Every Ed Husain article these days seems to be geared toward making sure the Tories, most likely victors in the next General Election, continue funding his Quilliam Foundation. His latest at Comment is free closes with this appeal for taxpayers’ money:
The strongest weapons available to our enemies are ideas of religious supremacy and perennial confrontation, backed with logistical networks, and repressive political conditions that help strengthen their narrative and network. Unless we in the west can combat their ideas with better ideas, puncture the alluring narrative of victimhood politics, question their self-assured martyrdom, and end perceptions of incessant enmity with non-Muslims then we will be confined to dealing with symptoms of terrorist attacks rather than healing the underlying causes. Nearly a decade after 9/11, when compared with military budgets, where is investment in these soft-power, counter radicalisation projects? The silence says it all.
plimfix 7:11 am on January 2, 2010 Permalink |
This article also appeals to the “discussion vs oppression” binary, with Sir Eddy making a bid for the liberal discussion corner, which is strange, really, given it’s not 5 minutes ago that Lord Edward was giving his whole-hearted support for British government spooks highly instrusive counter-terror approaches, which allegedly include investigating individual Muslims sexual preferences.
aziz 9:08 am on January 2, 2010 Permalink |
i wonder if we can start our version of Quilliam here in teh US. I think I’m joking.
cbarwa 9:37 am on January 2, 2010 Permalink |
I was about to say actually, Ed Husain et al must be tearing their hair out that they are stuck dealing with the (relatively) parsimonious and cash-strapped British govt. when if they were based in the UK they would be rolling in it!
As an aside, the sums I have seen mentioned in the past don’t seem to be that big, do they get any money from non-govt sources as well or are they completely state-dependent?
thabet 11:48 pm on January 2, 2010 Permalink |
Well, Maajid Nawaz (definitely the brighter of the two) was in the US fairly recently, at least according t his Twitter account.
Their funding isn’t clear. When they first kicked-off “Kuwait businessmen” were cited as a funding source (you know, liberal, secular, progressive, Kuwait? heh). Then it became very murky, until I imagine a strategic decision was made by Sir Ted and his friends to be open about their source of funding.
Abdullah 4:26 am on January 4, 2010 Permalink |
For an “ex-Islamist”, working for an “anti-extremism” think-tank is a viable career option. For example, one of the founders of the Quilliam Foundation – Rashad Ali – has left to join another one (Centri) Directed by Haras Rafiq, “ex” Executive Director of the Sufi Muslim Council – which was another Government funded enterprise! Obviously they are all trying to place themselves as the preferred option of the next government! I wonder, though, if the Tories are actually interested in funding an “anti-extremism think-tank” at all!?
“Sir Ted” and co had no option about revealing their government funding because they were ‘outed’ by The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5549138.ece
“Government gives £1m to anti-extremist think-tank Quilliam Foundation”