A CASE STUDY OF ISLAMISM ON CAMPUS: UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, GOLDSMITHS, AND UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) has today published a case study on the Islamic Societies at Trinity College Dublin, Warwick University and Goldsmiths University where attempts were made to restrict or bar our spokesperson Maryam Namazie from speaking in 2015.
The case study shows that the Islamic Societies at the three universities in question are clearly promoting Islamist values through hate preachers who condone Sharia Law, Islamic states, and the death penalty for apostasy.
The recent attempts at censorship on university campuses is nothing new. 2015 saw a rise in censorship with 55% of campuses being an outright hostile environment for free speech.
The case study is only an example of a widespread problem – which is Islamism on university campuses, legitimising, normalising and recruiting for the far-Right Islamist movement. Challenging this movement on university campuses is key as is challenging its manifestations such as gender segregation.
Whilst free speech and expression must be free for all (unless there is an incitement to violence), it’s crucial that apostates and dissenters are given equal access to universities without restrictions in order challenge Islamist norms and values with a progressive counter-narrative.
CEMB calls on universities and Student Unions to unequivocally defend free expression, including by removing policies which restrict and censor expression, such as safe space policies.