'Mail on Sunday' offers students cash to spy on Muslims

[rubiesand]

By Chaminda Jayanetti & Kat Lay

The Mail on Sunday has been accused of fuelling Islamophobia after offering students hundreds of pounds to spy on Muslim student societies in an attempt to uncover evidence of ‘extremism’.

The newspaper promised student journalists £100 per meeting to pose as Muslims and secretly record meetings of student Islamic societies to see if any radical organisations were recruiting there.


The offer came in an email from junior reporter Sophie Borland, who graduated from UCL in 2004. It said: “What the editor wants is to pay student reporters to go undercover to one or two meetings of various societies. The reporters would be paid £100 per meeting but IF something came up that turned into a story obviously they would be paid a lot more.”

The email referred to a ‘tip off’ that radicals would be targeting London campuses. Borland referred to “rumours flying around a lot”. The Sunday Times reported on radicals allegedly operating undercover at UCL in the autumn, but Borland said: “If you take a look at their article it really wasn’t based on much. The Sunday Times went really big on it but it wasn’t anything really.”

The Mail on Sunday’s Education Correspondent Glen Owen specifically targeted Imperial College’s Muslim students and Queen Mary’s World Revival Society.

London Student responded to the offer in order to examine the nature of the newspaper’s approach, but never attended any meetings or accepted any money.

ULU is considering banning the sale of sister paper the Daily Mail from its shops in protest at the newspaper’s tactics.

ULU Vice-President Sam Thomas said: “I am disgusted at the thought of a national newspaper abusing students’ freedom through such tactics. These allegations must be thoroughly investigated. If found to be accurate, we will be forced to consider whether the Daily Mail has any place in ULU’s shops.” ULU shops do not open on Sundays, and so do not stock copies of The Mail on Sunday.

The Mail on Sunday was looking for evidence of ‘extremism’, but what this amounted to was unclear. At one point Owen described what they were after: “I don’t know, anything that suggests that extremism is taking hold. It doesn’t matter what form it takes just as long as it gives any indication of extremism.”

At another point he explained: “Well, anything that gives a flavour of the more extreme end of things and any intelligence that you can pick up. It’s not a restricted task, it’s whatever would be of interest.”

He later said: “Anything interesting that’s thrown up. Language. Not just recruitment but discussions, plans of action.”

Professor Anthony Glees’ controversial report on extremism on campus, which was seen by some as encouraging Islamo-phobia, also focused on the BNP and animal rights fanatics, but The Mail on Sunday were solely focused on Muslim students. When told of a society debate at Queen Mary before Christmas, Owen responded: “Is that a specifically Muslim society?”

The newspaper viewed the campaign by Imperial students against the ban on wearing the Islamic veil at the college as a particularly good opportunity. Owen said: “I suspect that if you targeted a meeting there you might find that there are some lively opinions being expressed about that.

“I think it’s probably bound to become the focus of rebellion and no-one’s actually done that yet so it would be a very good story if we could find any indication that they’re thinking of taking militant action or civil disobedience or any of that sort of stuff.

“If they say something in secret about ‘we need to insist that women wear the burka’ or ‘we need to withdraw cooperation from the university’ or any of these sort of plots that they’ll be hatching, if we can reveal that, bring that into the open, then that’ll be interesting … I find it hard to believe that some people aren’t talking about this already, so see what you can sniff out. The Imperial Isoc [Islamic Society] may still be worth pursuing on this issue.”

The campaign against the veil ban at Imperial was in reality peaceful, above board and organised by the students’ union and activists in the Islamic Society and Respect, with no extremist elements present."...


lots more here: London Student - Nailed on Sunday

[Rabi'ya]

wht is it with people these days...



Rabi'ya:rose:

[R_Mujahed]

wht is it with people these days...



Rabi'ya:rose:

You mean, What is it not with people these days...

[HeiGou]

wht is it with people these days...

Surely this is fairly harmless? I think all Muslim groups on any University ought to open their meetings to the public. It can do no harm and it will show everyone what is really going on.

[Muezzin]

Anything to sell papers...

ULU Vice-President Sam Thomas said: “I am disgusted at the thought of a national newspaper abusing students’ freedom through such tactics. These allegations must be thoroughly investigated. If found to be accurate, we will be forced to consider whether the Daily Mail has any place in ULU’s shops.” ULU shops do not open on Sundays, and so do not stock copies of The Mail on Sunday.

Good. Vote with your feet.

The newspaper viewed the campaign by Imperial students against the ban on wearing the Islamic veil at the college as a particularly good opportunity. Owen said: “I suspect that if you targeted a meeting there you might find that there are some lively opinions being expressed about that.

“I think it’s probably bound to become the focus of rebellion and no-one’s actually done that yet so it would be a very good story if we could find any indication that they’re thinking of taking militant action or civil disobedience or any of that sort of stuff.

“If they say something in secret about ‘we need to insist that women wear the burka’ or ‘we need to withdraw cooperation from the university’ or any of these sort of plots that they’ll be hatching, if we can reveal that, bring that into the open, then that’ll be interesting … I find it hard to believe that some people aren’t talking about this already, so see what you can sniff out. The Imperial Isoc [Islamic Society] may still be worth pursuing on this issue.”

So, let me get this straight. My lecturers, many of whom are members of a union, are allowed to take industrial action at the behest of said union, but when students may or may not be advised to take certain courses of action by their union, it is a 'plot'?

The article is certainly making this Professor Owen out as a bigot.

[MetSudaisTwice]

salam
i agree bro muezzin, mashallah well said
nothing nowadays seem harmless against the muslims
wasalam

[Muezzin]

Surely this is fairly harmless? I think all Muslim groups on any University ought to open their meetings to the public. It can do no harm and it will show everyone what is really going on.

My university's Islamic Society did that just a couple of months ago actually. It was a series of lectures about Islam that all, Muslim or non-Muslim, were free to attend.

[HeiGou]

^ Actually, so did my university as part of an "Islamic awareness week", people of all walks of life were actually invited to attend these lectures/sessions promoting the beliefs of Islam. As to the other lectures given throughout the year, I think that we have an open door policy, so that anyone can enter..

I think it is an excellent policy. Muslim societies should not have to do it after all, but if people can come in and see what sort of people they are and what is going on, it would be a good thing. It can't hurt after all. What does the Daily Whatever think they are going to find?

[Muezzin]

I think it is an excellent policy. Muslim societies should not have to do it after all, but if people can come in and see what sort of people they are and what is going on, it would be a good thing. It can't hurt after all. What does the Daily Whatever think they are going to find?

Carpets in need of hoovering, maybe.

Which reminds me, Farhan where in the heck does our society keep the vacuum cleaner?

[rubiesand]

"When told of London Student’s actual intentions in cooperating with The Mail on Sunday, Borland chose to focus on our reporters’ career prospects. “Do you want to get into national newspapers, essentially? My advice to you would not be to criticise them and to co-operate with them. That’s all I’m saying, it’s all well and good being worthy, but…”


Nice to see freedom of speech in operation. Except if you are a student journalist and you criticize The Mail and expose their intentions you'll basically never work in this town.