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Britain's bid to socially engineer 'good Muslims'

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#1 [Permalink] Posted on 7th May 2016 10:29
The government has used grassroots groups to sell its narrative that British Muslims fall into one of two categories - either 'good' or 'bad'

In a report released earlier this week the British government has been revealed to have covertly engineered numerous political campaigns under the pretext that they were led by grassroots organisations. Social media campaigns were created to support government narratives under the guise of grassroots activism.

In the report titled "We Are Completely Independent", advocacy group Cage reveals the covert government funding of such campaigns as a tool to “‘counter narratives", "to combat the appeal of 'extremist narratives' among Britain’s young people”, namely, British Muslims. The campaigns in the report all relate to the war in Syria and come on the back of young British Muslims travelling to the country to deliver aid, to join armed groups or to live in Islamic State group-held territory. You might say there is and has been a pressing need for the government to take action in combating the issues it faces but to do so through such covert means raises alarming questions.

- See more at: www.middleeasteye.net/columns/britains-bid-socially-engin...
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#2 [Permalink] Posted on 7th May 2016 10:31
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#3 [Permalink] Posted on 7th May 2016 10:34
Recommendations

For government:
1) The government must uphold its duty of openness and transparency to taxpayers, and Muslim
communities in particular, regarding the execution of public policy budgets and its engagement with those
communities.

• It must declare and make public all of its relationships with community groups as part of the OSCT
programmes under PREVENT.
• It should publish details of the workings of RICU, its programmes and role in Muslim communities.

2) The government must change its attitude towards Muslims. It must treat them with respect and
consideration rather than contempt and deceit.

• In an open society like Britain, the government must genuinely engage with Muslim communities
to resolve issues concerning them rather than attempting to manufacture support for its views and
programmes. The Home Office should enter into meaningful dialog with credible voices, and take
into account their suggestions and criticism in order to generate viable solutions to the problems they
identify.

3) The government must acknowledge the rejection by the community and academic experts of the
PREVENT programme. It must take steps to bring it to an end.

For Parliament:
1) Parliament and the Intelligence and Security Committee in particular has an obligation to scrutinise the
activities of the Home Office.

• It must ensure that all government counter-extremism programmes and the activities of the OSCT and
RICU in particular are fully accountable to the electorate.
• It must introduce new rules to ensure that community outreach programmes are not subject to the
same de facto level of secrecy as security and intelligence operations.
• It must seek an explanation as to whether and why the Official Secrets Act is being used to prevent
scrutiny of RICUs activities and its apparent partnership with Breakthrough Media.

For organisations supported by PREVENT:
1) Community organisations have a duty of transparency towards their beneficiaries. They should be clear
regarding their funding sources, their partners and aims.

• Beneficiaries of public services have a right to know about any engagement with PREVENT in order
to make informed decisions about receiving such services. Secrecy creates suspicion and mistrust.
• Civil society groups must therefore detail their ties with counter-terrorism programmes such as
PREVENT and make them public.
• Details of funds received from OSCT or other departments for the purposes of pursuing PREVENT
outcomes, should ALSO be made public.
• All counter-narratives funded (or collaborated) by the central or local government should be clearly
identified as such.

For members of civil society:
• Civil society plays a vital role in an open society. Charities and NGOs must do their utmost to preserve
the reputation of the third sector and the trust of the public by promoting transparency regarding
relationships with government agencies.
• Civil society organisations must work to pressure government to be open and transparent about its
interaction and funding of members of civil society, especially in relation to politicised issues.

For Muslim communities
• Muslim individuals and groups must demand that the government ends deceptive practices and
engages in a meaningful and genuine way.
• Muslim individuals and groups have a right and duty to ask questions to organisations purporting to
serve them regarding their funding and actual aims. They should seek clarity from organisations that
work on ‘extremism’ and terrorism issues and then engage with them on an informed basis only.
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