omnishambles
[om-nee-sham-blz]
noun, neological, informal
"a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterised by a string of blunders and miscalculations"
بسم الله
(In the name of Allah ﷻ)
Since relaunching this website, I’ve been, as usual, brainstorming article ideas. Generally, this is an enjoyable part of the process. Though I admit, perhaps to my own detriment, this step isn’t always deliberated on thoroughly enough: I often commit to an idea as it comes. For this week's edition, I had planned to write about the far-right in the UK. I intentionally interacted with far-right individuals on X (formerly Twitter) and even travelled from Hastings to London to observe a Tommy Robinson march all in an effort to gather material for the article.
In the backdrop, I intended to write an article about my concerns regarding the pro-Palestine encampments at UK universities. In my mind though, the article on the far-right would be written and published first. However, this changed after a conversation with a senior security officer at UCL. I won't name him, but I will detail the shocking parts of our conversation.
During the term, I often prayed Fajr with this officer on campus, leading to a friendly relationship. Our conversation took place after many weeks of not seeing him, as I had returned to my hometown. I asked him how managing the encampments was going. With evident dread, he expressed the difficulty of balancing his personal support for Palestine with his job responsibilities.
I probed further:
"What sort of things happen there? How much of an issue has it been for the security to deal with?"
His response, as a Muslim, horrified me.
"One of my guys [a security guard] was punched in the face twice by a sister on separate occasions. It’s like a playground: boys picking up girls over their shoulder, blasting music, etc. They're causing a huge mess. I don't see how this is helping Palestine—there's free-mixing, music . . . like seriously?. They’re doing a legal fundraiser for twenty-five grand. What is your defence? You're going to lose the case! Donate that money direct to Gaza instead; putting it into a legal fund is just a waste. I know personally people on the ground helping, they’re doing more to help than this ever will"
This conversation shifted my view on the encampments from mildly concerned to passionately opposed. Worse, I now faced a dilemma about which article to prioritise. With the far-right, their stance is clear. They aren’t wolves in sheep's clothing. They don’t like us, and despite their semantics, they don’t hide it. But with the Palestine encampments it is so much worse. I can only comment really on the UCL encampment, so this article will focus on that, but these points will broadly apply to all of them nationwide.
You’re reading this, so it's manifest that I felt enough compelled to write this article first. So why?
An Unholy Alliance
I had kept quiet on my concerns with the encampment for a while. It had me uneasy from the start, but it was for a good cause and their demands seemed more than reasonable, and I supported their demands: on one occasion I even, unplanned, joined them in a congregational prayer . In truth, I made the mistake of being afraid of being seen somehow as not as passionate or desperate to effect the change that would help Palestinians in comparison to those who are involved with the encampment. But the politics - because politics exists everywhere - of the encampment espoused an overwhelming uneasiness in me. The encampment was not the first instance of the far Left and Muslims figuratively getting into bed with each other. A great lesson for everyone to know is that just because you share a cause with a particular group, that does not mean that they are in fact your allies. In the nascent days of the encampment, there was internal disagreement between the Muslims and other students of the encampment over if the LGBTQQIP2SA (etc) flag should be displayed. In the end, the Muslims were able to veto that proposal. As stated, this theme of the far Left and Muslims finding themselves in close proximity to each-other and taking each-other as associates is not new and has pre-dated the most recent flaring up of the Palestine issue.
It needs to be clarified that while the issue of Palestine is uniquely of concern to Muslims, being citizens of the UK means in reality its not an issue we can claim a monopoly over. It loosely isn't even in our interest to do so. We hear often, and rightly, that you don't have to be Muslim to support Palestine, you just have to be human. But we do need to exercise extreme caution over who we align ourselves with. And the far Left is categorically a no-go zone. They aren't regular people who see the situation in Gaza and extend their support purely on grounds of being humans who can't stand by idly and watch on... They have their own ideology. Their own politics. Their own end-game. Cast your mind back to 2022 when Qatar was hosting the World Cup. How did they treat Qatar as a Muslim country? With disdain, boycotts, and cloaked Islamophobia. If Palestine were to be Liberated tomorrow, would they just want a handshake for their support and call it a day? No. They have their own vision for how Palestine would function. If the liberation of Palestine were to be guided by the vision of the far Left, it would not be liberation at all. It would merely be 'under new management'.
The encampments sadly only strengthen this unholy alliance, with Muslims sharing quarters with the far Left overnight, chanting for Palestine with the same voice, and fraternising in a way that compromises our principles. It comes, therefore, without surprise that there have been truly lamentable and disgusting scenes from the encampment. Free-mixing will become inevitable, and the boundaries that Islam expects us to maintain are degraded. Music becomes part of 'the fight' - and unfortunately, Ana daammi Falastini won't liberate Palestine, contrary to popular belief. It isn't befitting of Muslims to get into situations which leads to violence with the security guards, who depend on the role for their livelihood and who almost all support the cause as it is. We would never behave this way on our own, so one can only surmise that this departure of behaving in accordance to the etiquette Islam expects of us is due to the influence of those we ally ourselves with, the far Left.
In a nutshell, the encampment has a Muslim face with the far Left as its puppet masters.
A Vanity Project
It goes without saying that no one can truly see the intentions of those camping. We can only judge based on what is apparent. Unfortunately, the more the encampment progresses, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that there is, without a doubt, an element of vanity.
A seemingly sincere campaign to begin with now is overshadowed by disruptions on campus wholly unrelated to the core issue. The encampment's activities are not just limited to the campus's physical space but also its private events and activities. A notable example is the campers invasion of the UCL Arts awards ceremony where physical altercations between the students and campers took place. The purpose was made clear, “NO BUSINESS AS USUAL” plastered all over the social media pages of the campers. In the videos, a camper is seen on stage announcing to the audience that their ceremony won’t go ahead. The audience seem perplexed to begin with but they eventually, with limited options, give in. Then hell breaks loose between security and the students.
This disruption raises serious questions about the priorities of the campers. Instead of focusing solely on raising awareness for Palestine, the encampment's actions seem to be driven by a desire to assert dominance and visibility, with even the UCL Summer Ball being cancelled. This perhaps is strategically sound in terms of traction, that can’t be denied, but did it get them closer to their goal? A resounding no, is the answer. Has any attack or missile been stopped? A bullet? A single death? It reminds me of JustStopOil who, thanks to their means of protesting, were invited on TV shows which they took as a sign of victory, but were completely deaf, dumb, and blind to the fact that public resentment towards them was only growing. The interruptions of unrelated campus activities is a troubling shift from genuine activism to a pursuit of personal or collective aggrandisement. It is a totally alienating, dangerous, and petty approach which not only undermines their chances of success, but their perceived legitimacy as a group.
And I’m afraid emotional arguments aren’t valid here. Their justification is that because babies are being slaughtered, women being raped, and men being murdered they are in a completely morally sound position to do what they do. This just doesn’t hold up. No one wants to see any of that, and everyone with a soul and a heart feels intense pain seeing those scenes. But the question is where is the line, and at what cost? It merely feeds the narrative that the campers are petulant activists not worthy of being taken seriously. And as someone who independently shares their stated aims, I am more angry than pleased with their tactics. This is for Gaza, not for social media impressions.
Achievements
Legal Fundraiser
On July 15th, UCL students were sent an email by the Provost and President Micheal Spence informing that after over two months of the encampment, UCL would follow suit with other UK universities and take legal action against the campers. They were issued a formal notice to vacate the premises and were given a deadline to do so, which has come and gone with the campers still on-site. In response, the campers are seeking legal funds to fight the eviction notice in court. At the time of writing, they have two weeks - give take - to prepare their defence and to raise £25,000. They have £5,000 at time of writing. *Edit: The fundraiser only reached £7,365.*
This fundraiser is perhaps the second most infuriating part of this omnishambles. Other universities have concluded their legal actions already so there is a clear precedent for how this court case will unfold. What is their [the campers] defence? They have none. It is likely that they will make a case that their forced removal will be a breach of their human rights. A judge on a previous case stated that campers at Nottingham and Birmingham universities have "no prospect" of demonstrating this and that their presence on campus constituted trespassing.
There is not even a single example of a university losing their court case on this. Far from it, a number of encampments have already been shut down or have now voluntarily shut down: Manchester University campers have vowed to restart their camping if fighting is still ongoing come the new academic year. Its more than just safe to say that the campers from UCL will lose their legal argument, its a certainty,
Knowing this, why are they asking for £25,000? Is it yet another example of their vanity? The funds, however much is raised, will be wasted. The legal team will be walking away with the easiest pay-day of their life from a clear loss. This money could instead be directed to Gaza directly. Based on just one charity, that amount could feed 385 families in Gaza for a month.
Once they are evicted, what's next? They were clear from the start that they won't leave until their demands are heeded to, but they will have little choice. That, by the standard that they have set themselves, will have been a colossal loss, accompanied by £25,000 down-the-drain.
"And He is over all things competent and able"
To finish, this is the most important point of the article, which is why it will be kept as concise and short as possible to avoid loss of clarity.
The far Left can go and camp as much as they want, until they can't.
They can deploy whichever tactics pleases them and displeases others.
They can waste money on legal campaigns destined for failure.
They can own this failure, and it has nothing to do with us.
It's depressing however, seeing the way Muslims have been sucked into this affair. Many can observe a spiritual inadequacy just by analysing these encampments. Investing so much money, time, resource risks (a risk unfortunately evidently taken) internalising that the help the Palestinians receive will come at our efforts and how much force and power we are able to exert. However, this is theologically just not sound. Success only comes from Allah. And He will not grant it to people attaining it through impermissible means. It's true that the encampment does have an element of religion (congregations daily, Friday prayer, and night prayers) but it is unconvincing that this is enough to compensate for abject failures of the campaign.
" Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves" [13:11]
Why engage in things clearly so displeasing to God when trying to achieve anything, not least such a seismic issue? This isn't to say that we neglect the need to perform practical actions to contribute to easing the horror the Palestinians face, far from it. But you need both. Sound faith and sound actions. You can demonstrate sound faith by increasing in du'a (supplication) and sound actions by giving sadaqa (voluntary charity).
Key takeaways:
Don't engage or encourage the encampments
Don't donate to legal funds
Dealign with the far Left
"And He is over all things competent and able"
Do You Support University Encampments for Palestine?
Yes
No
Undecided
Brother how much are the Zionists paying you? Lahaula quwwata illa billah. May Allah swt guide you
Delete this. Are you not embarrassed?
"O believers! Avoid many suspicions, ˹for˺ indeed, some suspicions are sinful. And do not spy, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of their dead brother? You would despise that! And fear Allah. Surely Allah is ˹the˺ Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful." (49:12)
If you spent this much energy on the gym the NHS wouldn’t have to fund your gastric sleeve. Fix up.
How can you call yourself a Muslim?