Tuesday 29 March 2016

Please sign this statement on the operation of Prevent in Brent

Monitoring Prevent in Brent is seeking support from local organisations and individuals for the public statement at the end of this article. To add your support please do so in a 'Comment' at the foot of the item or email MonitoringPrevent@gmail.com  Anyone can sign but please state if you live or work in the London Borough of Brent. Thank you.
 
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism is a problem we cannot ignore. Prejudice against the Muslim community is fuelled by leading politicians and by a constant stream of negative media reporting.  Muslims are continually represented as a threat or as holding alien values or refusing to ‘integrate’. 

A recent Public Attitudes Survey found that 71% of those surveyed thought that Islam was incompatible with British culture and 45% of Britons think there are too many Muslims in the country. The Kilburn Times reported in Feb 2016 that Islamophobic attacks in Brent increased eight-fold from December 2015 compared to the same month in 2014.  
We are particularly concerned by the impact of the measures taken against so-called ‘non-violent extremism’ under the government’s 'Prevent' strategy. 
Despite claims to the contrary, ‘Prevent’ almost exclusively targets young Muslims for the views they hold on religion or issues such as government foreign policy. For example, in South Yorkshire, schools singled out black and ethnic minority pupils for monitoring for signs of ‘radicalisation’– while suggesting white children were not at risk. 
These are but a few instances of families subjected to distress due to arbitrary monitoring despite there being no suggestion of violent intent. LINK  
Schools, teachers, local authority, health and social workers are cast in the role of spies on our young people, leading to increasing division and to a breakdown of trust in universities, schools, colleges and in other services. Members of teacher’s unions have recounted numerous examples of pupils who are afraid to discuss issues openly for fear of being labelled as potential extremists.  This is precisely a situation in which young people can feel isolated and where prejudice can remain unchallenged.
Most people are opposed to violence as a way of dealing with complex social and political issues: by closing down legitimate discussion and debate, Prevent seriously risks driving some into the arms of the extremists.
 
Some young people are indeed subject to risks that require immediate and appropriate action. 
However, as the National Union of Teachers points out, there are existing safeguarding procedures in every local authority and public service that are designed for this. The real danger is that the Prevent Strategy is helping fuel Islamophobia without, in fact achieving its avowed aim of tackling ‘non-violent extremism’.

Brent is rightly proud of its diversity and has taken many commendable steps to foster good community relations and integrate its different communities. 
It is therefore deeply regrettable that Brent Council has implemented Prevent without proper discussion with community organisations and representatives, faith leaders, teachers’ unions or parents. 
We the undersigned:
1.    request a statement from Brent which makes clear their position regarding their reservations about the Prevent policy and the need to find more community sensitive solutions   
2.    urge the council to be transparent about Prevent and what it is doing to implement it across all of its services, as far as it can within the legal and statutory constraints placed on it by the government.
3.    ask the council to clarify what these constraints placed by the government on transparency are
4.    urge the council to be transparent in its appointments (including consultants) related to Prevent and other counter-terrorism related projects
5.    with regards to the education sector, we ask that the Council set up, facilitate and regularly report to a Standing Forum, comprising Head Teachers, School Governors, teaching unions, parents and community organisations, which will monitor and report on the implementation of Prevent in education (and services where they may intersect, such as the police and social service) in the borough
6.    request that the Council publish annually, year-on-year data on the numbers of pupils and families in Brent who are referred under all of the headings relating to Prevent, including those referred to ‘Channel’ – the point at which the police are involved.
7.    urge the Council to raise its concerns about Prevent in all the organisations in which it participates e.g. the Local Government Association
8.    ask Brent Council to affirm that our schools should be safe places where pupils should be encouraged to freely discuss ideas and issues without fear that this will lead to a reaction from the authorities.
9.    ask that the Council address the legitimate needs of Muslims as citizens and tackle the issue of institutional Islamophobia in its own services and that it reports on the steps it is taking to counter this.
10. ask that the Council recognise the need to create safe spaces for the necessary conversations to happen in the community and in the statutory sector, regarding the implementation of Prevent

TO SIGN PLEASE CLICK ON COMMENTS AT END OF ARTICLE AND CHOOSE LAST OPTION (ANONYMOUS) FROM MENU.

EXAMPLE




YOU CAN PUT YOUR NAME AT END OF YOUR COMMENT.   ALTERNATIVELY EMAIL MonitoringPrevent@gmail.com

Monday 7 March 2016

Islamophobia, Prevent and the War on Terror - March 10th


Stop Scapegoating Muslims
Thursday 10 March | 6.30pm
Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
235 Shaftesbury Avenue | London WC2H 8EP

Organised by: Stop the War Coalition Facebook » 

Speakers include: Salma Yaqoob
Lindsey German
Moazzam Begg
Kevin Courtney
Mohammed Umar Farooq


Muslims are facing increased discrimination in day-to-day life, at the hands of the media and, most ominously, from government policy. Muslim women in particular are under attack from David Cameron. His recent comments about their ‘traditional submissiveness’ demonstrate that he is willing to further alienate the Muslim community in order to pander to his friends in the British press and the right more generally.

Meanwhile, the Prevent programme in schools, colleges and universities is coming under increasing attack for demonising and even criminalising Muslim students. Islamophobia has been exacerbated by war. By attacking Syria, Britain entered its fourth war in a Muslim country this century, increasing anger internationally and further poisoning the atmosphere at home.

Please join us at Bloomsbury Baptist Church on 10th March as we call for an end to this mindless cycle of violence and say ‘stop scapegoating Muslims’.

Stand Up to Racism Rally - Wednesday March 9th

Humera Khan of An-Nisa, one of the organisations supporting Monitoring Prevent in Brent, will be speaking at this event