On November 9, the UK Home Office banned the British Islamist organization Muslims Against Crusades (MAC). This means that membership, holding meetings, or wearing clothing or "articles" to show support for the organization are now criminal offenses punishable by up to 10 years in jail.[1]
A week ago, MEMRI published an extensive report on the twitter activity of British jihadi Anjem Choudary, who is the group's spiritual advisor and press spokesman as well as spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization and co-founder of Al-Muhajiroun (see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 755, "Deleting Online Jihad on Twitter: The Case of British Jihadi Anjem Choudary – Tweeting for the Caliphate and the Conquest of the White House").
Choudary's Twitter activity included a November 4 threat to those who "support" Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical political weekly that published an attack on radical Islam and as a result had its offices firebombed and its website cyber-attacked, saying it should "take lessons from Theo Van Gogh," the Dutch film director assassinated by jihadi Mohammed Bouyeri in November 2004 for his film Submission which criticized the treatment of women in Islam.[2]
It should be mentioned that even though MAC is now banned and declared a terror organization, Anjem Choudary is still communicating the group's message via Twitter and YouTube.
The Home Office Ban On MAC
The official announcement of the ban, on the Home Office website, read:
"Terror organisation proscribed
"The Home Secretary Theresa May today laid an Order proscribing Muslims Against Crusades effective from midnight tonight. She said: 'I have today laid an Order which will proscribe Muslims Against Crusades from midnight tonight. This means being a member of or supporting the organisation will be a criminal offence. ''I am satisfied Muslims Against Crusades is simply another name for an organisation already proscribed under a number of names including Al Ghurabaa, The Saved Sect, Al Muhajiroun and Islam4UK. The organisation was proscribed in 2006 for glorifying terrorism and we are clear it should not be able to continue these activities by simply changing its name.'"[3]
Ansar Al-Islam: "Make Dua" For Choudary
Following the ban, the website of Ansar Al-Islam, the main English-language jihadi forum posted, a notice stating that "Anjem Choudary has been raided as part of the governments ban on Muslims against Crusaders." The notice went on to ask that "despite whatever differences we may have, inshallaah make dua [i.e. supplication to Allah] for him as a muslim."
Statement on Choudary's Website
As of this writing, all content has been removed from Choudary's website, anjemchoudary.com, except for a "press release" giving details of a British police "raid" on "two properties," including "the Centre for Islamic Services," but noted that no arrests had been made.
"This violation," the notice said, "is only another sign of the ideological defeat of the British government The unrelenting British campaign to suppress and silence any dissenting Muslim voice under the pretense of a 'war on terror' has seen thousands of Muslim victims in the UK and hundreds of thousands in the Muslim world."[4]
Choudary – Still Tweeting
Although, as mentioned, all content has been removed from his website, Anjem Choudary is still tweeting, @anjemchoudary. On November 10, he tweeted, "The ban of Muslims against crusades proves the hypocrisy of the UK regime. British soldiers are apparently dying for them dictatorship here!!"
Immediately after that, he tweeted, "A ban will never stop Islam & the Muslims. We will not rest until the flag of Islam flys high over Downing Street. This is a victory for us!"
Choudary's YouTube Page – Still Online
Additionally, Choudary's YouTube page, http://www.youtube.com/user/anjemchoudary, is still online. The page includes videos of Choudary teaching about Islam and giving speeches, sermons, media appearances, and so on.
[1] The Daily Mail, UK, November 11, 2011 According to the Daily Mail, the ban on the organization came as a response to group's plan for an anti-Armistice Day protest, and noted that members were planning a "Hell for Heroes" incident and had "pledged to interrupt today's Armistice Day two-minute silence with a 'surprise.'"
[2] The ban also came after MAC made headlines two weeks ago for threatening a British MP. British MP Mike Freer called for the Home Office to continue to "monitor this group" and said that if necessary the "full force of the law should come down on them," following an October 28, 2011, incident in which the group urged supporters on Facebook and on its website to threaten him during a constituency meeting at North Finchley Mosque in London. Freer was targeted for the role he had played in the campaign against Israeli Islamist movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah's visit to the UK earlier this year. The message on the Muslims Against Crusades website referred to last year's stabbing of Labour MP Stephen Timms as he was holding a similar meeting, and warned that that this attack should serve as a "piercing reminder" to politicians that "their presence is no longer welcome in any Muslim area." (The Press Association, UK, October 31, 2011.) See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 755, "Deleting Online Jihad on Twitter: The Case of British Jihadi Anjem Choudary – Tweeting for the Caliphate and the Conquest of the White House", November 4, 2011, Deleting Online Jihad on Twitter: The Case of British Jihadi Anjem Choudary – Tweeting for the Caliphate and the Conquest of the White House
[3] http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/mac-proscription
[4] anjemchoudary.com, accessed November 11, 2011
