Sixteen-year-old Abdul Sahed recalled how at a rally earlier this year where he was protesting against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, a few people started shouting: “It’s the Jews, the Jews.” They then made the leap to blaming Starbucks (because for this small minority the “Star” was the star of David and the “bucks” were dollars) and smashed up a nearby branch of the coffee chain.
He recounted the incident to a group of young Muslims discussing the power of propaganda at the Mile End Community Project (MECP) in London’s East End. The discussion formed part of the Digital Disruption project, funded by the government’s controversial Prevent strategy to stop the spread of violent extremism.
By educating the participants about propaganda, the Digital Disruption project — which could be introduced in schools across the country if those running it have their way — hopes to empower them, and their peers, to resist the videos and images that extremists use to gain recruits.
“They [the extremists] say we are being killed so we’re gonna kill them. They use propaganda, they make them [potential recruits] feel sorry for the people in Palestine,” 18-year-old Abdul Samad said.
All bar one of the teenagers admitted they did not know what the word propaganda meant when they joined the project. But demonstrating their newfound knowledge, they reeled off examples, not just limited to Muslim extremists.
Zak Islam Choudhury, 19, referred to Tory opposition leader David Cameron’s comments on the radio about Twitter when the Tory leader said: “Too many twits might make a twat.”
“He swore ... to convince people he’s just like them,” Islam Choudhury said.
While none of the group had been exposed to extremist videos they were familiar with a rap video on YouTube about the Sept. 11 terror attacks with the refrain “Bush knocked down the towers.” Samad said he found the idea that the then US president could have been responsible for the destruction of the twin towers believable before learning about propaganda.
As part of the project, the group are making their own propaganda videos. A later one will use excerpts such as those employed by extremists but the first will focus on a local legend that gained credence.
“A few years ago, around [the London borough of] Tower Hamlets, there were a lot of people saying there are vampires,” Islam Choudhury explained.
The rumor became so widespread that it was mentioned in the Friday sermon at the east London mosque.
“We want to make them [the audience for our video] believe it and at the end we’ll go: ‘It’s fake,’” Samad said. “It will make them think.”
The hope is that the videos and their exposure of propaganda techniques will resonate with people who might otherwise be susceptible to more sinister influences.
Martin Orton, director of Bold Creative, the group specializing in working with young people that runs the project, said Mile End was chosen because it is an area where “extremists are recruiting.” The teenagers became involved through their existing participation with MECP.
“The reason we’re doing it with them is so that they can connect to their peer group who are more vulnerable — the ones who don’t go to this. You can’t just target a group of young people and say ‘they might be extremists,’” Orton said.
MECP youth worker Nurull Islam said the participants’ connection with other young people meant that the message relayed by their videos would have credibility and, with the power of new media, could reach far and wide. But Prevent has been pilloried by the media amid allegations of stereotyping of and spying on Muslims, and accusations that funds have been wasted on ineffective projects.
While the teenagers also highlighted propaganda against Muslims in the media, they all agreed that the government had to do something to tackle extremism. Orton hopes the project, which has funding until March next year, could go nationwide and become part of the school curriculum — a goal supported by the young Muslims at MECP.
“It’s the young people who get affected [by propaganda] the most,” Habz Rahman, 19, said.
The feedback from the government has been positive. UK Communities Secretary John Denham has visited the project and the Department for Communities and Local Government said he had been “impressed.”
But Orton, Islam and colleagues know that before Digital Disruption can expand, Prevent needs to address questions about its credibility.
“It’s not about teaching them what to think, it’s about educating them how to think,” Islam said.
“They are under threat in the sense they’re always on the street. If they [extremists] do any recruiting they’re going to go to the street corners — in that sense they’re vulnerable,” he said.
Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), an action plan for Muslim communities, was launched by the government in 2007.
Last August, UKCommunities Minister Shahid Malik said the extended title would be dropped in response to complaints from Islamic groups that the program stigmatized all Muslims as terrorists. Many opted out of Prevent as a result. Malik also said the strategy would be broadened to include rightwing extremists.
There have been allegations the government has wasted money on ineffectual projects through Prevent. In one instance a talking lion taught schoolchildren how to spot a terrorist.
There was more trouble in October when the government faced allegations that Prevent was being used to gather intelligence about innocent people who were not suspected of involvement in terrorism.
Shami Chakrabarti, the director of London-based human rights organization Liberty, branded it the biggest spying program in Britain in modern times.
Denham has rejected the allegations of spying but admitted the program was being hampered by “controversy, criticism and lack of clarity.”
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