For many young British Muslims tug of peace is stronger than pull of war

Updated 25 November 2014
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For many young British Muslims tug of peace is stronger than pull of war

BIRMINGHAM, England: For some British Muslims, the path to jihad and the path to peaceful aid work can traverse much of the same terrain.
From an office in Britain’s second largest city, Waseem Iqbal and a friend are planning a trip to the Middle East. In Jordan, they will bring food packages for Syrian refugees.
Iqbal, 27, chose charity work not violence. “How do you save innocents in Syria? By going into a war zone and getting yourself killed? Or by... bringing people water pumps, schools and food packages? This is what saves innocents,” he said.
Iqbal knows others who have taken a different path. Two acquaintances, young British men, were arrested and charged under Britain’s terrorism laws. They were a world apart, Iqbal says, but they had one thing in common: anger.
For authorities struggling to prevent young Muslims from joining the wars in Syria and Iraq, understanding what drives these men is key. Over 500 British citizens have traveled to Syria, officials estimate. Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that militants could return to attack the West.
Iqbal grows his beard long and wears a thawb — a traditional ankle-length robe-like garment. He has been on the staff of charity Human Relief Foundation for a month. In the preceding three years his charity work included opening a youth center in the basement of a local mosque.
Before that, however, Iqbal says he led a different life. He worked as a night club bouncer, ran a music studio and did freelance security work. One night all of that stopped.
In the space of a few weeks in 2010, Iqbal’s older cousin, someone he looked up to, died of a drug overdose and his best friend was stabbed.
“I was sitting there one night, smoking weed in my flat overlooking the city and started asking myself what the limit was and where does it stop. I spent the whole night crying and realized that what I am missing is Islam,” he said.
“I made a promise to be a better Muslim and quit all the things I had been doing cold turkey.”

Muslim ‘ghettos’ and gang culture
A main street in this central English city bustles with life. Travelers rush in and out of the train station, couples enter coffee houses and a man is performing freestyle rap.
Three young men have a booth set up not five meters away from him. A stereo is playing Qur'anic verse in Arabic followed by English translation. A verse detailing Islam’s version of the life of Jesus and Mary plays while the men hand out flyers.
There are over 213,000 Muslims in Birmingham, making up over a fifth of the population according to the 2011 census. Neighbourhoods like Balsall Heath, where Iqbal grew up, are predominantly Muslim and working class. They are also home to what he calls a “gang culture.”
This macho mentality can drive young men to join gangs and sell drugs, or join jihadi groups and fight in the Middle East.
“It is all about acceptance. He wants to feel part of something, he wants to be respected or feared, he wants to feel part of a cause and feel needed,” Iqbal explained.
Jihadi culture and the bravado that goes with it as well the sanitization of war and glamorization of weapons play a larger role in the rationalization of young Muslim men than Islamist ideology argues Jahan Mahmood, who mentors the community youth.
That view is backed by academic studies. Researchers at Queen Mary University list those most susceptible to extremism: people suffering from depression, those who are isolated and those whose families have lived in Britain for several generations. Religious ideology does not appear to be a major influencing factor.
Iqbal tells the story of one of the men charged under terrorism laws. He used to be a drug dealer before experiencing a similar change of heart to Iqbal’s. But unlike Iqbal he adopted increasingly radical views after he rediscovered his faith, which Iqbal attributes to a sense of guilt over past misdeeds.
“An unsympathetic reading of god as a punisher rather than a forgiver and that the only way to be forgiven is to be on the battlefield and die,” is one of the reasons young men choose to join jihadi groups abroad, says Mahmood.
The former drug dealer in Iqbal’s story was arrested in a car full of weapons on the way to a march by the anti-Islamist far right English Defense League.










Islamophobia, hostile media, alienation

Organizations like the English Defense League are a factor in driving young Muslims into extremism.

Abdul Waheed, Iqbal’s colleague at their charity, says as an eight year old he watched out of his window as his uncle was beaten up in the street of the predominantly white neighborhood his family had recently moved to.

The family soon moved back to Sparkhill, which alongside Balsall Heath and Sparkbrook make up Birmingham’s majority Asian ‘Balti Triangle’ — a maze of rundown Victorian houses, workshops and curry houses.
“As a child you don’t understand why this is happening, but it stays with you, and you get angry. The important thing is not to become the person they say you are,” says 22-year-old Waheed.
Iqbal and Waheed have dozens of similar stories. The former has had pig heads and beer thrown at him in football venues and both men have had racial slurs yelled at them in the street.
“Many young people don’t feel part of the mainstream anymore with the Islamophobia we see in the media,” says Mahmood.
The isolation of the Muslim community led to it developing a siege mentality and out of that young people do not see themselves as part of the mainstream or Britain, instead they view themselves as part of a global Muslim nation and feel they have to “help their brothers” abroad.
In their lunch break Iqbal and Waheed discuss the futility of fighting. They conclude, however, that if someone is told over and over again that they are something, say a terrorist, by the media, they will eventually become that thing. “The power of suggestion is strong,” says Waheed.


Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa

Updated 22 sec ago
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Trump unveils first $5 million ‘gold card’ visa

  • Republican president tells reporters that the special visa would probably be available ‘in less than two weeks’
  • Trump said that sales of the new visa would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US deficit
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump unveiled the first “gold card,” a residency permit sold for $5 million each, aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
Holding a prototype that bore his face and an inscription “The Trump Card,” the Republican president told reporters that the special visa would probably be available “in less than two weeks.”
“I’m the first buyer,” he said. “Pretty exciting, huh?”
Trump previously said that sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority for his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
He said in February that his administration hoped to sell “maybe a million” of the cards and did not rule out that Russian oligarchs may be eligible.

Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says

Updated 27 min 37 sec ago
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Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a peace treaty, US diplomat says

  • Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict
  • Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s

BAKU: US President Donald Trump is looking forward to Azerbaijan and Armenia signing a long-awaited peace treaty, Eric Jacobs, a senior adviser of the State Bureau of Energy Resources of the US Department of State, said on Friday.
Speaking at an energy event in Baku, Jacobs said the peace treaty would usher in “a new era of security and prosperity” for the South Caucasus region.
Armenia and Azerbaijan said last month that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end almost four decades of conflict between the two countries over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Fighting over Karabakh, which is part of mostly Muslim Azerbaijan but had until 2023 a heavily Armenian Christian population, broke out in the late 1980s, when both countries were part of the collapsing Soviet Union.
The territory gained de facto independence from Azerbaijan with Armenian support through a series of wars, but was ultimately retaken by Azerbaijan in September 2023, in a military offensive that prompted almost all of its 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee.
Since then, the two countries have both said they want a peace deal, but talks have been fitful and progress slow until a sudden breakthrough last month.
The peace deal is still not expected to be signed quickly though as Azerbaijan is demanding that Armenia first change its constitution to remove what Baku says are references to Karabakh independence.
Since the draft deal was agreed, both Armenia and Azerbaijan have also accused each other of firing on positions along the two countries’ closed and heavily militarized border. No casualties have been reported in the incidents.


EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

Updated 41 min 44 sec ago
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EU leaders hold their first summit with Central Asian states

  • The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership

The leaders of the European Union and five Central Asian countries held their first summit on Friday to discuss ways to boost trade and other ties.
The summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan is attended by European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Costa declared that “the European Union is eager to build a mutually beneficial partnership with Central Asia, one that goes beyond expectations.”
Von der Leyen said that the summit is set to “deepen trade ties and expand cooperation in transport, critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water and energy.”
The EU strategy on Central Asia emphasizes Central Asia’s growing strategic importance and aims to foster a stronger partnership with the countries of the region.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that during the past seven years trade between Central Asian and EU countries has increased to 54 billion euros ($60 billion), adding that the summit “should become the starting point of a new stage in the development of multi-faceted relations.”


Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland

Updated 43 min 31 sec ago
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Danish leader tells the US ‘you cannot annex another country’ as she visits Greenland

  • Danish leader: ‘If we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening’
  • ‘This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security’

NUUK, Greenland: Denmark’s prime minister is wrapping up a three-day visit to Greenland on Friday after telling the US “you cannot annex another country,” even with the argument that international security is at stake.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen traveled to the strategically critical Arctic island as US President Donald Trump seeks control of Greenland. He argues that Greenland, a semiautonomous territory belonging to the Kingdom of Denmark, is critical to US security.
A week ago, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote US military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting in the territory.
Frederiksen pushed back against the US criticism as she spoke on Thursday alongside Greenland’s incoming and outgoing leaders. She argued that Denmark, a NATO ally, has been a reliable friend.
Speaking in English, she said that “if we let ourselves be divided as allies, then we do our foes a favor. And I will do everything that I can to prevent that from happening.”
“When you ask our businesses to invest in the US, they do. When you ask us to spend more on our defense, we do; and when you ask of us to strengthen security in the Arctic, we are on the same page,” she said.
“But when you demand to take over a part of the Kingdom of Denmark’s territory, when we are met by pressure and by threats from our closest ally, what are we to believe in about the country that we have admired for so many years?”
“This is about the world order that we have built together across the Atlantic over generations: you cannot annex another country, not even with an argument about international security,” Frederiksen said.
The Danish leader said that, if the US wants to strengthen security in the Arctic, “let us do so together.”
Political parties in Greenland, which has been leaning toward eventual independence from Denmark for years, last week agreed to form a broad-based new coalition government in the face of Trump’s designs on the territory. Those have angered many in Greenland and Denmark.
In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday, Vance repeated the accusation that Denmark has “really underinvested in the infrastructure and security of Greenland.”
He said Trump’s point is that “this matters to our security, this matters to our missile defense, and we’re going to protect America’s interests come hell or high water.”


Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer

Updated 04 April 2025
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Russia accused by Britain and France of delaying ceasefire talks, say Putin 'owes' the US an answer

  • Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine

BRUSSELS: Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine and ramped up pressure on Moscow by insisting that he owes the United States an immediate answer.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting after a Kremlin official said on Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”
“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force to police any future peace in Ukraine.
Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, “he continues to bombard Ukraine. It’s civilian population. It’s energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.”
Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now “owes an answer to the United States.” US President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky after he promised last year to bring the war to a swift conclusion.
“Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said. “It has to be ‘yes.’ It has to be ‘no.’ It has to be a quick answer.”
He said that Russia shows no intention of halting its military campaign, noting that Putin on Monday ordered a call-up intended to draft 160,000 conscripts for a one-year tour of compulsory military service.
The two foreign ministers pledged to continue helping to build up Ukraine’s armed forces – the country’s best security guarantee since the US took any prospect of NATO membership off the table.
Coalition army chiefs were due to meet in Kyiv on Friday. Defense ministers from the group will meet at NATO headquarters next Thursday.