Month: July 2020

Political Islam Part 22

The claim that contemporary Muslim activities are putting Islam to use for political purposes seems, at least in some instances, to be warranted. Political parties such as Hizb al-‘Amal in Egypt or the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in Algeria that base their appeal on their Islamic credentials appear to exemplify this instrumental relation to religion.… Continue reading Political Islam Part 22

Migrants from France Part 21

The gangs’ careful planning to outwit police, coupled with the fact it is now very rare for anyone to get over by lorry, are other reasons for the rise in numbers trying to travel across on the water. It is impossible to tell how many have died. Former UK Border Force chief Tony Smith said… Continue reading Migrants from France Part 21

UK Culture under Direct Attack Part 18

It took a good few weeks, but the Premier League seems to have finally twigged that plastering ‘Black Lives Matter’ across the shirts of Britain’s top footballers may end up backfiring. The sentiment behind the gesture was doubtless honourable: In the wake of George Floyd’s death, our national sport wanted both to express revulsion at… Continue reading UK Culture under Direct Attack Part 18

Brexit Part 12

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman insisted: “We have completed our own proportionate and thorough assessment of the EU on time. “What we are doing is returning over 1,000 pages of questionnaires that were sent by the EU to the UK late. “These are straightforward assessments as we start from having similar rules and a history of… Continue reading Brexit Part 12

Tommy Robinson Part 10

Mosques across Britain could sound the call to prayer through loudspeakers after councils gave permission to alert the faithful. Allama Sadiq Qureshi, who is an imam at the Minhaj-ul-Quran mosque in Newham, East London, said: ‘We want this practice to continue in the future. ‘But at the same time, we must be bothered about our… Continue reading Tommy Robinson Part 10

Problems with Diversity Part 25

A very good Martin Luther King Jr. quote – “There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” And I am just going to come out and say it: Most diversity and inclusion initiatives fall into the former category: sincere ignorance. They look and sound great. They are usually well-meaning too. But a… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 25

Protests in France Part 7

The French president has faced increasing demands over the past two weeks to bring down statues and revisit other works of art that honor French historical figures involved in slavery and France’s colonial history amid protests against police brutality and racism. Similar movements in the U.S., Belgium and U.K. have toppled or defaced statues of… Continue reading Protests in France Part 7

Jun 2020. BBC Pushes the Cultural Change for Museums

June 2020. The authors of an influential report on colonial-era artefacts, which recommended a restitution programme to transfer hundreds of items from European institutions to Africa, have criticised the British Museum for acting like “an ostrich with its head in the sand”. The Senegalese economist Felwine Sarr and the French art historian Bénédicte Savoy, who… Continue reading Jun 2020. BBC Pushes the Cultural Change for Museums

Political Islam Part 21

Over the last few decades, Islam has become a central point of reference for a wide range of political activities, arguments and opposition movements. The term “political Islam” has been adopted by many scholars in order to identify this seemingly unprecedented irruption of Islamic religion into the secular domain of politics and thus to distinguish… Continue reading Political Islam Part 21