Daily Mail
Universities are meant to advance human understanding, expand our knowledge and serve as a platform for debate. But
tragically, through their failure to confront and root out Islamist
radicalism, some British institutions are achieving the very opposite. Instead
of deepening the liberal roots of our civilisation, they are helping to
allow intolerance to flourish through their unwillingness to confront
extremism in their midst. That
insidious process has been graphically demonstrated by the case of
Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State butcher nicknamed ‘Jihadi John’. ....So, we need new legislation to uncover and deal with potential recruits, and stronger intelligence services. But the
recent criticism of MI5 echoes, unwisely, the mindless and offensive
drivel put out by ‘human rights’ campaign group Cage: that Emazi became a
jihadist because of harassment by the security services. We should
support our security community — only our enemies want to undermine it. And,
just as importantly, we must address the urgent question of Muslim
radicalisation on British university campuses, especially through the
influence of Islamic societies, which are often in thrall to a hardline
agenda. The
roll call of student terrorists is long, indeed. James Brokenshire, the
Security minister, has said that from 1999 to 2009, at least 45 per
cent of those convicted of Al Qaeda-related terrorism in the UK had
attended university or higher education colleges. Yet
neither the university system, dominated by the liberal Left, nor even
important elements of the Coalition Government are willing to face up to
this reality. ......The claim from Nicola Dandridge that there
is ‘no evidence’ to link ‘student radicals with violent extremism’ is
just absurd. The opposite is true. Emwazi’s name is to be added to the
chilling list of students from Britain who have turned to terror. .....The time has come to monitor every Islamic
society in English universities, with a view to banning them if they
have supported extremism. Vince Cable could not be more wrong when he
says that only those who directly incite violence should be silenced.
Sooner or later, extremism leads to violence. It must be stamped out."
