Quilliam launches today
Today I'm going to the launch of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank. Musa Ahmet and Dave Bones are coming with me. Speakers include Lord Paddy Ashdown, Jemima Khan, Timothy Garton Ash, Dr Musharraf Hussain, Dr Ali al-Saleh, Shaykh Abdul Aziz Bukhari, Dr. Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Ed Husain, Dr Usama Hasan, Arsalan Iftikar, Mohammed Ali Hee,
Quilliam's advisors here
BBC News
The Times
Guardian
Seumas Milne is cynical ( comments better than article)
Asim Siddiqui
Ed Hussain gets a lot of backlash ( as people who write books about their experiences seem to do. A previous member of Hitz ut Tahir , he has criticised the organisation with zeal. I hope the storm and fury abates enough for people to actually listen to what is being said, rather than assuming they can guess - and condemning it out of hand.
Me, I'm hopeful. I always try to be hopeful.
Quilliam's advisors here
BBC News
The Times
Guardian
Seumas Milne is cynical ( comments better than article)
Asim Siddiqui
Ed Hussain gets a lot of backlash ( as people who write books about their experiences seem to do. A previous member of Hitz ut Tahir , he has criticised the organisation with zeal. I hope the storm and fury abates enough for people to actually listen to what is being said, rather than assuming they can guess - and condemning it out of hand.
Me, I'm hopeful. I always try to be hopeful.
Labels: quilliam
posted by Rachel at 9:09 am
I don't usually read your blog these days but have you ever commented on Nick Davies's 'Flat Earth News' and his allegations of intelligence services providing the media with relentless 'news stories' in line with the 'war on terror' which then get reported unquestioningly?
Just wondered if this highly acclaimed journalist was a 'conspiraloon' to you.
Strange collection of individuals at launch. Arslan Iftikhar is/was national legislative director for CAIR which is a Muslim Brotherhood front group in the U.S. (is he now distancing himself from the Muslim Brotherhood)?
regards,
khalid
"Just wondered if this highly acclaimed journalist was a 'conspiraloon' to you."
I think you've answered your own question there, mate.
The intelligence services 'use' the media, in that they have media contacts and off the record media briefings, as part of their communications strategy. Like with any organisation. Especially any political organisation. And the media do dig up stuff on people in a way that is extremely dodgy. Newspapers have political biases which affect the stories they run and how they run them. The Mail has a different agenda to the Guardian, for example. I know this, and have known it for a while. it should hardly be a surprise. To leap from there to 'everything in the media is a lie' is conspiraloonery. I don't know you John so I don't know whether you think everything in the media is a lie or not.
Conspiraloonery is when peopel misrepresent rumours and piece together material to make allegations of conspiracy, without checking the facts, and behave in a particular way indicative of a particular mindset. It's quite different to investigative journalism, and a good analysis of why is here
http://www.urban75.org/info/conspiraloons.html
Hope that answers your question, (which is nothing to do with my post about Quilliam).
Yeah stay pragmatic, which I know you will and hopefully there will be a positive outcome, must admit though it looks likes hard work, lets hope that everyone is there with the same agenda.
Have you seen that even Vogue is reporting this (and that Jemima is receiving death threats)
http://www.vogue.co.uk/vogue_daily/story/story.asp?stid=52129
I take it you haven't read the book. Or anything about it.
I read a 4 page article on it. What has it got to do with my post? Nothing.
Have you read What Terrorists Want by Louise Richardson?
Interesting day. Blog is coming, I still haven't caught up on the news about it yet.
I'll comment on the video, but is hard to avoid contempt of court issues, issues which are being flouted at www.julyseventh.co.uk - the conspiracy theory site.