U.K.: “Private donations, mostly to Islamic study centres, are much greater than government funding for Islamic studies and academics are said to be nervous of the threat to their academic freedom.”
* Mosque in Oxford denies call to prayer plan (they always do, but once they set it up they claim ‘their rights’)
* With good reason. More on this story. “Concerns over funding of Islamic studies,” from the Guardian:
A confidential meeting called by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) about Islamic studies will take place today amid fears that Saudi and Muslim organisations exert too much influence over UK universities as a result of donations that dwarf government funding.
Private donations, mostly to Islamic study centres, are much greater than government funding for Islamic studies and academics are said to be nervous of the threat to their academic freedom.
Dr Denis MacEoin, Islam expert at Newcastle University, said academics were nervous about handling topics that might upset their sponsors.
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“It’s part of an overall belief that only Muslims can teach Islam, which in an academic context is entirely wrong. It would soon remove the possibility for genuine academic debate.”
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He said increasing numbers of students with Salafist – a more traditional form of Islam – backgrounds were taking Islamic studies and could be upset by “proper academic critical debate”.
“It does threaten academic freedom and critical thinking,” he warned.
* YOU BET IT DOES!
Britain needs more Islamic hate preachers
* Jaqui Smith invites moderate imams into UK to help Muslim communities fight extremism
* Trying to put the fire out with gasoline. Its not as if it hasn’t been tried before…
* Britain has at present about 5000 established headbangers, but it needs to import some more ‘moderates’, because the homegrown ones are somehow immoderate…
* But the homegrown ones don’t like competition:
* Preachers from overseas ‘may bring problems’
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