Frontline perspectives on preventing violent extremism: an interview with Alyas Karmani (STREET UK)

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Notes

1. Details on the Strategy to Reach, Empower and Educate (STREET) can be found at: https://www.counterextremism.org/resources/details/id/346/strategy-to-reach-empower-and-educate-street.

2. Dar al-harb, in this context, refers to the division between the domain of Islam (dar al-Islam) and the domain of war (dar al-Harb). Groups such as al Qaeda argue that violent Jihad is necessary to overcome the contemporary dar al-Harb that has befallen Muslims.

3. Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian cleric and was imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London between 1997 and 2003. Popularly labelled as a “radical hate preacher” with links to al Qaeda, he is currently serving a life sentence without chance of parole in the US, having been convicted of various terrorism-related charges in January 2015.

4. Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal is a Jamaican cleric who preached in the UK until his arrest, conviction and subsequent deportation, having been convicted of soliciting murder, amongst other charges. Popularly labelled as a “hate preacher” with links to al Qaeda, he has been associated with Abu Hamza al-Masri and is considered to be an influential cleric within certain Jihadist circles.

5. PREVENT is one of the four components of CONTEST, the UK government’s counterterrorism strategy. It aims to counteract and prevent “radicalisation” in British society before acts of violent extremism can occur, by “work[ing] with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with”. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-counter-terrorism/2010-to-2015-government-policy-counter-terrorism.

6. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which absorbs aspects of the PREVENT strategy into law, was passed in July 2015. See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2015/9780111133309/pdfs/ukdsiod_9780111133309_en.pdf.

7. The Channel process is a UK government initiative that aims to “provide support to individuals at risk of being drawn into violent extremism” by “drawing on existing collaboration between local authorities, the police, statutory partners (such as the education sector, social services, children’s and youth services and offender management services) and the local community”. Its stated objectives are: “to identify individuals at risk of being drawn into violent extremism; to assess the nature and extent of that risk; to develop the most appropriate support for the individuals concerned.” See https://www.counterextremism.org/resources/details/id/115/channel-process.

8. The author notes that Alyas’s practitioner background is in psychology, with over 20 years experience in the areas of counselling and mental health.

9. Operating in Britain from 1986 to 2005, al-Muhajiroun are a “proscribed group” under the Terrorism Act 2000 and have been associated with extremist views, including tacit support for the 9/11 attacks. Many individuals – including Michael Adebolajo – who have perpetrated or have been associated with terrorism attacks in the UK have been linked to the group.

10. See http://imamsonline.com/.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James Fitzgerald

Dr James Fitzgerald is Lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, and co-convenor of the Critical Studies on Terrorism Working Group. His current research interests include everyday resistances to (counter)terrorism; the political ontology of terrorism; and exploring (in)orthodoxies of “academic writing” and the types of knowledge produced thereof.