The Government's new approach to Preventing Violent Extremism provoked a bit of comment last week.
http://www.nlgn.org.uk/public/press-releases/nlgn-report-drives-shift-in-government-approach-to-prevent/
The New Local Government Network proposes widening the remit of Prevent from Islamism to other forms of 'extremism' to other forms such as the Far Right, anarchism, and Animal Rights terrorism. Shahid Malik is concerned that the current approach makes the Muslim community feel victimised and has welcomed this shift arguing that some white communities feel alienated too.
Critics such as the Daily Mail have argued that this equates to going soft on Islamic terrorism http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205431/Labour-weakens-fight-Muslim-extremism.html. However it seems that, rather than going soft, the proposed new prevent strategy will mean that "white" communities will be subject to the same state intrusion as Muslim ones. The NLGN's report makes much of the alleged terrorist threat by white racists, but blurs the distiction between real terrorism and the electoral success of the BNP. Inyat Bunglawala, (writing in the context of the Muslim community and extremism) has pointed out that this type of blurring is 'a frankly macarthyite approach that regards all politically engaged Muslims as being on a kind of conveyor belt whose end point is violent extremism'. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/aug/11/prevent-islam-religion-extremism
This is no less true for the BNP than it is for Islamist groups. Support for the BNP may be a result of alienation from mainstream society, but to talk it up as the road to terrorism is fear mongering and divisive.
Read the NLGN's report 'Stronger Together' here
http://www.nlgn.org.uk/public/wp-content/uploads/stronger-together.pdf
Sunday, 16 August 2009
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