ENGAGE has received a reply from the Foreign Secretary, The Rt. Hon. David Miliband MP, to our letter concerning proposals to remove the power for issuing arrest warrants under universal jurisdiction provisions from UK Magistrates’ courts.

Read the Foreign Secretary’s reply here.

Andrew Gilligan (pictured), perhaps deluding himself to be riding on the crest of a wave after his disgraceful C4 Dispatches programme last Monday, may well be distinctly crestfallen following what appears to us to be a seriously libelous article he penned for the Daily Telegraph about the charity Muslim Aid.

In last Tuesday’s paper in an article titled ‘Charity is linked to Islamic terrorists’, Gilligan claimed that the British Muslim charity Muslim Aid had ‘paid hundreds of thousands of pounds …to two organisations allegedly linked to terrorist groups’.

He claimed that the charity ‘diverted substantial sums to Islamist organisations, possibly in contravention of its charitable status’.

Despite the use of carefully placed caveats like 'possibly' and 'allegedly' to shield the author and the Daily Telegraph from a libel claim, the paper appears to have put its foot right in it by claiming Muslim Aid ‘is linked to Islamic terrorists’ in the article title.

One would have thought that with the frequent attempts to besmirch Interpal with similar allegations of ‘links to terrorists’, polemicists like Gilligan would have learnt their expensive lesson.

We strongly urge Muslim Aid to defend itself against this smear and ensure that it deals with this attack on its reputation with every legal means available to it.

Gilligan's Daily Telegraph article no longer appears accessible on the paper's website. We wonder why?

Friday saw the publication of a Home Office study, 'What perceptions do the UK public have concerning the impact of counter-terrorism legislation implemented since 2000?', prepared by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) for the Office of Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT).

The study focusing on the primary question, perceptions of the UK public concerning the impact of counter-terrorism legislation implemented since 2000, included a number of sub-questions:

1) What specific themes are present?

2) Is there variation in reported impacts across different sub-sets of UK communities?

3) What are the sources of the UK public’s perceptions of the impact of counterterrorism legislation?

4) Does the evidence support a distinction between the existence of counter-terrorism legislation itself, versus the implementation of the legislation?

‘There was both quantitative and qualitative evidence showing that samples of Muslim communities perceive some aspects of CT legislation to be unfair, unjust and discriminatory. The evidence shows that elements of the Muslim communities generally feel they are being ‘treated differently’ since terrorist events such as 9/11 and 7/7. However, it is unlikely that these perceptions have been brought about solely through the introduction of CT legislation.

Following news last week that two Muslim women traveling to Islamabad were denied permission to board their flight for having declined to pass through body scanners at Manchester airport, a petition has been lodged urging the PM to ensure that those who object to passing through such scanners are offered alternative search procedures.

The petition, which can be viewed here, states:

‘We are concerned that the compulsory use of these new machines violate our rights to privacy (article 8 of the ECHR). We note that other states do currently offer alternative arrangements to the use of body scanners and see no reason why the UK should be an exception.

‘We understand that measures must be taken to ensure safety and reduce the risk of terrorism; however, such measures must also be reasonable and proportionate. We are not convinced that the current implementation of body scanners in the UK meet these criteria, and further, we fail to see how offering an alternative screening process hurts either goal.’

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has already raised the rights conflict arising from the use of body scanners at airports and Article 8 of the European Convention in a letter to the Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis. Body scanners are currently on trial at Manchester and Heathrow airports and are to be introduced across the UK by the end of 2010.

Following the response to Baroness Warsi’s (pictured) question last week to Lord MacKenzie, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Department for Work and Pensions, organisations that have been funded under the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund can be found in Hansard. The funding tables are reproduced below.

Baroness Warsi raised the question:

“To ask Her Majesty's Government which groups, causes or organisations were funded in each round of the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund programme; how much was given to each; and how much funding is to be allocated.”

The papers on Tuesday widely covered (The Times, Telegraph, Independent and Evening Standard) the fatwa issued in London by the Pakistani cleric Dr Tahir ul-Qadri (pictured) of Minhaj ul-Quran condemning suicide bombers. The BBC reported:

‘In his religious ruling, Dr Qadri says that Islam forbids the massacre of innocent citizens and suicide bombings.

‘Although many scholars have made similar rulings in the past, Dr Qadri's followers argue that the massive document being launched in London goes much further.

‘They say it sets out point-by-point theological arguments against the rhetoric used by al-Qaeda inspired recruiters.

‘The fatwa also challenges the religious motivations of would-be suicide bombers who are inspired by promises of an afterlife.’

600 pages seems an awfully long-winded way of reiterating messages repeatedly espoused by British Muslim scholars, on a number of occasions, propounding Islam’s denunciation of terrorism and suicide bombing.

If you thought documentaries couldn’t sink lower than the hatchet job by John Ware for BBC Panorama, ‘Who speaks for British Muslims?’, in 2005, the Dispatches programme aired last night is proof to the contrary. Using spurious evidence, half-truths  and a ragbag of ‘community leaders’ – none of whom merit a byline demonstrating their ‘leadership’ credentials – Gilligan (pictured) outdoes even Ware in proving that documentary-makers with an animus against ‘Islamism’ have nothing but conjecture and pure prejudice on their side.

Gilligan’s chief claims in ‘Britain’s Islamic Republic’ are that Islamic Forum Europe is quietly and systematically overtaking institutions in Tower Hamlets, from the East London Mosque to Tower Hamlets Council and the local Labour Party association. The targeting of political power and institutions of representative democracy are, Gilligan argues, tactical manoeuvres in an ambitious plan to realise the ‘Islamist’ dream of a socio-political reality anchored in the teachings of Islam.

Who does Gilligan parade in front of our cameras to extemporise and validate his arguments? Well, first up is Paul Richards, former ‘special advisor’ to Hazel Blears. We’ve already exposed the hypocrisy that underlies Richards’ position. Richards seems strangely unaware of the blatant double standards he appears to invoke, decrying the IFE in the programme while in an article for the Jewish Chronicle, lauding the creation of:

‘New groups [which] were nurtured and supported, such as the Muslim Women’s Advisory Group’.

No prizes for guessing the democratic credentials of this particular invention of Blears and her aide, Richards.

The Jewish Chronicle front page today revisits the pro-Israel lobby’s persistence in securing a change to the law on universal jurisdiction, before the end of this parliamentary term, to allow Israeli and other foreign politicians accused of war crimes to travel freely to the UK immune from arrest and prosecution.

The JC today reports:

‘Gordon Brown has personally intervened to unblock the logjam over a change in the law that allows local magistrates to issue arrest warrants for visiting foreign politicians accused of war crimes.

‘The JC understands the Prime Minister is determined to press ahead with the law change before the election.

‘The Prime Minister pledged his support for Ms Livni but did not immediately prioritise the issue.

‘However, he has now called in key ally and fixer Tom Watson to advise on the issue. The MP for West Bromwich is known for his strong views in support of Israel and challenged Mr Straw on the floor of the House of Commons earlier this month.'

The Department for Communities and Local Government today publishes a report, ‘Attitudes, values and perceptions - Muslims and the general population in 2007-08’, based on data taken from the Citizenship survey 2007-08. The report analyses Muslim and general population attitudes towards engagement, cohesion, interaction and identity and prejudice and discrimination.

Some of the reports findings:

‘In 2007-08 rates of civic engagement and volunteering were lower among Muslims compared with the general population, reflecting the younger age profile of the Muslim population. However, Muslims were more likely than the general population to feel that they could influence decisions affecting Britain and their local area.

‘The Muslim population and the general population often agreed on which were the most important rights, responsibilities and values for living in Britain. For example, in 2005 both Muslims and the general population agreed that everyone should have the right to free education for children and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Similarly, Muslims and the general population agreed that obeying and respecting the law, helping and protecting your family, working to provide for yourself and voting were the responsibility of everyone.'

Seumas Milne (pictured) in his Guardian column today reflects on the heavy sentencing handed down to the Muslim protestors arrested following demonstrations held last year during Israel’s savage attack on the Gaza strip. Milne looks at the climate fomented by populist politicians, a willing media and far right racist groups that threatens to ratchet up anti-Muslim prejudice to the peril of us all.

He writes:

‘If young British Muslims had any doubts that they are singled out for special treatment in the land of their birth, the punishments being meted out to those who took part in last year's London demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza will have dispelled them.

‘Of 119 people arrested, 78 have been charged, all but two of them young ­Muslims (most between the ages of 16 and 19)...In the past few weeks, 15 have been convicted, mostly of violent disorder, and jailed for between eight months and two-and-a-half years – ­having switched to guilty pleas to avoid heavier terms. Another nine are up to be sentenced tomorrow.

‘The severity of the charges and sentencing goes far beyond the official response to any other recent anti-war demonstration, or even the violent stop the City protests a decade ago. So do the arrests, many of them carried out months after the event in dawn raids by dozens of police officers, who smashed down doors and handcuffed family members as if they were suspected terrorists. Naturally, none of the more than 30 complaints about police ­violence were upheld, even where video ­evidence was available.'