This past fortnight, a man was charged by the UK authorities in connection to a terrorist plot to assassinate a lawyer at his office in London.
The man was clearly identified as an ideological extremist. If he had been a person of colour and a Muslim, it is likely that the incident would have received significant media attention, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson perhaps even visiting the law firm in solidarity.
But the man was a white supremacist, who was attacking immigration lawyers, following increased rhetoric only days earlier against "activist lawyers" by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.
The Guardian newspaper reported comments from someone with knowledge of the case as saying: "If you had a dubious politician abroad inciting hatred and then a UK terror incident was traced back to what this politician had said, then you can only imagine the measures that would be taken."
It is a sobering thought.
Indeed, when extremist Islamist terror attacks take place, the immediate response from politicians has often been to see where the discourse underpinning such violence has been coming from, and to problematise it accordingly.
This may be the case even if the discourse isn’t itself inciting violence. In this case, the situation is rather more complicated, partly because it is the UK Home Secretary herself who was using her privileged platform to criticise the lawyers.
None of this should be taken to mean that Ms Patel is responsible for the attempted attack. There are likely to be many reasons why the perpetrator opted to take this course of action.
Also, Ms Patel wasn’t calling for violence. Nonetheless, there remain two issues of importance: the first is the duty of those in positions of authority to engage in responsible rhetoric, knowing that their speech may have unintended consequences. The other is to recognise that white supremacists are a far greater threat than we are willing to concede.
Clearly, many do not take that threat seriously enough. Even after the attempted attack, Ms Patel continued to dabble in rhetoric against the legal profession – even after the lord chancellor and attorney general directly warned her against it.
The situation worsened. Not only did Ms Patel intensify her discourse but Mr Johnson declared that the justice system was facing obstacles from within “by lefty human rights lawyers”.
Considering the attempted terrorist attack against a lawyer only days before – for ideological reasons not so far disconnected from such oratory – this was irresponsible, to say the least.
But it is not simply in the UK where the threat from white supremacists is underestimated. According to a recent report by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, white supremacists were behind most domestic terrorist attacks in the US this year.
Yet, when confronted with the issue of far-right wing groups during a presidential debate, US President Donald Trump refused to condemn a well-known far-right group and tried, instead, to refocus attention on left-wing groups. Indeed, Mr Trump directed the "Proud Boys" to "stand down and stand by".
In light of this, the International Crisis Group, a non-partisan global research group dedicated to the de-escalation of violence, issued a statement: “As US elections approach, extremist activity, the potential for contestation and President Donald Trump’s refusal to commit to transferring power peacefully raise concerns about possible violence. State and local officials should ensure that voting proceeds fairly, while foreign leaders should urge respect for democratic norms.”
The "extremist activity" noted here should give all of us pause.
It is not clear if the ICG has ever issued a statement like this. But the threat of the far-right remains deeply concerning, not just because the far-right exists, but because so much of its rhetoric is tolerated – even promoted – by portions of the mainstream.
When politicians mirror the discourse of extremists, they may not be directly responsible for the violence that extremists perpetrate, but they are certainly shirking their duties as leaders and fanning flames.
There are many possible, if unintended, consequences of such negligent behaviour, and we should not have to wait for disasters before calling out politicians to end their inflammatory rhetoric.
Dr H A Hellyer is a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
