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EX-SPIES TO ROOT OUT FANATICS IN CLASSROOM

Michael Gove has said former MI5 spies are being recruited to root out Islamic fanatics in schools

Monday September 5,2011

By Macer Hall Political Editor

 

FORMER MI5 spies are being recruited to root out Islamic fanatics in schools, Education Secretary Michael Gove said yesterday.

Ministers are understood to be so worried about the influence of Muslim preachers of hate and other extremists in the classrooms that a new unit has been set up.

They have recruited former members of the secret service with expertise in the Islamist terrorist threat to investigate.

Mr Gove is concerned that comprehensive schools and the Government’s new generation of “free schools” may be targeted by extremists.

“We have been working with people who have been in the Intelligence Services in order to ensure that there is no-one from the wrong sort of background involved in education,” he said.

“And, I should add, not just with the free schools,” Mr Gove told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“There have been one or two disturbing cases with existing state schools where people have been trying to subvert them.”

It’s more rigorous in the allocation of public money than any previous government department.

Whitehall sources confirmed that a “due diligence unit” with former MI5 staff had been set up within the Department for Education to probe for extremists in schools.

Mr Gove insisted that he was determined not to allow anyone to establish a “free school” which are designed to be formed by local communities and funded by the Government. All applicants to set up the new educational establishments, which are free from local council control and can be run by parents or voluntary groups, would be vetted by the new investigation unit.

He said: “I’ve been crystal clear we should not have schools set up by extremists whether they’re Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists or any other sort of outrageous and beyond-the-pale organisation

“We’ve set up a unit within the Department explicitly to monitor anyone who comes forward with a proposal for extremism.

“It’s more rigorous in the allocation of public money than any previous government department.

“In the last government, we had money going to extremist groups that was supposed to go to fight terrorism. Now we have a unit in place to prevent that.”

Mr Gove also said believers in fringe scientific movements such as “creationism” which rejects Darwin’s theory of evolution were banned from setting up schools.

He said: “I’m passionate about science and I’m determined to make sure our country becomes more cohesive. I’ve said we will not sign any funding agreements with these organisations.

“More than that, we are reviewing the science curriculum, the national curriculum overall, to make sure there’s no space for the teaching of wackoidal theories.”

Canada opposes Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition of statehood

By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – Sun, 10 Jul, 2011

OTTAWA - Canada is rejecting a Palestinian effort to win recognition at the United Nations as an independent state.
The move is not surprising given that the Harper government has forcefully highlighted its loyalty to Israel and the United States. Both oppose the Palestinian initiative.
The Palestinian Authority, which controls most of the West Bank, launched a campaign last month that will see it pursue a vote on statehood at the United Nations General Assembly in September — an effort borne out of its frustration over a peace process that is stalled.
The top Palestinian diplomat in Canada says her official delegation will still push hard for the support of Ottawa.
"On the conflict, we would like to see the Canadian government taking a neutral stand, supporting the creation of the state of Palestine, supporting the recognition of Palestine as a full member state in the UN in September," Linda Sobeh Ali, head of the Palestinian delegation, told The Canadian Press.
Sobeh Ali also said her delegation is pushing Canada to recognize Israel's pre-1967 borders — something Prime Minister Stephen Harper forcefully opposed, and managed to block from being part of the final communique of G8 leaders at their recent May summit in France.
"Our government's long-standing position has not changed. The only solution to this conflict is one negotiated between and agreed to by the two parties," said Chris Day, the spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
"One of the states must be a Jewish state and recognized as such, while the Palestinian state is to be a non-militarized one."
The Palestinians are trying to win the requisite two-thirds support in the assembly — 128 votes among the 192 member countries — before the matter is considered by the Security Council. They have reportedly won the support of more than 100 countries.
Harper's stand at the G8 pitted him against U.S. President Barack Obama, who only a week earlier said in a major speech that the pre-1967 border should be a starting point for the resumption of stalled peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.
But Washington last week reiterated its opposition to the Palestinian push for UN recognition of its statehood.
A State Department spokeswoman said the Palestinian move would not be helpful to getting the parties back to the bargaining table.
Canada echoes that view.
"We will monitor developments at the UN and respond appropriately," said Day. "As G8 leaders declared at Deauville, unilateral action is ultimately unhelpful."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to host a meeting Monday of the UN Secretary General, the European Union and Russian foreign ministers — the so-called "quartet" of Middle East peacemakers.
The Harper government has been widely criticized for siding slavishly with Israel and turning a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinian people.
Rami Khouri, a leading Mideast analyst based in Lebanon, said in a recent interview that Canada has been traditionally viewed in the region as a country that has had a "sense of decency and fairness in its foreign policy."
But that can be compromised, he added, by siding too much with Israel.
"I think the critical point for any Western government — Canadian, American, British — is to differentiate between supporting the security of Israel and opposing the colonization polices of Israel. Israel within its 1967 borders is a phenomenon the world accepts, even the Arabs," Khouri said.
"Any real friend of Israel should tell Israel, `we support you, your security but we don't support what you're doing'."
Leaked Israeli diplomatic cables, obtained by the newspaper Haaretz, give details about its foreign ministry's diplomatic offensive to counter the Palestinian UN campaign.
Israel's marching orders to its embassies are to lobby politicians, and use Jewish groups and the local media to make its case.
"The goal is to get the country in which you serve to vote against recognizing a Palestinian state," said the memo given to Haaretz. "Your plan must include approaching the most senior politicians, mobilizing the relevant force multipliers (such as local Jewish communities, non-governmental organizations) using the media, influencing local public opinion, and public diplomacy aimed at all relevant communities."

Treatment of Women in Saudi Arabia as 'Slavery' and Says: Nobody Is Immune to the Winds of Change Sweeping the Arab Nation; 'We Must Grant Freedoms Before They Become Challenges'

Saudi Columnist Princess Basma bint Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud Describes the Treatment of Women in Saudi Arabia as 'Slavery' and Says: Nobody Is Immune to the Winds of Change Sweeping the Arab Nation; 'We Must Grant Freedoms Before They Become Challenges'

Following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi columnist Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud. The interview aired on BBC Arabic TV on June 28, 2011:

"Punishments Should Be the Same For Men And Women.... [But] the Woman Is Always Punished... Within a System of Laws That Do Not, In Fact, Exist In Our Shari'a"
Interviewer: "Your Royal Highness, you defend women's rights, and in your writings, you courageously cast light on the condition of Saudi women, demanding that they step up to the status they are worthy of. You said that 'slavery' is imposed upon Saudi women. Is this an accurate term?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "To say the least. Saudi women – and women in general in the Arab world – are subject to pressure that was not exerted upon them in the days of the Jahiliya, and even before."
Interviewer: "Who exerts this pressure?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "Society, which inherited tribalism rather than Islamic customs. We are familiar with Islamic customs, and we return to the Koran in order to know our rights as Muslims – men and women alike.
"What is being practiced de facto in our Arab societies is a tribal legacy, not an Islamic one. What is permitted is clear, and what is forbidden is clear, and punishments should be the same for men and women.
"What we see today, however, is that the woman is always punished, the woman is treated with violence. Thus, our society becomes a violent society, because the woman who suffers violence is the one who raises the children. She raises men and women. What will become of these future generations, if they are raised by women who suffer violence and subjugation, within a system of laws that do not, in fact, exist in our shari'a?"
Progress In Women's Status Under King Abdallah "Is Restricted To a Certain Group Of Women... The Elite"
Interviewer: "But is this really the case? Didn't the Saudi woman make many achievements under King Abdallah and assume prominent positions? Take for example, Dr. Khawla [Al-Kuraya] and [Minister] Norah Al-Faiz. There are women academics and journalists – yourself included. Sometimes it seems that the condition of the Saudi woman is being exaggerated."
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "This is true of 1% of the women in Saudi Arabia. Is it fair and just to focus on 1% of the women, ignoring the other 99%? I have mentioned in several columns that the Saudi woman, under the rule of King Abdallah bin Abd Al-Aziz, whom I love with all my heart, and whom I have called, in several columns, 'the lion of the Arabian Peninsula'… Within five years, he brought about a qualitative leap in the status of women, the likes of which Saudi society had not witnessed for 50 years."
Interviewer: "So there is progress…"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "Yes, but this progress is restricted to a certain group of women, who appear in the media. This is the elite. But the rest of the women in society are subject to the laws that exist in our society as a whole. That is what I am talking about. I am talking about the Saudi woman who is not called Basma bint Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz, or Dr. Khawla, or other names that appear in the media. We live in an elitist society, and we have such opportunities because we were brought up in affluent families. The rest of the women do not enjoy such opportunities.
[…]
"The pioneer in changing these notions should be the Justice Ministry. When the government legislates laws, it means that there are problems addressed by these laws. But these laws reach a dead end at the Justice Ministry, and nothing else is done with them except to give them media exposure."
"We Must Change the Culture of the Arab People"
Interviewer: "What are the reasons for this?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "I asked them about the reasons, and they said: 'Bureaucracy.' So I asked who was responsible for the bureaucracy, and they said: 'Arab culture.' So I asked who was responsible for Arab culture, and they said: 'the Arab people.' Are we responsible for the state of our culture? And if we are responsible for it, we must step forward and say: 'We must change the culture of the Arab people.'
[…]
"The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was founded by my late father, King Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz. The reason and purpose of its establishment were the same as those of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, when he founded the Hesbah Committee, the mission of which was to prevent vice and to promote virtue. The concepts, however, have changed.
"What is prevention of vice, and what is promotion of virtue? In the days of the Caliph, they would go the markets, and would monitor the merchants and the prices, and would keep an eye out for bribery and administrative corruption. That was their mission."
Interviewer: "What does it do today?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "When it was established by my late father, its goal was to monitor civil society, in order to enable the citizens to live honorably, without corruption or bribery. As fate would have it, this has turned into social pressure, which targets, first and foremost, the Saudi woman. They preoccupy themselves with her face and her gloves, with the mixing of the sexes, and with matters that have led to the terrible consequences that we see today in our society. We have turned into a society that is afraid of…"
Interviewer: "Am I to understand that you support the demand to abolish this committee?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "I am in favor of reforming the way this committee operates and its goals, and of directing it [to supervise] the ministries of justice and social affairs – all the executives ministries – so that it can carry out the mission for which it was founded."
Interviewer: "But [the public] seems to accept this Committee. It is supported by official bodies, and as you know, there is an historical agreement between the Aal Saud family and the religious establishment."
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "Yes, it has been this way since the formation of the union. The goal of that union was to reform society, not to destroy it. What we are seeing today is the destruction of society.
[…]
"Personally, I believe that if the Committee wants to be effective… Reforming this Committee is difficult, because it was established on foundations that are completely wrong…
"As for abolishing the Committee and establishing a new one, with careful planning of its goals, its officials, its authorities… In my column, I advised…"
Interviewer: "You received advice too."
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "Yes. The advice I gave in my column was that the Committee should be headed by university graduates – professionals, sociologists, and psychologists, who would also have knowledge of the religious teachings, as sheiks and members of such a committee should be… This way, they could fulfill their mission properly.
"I was advised not to talk about these matters, so as not to get into things with which I am not as familiar as the authorities.
[…]
"These revolutions are the outcome of the pressures exerted on these peoples for something like 200 years, or at least since the beginning of World War I. Now the revolutions have become a force that knows nothing but the word 'freedom.'"[…]
"Nobody Is Immune To the Seasonal Winds That Sweep Our Arab Nation... We Must Grant Freedoms Before They Become Challenges"
Interviewer: "Is Saudi Arabia immune to the winds of change?"
Princess Basma bin Saud bin Abd Al-Aziz Aal Saud: "Nobody is immune to the seasonal winds that sweep our Arab nation. Anyone who says we are immune is wrong. Everyone is vulnerable to this, and everyone should pay attention and should know that we must begin national dialogue, and not wait for the challenges to grow. We must grant freedoms before they become challenges." […]