The Iman Foundation
PROMOTING DIALOGUE • CHALLENGING EXTREMISM • BRINGING CHANGE

London: IMAN Hosts Conference 'Islamism, a Global Threat'

Friday, 27 June 2014 61 more images

The Iman Foundation was pleased to host a Conference in London on the subject of 'Islamism, a Global Threat'.

The conference was chaired by Mr William Morris, Secretary-General of the Next Century Foundation, with a number of highly distinguished panellists taking part. These included:

Charles Tannock MEP

Conservative Spokesman on EU Foreign Affairs Committee

Richard Barrett CMG OBE

Former British Diplomat and Former Director of Global Counter Terrorism Operations for the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)

The Hon. Bertie Ahern

Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland

The Hon. Halldor Asgrimsson

Former Prime Minister of Iceland

The Hon. Mirko Cvetkovic

Former Prime Minister of Serbia

Xiao Wunan

Executive Vice Chairman of Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF)

Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec MP

Academic of Foreign Policy and Member of the Turkish Parliament

A large number of people were in attendance including a host of politicians, academics, journalists and representatives from the international community. Other members of the Iman Foundation Board were also present including The Hon. Cyril Svoboda (former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic), The Rt. Hon Lord Kilclooney of Armagh, Rabbi Gluck OBE, Patti Boulaye, Mili Gottlieb and Yasmin Allawi.

A lively debate followed the initial panel discussion which continued throughout lunch and well into the afternoon.

The Chairman of the Iman Foundation, Ribal Al-Assad, opened the conference with the following speech:

Distinguished guests, lords, ladies and gentlemen …

… welcome, and thank you for being here.

As you know, the IMAN foundation seeks to tackle extremism and its tragic consequences for civilians.

To that end, we’ve met religious and political leaders around the world …

… in Parliaments, Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples …

… from the Far East to the Middle East and Europe …

… and we are delighted to have such an international gathering today.

Our network is global …

… and so are our objectives …

… because conflict and violence are contagious and their tentacles are far-reaching.

Today, we are here to discuss the particular threat posed by Islamism …

… a poisonous ideology currently wreaking particular havoc in my home country, Syria …

… where militant groups are even recruiting children and sending them to commit suicide bombings!

But recent events have shown that Islamism has no respect for borders.

It is no secret to anyone with access to a newspaper …

… that the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (or Greater Syria), or ISIS …

… one of the key Islamist groups currently fighting in Syria …

… has recently taken control of a number of cities in Iraq as well …

… making the regional nature of the conflict unmistakable …

In truth, though, ISIS has been active in Iraq as well as Syria for several years …

… so why is the situation escalating now?

Western leaders have condemned the ISIS offensive in Iraq …

… but as the US Senator Paul Rand has pointed out, “one of the reasons why ISIS has been emboldened is because we have been arming their allies …

… We [the US] have been allied with ISIS in Syria."

Too many in the West have been blind to the nature of the rebel groups fighting the Syrian regime.

They claim to represent the Syrian people …

… but in fact they are tearing that people apart in the name of a perverted ideology …

… and as I will explain in more detail shortly, they are no more committed to liberal democracy than their friends in al-Qaeda, who share exactly the same ideology.

In fact, Islamism flourishes not only in Syria and Iraq, but from Lebanon to Libya …

… through Chad and Northern Nigeria …

… across Russian Chechnya and into China’s Xinjiang Province …

… so we should not be surprised when Islamist violence crosses borders …

… or imagine that we can support Islamists in one country while opposing them in another.

Last week, UN General Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lamented the deteriorating situation in Syria and Iraq, saying …

… “Suddenly, the cohesion and integrity of two major countries …

… not just one …

… is in question”.

But I am afraid there has been nothing “sudden” about it.

Another observer noted some three years ago …

… at a time when many were still speaking with some excitement about the optimism accompanying the Arab ‘Spring’ …

“As the UN fails once more to agree to a resolution on Syria, my country hangs on the precipice of war. And not just a civil war but a regional war, armed and funded by countries across the region and backed by vested interests across the world. Any analysis of the situation in my country requires an understanding of the ever-growing tide of Islamic extremism.”

And at a conference at the E.U Parliament:

“The key steps that need to be taken to help end the repression in Syria and move peacefully towards political and religious pluralism. Otherwise Syria may be plunged into a fully fledged civil war, which could escalate into a regional war.”

The same commentator also warned:

… "Syria has become a magnet for sectarian hatred …

… and an all-out civil war leading to a regional war beckons."

It gives me no pleasure to tell you that commentator was me …

… and that I have been warning for several years that if some Gulf countries continue inciting sectarian hatred, violence and killing …

… and arm and fund the Islamists …

… it would certainly not stay in Syria.

But I am hardly a lone voice in the wilderness.

Lord Ashdown warned a couple of years ago that the situation in Syria was part of a wider sectarian conflict across the Middle East …

… one that would spread to Iraq, to Egypt, to Libya and Mali.

Lord Ashdown was right.

And speaking of Africa, two years before the kidnapping of the Nigerian schoolgirls, Lord Alton and Baroness Cox called for Boko Haram, that country’s Islamist group …

… to be listed as a terrorist organisation.

Lord Alton and Baroness Cox were right.

Lord Richards recently described Islamism as the biggest threat to Western security …

… while Lord Stirrup had pointed to the dangers of the Middle East unravelling …

… and both have called for a global response.

Lords Stirrup and Richards are right.

And in case you think it’s only members of the House of Lords who understand the situation (!) …

… let me point out that both Tony Blair and David Cameron have been vocal on the issue …

… with the latter recently arguing that the West must tackle Islamism not only in Syria, but in Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria and Mali.

Mr Blair and Mr Cameron are both right.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, Cressida Dick …

… has warned that Britain will live with the fallout from the war in Syria for years to come.

Assistant Commissioner Dick is right.

In the US, General Lloyd Austin III has said:

"Left unchecked, the spread of violence and terrorist activity emanating from Syria could result in a long, drawn out conflict …

… that extends from Beirut to Damascus to Baghdad to Yemen.”

Matters are made worse by the fact that Saudi-backed Salafi and Wahhabi factions and the Qatari-backed Muslim Brotherhood are vying for dominance …

… with more funds and weapons arriving to fan the flames as the situation escalates.

President Obama recently admitted that arming so-called moderate rebels would NEVER have resulted in the overthrow of the regime …

…so why has Washington started doing exactly that this year?

And why have we condoned it?

President Obama is correct though.

The truth is that the US has not done too little, but too much to support the rebels ...

… who are overwhelmingly Islamist …

… and who are contributing to the complete destruction of Syria and the Syrian people.

After all, when you send additional weapons into a situation like that, with other foreign governments also intervening …

… how can you know who will benefit?

At the latest count, over 150,000 people have died in the conflict and over 600,000 injured.

Nine million are displaced.

The estimated cost of the reconstruction of Syria has been estimated at$150bn.

Further armed conflict will only see those figures grow and take us further from a potential peace.

The result of Western backing to the rebels has been unwittingly to aid the rise of Islamism …

… instead of putting resources into stopping it.

So the question we must ask ourselves is why the situation has been allowed to get so bad …

… and why the West has not only tolerated but even supported Islamists in Syria.

Part of the answer lies back in Arab ‘Spring’ …

… which was so badly misunderstood and misinterpreted by so many Western observers …

… because what began as a series of popular movements again authoritarian regimes …

… was quickly hijacked by those with a very different agenda.

In Egypt, for example, the Muslim Brotherhood initially sided with the regime …

… then switched sides when revolution looked inevitable and used its vast resources to win the subsequent election.

But just because an organisation wins an election doesn’t make it democratic …

… and as I will explain, the Brotherhood is anything but …

… and the speed with which the Morsi regime revealed its true intentions led to its own overthrow, with the people of Egypt backing the military against the Muslim Brotherhood.

In my native Syria, the initial protests were by liberal, peaceful Syrians who chanted for reform, freedom and democracy …

… but the external Syrian opposition was commandeered by Islamists in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is exceptionally well organised, well-funded and able to move fast.

Its allies, Turkey and Qatar, created the Syrian National Council, stacking it with Muslim Brotherhood members …

… so despite the veneer of inclusivity, 80% of the Council were members of the Brotherhood from the very start.

Ali Sadreddine Bayanouni, the former leader of the Syrian Brotherhood, has explicitly said that a non-Brotherhood member was made leader of the SNC only to make it appear acceptable to the West …

… while actually serving the Brotherhood's aims.

Another opposition leader, resigned from the SNC soon after the first meeting …

… describing it as “an opposition under the cloak of fanatics hiding behind a veneer of stupid liberals”.

We have all seen the consequences of their hijacking the revolution.

So Islamists are willing to use whatever means are at their disposal …

… whether political or military …

… to achieve their goals …

… but what are those goals?

What is Islamism?

You will have heard of Salafists and Wahhabis.

You will also have heard of groups spreading Islamism in specific areas …

… like Boko Haram, Al-Shabab, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Abu Sayyaf, Al Nusra and The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq.

Their modus operandi is clearly violent and direct.

The Muslim Brotherhood shares all the same values and goals …

… but as we have seen, it is prepared to take a more subtle approach …

… a form of ‘creeping’ Islamisation …

… working within a democratic context.

But for them, democracy is no more than a means to an end.

In 1998, Turkey’s President Erdogan described it as “just the train we board to reach our destination”.

Erdogan also famously recited a poem that said: “The mosques are our barracks …

… the domes our helmets …

… the minarets our bayonets …

… and the faithful our soldiers”.

The chilling militarist rhetoric clearly must have a target …

… so who are the Islamists’ enemies?

Mohammed Morsi, whose brief Presidency illustrated the Brotherhood's approach to power …

… called on Egyptians in 2010 to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews.

He also described Jews as "descendants of apes and pigs" …

… making clear the identity of one enemy group.

But there are more.

Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, long-recognised as a spiritual leader amongst followers of the Brotherhood …

… effectively served a death sentence on the entire Alawite sect by describing them as ‘‘more infidels than Christians and Jews".

Qaradawi showed his more ‘moderate’ side by urging the Brotherhood to apply Sharia Law in Egypt only gradually …

… which he defined as not cutting off hands within the first five years (!)

The fact is that the Brotherhood regards as enemies not only Jews, Christians, Shias, Druze, Ismailis and Alawites…

… but anyone who opposes Sharia Law and their perverted ideology of Islam…

… including the vast majority of peaceful Sunni Muslims.

It will settle for nothing less than a global Islamic Caliphate State on its own terms.

Which highlights why it is such a tragedy that the cancer of Islamism …

… has tarred the name of ‘Islam’ around the globe.

In the words of its own Deputy Guide, Khairat al-Shater, the Brotherhood’s goal is …

… “Restoring Islam and its all-encompassing conception …

… subjugating people to God …

… instituting the religion of God …

… the Islamization of life …

… empowering of God’s religion …

… establishing the Nahda of the Ummah on the basis of Islam".

These sentiments are illustrated in the raw symbolism of its flag …

… which includes the Quran, referencing Sharia Law …

… two swords, referencing Jihad …

… and the words “and prepare”, referencing a surat in the Quran …

.. "And prepare against them whatever you are able …

… of power and of steeds of war …

…by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy …

… and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows”.

Around this is written:

“Allah is our objective …

… the Prophet is our leader …

… Qur’an is our law …

… Jihad is our way …

… Dying in the name of Allah is our greatest hope.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is Islamism.

Fortunately, some in the West are waking up to the danger of political as well as military Islamism.

The UK government has ordered an Inquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood …

… and the Canadians may soon follow suit.

Unfortunately, Islamists have made great gains while the West stood by or even supported so-called rebels in Syria.

IHS Jane's has estimated 75% of opposition forces are Islamist …

… Mr Pinheiro, the head of the UN investigation, says none of the rebel groups were fighting 'in the cause of democracy' …

… and US Secretary of Justice, Eric Holder, has confirmed that the Free Syrian Army is dominated by the al Qaeda ideology.

Meanwhile, Germany’s top security official Thomas de Maziere notes that an “extraordinarily high” number of extremists are flooding into Syria …

… and as we have seen, they are even recruiting fighters from the UK and other Western nations.

Last August, Michael Morell, the outgoing Deputy Director of the CIA, said extremists returning from Syria are the single biggest threat to US National Security …

… and geography suggests the threat must be exponentially higher in Europe …

… so why did it take nine months for the UK government to realise the gravity of the situation?

It is vital that we not only recognise the gravity of the situation …

… but also how to stop the advance of Islamism.

To do that, we must understand both how such organisations operate, and, crucially, why they succeed …

… and how such a sinister and repugnant ideology wins recruits.

As I have said on many occasions in recent years:

Dictatorships breed corruption.

Corruption breeds resentment.

Resentment breeds extremism.

Understanding this means that we can only successfully counter it at source.

The Arab Spring was sparked as much by economic instability as by the lack of democracy …

… instability that made life much worse across the region, especially for the young.

60% of the Arab World is under the age of thirty …

… a huge number are unemployed …

… and the majority live in poverty …

… but they had no democratic institution through which to air their basic grievances …

… grievances that drove a Tunisian vegetable peddler in 2011 …

… to set himself alight after a confrontation with the police.

This led to calls against oppression for a voice and for representation …

… but extremists saw an opportunity to strike …

… and with no infrastructure supporting democratic parties, the brilliantly organised Islamist movement took control.

Saudi and Qatar poured money into the promotion of Islamist groups whose core objective was not democracy, but its diametric opposite …

… and the result has been the ongoing sponsorship of Islamism and the magnetic attraction of the disaffected to its sinister cause.

And that brings me to another crucial factor in the success of Islamism …

… funding.

The former Head of French Interior Intelligence, Yves Bonnet has accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of funding extremist Islamist networks in France …

… and Bernard Squarcini, a previous Head of France's counter-espionage and counter-terrorism Intelligence agency, has pointed to Saudi Intelligence supporting extremist groups from Afghanistan to Lebanon and Syria to Egypt.

So we know Salafist groups in Syria have been funded and armed by Saudi Arabia …

… while other extremist Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brothehood, the Al-Nusra… have been supported by Qatar …

… with the logistical support from- and training in - Turkey which provided safe passage.

A year ago, it was estimated that US$3.5bn has reached rebel groups in this way …

… and the figure must be far higher now.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have long been the puppet-masters of extremism …

… and while their ideologies are distinct, they are both consistently anti-democratic …

… and they do not hesitate to suppress their own people …

… regardless of empty promises to the Human Rights Council.

The Arab Spring terrified them …

… and they responded by exporting funds and arms to extremist groups who share their equal loathing of pluralism …

… ensuring their successful hijack of popular movements.

It must be said that certain Imams have also helped to fund terror on the ground.

The Zakat, one of the five pillars of Islam …

… which is intended as a charitable contribution to good causes …

… has long been siphoned off to fund terrorism.

Even in the USA, five officials of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development were sentenced to more than 145 years in prison …

… for funnelling more than $12m to Hamas.

And throughout the world, some Islamic Charities are being used for this sinister purpose …

… which also explains how Islamism is being funded and how it is spreading.

Having outlined the role of funding from states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar …

… we should note that as wealthy as they are, their wealth is a drop in the ocean compared to the resources available to Western countries …

… especially when those resources are combined …

… so how should the West be using them to stop Islamism?

We must cease to view Islamism as a danger in a faraway land.

This is a technological age.

International borders are increasingly meaningless …

… and are incapable of stopping the flow of perverted ideas.

There are young Jihadists in London being cultivated and trained in their bedrooms via the internet.

Islamism is an enemy with no Ambassador to threaten…

… no border to invade …

… and no uniformed army to destroy.

We must realise that it is a highly contagious plague.

It feeds on poverty and disaffection …

… wherever that may be.

But it goes without saying that when Islamism takes a military form it must be met with a military response whenever possible.

For a start we must respond to the advance of ISIS as it takes control of vast territories through Syria and Iraq.

In Libya General Khalifa Haftar is currently engaged in an anti-terror battle against the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist militias who hijacked that country's revolution …

… again with arms provided by the West …

… and he has appealed for international support to regain control of his country.

But again, the military route alone does not work.

If the various interventions in Afghanistan over the years have proved anything …

… it is that extremism is a worm that, when severed …

… will not just survive …

… but will multiply.

On the diplomatic front, the key is consistency.

We must cease to accept the world being run on double standards …

… condemning the regime in North Korea whilst ignoring the human rights violations in Saudi and Qatar.

By taking a fair consistent approach, diplomacy can make a real difference.

Earlier this year, I called on His Majesty King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to do more to tackle extremism …

… and to promote reconciliation between all Muslim sects.

And so I was delighted to see the King issue a royal decree prohibiting Saudi citizens from fighting in conflicts abroad …

… and formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation …

… as well as ISIS and the Nusra Front.

While much more must be done, this was a significant step forward and the King must be commended.

Indeed, Turkey has also listed the Nusra Front …

… after spending three years backing them, training them and allowing them to use Turkish territory …

… and criticzing the US for listing them as terrorist.

Better late than never (!) …

… but at least progress can be made.

We must be tough on our allies and hold them to account …

… and we must also do more to stop the torrent of propaganda.

Jihadist rhetoric has streamed from the mouths of Clerics on state-sponsored Saudi satellite TV.

And the Grand Mufti himself has called for the burning of churches.

Western countries have the capacity to shut down satellite TV channels that broadcast messages of hate, inciting violence and killing …

… and they should use it …

… as well as promoting their own liberal values more assertively and consistently.

Beyond military and diplomatic efforts, the West must also look to the long term …

… and help to sweep away the conditions that allow Islamism to flourish.

We must encourage democracy and freedom in the Middle East and North Africa …

… so that young people the world over have the freedom to express themselves …

… the freedom to trade …

… and the freedom to live independently.

Of course, we must accept that the process will be gradual.

After all, it took hundreds of years for democracy to develop and flourish in the West …

… and even within living memory, many European nations lived under tyranny and the US lacked universal civil rights …but we have to help demonstrate how we learned from our mistakes …

… ensuring that the Middle East and North Africa is not doomed to repeat them.

Indeed, there are other precedents for gradual democratisation through development.

Economic growth provided a platform for many countries like Argentina and Chile in South America …

… and Indonesia and the Philippines in South East Asia …

… to cast-off the shackles of dictatorship.

This was repeated in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall …

… so if the international community could throw itself with equal gusto into the countries affected by the Arab uprisings of 2011 …

… change for the better would be a far more likely prospect.

This doesn’t mean throwing money at political groups who will do favours for the West …

… but investing in the grassroots of these societies to develop jobs and infrastructure.

We must help build schools, universities, hospitals and factories …

… and invest in ways that allow people to build a future for themselves.

This would cease the incessant flight from poverty …

… boost demand for our own exports …

… and wean young people away from the false promises of preachers of hate.

A better future for the people of the Middle East and North Africa will mean a better future for the rest of the world too …

… and we will all become measurably safer as a result.

It is IMAN’s ambition to bring about that scenario …

… and although our resources are limited, our network is vast and our influence is growing …

… and I would like today’s conference to work as a catalyst to take that influence even further.

There is much we can learn from one another …

… and I hope we will each take away new insights and perspectives …

… that will make us all more effective in the fight against extremism.

Thank you …

… and have an excellent conference!

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