For extremists, he told them, that ignorance is a weapon. "If
you're not speaking to your child and being very open with them,
they've got no-one to go to."
Hanif is in a good position to know. A decade ago, he became the
first Muslim head of a high school in Birmingham. Over that time,
Britain's second largest city has generated the UK's first al Qaeda
convict and a hacker who was allegedly part of the Islamic State
group which killed American journalist James Foley.
Under Hanif, Waverley School has been commended by inspectors for
keeping young people safe, even though it sits in a deprived
community that was ranked one of the "most vulnerable to violent
extremism" in the city by police in 2013. Last year, Hanif was
called in to help reform other local schools after an alleged plot
by hardline Islamists to take them over from within.
As teachers in Britain return to school this month, they have a new
legal obligation to keep an eye out for potential extremists. Hanif
has been touring the country to share his experiences. His story
shows how the new law could help, but could also prove
counter-productive.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/09/images/ads/current/LINCOLN_theater_011411.png) The UK government estimates at least 700 people have traveled to
support or fight for jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. Polls show
fear of Muslims is on the rise. In a speech in July, Prime Minister
David Cameron said the country had to confront "a tragic truth that
there are people born and raised in this country who don't really
identify with Britain – and who feel little or no attachment to
other people here."
Under the new law, schools must have "due regard to the need to
prevent people from being drawn into terrorism." Critics of the
policy, who include students, teachers, academics, civil liberties
groups and members of parliament, say it unfairly targets Muslims
and will aggravate the sense of alienation of 2.7 million Britons.
"There has sadly, over the last six years, been a policy of
disengagement from British Muslim communities," said Sayeeda Warsi,
a Muslim and a former chairman of Cameron's Conservative Party.
"Successive governments have seen more and more individuals and
organizations as being beyond the pale and therefore not to be
engaged with."
Rob Ferguson, a teacher at Newham Sixth Form College in east London,
worries that the law is leading to paranoia. A friend of his, whom
he declined to identify, was told his son was "talking too much
about Palestine." "It's a real example of the climate," Ferguson
said, "a sort of self-policing on the one hand, a fear of open
discussion on the other."
Hanif shares these concerns, saying the law seems to single out
Muslims. "It's almost as though it's the race equality debate coming
back again," said the clean-shaven 44-year-old in his cluttered
first-floor office, teaching awards on the windowsill behind him.
Nonetheless, he says that if schools take the right approach, the
new law can help. "It's how the school deals with it," he said. "If
the approach is to 'spot the signs' ... it's not going to work."
"SHARE A SECRET"
Hanif's landowner family served in the British military and migrated
from Kashmir to the Birmingham suburb of Bordesley Green in the
1950s. He was a student at the school he now heads.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2012/Jun/18/images/ads/current/ldn_sda_062409.png) He thinks adults should keep an eye on children and teenagers. At
the seminar for parents, he enlisted students to show why. One put
up a slide listing around 25 apps that strangers can use to contact
children discreetly.
Hanif then outlined the grooming techniques radicals use. First, he
said, recruiters present images of success. Then they offer sympathy
and friendship to soothe an individual's sense of isolation,
rejection or disgust with society. Some send gifts. Others appeal to
a sense of personal duty – so targets feel obliged to defend victims
like the children of Syria, or to return favors.
A key stage, Hanif said, is to "share a secret" and encourage the
person to cut themselves off from friends and family.
Parent Fayaz Ali said the meeting was eye-opening. "I think I'm
going to watch a bit more what (my children) do," she said. "It's
actually made quite clear how their vulnerabilities are worked on."
But surveillance has its limitations. A group of headscarved teenage
girls said they stay up late using apps including Snapchat, Twitter,
WhatsApp, BBM, Tumblr, Vine and Instagram. If anyone tried to track
or oversee them, they said, they would find a way to keep their
privacy.
Under the new law, teachers must refer any case they are concerned
about to the government's deradicalisation program, which includes
police and is known as Channel. Nationwide, nearly 600 under-18s
were referred last year.
In the decade Hanif has run Waverley, he said, he has referred just
two cases to the scheme. One involved a child who had undiscovered
mental problems, and was taken into care. The other - a pupil who
wrote a deliberately provocative essay about terrorism in a
religious education exam – was not followed up after authorities
agreed the child was not seriously at risk.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/09/images/ads/current/graue_preowned_ptcruiser_071315.png)
FROM SANTA TO RAMADAN
Hanif says two steps are more effective than policing children:
First, giving students and their families exposure to the views and
beliefs of others, and second, ensuring they have confidence and
skills to stay safe online.
The first step sounds simpler than it is, especially in cities like
Birmingham, which writer Kenan Malik has described as a patchwork of
"ethnically defined fiefdoms." Hanif was shopping in the Bull Ring
mall a few years ago when extreme far-right groups charged through,
sending him and his children running for cover.
When Hanif became head at Waverley, he said, he had struggles with
staff. He had to convince them he would not impose an Islamist
agenda, and to show them that the local community was not as insular
as some felt. "It was quite a difficult scenario to come into," he
said.
His solution was to make diversity a school motto. Now Waverley –
which at the last intake had 1,217 applications for 180 places -
employs 46 nationalities, introduces beliefs including Paganism and
Rastafarianism, and has gay rights posters in the corridors. The
school holds "Diversity Days" to teach about different cultures and
has set up links with France. Hanif, who observes Ramadan, plays
Santa for the younger children.
Pupil Dhanish Shaukat, 15, who has cerebral palsy, said Hanif had
helped him beat bullies by picturing his own future. The head told
him the people who were bothering him now would mean little to him
in a few years. When he thought that way, he said, the bullies lost
their power.
In social media, the head compensates for adult limitations by
encouraging pupils to share their know-how in discussion groups.
Teachers help them analyze grooming techniques used both by
anti-Muslim groups and Islamists.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/09/images/ads/current/lctourism_lda_railsplitter_2015.png)
"MALIGN ELEMENTS"
But outside Waverley's tall black gates, the message of diversity
and resilience is a harder sell. One staff member who lives in a
nearby town says he often dodges anti-Islam protests on his commute
from work. And recently, fundamentalist Islam has started to have a
direct impact on the school.
In 2014 an affair known as “Trojan Horse” made headlines when an
anonymous letter claimed an Islamist conspiracy was afoot in some
schools. The city's education commissioner has since said some were
following practices like those the letter described.
According to media reports, these included compulsory Arabic from
age four, segregated physical education, no discussion of sexual
orientation, no Christmas, and no French lessons because that
country has banned full-face veils in public. School leaders were
allegedly threatened and intimidated.
For a few months afterwards, Hanif helped oversee some of the
affected schools. Inspectors say improvements have been slow. At
Waverley, Hanif blames the crisis for difficulties recruiting staff.
Colin Diamond, interim director for education at the city council,
said Birmingham's recruitment pattern is no different to the
national picture - which has shortages in some subjects. The city is
launching a network of headteachers, more than 300 of whom have
signed up, which means no school will ever be isolated in the way
they were under Trojan Horse, he added.
Now Hanif is also coming under pressure from outside. An anonymous
blog which says the Trojan Horse scandal was a hoax has started to
publish attacks on him, saying his support for the government's
anti-extremist policies is anti-Muslim.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/09/images/ads/current/garagesale_sda.png)
Diamond said the blog has attacked other school leaders and
government officials, including himself. "It is regrettable that the
authors of this blog choose to hide behind anonymity," he said. "I
would challenge them to come out and talk in public."
(Edited by Simon Robinson)
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