Headline News 15/06/2016

Headlines:

• Second Amendment Strikes Again
• Saudi Funding Hilary Clinton
• UK 'Grassroots' Anti-Extremism Campaign Produced by UK Government

Details:

Second Amendment Strikes Again

A mass shooting in a gay nightclub claimed the lives of 49 people on Sunday, with the killer Omar Mateen being reportedly shot dead following a standoff with the police. The shooter had called 911 during the attack at the nightclub early on Sunday to express his allegiance to ISIS. However the truth is far from it, Mateen was a frequent visitor to the club and according to eyewitnesses he was considered strange and a bit of a loner. Mateen's ex-wife said he suffered from mental illness and his father suggested he may have acted out of anti-gay hatred, a strange comment considering he was a regular at the club. A combination of mental illness, confusion and a history of violence led up to the massacre, add to this the ease of acquiring a weapon in the US and you have a serious problem on your hands, which the system has failed to deal with it. Yet again we see Islam being questioned and its compatibility with western norms being discussed, when in reality the discussion should be on the US's gun laws which claim thousands of lives each year. Not only should this issue be discussed but also the failings of the FBI who were already aware of the shooter and had been monitoring him for a while, Islam is conveniently used as a scapegoat to paint over the cracks in western liberal norms. 

Saudi Funding Hilary Clinton

In a report published by Jordan’s official news agency, Petra News Agency, which was quickly removed, after it highlighted Saudi Arabia, as a major funder of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to become the next president of the United States. It described exclusive comments from Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman which included a claim that Riyadh has provided 20% of the total funding to the prospective Democratic candidate's campaign. The report was later deleted. The Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs has re-published the original Arabic Petra report, which quoted Prince Mohammed. “Saudi Arabia always has sponsored both Republican and Democratic Party of America and in America current election also provide with full enthusiasm 20% of the cost of Hillary Clinton’s election even though some events in the country don’t have a positive look to support the king of a woman (sic) for presidency,” the report quoted Prince Mohammed as having said.

The report was published on the eve of Prince Mohammed making an official visit to the United States. Links between Saudi Arabia and the Clinton family, including with Hillary’s campaign, are well reported. In 2008, it was revealed that Saudi Arabia had donated between $10m and $25m to the Clinton Foundation, a charity set up by Hillary’s husband and former US President Bill Clinton. Last year the Centre for Studies and Media Affairs at the Saudi Royal Court paid public relations firm the Podesta Group $200,000 for a month-long project to provide “public relations services”. The Podesta Group was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta. John Podesta is the chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to become the next US president.

UK 'Grassroots' Anti-Extremism Campaign Produced by UK Government

A high profile campaign that encouraged Muslim women in the UK to “make a stand against terrorism” has been exposed of being covertly produced by the UK’s Home Office’s communications unit in order “to transmit counter-extremism messages into communities and hard to reach audiences.” The website page dedicated to #MakingAStand, was dedicated to empowering women but earlier this year, the head, Sara Khan and co-director Kalsoom Bashir said in evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry into the government’s counter-extremism policy: “All decisions in relation to Inspire’s remit and work are made solely by the directors; all projects and activities are led and carried out by the Inspire team.” But an internal government document seen by Middle East Eye lists #MakingAStand as a “RICU Product”, referring to the Research, Information and Communications Unit (RICU), the Home Office’s strategic communications unit responsible since 2011 for disseminating counter-extremism narratives as part of the government’s Prevent strategy.

The March 2015 document, produced by the Home Office-based Office for Security and Counter Extremism, is titled “Prevent Strategy: Local delivery best practice catalogue” and marked “Not for public discourse”. It described the aim of the #MakingAStand campaign as being “to encourage British Muslim women to make a stand and take the lead to reject ISIS propaganda and discourage travel to Syria/Iraq”.