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Internet used to target extremism
by BBC
Thanks to Geoff for the link.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7070416.stm
Efforts to tackle extremism among young British Muslims must be centred on the internet as well as on mosques, the communities secretary has said.
Hazel Blears said £70m in funding to undermine extremist influences would be used to set up websites to encourage young Muslims to talk about identity.
The funding aims to target the most susceptible group - men from 16 to 35.
Ms Blears said she was also setting up a panel of Muslim women to act as role models and to advise ministers.
Ms Blear said that, while it was essential to ensure mosques were at the forefront of the battle against extremism, new ways of beating the ever-evolving recruitment methods of extremists must be found.
"They use slick media campaigns, reaching out through the internet," she told a conference in London.
"Predominantly they target young men, with a significant number in their teens."
This was done in "ungoverned spaces" including on the internet and in bookshops, snooker halls and clubs, she said.
She warned that the process of radicalisation could be rapid.
"In some cases, people are isolated from family and friends, indoctrinated and manipulated within a matter of months."
By setting up local web-based projects where young Muslims can talk about their identities and grievances, it was hoped they would be less likely to be attracted to other sites run by radical groups, she said.
Schemes to provide peer mentoring and support for students in higher education have also been suggested.
She also promised that imams working in places like prisons, hospitals and universities would be trained to offer support to their vulnerable charges.
National schemes
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the government had acknowledged that its previous strategy of dealing mainly with a few, large Muslim organisations had sometimes cut it off from groups with the greatest influence over young Muslims.
Of the £70m funding, £25m will be spent on national schemes including training imams and teaching citizenship in mosque schools.
"It's important to get much better at working with children and young people," Ms Blears said.
"By getting in early, by helping them understand their religion, equipping them with the confidence and skills to challenge and reject those preaching conflict, we can make today and tomorrow's communities more resilient to the violent extremist message."
The other £45m will be allocated to local partnerships over the next three years to be spent on promoting community leadership to withstand extremism.
The new advisory panel of Muslim women is designed to give them a voice on similar issues.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7070416.stm
Efforts to tackle extremism among young British Muslims must be centred on the internet as well as on mosques, the communities secretary has said.Hazel Blears said £70m in funding to undermine extremist influences would be used to set up websites to encourage young Muslims to talk about identity.
The funding aims to target the most susceptible group - men from 16 to 35.
Ms Blears said she was also setting up a panel of Muslim women to act as role models and to advise ministers.
Ms Blear said that, while it was essential to ensure mosques were at the forefront of the battle against extremism, new ways of beating the ever-evolving recruitment methods of extremists must be found.
"They use slick media campaigns, reaching out through the internet," she told a conference in London.
"Predominantly they target young men, with a significant number in their teens."
This was done in "ungoverned spaces" including on the internet and in bookshops, snooker halls and clubs, she said.
She warned that the process of radicalisation could be rapid.
"In some cases, people are isolated from family and friends, indoctrinated and manipulated within a matter of months."
By setting up local web-based projects where young Muslims can talk about their identities and grievances, it was hoped they would be less likely to be attracted to other sites run by radical groups, she said.
Schemes to provide peer mentoring and support for students in higher education have also been suggested.
She also promised that imams working in places like prisons, hospitals and universities would be trained to offer support to their vulnerable charges.
National schemes
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the government had acknowledged that its previous strategy of dealing mainly with a few, large Muslim organisations had sometimes cut it off from groups with the greatest influence over young Muslims.
Of the £70m funding, £25m will be spent on national schemes including training imams and teaching citizenship in mosque schools.
"It's important to get much better at working with children and young people," Ms Blears said.
"By getting in early, by helping them understand their religion, equipping them with the confidence and skills to challenge and reject those preaching conflict, we can make today and tomorrow's communities more resilient to the violent extremist message."
The other £45m will be allocated to local partnerships over the next three years to be spent on promoting community leadership to withstand extremism.
The new advisory panel of Muslim women is designed to give them a voice on similar issues.
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Posted: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 | PermalinkComments 1 - 10 of 10 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #83890 by Spinoza on October 31, 2007 at 2:49 pm
I don't think that's fair Geoff.I think this sort of thing is a very good idea... it has nothing to do with whether atheism is true, or whether religion is violent (two separate claims)... but with what sort of pragmatic applications can be developed to help combat extremism... and this IS one idea that may work.
We can't just ridicule or whine about every little initiative that has religion involved in it... that would be entirely unproductive...
I see nothing wrong with this at all!
Other Comments by Spinoza
3. Comment #83901 by Dunc-uk on October 31, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I've got to agree with Spinoza... young Muslims are just not going to be interested in an atheist message. British muslims need to be liberalised, and learn to respect (and appreciate) British liberal values.Personally, I do hope this panel of women doesn't include anyone wearing Islamic dress. Provoking British Imams into criticising this panel will help to stoke the argument in the muslim community and hopefully start the process of de-radicalisation.
Other Comments by Dunc-uk
4. Comment #83905 by Goldy on October 31, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Maybe finding out what makes a young man want to hang around a mosque might be a good start. I could never see any one of my peers wanting to spind time in a place of worship - just seemed so...lame!Other Comments by Goldy
5. Comment #83923 by LeeLeeOne on October 31, 2007 at 4:50 pm
Helping ANY one in the name of another, i.e., AHA giving funds in their name for the AFL-CIO, NPR supporters giving funds to NPR which in their name may fund indirectly BCC, or the AA giving funds to the NCFP, etc.; this is why we have ELECTED boards of directors! When, as individuals, give ANY funds to any group that we as individuals choose to belong to, we automatically assume the elected or appointed board of that entity will follow our intent.
Be responsible PEOPLE! Do your research! If you don't like the agenda the board supports, speak up and/or don't support.
On the other hand, if you do appreciate what the board does for the purpose(s) you give your money to, LET THEM KNOW!
Other Comments by LeeLeeOne
6. Comment #83928 by Henri Bergson on October 31, 2007 at 5:02 pm
We should follow Sweden's lead and ban the teaching of religion as truth in ALL schools.Ms Blear's £70m scheme will obviously turn out to be another stupid government disaster, and may even encourage the opposite of its purpose. We should not encourage 'muslim women role models'.
To kill a weed, you have to pull out the roots. I cannot believe the idiots who rule this country.
Other Comments by Henri Bergson
7. Comment #83945 by Goldy on October 31, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Letter in the Independent - maybe we should take a leaf out of the Saudi book...Sir: As an Englishman who lived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over two decades, circulating on all levels of society and living among the local population (not in a western compound), I was appalled to read your commentary of 29 October.
Women in the Kingdom are protected but not confined. I have known Saudi women in all the professions except accountancy. Trade unions are obviated because the Ministry of Labour arbitrates all labour disputes and I have heard no valid complaints from any of the Saudi people. King Abdullah is particularly loved by his subjects for reducing inflation and subsidising utilities.
You quote claims made by Mr Sandy Mitchell. Among friends during my residence in the Kingdom were many western diplomats, some of whose responsibility it was to visit their nationals in prison. Without exception, those prisoners complained about nothing more than not liking the food, even when interviewed without supervision.
Whilst it is true that capital punishment is by public beheading, it is not true that it is without adequate safeguards, because no one can be convicted of a capital crime solely on the basis of circumstantial evidence. Furthermore, it is not done in a cruel way. I have witnessed beheadings and can assure you that it is so swift, with such expert wielding of a razor-sharp blade, that the deed is accomplished in a fraction of a second.
Only the ignorant would allege lack of religious freedom in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. All foreigners are allowed to practise their religions in private. The absence of churches is simply because all Saudis are Muslims.
The repeated use of the term dictatorship is particularly unjust because every citizen has the right of audience with the king with less formality and delay than the average citizen of a western democracy has to endure to see his member of parliament. As the late King Faisal once said: "What can be more democratic than a citizen having free access to his sovereign?"
And given the, well, Arab at least, Muslim regard for women, what would a panel of them accomplish? Advise ministers? On what - headscarves?
Other Comments by Goldy
8. Comment #84086 by Buddha on November 1, 2007 at 6:19 am
On my way to work this morning I walked past a young muslim girl in a hijab who was wearing a poppy. I felt quite moved at this. Maybe there is a glimmer of hope for the future after all.For those of you not from the UK or Commonwealth the significance of the poppy is best explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day
Other Comments by Buddha
9. Comment #84147 by zeocrash on November 1, 2007 at 9:37 am
Let's just hope they don't use the same marketing agency as the one they use to try recruit teachers, otherwise we're all doomed Other Comments by zeocrash
10. Comment #84474 by bluebird on November 2, 2007 at 5:58 am
Buddha, your anecdote about the girl and her flower is touching; thank you for sharing. Also, with Veteren's Day around the corner, the link is serendipitous and appreciated. Other Comments by bluebird
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1. Comment #83828 by Geoff on October 31, 2007 at 12:16 pm
"By getting in early, by helping them understand their religion, equipping them with the confidence and skills to challenge and reject those preaching conflict, we can make today and tomorrow's communities more resilient to the violent extremist message."
The extremism is the message; haven't they read the books?
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