By Faisal | Published:
November 17, 2009
A shortened version of this article has been published on Comment is Free
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It is now clear US Army Major Nidal Hasan had a series of connections to the Islamist cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki . For those of us who have studied, with increasing concern, the extreme teachings of this cleric, this tragedy is the inevitable consequence of un-checked Islamist radicalisation. This situation has been made all the more distressing by the apparent lack of concern shown by the US Intelligence and Military authorities in taking Awlaki’s influence seriously.
Even before Major Nidal had fired a single bullet in Fort Hood, the US authorities knew about his increasingly vocal radicalisation and that he had attended the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Virgina at the time Awlaki was its head Imam. Nidal had also been the subject of an FBI investigation after it was discovered that he made communication with Awlaki by email. There was certainly no lack of overt clues.
Posted in Islamism | Also tagged al-Qaeda, Anas al-Tikriti, Anwar al-Awlaki, Azad Ali, Cageprisoners, Cordoba Foundation, East London Mosque, Inayat Bunglawala, Islamic Forum Europe, Muslim Association of Britain, Osama Saeed |
Yesterday I blogged about developments in relation to the planned Hounslow Muslim Forum event at Lampton School, Hounslow. According to the Hounslow Chronicle, the event is still going ahead tomorrow even though the police have pulled out and Hounslow Muslim Forum has expelled Hizb ut-Tahrir. Common sense had finally triumphed at the Metropolitan Police – and a watered down version of it had done so at Hounslow Muslim Forum too.
This is not the case with Lampton School.
It is still planning on giving a platform to Daud Abdullah and Moazzem Begg. For more information about these two men see my original post about this event. Indeed, the fact that the police have refused to go along with this charade could be argued to have made the situation worse. Now there will be no voice to challenge the views of two men who are far from moderate and a state comprehensive is playing host.
Flyer for Hounslow Muslim Forum's inaugural event, 'Putting Contest 2 In Context'
This Saturday 11th July, Lampton School, a comprehensive in Hounslow, is to host the inaugural meeting of Hounslow Muslim Forum. At the event, this new group will be discussing Contest 2, the government’s latest counter-extremism strategy with a panel of speakers and Inspector Alan Murphy of Metropolitan Police “Prevent and Engagement” Team, Hounslow.
This is all well and good, but have a look at the bottom of the flyer where the groups which make up Hounslow Muslim Forum are listed. One name stands out – Hizb ut-Tahrir.
At the same time that the Sunday Times revealed Hizb ut-Tahrir’s violent ambitions, the Metropolitan Police is planning to get involved with (and a state school is planning to host) an event which advertises its links to Hizb ut-Tahrir on its flyers.
