A Challenge To Quilliam: Publish Your Evidence For Your Mythical “84%”

By J. Stubbs and J. Spooner.

Maajid Nawaz, the supposedly ‘silenced Muslim’ and Southern Law Poverty Center anti-Muslim extremist has used his dual TV and radio platforms to amplify the discredited race-baiting propaganda imitating an academic report on ‘grooming-gangs’, published by his right-wing funded business and credibility vehicle Quilliam.

Their ‘Pakistani researchers found…” angle, which became embarrassingly and uncritically accepted by the media, has become the ace card for racists such as the British National Party (BNP) and conspiracy theorists such as Paul Joseph Watson and Breitbart in their mutual quests to attack the Asian and Muslim communities.

Worse, Nawaz is twisting and misrepresenting the supposed findings of the travesty of a report to further demonise Muslims. Nawaz’s misinformation will not become immediately apparent to the ignorant and as such, is dangerous and reckless propaganda.

1. There are zero “child-grooming” cases in the UK. There is no offence of simply “child-grooming”.
2. Quilliam’s own shoddy report does not claim that 84% of “rape cases in the UK” involve “South Asian Muslim men”.
3. Quilliam’s own shoddy report makes no claims on the number of ‘Muslims’ convicted of grooming related offences. Police don’t record the religions of those they have arrested.

Ostensibly, Robinson was suspended from social media for pushing an exaggerated verison of Quilliam’s claims.

1. There are zero “street grooming gang convictions”. There is no such crime.
2. Police don’t record the religion of offenders.

In his simultaneous defense of Robinson and further demonisation of Muslims, virtually everything Nawaz said was false despite his claims of “FACT”. This is an especially odious betrayal of the ordinary Muslim given how and why the white supremacist terrorist Darren Osbourne was radicalised.

1. Robinson and Nawaz certainly do not “argue lots”. Excluding Robinson’s paychecks from Quilliam, they don’t argue about anything meaningful at all. This is despite Robinson being Britain’s most prominent extremist and Nawaz maintaining the pretense of being a “counter extremist”.
2. The 85% figure quoted is a fabrication. Quilliam’s report makes no mention of having collated data on Type 2 groups. However, the CEOP report they cite has Type 2 groups at 100% white.
3. Once again, Nawaz has conflated Asians with ‘Muslims’ in the manner of a garden-variety racist (or an “anti Muslim extremist”) to demonise Muslims.

It is not the first time Nawaz has come out swinging for Robinson. In May of 2017, the then Quilliam employee Julia Ebner penned a column in The Guardian which alluded to Robinson’s white supremacy. As a result, Robinson, flanked by his Rebel TV crew, stormed into Quilliam’s London offices demanding retribution. Nawaz’s own response to the PR stunt was pathetic — He publically whitewashed Robinson’s white supremacy and laid the blame on Ebner, his employee, for going off-message while questioning her proficiency in English.

A prostate Haras Rafiq went even further. He humiliated Ebner on national TV for daring to tell the truth about Quilliam’s former ally, Robinson. Julia Ebner has since departed from Quilliam.

Both Robinson and Nawaz largely owe each other for the persistence of their media careers. In 2013, Quilliam’s public funding had been pulled and they were facing financial ruin. Meanwhile, Robinson was heading to prison for mortgage fraud and he was attracting less and less thugs to his anti-Muslim rallies. The solution was a mutually-beneficial PR stunt, as described by Robinson himself as an “I scratch your back and you scratch mine deal”. In exchange for monthly payments Robinson would agree to be paraded around by Quilliam as “reformed” via Quilliam intervention. Ostensibly, Nawaz was the saviour and Robinson had been ‘deradicalised” and was now endorsed by Nawaz. This opened up many doors for Robinson to spread his hatred in what can be seen as a cynical and self-serving plot that betrayed their Muslim community.

Quilliam’s propaganda and misinformation is terribly reckless in a climate of immense anti-Muslim hysteria induced hate-crimes. What is Quilliam’s motive to act as Baghdadi’s useful idiots? Does Robinson have leverage over them? Are they pandering to their anti-Muslim audience or their right-wing financiers? Our challenge to Quilliam and their mythical “84%” is to put up or shut up. Publish the data you supposedly have or stop empowering racists and racism against British Muslims.