The London Circle

| The London Circle | 17 Oct 2024

As Australia goes through its council elections and braces for its Federal Elections, what are the main challenges they face, and what opportunities stand before them? Also, what are the political and non-political tools at their disposal to achieve their collective goals.

Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman is a prominent figure in the life of the Australian Muslims, and since his appointment as President of Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), in Australian life in general. He discusses with visiting Anas Altikriti, the challenges and the opportunities, and speaks of the tools which could be employed to see the Muslim community attain its full potential.

He also describes the variant opinions on the looking Federal Elections, and what that might mean for Australia’s Muslims and overall society.

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Guests:

| Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman, President of ANIC

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| The London Circle | 20 Sep 2024

For almost two decades, Prevent has been enforced by one UK government after another, as the main point of reference for combatting terrorism and extremism within Muslim youth, and encouraging social cohesion. However, not everything is as described on the packaging.

PreventWatch was established ten years ago, after it became clear that the government’s anti-extremism strategy was yielding far far more problems than positive outcomes, as well as stigmatising British Muslims and creating divisions within society as a whole.

Anas Altikriti discusses with Dr. Layla Aitlhadj on what Prevent really entails, how it impacts children whether at school or even at home, breaks up families and creates a society riddled with suspicion, fear and inability to express or think freely.

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Guests:

| Dr. Layla Aitlhadj, Director, PreventWatch 

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| The London Circle | 12 Sep 2024

With Far-Right riots dominating the news, the question of whether this spike in racist outbursts, is an abnormal occurrence and a blip on the radar or whether it’s a phenomenon that is here to stay for a while.

Anas Altikriti talks with Weyman Bennett on the recent far-right racist riots and how they are likely to manifest in the coming days, weeks and probably even years.

They discuss how the target of racists are Muslims, and how this emerged and developed so that Islamophobia became almost normalized across the board.

The role of the new Labour government in combatting, or indeed exacerbating this issue is also discussed, with a look at the role that the Gaza protests had on the collective response to the racists.

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Guests:

| Weyman Bennett, Co-Convenor of Stand Up to Racism

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| The London Circle | 05 Sep 2024

Riots across the UK, accompanying a rhetoric adopted by politicians and sections of the media, strongly remind of the days when NF racists marched the streets of Britain and politicians declared racist viewpoints from prominent lecterns. Is this a return to that? 

Whilst Islamophobia has been a much discussed topic in recent years, very few would’ve predicted the scenes and the scale of the riots that followed the Southport murders.

Little doubt that politics and politicians have a role in either stemming or stoking racist sentiments and expressions, it was clear that politics was at the heart of troubles which saw children as young as 11 convicted of racist criminality targeting Muslim communities, mosques as well as police forces attempting to push back.

Sabby Dhalu talks to Anas Altikriti about how matters escalated in the way they did and what we can hope for a future under the new Labour government.

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Guests:

| Sabby Dhalu, Co-Convenor of Stand Up to Racism

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| The London Circle | 22 Aug 2024

Over 500 years, the Ottomans were regarded as the greatest power in the world, with cultural, aesthetic, architectural influences as well as their military and political supremacy. But it’s never as simple as that, not does it just stop there. 

The impact of the Ottomans on the entire world, and not only in the regions of Anatolia and the Near East, is remarkable. The 500-year history of the regional and arguably global domination is full of significant events, developments, challenges and achievements on virtually every section of human interaction.

It’s rise, but equally, it’s fall, and the role of the rising West, the Arab Revolution make for a fascinating discussion with Dr. Yakoob Ahmed.

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Guests:

| Yakoob Ahmed, Lecturer in Ottoman Studies

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| The London Circle | 15 July 2024

Despite the magnificent advancements humanity has made in the fields of technology, medicine, research and communication, the vast majority of the world’s population find themselves buried in crisis, problems, issues and challenges on every single level.

Wars, poverty, oppression, disease, injustice and social breakdown are rife, and if Gaza, Sudan, The Congo and others are anything to go by, matters are getting worse by the day.

Anas Altikriti sits with Amr Darrag and Yehia Hamed to discuss the way out of the quagmire humanity finds itself, and how Islamic perspectives on a renaissance of sorts might provide that way out.

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Guests:

| Amr Darrag

| Yehia Hamed

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| The London Circle | 06 July 2024

Gaza has changed everything, including many would argue, the state of the world media. Not only in terms of how news is gathered and broadcast but also how news is relayed and with what kind of imagery.

The impact of social media which has become the choice of the majority of young people for their news and information has also contributed to the radical change the media has underwent over the past 20 years or so.

Khalil Charles the Deputy News Editor ‪@trtworld‬ sits with Anas Altikriti and discusses these themes and more. 

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Guests:

| Khalil Charles, Deputy News Editor ‪@trtworld

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| The London Circle | 25 July 2024

The impact of colonialism and colonising the human mind remains in effect till this day. Rather than troops with guns, the slavery of the mind is arguably the strongest weapon in the oppressor’s armour.

Professor Hatem Bazian specialises in decolonisation studies, and is therefore best placed to comment on the deep and long term impact of colonialism on the shape of the world today, politically, economically and socially. In this discussion, he explains the manifestation of colonialism on the shape of modern society, and how the occupation of Palestine and indeed the genocide in Gaza, can be traced intellectually to the remnants of colonialism which linger until this very day.

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Guests:

| Hatem Bazian, Professor of Middle East History and Cultures

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| The London Circle | 18 July 2024

While it’s good that the British Muslim community has spent a tremendous effort on organizing for the General Election, it would be entirely wrong to forget the real effort that must be spent on creating real change.

There can be little argument that the effort to organise for the General Election was unprecedented, but Saghir Hussain argues that the Muslim community must not ignore what needs to happen if real and radical change is the objective.

In his conversation with Anas Altikriti, He argues that the system under which we live is ingenuine and virtually a deceit, where rules could easily be bent and broken should the wrong outcomes emerge.

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Guests:

| Saghir Hussain, Legal Advisor to CAGE

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| The London Circle | 11 July 2024

Is there any value in posing the question of whether or not peace is even attainable between Israel and Palestine in light of the past 9 months?

What of the stands of the West and the Arabs, and how can the cycle of violence and injustice come to an end?

Daniel Levy is a former chief negotiator for the Israeli government as well as a political advisor to former PMs, and therefore best placed to shed light on the problem within Israel which prevents any form of resolution to this 76-year problem.

He and Anas Altikriti discuss pivotal moments such as Oslo in 1993 and others, where this recent genocide could have (hypothetically) been avoided, and what developments we could look forward to that would bring an end to Palestinian suffering and injustice and peace to the region.

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Guests:

| Daniel Levy, Director of US Middle East Project

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