that this was a new start for the mosque and stressing how important it was for Muslims to live in harmony with their neighbors. Detective Inspector Lambert, the Metropolitan police officer who helped broker the takeover, says that, because of its social welfare work and its track record supporting the Palestinian cause, the MAB has "big street cred in the area and [has] made an impact on Abu Hamza's young followers."...

The critique in The Spectator:

...None of this appears to have occurred to the authors of this article. They have instead listened uncritically and uninformedly to certain individuals in Britain’s security establishment who so lamentably fail to grasp the nature and extent of the jihad, as well as to manipulative Islamists who have played the authors (along with that security establishment) like fish on a line. As a result they make gross errors of judgment in hailing certain individuals as moderate when they are anything but. For example, they write:

Kamal el Helbawy, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who helped bring in moderates at the Finsbury Park mosque in London...

This shows a truly lamentable ignorance. After the removal of the notorious abu Hamza from Finsbury Park, the police did not broker the arrival of a moderate regime at the mosque. They brokered instead a new administration dominated by the Muslim Association of Britain, the British arm of the Muslim Brotherhood whose aim is to Islamise Britain and the west, and whose chief spokesman is Dr Azzam Tammimi, the Hamas acolyte who has publicly supported human bomb terrorism in Israel. As for Kamal el Helbawy, who the authors clearly think is the acme of moderation, he is the main Brotherhood man in Britain and Europe -- and thus central to the whole strategy of indoctrination and radicalisation of Britain’s Muslims and the demoralisation with menaces of the indigenous community, which is putting this country at such risk. Because it’s not just terrorism that creates the danger – it’s the ideas that drive the terror....


I remember at the time Jamal told me that that although they said things people didn't like they terrorized no one. He said the new lot would say things people liked to hear but were actually more dangerous behind the scenes. I have no idea. It was such an uphill struggle trying to gain the trust of Hamza's posse that I really couldn't see myself doing the same thing with the "moderates". As for the tone of the articles, its very difficult to read isn't it. Of course Muslims want an Islamic state. Muslims believe in an Islamic state like Christians believe Jesus is coming back no?

MORE QUILLIAM

Quilliam videos

From the Quilliam Policy Document Pulling Together to Defeat Terror:

The BBC, ITN, Sky, CNN and British print press have a duty to assist
mainstream Muslims in our fight against extremists. By giving our
detractors airtime, you undermine our cause and strengthen/legitimise a
minority discourse. Editors, producers, researchers, and guest invitation
assistants can help by
▪ Extending the unwritten no air-time rule for the far-right, to Islamist
extremists;
▪ Avoiding groups that claim to represent all Muslims, since British
Muslims are too diverse to be represented by any one group;
▪ Ending the media game of ‘good Muslim’ and ‘bad Muslim’ to produce
exciting television;
▪ Stop hunting for ‘critics of Islam’ to bash Muslims (an episode of BBC
Newsnight during the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments on Shariah
law was particularly worrying);
▪ Liberal newspapers’ editors should think twice before allowing column
space to Hamas and its supporters while they remain commited to the
destruction of Israel;
▪ Denying genuine Islamophobes, or Muslim haters, an unchallenged
voice in column spaces or interview slots because they, like Islamists,
have a particular warmongering mindset that undermines social
cohesion.

There is a lot more about "deradicalisation centres", buddy schemes which put people in contact with ex- Jihadi's, combatting Wahabism etc.