Nottingham University suspends "terror arrest" whistleblower

Dr Rod Thornton was suspended this afternoon by Nottingham University for exposing how the university caused the arrest of two innocent men as suspected terrorists [1]. The new whistle-blowing report [2] from Dr Thornton – ‘How a student’s use of a library book became a “major Islamist plot”’[3] – exposed how senior University management reported the men and undertook a subsequent campaign to discredit them for being in possession of three publicly available documents, all available from the university’s own library [4].

Dr Thornton, a former counter-insurgency advisor to the UK and US militaries, shows how, in the aftermath of the men’s release, the university’s management conducted a behind-the-scenes campaign of disinformation and spin against the arrestees and their university supporters, disregarding university statutes and governmental guidance. All of this in an effort to shift blame and silence those who challenged the university’s account - i.e. that the research material was illegal and the arrests were justified.

What’s more, Dr. Thornton’s article uncovers how Nottingham University's misinformation has seeped into policy circles. The arrest of the 'Nottingham Two' is now advertised as a 'major Islamist plot' by the Home Office [5]. Similarly, another government department calls the library books in question ‘extremist material’ [6]. His revelations arrive immediately after a cross-party parliamentary group published a report criticising universities for being hotbeds of radicalisation. Dr. Thornton’s account, however, exposes how a university’s unaccountable actions aggravate this problem.

A letter written by Vice-Chancellor David Greenaway, was hand-delivered to Dr Thornton and ordered him to vacate his office. The Vice-Chancellor wrote: “the decision has been taken to suspend you until further notice … [because of a] … breakdown in working relationships with your colleagues caused by your recent article prepared for the British International Studies Association Conference” (BISA). Dr Thornton, said: “I am very saddened by the university’s behaviour”.

Rizwaan Sabir, one of the men originally arrested, said: “Yet again, we have more evidence of censorship and silencing of dissent at Nottingham University. I call on the government to launch a full public inquiry into Nottingham University before more people’s lives are ruined”. Students at the university wishing to remain anonymous stated: “We are extremely concerned by Dr. Thornton's suspension. We call for the immediate reinstatement of Dr Thornton and a full investigation into the claims his research is making”.

Contact for comment or interview:

Dr Rod Thornton

Telephone: +44(0)7751959253

Email: rod.thornton@nottingham.ac.uk

Rizwaan Sabir

Telephone: +44(0)7835871096

Email: rizwaan.sabir@strath.ac.uk

Press Enquiries

Telephone: +44(0)7726466211

Email: staffandstudents@gmail.com

NOTE TO EDITORS

[1] The two arrested men were Masters student, Rizwaan Sabir, and staff member, Hicham Yezza. Both were held for a total of six days in May 2008 under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and released without charge. The Operation was undertaken by West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit and Nottinghamshire Police. It was codenamed Operation Minerva.

[2] The title of Dr Thornton’s article was “Radicalisation at universities or radicalisation by universities?: How a student’s use of a library book became a “major Islamist plot”. It was presented at the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference in Manchester on 28 April 2011. The article was removed from the BISA website on 30 April after threats of litigation were made by staff within the University of Nottingham.

[3] Exec. Summary here - http://www.scribd.com/doc/54454049/EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-Radicalisation-by-Universities-or-Radicalisation-at-Universities-by-Rod-Thornton

Full article here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54150076/Radicalisation-at-Universities-or-Radicalisation-by-Universities-How-a-Students-Use-of-a-Library-Book-Became-a-Major-Islamist-Plot

[4] The three documents that caused their arrests are as follows:

a) P. Gordon, “The end of Bush‟s revolution”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 85, No. 4 (2006), pp. 75-86 (Foreign Affairs is a US based, world-renowned, political journal).

b) Q. Witorowicz and J. Katner, “Killing in the name of Islam: al Qaeda‟s justification for September 11‟, Middle East Policy Council Journal, 2003, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 76-92

c) “Al-Qaeda Training Manual”, US Government Exhibit 1677-T (declassified), Federation of American Scientists (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/aqmanual.pdf). This document is also available in book format from Amazon and from the University of Nottingham’s library, albeit, the document is not being actively advertised on the library catalogue (see footnote 18 of Dr. Thornton’s article). The document is also available from a number of academic and non-academic websites, including the US Department of Justice website (http://www.justice.gov/ag/manualpart1_1.pdf), albeit, now in a reduced form. Rohan Gunaratna, one of the world’s foremost experts on the study of al-Qaeda and global terrorism wrote to Rizwaan Sabir and said that the al-Qaeda Training Manual was “required reading” for anyone studying al-Qaeda.For an account of how the document came to the attention of the Registrar and the arrests, please see: http://www.scribd.com/doc/54451596/Background-to-arrests-of-the-Nottingham-Two-in-Operation-Minerva-at-the-University-of-Nottingham-on-14-May-2008

[5] The document which refers to the arrest of the ‘Nottingham Two’ as a ‘major Islamist plot’ was disseminated by the Home Office in April 2010 via a Freedom of Information request that asked for information on terror plots in the UK from 2006-2008. The report was authored by the Heritage Foundation in Oct 2009 http://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2009/pdf/bg2329.pdf

[6] Undated document released under the Freedom of Information Act from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) entitled :‘Lines to take [to the media] on recent Nottingham arrests’. See footnote 90 and 313 of Dr. Thornton’s article.

Class, voice and state: PAR thesis on community media now available

Margaret Gillan's PhD thesis, "Class, voice and state: knowledge production in self-organised working class activity and the politics of developing community television in Ireland using PAR strategies", is now available online here. Margaret is co-ordinator of Community Media Network and one of the key founders of Dublin Community Television. The thesis is a remarkable read.

NUI Maynooth union expresses outrage and supports call for international inquiry

April 8th, 2011

As members of the academic community in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, we wish to express our outrage at the comments made by police in Mayo towards Maynooth student Jerrieann Sullivan and another protester who wishes to remain anonymous. Many Maynooth students have taken part in protests at Rossport and elsewhere over the years, and all have a right to do so without fear of intimidation, assault or sexual violence. We add our voice to the call for an independent international inquiry into the policing of protests around the Corrib Gas project.


Dr Colmán Etchingham, Chairperson
Dr Colin Coulter, Vice Chairperson
Maynooth Branch of the Irish Federation of University Teachers

Beyond the crisis: global justice, equality, social movements

The Maynooth MAs in Community Education, Equality & Social Activism and in Anthropology & Development are hosting this day workshop in Seomra Spraoi on May 7th (admittance free). The general idea is that the last couple of years of crisis have left us reacting to one thing after another and finding it hard to keep our heads above water while not just "the situation out there" but the situation of our own movements has changed dramatically: so the workshop is deliberately about less obviously immediate and urgent ways of looking at things, more strategic and "bigger questions".

The presenters and facilitators are a mix of activist academics and academic activists, all well-known in their fields but we don't often get to hear most of them talking in Dublin around these topics: John Holloway, Eurig Scandrett, Kathy Powell, Laurence Davis, Rosie Meade, David Nugent and Aileen O'Carroll. A splendid time is guaranteed for all...

Writing Ireland's working class

An interesting-looking new book:


Michael Pierse, "Writing Ireland's working class: Dublin after O'Casey" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

As a social other, Ireland's urban working class inhabits a 'non-place' in the national narrative, a place beset by galling levels of poverty and low social mobility. Its exclusion is not just social and economic, but cultural as well. Working-class Dublin in particular elicits little good press, and less in terms of academic commentary or cultural appreciation, so where and how does it appear in literature? Exploring the fiction and plays of this marginalised community after Sean O'Casey, this book breaks new ground in Irish Studies scholarship, charting alternative directions for academic research and unearthing submerged narratives in the history of Irish culture. Most of the works examined have received little or no critical commentary to date, yet this book makes a compelling case for their centrality to the history and appreciation of Irish literature. From O'Casey to Roddy Doyle, a rich tapestry of urban life is illuminated and explored, which presents a robust challenge to stereotyped and staid views of Irish life and literature.

Chapters

The shadow of Sean
Angry Young Men - Class Injuries and Masculinity
From Rocking the Cradle to Rocking the System - Writing Working-Class Women
Industry and the City - Workers in Struggle
Prison Stories - Writing Dublin at its Limits
Return of the Oppressed - Sexual Repression, Culture and Class
Revising the Revolution: Roddy Doyle's A Star Called Henry, Historiography, Politics and Proletarian Consciousness

"Ireland's new religious movements" launch

"Ireland's new religious movements", discussed here, will be launched in Dublin on Wednesday, March 30th by Marion Bowman, head of dept. of Religious Studies at the Open University. Dr Bowman will give a talk on "Contemporary Celticity". The event is in the Gutter Bookshop, Cow's Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 8 at 6.30 and admission is free. A poster for the event is here.

Centre for the Study of Working-Class Lives, Strathclyde

The University of Strathclyde now has a Centre for the Study of Working-Class Lives, with a very impressive team of Colm Breathnach, Neil Davidson and Patricia McCafferty. Something like this is badly needed in "these islands" as witness the Irish interest in the Youngstown Center for Working-Class Studies.

They're launching it on Friday March 11th. The programme's as follows:

09.00–09.45 Registration and Coffee

09.45-09.50 Welcome

Professor Jim McDonald (University of Strathclyde)

09.50-10.00 Introduction

Neil Davidson (University of Strathclyde)

10.00-11.15 Session 1: Why a Centre for the Study of Working Class Lives?

Professor Michael Zweig (Stony Brook University)

11.15–11.30 Refreshment Break

11.30–12.45 Session 2: Class, Work and Deindustrialisation

Dr Tim Strangleman (University of Kent)

12.45–13.45 Buffet Lunch

13.45–15.00 Session 3: The Power of Class: Inequalities, Injuries and Actions in the History of Advanced Capitalism

Professor Michael J. Haynes (University of Wolverhampton)

15.00–16.15 Session 4: Panel Discussion

Geographies of Social Class in 21^st Century Britain

Professor Danny Dorling (University of Sheffield)

Where is the Working Class? Class Agency and Resistance in British Cities

Dr Andrew Cumbers (University of Glasgow)

16.15–16.30 Refreshment Break

16.30–17.45 Session 5: Representations of the Working Class in Contemporary Art and Culture

Gail Day (University of Leeds) and Steve Edwards (The Open University)

17.45-18.00 Reflections on the Conference

Professor Michael Zweig (Stony Brook University)

18.00–19.00 Wine Reception/Informal discussion

Registration is £40 to academics, free to students and non-academics. Email claire.mcconnell AT strath.ac.uk to book.