Thread by @luminatus1

"The review lacks credibility, its current reviewer, William Shawcross, is seen as partisan, & the govn has no intention of taking our concerns seriously. In short, this government cannot be trusted to make a truly independent & comprehensive assessment of Prevent."

with PreventWatch, Aitlhadj has documented more than 500 cases involving Prevent which she says have caused concern about the "harm to Muslim children, families and wider Muslim society."

middleeastmonitor.com/20210318-briti…

"Without a truly unconstrained process, the voices of those most impacted by Prevent will not be considered seriously and given the public hearing they deserve. The coalition will support all steps to set up a robust people's commission."

Professor Nasar Meer of Edinburgh University was damning about the broken initiative. He called Prevent "a bad policy" that has "only worsened" with time. He believes that an independent review of its attack on freedom of speech, curtailment of fundamental liberties

an independent review of its attack on freedom of speech, curtailment of fundamental liberties and criminalisation of communities is long overdue. "Sadly, the Shawcross Review promises no such thing."

"For a man of his track record to be given more power over the Muslim community in his new role further compounds our negative perceptions of Prevent and shatters our trust in our leaders who are charged with our protection. This is a truly astonishing development."

Under Shawcross's leadership, the Charity Commission was accused of institutional bias because of what was seen as an unjustified assumption of extremism on the part of Muslim charities. As many as 38 per cent of all disclosed statutory investigations targeted Muslim groups.

In 2012, as a director of the neoconservative, anti-Palestinian Henry Jackson Society (HJS), Shawcross said:

"Europe & Islam is one of the greatest, most terrifying problems of our future. I think all European countries have vastly, very quickly growing Islamic populations"

In an investigation conducted by the Byline Times it emerged that HJS had developed close ties with far-right media executive Steve Bannon. Patel, by the way, was a member of its political council until 2016.

Ironic that it is the British govn which has managed to pull the diverse & often fractured Muslim community in Britain together by making the controversial appointment. It remains to be seen if the unprecedented boycott will make Home Secretary Priti Patel reverse her decision,

Javid’s comments must be challenged, because they set a dangerous precedent. We should not allow our government to smear critics and opponents and accuse them of siding with “extremists”.

Healthy debate is part of a well-functioning democracy. When criticized, the government should listen and engage – and not smear critics in the way the Home Secretary has. 

blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobal…