Goldsmiths student unmasked as IS recruiter

A Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed the identity of Umm Muthanna Al-Britaniyah, an Islamic State (IS) recruiter who tried to lure young British Muslim women to travel to Syria to marry fighters. The woman is believed to be Tooba Gondal, a 22 year old from East London who studied English at Goldsmiths College. While […]

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NUS Black Students’ Officer attends Al-Quds Day march

On Sunday, hundreds of anti-Israel activists gathered in central London to take part in the annual Al-Quds Day march, following a tradition inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini. The march was organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), a group Student Rights has written on a number of times in the past. This has included highlighting […]

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Students Not Suspects Conference: Myths and Scaremongering

As well as hosting extreme groups at its conference last week, the NUS-led ‘Students Not Suspects‘ campaign also continued to spread inflammatory misinformation about Prevent. These myths include the notion that Prevent is racist and Islamophobic, that is being used to spy on service users, and that it is aimed at shutting down anti-government activism. […]

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Preventing Prevent at Goldsmiths

On Monday, Goldsmiths College hosted the latest event in the National Union of Student’s (NUS) ‘Students Not Suspects’ tour, which aims to undermine the government’s counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent. Once again, NUS Black Student’s Officer Malia Bouattia used the event to defend CAGE and shared a platform with the group’s Director of Outreach Moazzam Begg, despite […]

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MP writes to SOAS over extreme speaker events

Last week, it was reported that ‘Helping Households under Great Stress’ (HHUGS) had campaigned at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) during an event calling for the release of convicted terrorists. Journalists were given a card claiming Islamist terrorist Adel Abdel Bary was detained without charge, despite Bary’s 2014 conviction for his involvement […]

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Concerns raised about ethics at Bath

A blog post published last week, and highlighted by Harry’s Place, has shone fresh light on concerning academic practices at the University of Bath. Addressing research by Hilary Aked, a PhD student studying the ‘Israel lobby’, the blog claims an article written by Aked attacking a recent Israel advocacy day “used information provided in confidence […]

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Ex-student who fought against Islamic State banned from UCL (Update: UCLU reverse decision)

UPDATE: 16/11/2015: Following a high profile campaign by UCLU Kurdish Society, the Student Union has reversed their decision to ban Macer Gifford from speaking on campus. In a statement released today, UCLU said: “On Friday 13th November, UCL finally received a response from the police, stating that they felt it would be safe and legally […]

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‘Students not Suspects’ continues to work with CAGE

Yesterday, the government launched its Counter-Extremism Strategy, which included the expectation that the National Union of Students (NUS) “avoid providing a platform for extremist speakers”. This follows a week in which NUS officers have toured the country spreading misinformation about Prevent, and shared platforms with a CAGE official at a number of events. They have […]

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Maryam Namazie barred from Warwick University (Update: Warwick SU reverse decision)

UPDATE 28/09/2015: Following widespread coverage of this story the Student Union at the University of Warwick has changed its decision and allowed Namazie to speak. In a statement released over the weekend, the union has said that: “Warwick SU has a process for assessing any potential risks or legal issues associated with any external speaker, […]

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Extreme events show extent of campus issue

The announcement last week by the Home Secretary of new measures to combat extremism on campuses was welcomed here at Student Rights. Theresa May confirmed new laws will make dealing with extremist speakers a legal duty for universities and colleges, ensuring it is taken seriously by institutions. However, as media attention moves on, Student Rights […]

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