Viewing cable 08LONDON1113, PROPOSALS FOR AMBASSADOR’S CT FUND

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Friday, 18 April 2008, 14:03
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 001113 
SIPDIS 
DEPT. FOR S/CT - AMB.DAILEY AND EUR 
EO 12958 DECL: 04/14/2018 
TAGS PREL, PGOV, PTER, UK 
SUBJECT: PROPOSALS FOR AMBASSADOR’S CT FUND 
REF: STATE 20081

Classified By: Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle for reasons 1. 4 (b,d)
 ¶1. (U) Embassy London welcomes the offer made by S/CT Ambassador Dailey for S/CT to consider granting funds of up to 50,000 USD to support projects to counter violent extremist ideology. Embassy London submits the following two proposals:

¶2. (C) REVERSE RADICALISM: Working with Her Majesty’s Government, the Embassy would contract an American academic to carry out a study of those individuals currently residing in the United Kingdom who allege they were once on the path to radicalization and terrorism but stepped back from it. These include the noteworthy number of individuals who have come forward to work on counter radicalization in the wake of the publication of “the Islamist” by Ed Hussein. Many of these individuals say they were radicalized on the streets and in the mosques of London in the 1990s and now wish to work to use that experience to encourage British youth not to become radicalized. Post believes the UK is unique in the number of its former radical Islamists and their increasingly public profile. The Embassy and HMG are aware of other, similar individuals who have begun to speak of their experience but are not yet known to the general public and may, or may not, be dedicated to using their knowledge to dissuade British youth from supporting terrorism or extremist ideology. Embassy would coordinate with appropriate HMG officials on gaining access to individuals known to HMG who would be useful participants.

The purpose of the survey would be to:
1) attempt to quantify how many of these individuals are known by the Embassy, HMG and British NGOs and think tanks now engaged in the study of radicalization;
2) create a pool of individuals that could serve as a source of information on radicalization in the UK -- its causes and what they believe will work to deflate it;
3) evaluate whether there is a common history which explains why these individuals stepped back from terrorism which is potentially applicable outside the UK context in the U.S. and elsewhere in Europe.
4) determine which of these individuals we might use to support counterterrorism efforts and how best to use them.
¶3. (C) The Embassy estimates costs for the Reverse Radicalism project to be 43,000 USD to cover travel costs (including airfare, lodging, M&IE, honorarium, and local transportation) and research expenses including phone calls. Funds not spent on the Reverse Radicalism project (should the Embassy and HMG not find a qualified individual to carry out the study, should the sample size prove smaller than anticipated, or should S/CT prefer not to allocate funds to the Reverse Radicalism project) would be dedicated to Embassy participation in the Ramadan Festival UK.

¶4. (U) RAMADAN FESTIVAL UK: Based on the highly successful Dutch model, Embassy London’s contacts in the British Muslim community plan on holding a “Ramadan Festival” this year aimed at highlighting the diversity of the British mainstream. The event will help raise the standard of dialogue on extremism and promote understanding between Britain’s Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Part of the festival is a series of “Ramadan Nights,” focused on bringing together the British Muslim community in a positive atmosphere of learning and a global sense of community. The Festival has asked the Embassy to provide an American Muslim performance group which could appeal to both older and younger audiences.

¶5. The Embassy proposes to bring the “Allah Made Me Funny” comedy troupe to the UK to participate in the Festival, building on the unparalleled success we achieved with their UK program last fall. Their appeal in not restricted on an particular age group of background, and the message their performance would send, of American Muslims, proud to be both “American” and “Muslim” is a powerful message that would open British Muslim eyes to American cultural and religious diversity as well as encourage reflection on the part of British Muslim community in a positive, self-defining direction. Our expected outcome would be to reach thousand of British Muslims, including the disproportionately high youth population, with these positive messages.
LONDON 00001113 002 OF 002

¶6. S/CT funds, should they be dedicated to the RAMADAN FESTIVAL UK would be allocated to cover travel costs (including airfare, lodging, M&IE, honorarium, and local transportation) for the Allah Made Me Funny group. The Embassy estimates cost for bringing the “Allah Made Me Funny” troupe to the UK to be 39,000 USD.
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