#Quilliam styled itself as a "think-tank" but served to only amplify & promote pseudo-science such as CVE & anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. It received millions from right-wing groups & worked with the state to criminalize Muslim communities middleeasteye.net/news/uk-quilli…
Quilliam was established in 2007 & supported the U.K. govt’s discriminatory #Prevent strategy. Prevent has been criticized by govt officials, human rights experts, academics, teachers, & community organizers for securitizing & criminalizing Muslims. bridge.georgetown.edu/research/facts…
Quilliam has “long argued for a tougher line on non-violent extremism.” In 2015, Quilliam’s Managing Director Haras Rafiq, criticized the Prevent strategy for not doing enough. theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/d…
#Quilliam stated its funding came from “private individual donations, private philanthropic foundations and trust grants.” In 2009 testimony before the House of Commons, Ed Husain stated the think-tank received £850,000 per year from the British govt
A 2016 investigation found that Sam Harris, who has stated “we are war with Islam,” & supported the profiling of Muslims, gave #Quilliam $20,000.
In 2010, a Guardian article revealed that a document prepared by #Quilliam was sent to a top British security official, accusing a number of “Muslim groups, politicians, a television channel & a Scotland Yard unit of sharing the ideology of terrorists.” theguardian.com/uk/2010/aug/04…
Along with feeding baseless claims to Breitbart, Quilliam has also worked with the Henry Jackson Society, a right-wing anti-Muslim think tank whose founder has said: "conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board.” bridge.georgetown.edu/research/facts…
Additionally, Quilliam also worked with the Gatestone Institute, a platform for the far-right that publishes a stream of dangerous anti-Muslim propaganda “focused on stoking fears about immigrants and Muslims.”
We all remember tht press conference w/ Nawaz & Tommy Robinson of the far-right EDL. Robinson announced he was stepping down from EDL, a move tht Quilliam took credit for. In 2015 Robinson alleged that Quilliam had paid him “thousands of pounds to resign.” huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/03/tom…
Most recently Quilliam released a report on grooming gangs where it claimed 84% of “grooming gang offenders” were Asian. Actual experts in the field debunked Quilliam's claims noting the flawed methodology the organization employed in its report
Quilliam pushed racist & conspiratorial claims, which greatly harmed Muslims in the UK and abroad. Its co-founder, Nawaz, has promoted QAnon conspiracy theories & claimed the 2020 US election was "stolen."
Thankful that it has ceased operations.
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The #COVID19 pandemic exacerbated Islamophobia around the globe. From #India to the U.K., #Muslims were accused of spreading the virus & evading lockdown orders.
For #Muslims, the environment meant not only being disproportionately impacted by a deadly virus but also facing targeted discrimination from those in power:
Islamophobia in #India in 2020:
Politicians & right-wing media continued to promote anti-Muslim rhetoric & tropes, while Indian Muslims & rights activists protested against discriminatory legislation (#CAA), which rendered Indian Muslims 2nd-class citizens.
Right-wing Hindutva voices on social media are promoting a dangerous conspiracy theory accusing #Muslims in #India of devising a sinister plot, "Coronajihad," to spread the #Coronavirus. This is leading to violence & hostility against Indian Muslims. #StopCOVIDIslamophobia
It's not just online, Indian media & BJP politicians r guilty of promoting this reckless, dangerous, & racist accusation. A political cartoon in The Hindu equated #Muslims to the virus, leading to further dehumanization of Muslims. #StopCOVIDIslamophobia
Chances are you that you’ve come across #PragerU's 5 min animated videos promoting right-wing viewpoints on political &social issues. The lecture-style videos have been narrated by the whos-who of the RW incl. Ben Shapiro, Dinesh D’Souza, & Charlie Kirk. bridge.georgetown.edu/research/facts…
Although it includes the word “university,” in its name, #PragerU is NOT an academic institution. It’s a conservative non-profit established in 2010 by conservative radio talk show host #DennisPrager & radio producer Allen Estrin motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
According to #PragerU, the goal of their videos is “to undo [the] damage” inflicted by an education system that teaches American students that their country is “a land of inequality and racism” and a place of which to be “ashamed.” buzzfeednews.com/article/joseph…
A yr ago today, I watched in real-time an attack unfold before my eyes. On a Jummah in March last yr, a white supremacist attacked two #mosques in #Christchurch killing 51 Muslim worshippers as they prayed. Pls take a moment to pray for the victims & their families today.
Scars of the #Christchurch massacre linger. Slowly the shock recedes until all we feel is the echo of the tragedy. One yr on after Haji Daoud Nabi of Al Noor #mosque in #Christchurch uttered the words “Welcome, brother” only to b met w/ bullets in response theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Aya Al-Umari's brother was one of the victims of the #Christchurch#mosque attack. “Every day I feel like Hussein is with me. Any decisions that I make, I just think about, OK, what would Hussein do in this situation?" she said.
A group of 4 men just tried to break into my house w/ a sledgehammer. It’s been almost 2 hrs since I called @metpoliceuk & not a single police officer has arrived. Do cops no longer care? Where are our taxes going? Where’s the accountability? No wonder criminals are running wild.
Maybe if y’all retweet this enough, the @metpoliceuk will give a damn. I have heard others in the area who’ve been targeted in recent days. With the police virtually missing, I’m not surprised these criminals have zero fear.
@MPIainDS I’m within your constituency. What are you going to do to make us feel safe? It’s now been over two hours since the incident and still no person of authority has arrived at our home. @metpoliceuk
[Thread] Throughout my research on #Islamophobia, one of the most common tactics by anti-Muslim figures is to smear politically active Muslims/Muslim orgs, who are critical of govt policy, as "#Islamist."
As, @andreas_krieg states, the word is vague, & remains a contested catch-all concept, describing ideology, political movements, & forms of government that borrow Islamic references but are essentially presented as separate from Islam. lobelog.com/laying-the-isl…