Britain, like the United States, France, and Belgium, has been victimized by Islamic terror for years. The government has tried to fight, as Prime Minister Cameron called it, the “poisonous Islamist ideology,” while being respectful to Islam. Nonetheless, four out of ten British Muslims want Sharia law introduced into parts of the country. A fifth of the Muslims surveyed expressed sympathy with the “feelings and motives” of the suicide bombers who attacked London. In 2006, then Labour MP Sadiq Khan bewailed how many Muslims “feel disengaged and alienated.” Less than one decade later, there would be twice as many British Muslims fighting for the Caliphate as there would be British Muslims serving in the British armed forces, and Mr. Khan would be Lord Mayor of London.
By fall 2015, British security forces were monitoring more than 3,000 homegrown Islamic extremists. Half of the Islamists on terrorist watch lists live in London, especially in the capital’s east and west, and most others live in the West Midlands and Manchester. Despite efforts to assimilate Muslims into the mainstream of British society, the number of violent suspects under surveillance has risen by more than 50 percent since 2007. Only one in three British Muslims would inform the police if they believed a fellow Muslim was connected to a terrorist organization. British Muslim organizations are, at best, ambivalent about cooperating with police and security forces. Some leaders have disparaged the Prevent Strategy, a national program designed to reduce radicalism. Prevent was based on four pillars: stopping terrorist attacks, preventing people from becoming terrorists, protecting Britons against terror, and mitigating the impacts of terrorist attacks.
Daily trials, arrests, convictions, sentencing, incarceration, and parole of Islamic extremists are part of the British justice system. But there is angst about where to incarcerate the incorrigibly radical, particularly those who are Caliphate supporters. Some criminologists recommend housing them collectively to isolate the contagion or militancy. Others are concerned about the optics of a British Guantanamo Bay or “The British Alcatraz.”
Profile Twenty-Eight: Banned in Britain
The Home Secretary will seek to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.
Statement from the British Home Office, BBC News, 2012
What do Americans Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, and Michael Savage have in common? Beyond despising Islam, they share the dubious distinction of being banned from Britain. They are not alone. Duane “Dog” Chapman, a husky, roughly hewn American celebrity bounty hunter who used the “N” word once too often; Albert Speer, the Nazi war criminal; L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology; Pablo Neruda, a Nobel laureate in literature; and Fred Phelps Sr., who founded the antihomosexual Westboro Baptist Church, were all on the eclectic banned-persons list, though at different times. Menachem Begin was on it, then off it, then back on it, and then off it when he died. The list keeps American Klansmen and neo-Nazis off British shores. Many Muslims and leftists petitioned then-Secretary May to keep Republican candidate Donald Trump out of Britain. As the prime minister, her decision is pending.
Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan was banned. Over the years, Farrakhan has applauded Sharia-driven violence and poured scorn on whites and Jews. But in 2001, then-attorney and now-mayor Sadiq Khan had the decision overturned.Khan described the judge’s decision as “brave and sensible.”
But Geller, Spencer, and Savage do not understand why Louis Farrakhan is permitted to visit Britain while they are not. They claim they never advocated violence. In fact, Spencer and Geller planned to lay a wreath at a memorial to British soldier Lee Rigby, who was beheaded by Islamic jihadists in spring 2013. However, the British government wrote to them, “Your presence here is not conducive to the public good.” The government called their rhetoric “Islamophobic.” All are still fighting the ban, and Geller said, “The Magna Carta is dead.” As for the petition to ban Republican nominee Donald Trump from British shores, Geert Wilders said, “Welcome, Donald Trump, to the company of Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and myself.”
Many elements of Muslim civil society partner with British authorities. But some who advise the British government are themselves radicalized. Some Islamists enter the British civil service intending to advance their agenda, while others are radicalized while serving. Others are not employed by the government but serve as advisers. Some are unmasked by their own sloppiness, while others are exposed through investigations.
The Caliphate likely has other activists working in the government. Accounts supporting the Caliphate can be traced to offices within the national civil service. Far more alarming is the Caliphate’s penetration of the military. A navy officer who trained at one of Britain’s most prestigious maritime colleges joined the State and brought with him an exhaustive knowledge of Britain’s navy and commercial fleet. “This suddenly raises the specter of IS damaging shipping,” said former Royal Navy chief admiral Lord West. Veterans of other services have also shown sympathy for the State. Two radicals, neither of whom served in the military, one still emboldened and one repentant, are profiled below.
Profile Twenty-Nine: A Tale of Two Britons
Anjem Choudary—Black Flag over Downing Street
British activist and lawyer Anjem Choudary was arrested in August 2015, and many Britons do not understand why it took so long to incarcerate him. Britain’s most notorious radical Muslim preacher was formally charged with enlisting British citizens to support the Caliphate.
For years, prominent on the radical Islamist scene, Anjem Choudary promised, “One day, the black flag of Islam will be flying over Downing Street.” He is very vocal about this goal. Though a practicing lawyer, he despises any man-made laws, particularly those of his own country. “Who said that you own Britain anyway? You belong to Allah. Britain belongs to Allah, the whole world belongs to Allah. There isn’t anywhere on the earth that I won’t propagate God’s law.”
He has no time for individual countries, which he considers man-made and, therefore, inauthentic political constructs. Countries will “not be liberated by individuals, but by an army. Eventually there’ll have to be a Muslim army. It’s just a matter of time before it happens.” He has many followers.
He promises that the Islamic State offers a delightful lifestyle. “Close your eyes and imagine a society in which everybody has free food, clothing, and shelter. You haven’t got a house? Here is your house. You don’t have to go live in a cardboard box outside the council for a few weeks before they give you a house. You don’t have electricity? Here is free electricity. Here is free water. What else do you want? Do you want a salary? Here, take some money. There is no society like that.”
He hates the Pope, whom, in his words, should be killed for criticizing Muhammad. He seemed pleased with the killing of drummer Lee Rigby. Choudary told his followers that Rigby is being tortured in hell. He said, “If an adult non-Muslim dies in a state of disbelief, then he is going to the hellfire.” He proclaimed, “It’s Cameron who’s guilty, not me.” In September 2016, at the Old Bailey, Choudary was convicted of “inviting support for a proscribed organization.” The proscribed organization was the Islamic State. He was given a five-and-one-half-year sentence.
Abu Muntasir—“I Am Sorry”
The “godfather” of the British Jihadis has openly wept in regret for brainwashing young British Muslims to kill in the name of Islam. In the 1980s and 1990s, Abu Muntasir recruited scores of young men to fight in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Burma, Bosnia, Chechnya, and in other distant wars in the name of Jihad. “For me, I always had an inner voice telling me that a lot of this is not right.” He grew to hate himself for promoting Jihad. In recent years, he has partnered with other ex-radical recruiters, including ex-skinheads, gang leaders, and Islamists, to halt the spread of radicalism.
Emmy-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan made a video about Muntasir and several former extremists. In the film, Muntasir admitted that he encouraged British Muslims to fight abroad and die for Islam. But his conscience began to haunt him when he imagined those whom he recruited as mangled corpses and amputees. Muntasir was convinced that killing or hurting people was contrary to his nature. He had to stop, and he did.
Today, he warns the West of radical Islam. “There is grooming [referring to the radicalization process]. . . . So the parents need to have more communication with their children, they need to have more of an overseeing aspect of how to be a good parent.” As for his past, Muntasir sighed, “Why I have never been arrested, I don’t know.”
As mentioned in chapters 5 and 6, British subjects are well represented in the ranks of the Caliphate. At home, British police and security forces try to balance civil liberties with public security. The Caliphate can fly its black banner in London because, as its former mayor said, “Britain is a free country.” Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London, opined that carrying the flag was “not necessarily the worst thing in the world.” But some Londoners see this as cavalier and have pressed the police to be more aggressive. London police failed to arrest a man who draped himself in an Islamic State flag and strolled past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. On his shoulders was a small child waving a smaller State flag. Some Britons saw this as trespassing the bounds of free speech and wading into the danger zone of incitement. They ask themselves, “What will come next?” Germans ask the same questions.
This concludes a reading from Jihad and the West, Black Flag over Babylon, by Mark Silinsky, with a foreword by Sebastian Gorka. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing to continue listening to other chapters. The book is available online or at major bookstores worldwide. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, “Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World," will be available for purchase in early spring 2026. This reading does not represent the official position of any agency or individual within the United States government. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening.
