Shiraz Maher

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Shiraz Maher was a Senior Fellow at the neoconservative Policy Exchange and ran Standpoint magazine's Focus on Islamism blog with Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at King's College London's International Center for the Study of Radicalisation.

Like several other Muslims feted by neoconservatives, he also claims to be a reformed Islamist (which he equates with extremism). Like his fellow extremists-turned-neocons, Maher is not shy to flaunt his extremist past. He did a show for BBC's Panorama entitled 'How I became a Muslim extremist' and he also highlights his extremist past as a qualification in his Standpoint magazine bio: 'From 2002-2005 he was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, becoming regional officer for north-east England before resigning as a matter of conscience.' In March 2009 Maher led a neocon campaign in support of Hazel Blears's efforts to get Daud Abdullah fired as the deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain for signing the Istanbul Declaration in support of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.

At the peak of Israel's bombing of Gaza earlier in 2009, Maher contributed an article to the Daily Telegraph titled 'Britain's Muslims should condemn Hamas, not Israel'. Besides using familiar neocon memes such as 'moral relativism' in the article, Maher goes on to present British Muslims with a choice: 'between Hamas, a terrorist group committed to destroying a sovereign state and its people – and Israel, the region's only democracy which is responding to that threat'.

Shiraz Maher

Publications

2008

• Shiraz Maher, The Radical Middle Way Attacks Quilliam, Endorses Hizb ut Tahrir, Harry's Place, 7 August 2008.
• Shiraz Maher, Hizb ut Tahrir: Their Silence is Golden, Harry's Place, 2 September 2008.
• Shiraz Maher, The Future of Unholy War, Standpoint, November 2008.
• Shiraz Maher, A Single Step, Harry's Place, 1 December 2008.

2009

• Shiraz Maher, Britain's Muslims should condemn Hamas, not Israel, The Telegraph, 9 January 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Casual racism underlies Bungle’s comments over at the Guardian, Harry's Place, 18 February 2009.
• Shiraz Maher, Not Cricket, Harry's Place, 3 March 2009.
• Shiraz Maher and Martyn Frampton, Choosing Our Friends Wisely: Criteria for engagement with Muslim groups, Policy Exchange, 8 March 2009.
• Shiraz Maher, Daud Abdullah must resign, The Guardian, 28 March 2009.
• Shiraz Maher & Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, Blears Was Right: Lambert Is Wrong, Harry's Place, 1 April 2009.
• Shiraz Maher, Shiraz Maher Has His Say, Harry's Place, 18 April 2009.
• Shiraz Maher, Alaa al-Aswany is Wrong to Accuse the West of Double Standards, Standpoint, 22 July 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, What Inayat Said, Standpoint, 24 July 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, A revolution in Saudi Arabia!, Standpoint, 6 November 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, A world of walls?, Standpoint, 9 November 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Anwar al-Awlaki's British supporters - Part 2, Standpoint, 11 November 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, The Curious Rehabilitation of Inayat Bunglawala, Standpoint, 20 November 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Bunglawala obsesses about Zionists while MPAC brands them ‘scum of the earth’, Standpoint, 7 December 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Let down by Hazel Blears, Standpoint, 15 December 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Initial thoughts on the attempted attack on Delta Airlines, Standpoint, 26 December 2009. Also posted on Harry's Place.

2010

• Shiraz Maher, ANALYSIS: Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Delta airlines attack, Standpoint, 2 January 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, The House of Saud like you've never seen them before!, Standpoint, 10 January 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Saudi CARE for Jihadis, Wall Street Journal, 11 January 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Stopping terrorism is not 'criminalising dissent', Standpoint, 13 January 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Questions for Daud Abdullah, Standpoint, 29 January 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, BREAKING NEWS: Awlaki Directed Attack on Delta Airlines, Standpoint, 5 February 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Did Anwar al-Awlaki really change after his arrest?, Standpoint, 9 February 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Al-Qaeda warns India of future attacks, Standpoint, 16 February 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, EXCLUSIVE: 'The IFE have become influential in East London', Standpoint, 28 February 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Bush was Right, Standpoint, March 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, The ELM, Dispatches and Awlaki, Standpoint, 18 March 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, New audio message from Anwar al-Awlaki, Standpoint, 23 March 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, The conflict of interest at IEngage, Standpoint, 30 March 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, UK: The Rise of The Muslim Voting Bloc, Gatestone Institute, 15 April 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Amnesty International Whitewashes Terrorism, Suspends Whistleblower, Gatestone Institute, 22 April 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, UK: George Galloway Funds-- Surprise! -- Hamas, Gatestone Institute, 29 April 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, "The Wrong Type of Muslim": How Islamists Influence the UK Vote, Gatestone Institute, 6 May 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Pakistan: The Group Behind The "Times Square Bomber", Gatestone Institute, 13 May 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, What's the difference between Facebook and terrorists?, Standpoint, 21 May 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Pakistan: Government Joining Jihadis They Are Supposed to Fight, Gatestone Institute, 24 May 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, The UK: Rights of Offenders vs. Rights of Their Victims, Gatestone Institute, 27 May 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Bajaur: A Talk with the Taliban, Standpoint, June 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Britain's Newest Guest: "Every Muslim Should Be a Terrorist", Gatestone Institute, 9 June 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, UK: Islamist Entryism 101, Gatestone Institute, 10 June 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Bunglawala and Faisal Shahzad betraying Afghans, Standpoint, 23 June 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Questions David Miller must answer, Standpoint, 13 July 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, David Miller only raises more questions, Standpoint, 14 July 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Hizb ut Tahrir in America, Gatestone Institute, 15 July 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Sacrificing justice for peace?, Standpoint, 4 August 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, A reduction of reality at the Guardian?, Standpoint, 5 August 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, The UK: Misunderstanding Pakistan and Afghanistan, Gatestone Institute, 19 August 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, On being a Muslim Jew, Standpoint, 20 August 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Tony Blair: Fighting Against People Who Would Destroy Our Way of Life, Gatestone Institute, 25 August 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Military Coup Imminent in Pakistan?, Gatestone Institute, 26 August 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Lawfare in the UK : Who Is Behind It This Time?, Gatestone Institute, 16 September 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, UK Elections at the Site of the Olympics, Gatestone Institute, 30 September 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Nonviolent Extremism and "Prevent", Gatestone Institute, 21 October 2010.
• Shiraz Maher, Jihadists Threaten Commonwealth Games in India, ICSR, 29 September 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Open source Jihad? Al-Qaeda's changing tactics, Standpoint, 12 October 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, The EDL: Racists and Thugs, Standpoint, 15 October 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Bungles and the hypocrisies of an ageing Islamist, Standpoint, 19 October 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, ICSR Instant Analysis:al-Qaeda Bomb Threat, ICSR, 30 October 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Muhajiroun and the Simpsons, Standpoint, 4 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Blair on Muslim integration, Standpoint, 10 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Omar Bakri sentenced to life in jail?, Standpoint, 12 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Eid at the Kandahar Airfield, Standpoint, 18 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Earwicga and the pieties of the Left, Standpoint, 19 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Gabriel Latner stands for Cambridge Union President, Standpoint, 24 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Gabriel Latner and the Cambridge Union, Part 2!, Standpoint, 25 November 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Why is the American ambassador visiting the East London Mosque?, Standpoint, 2 December 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Engaging the anonymous IEngage, Standpoint, 14 December 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Spin Profiles continues spinning, Standpoint, 28 December 2010. Also posted on Harry's Place.

2011

• Shiraz Maher, The assassination of Salman Taseer and Pakistan's descent into chaos, Standpoint, 4 January 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Hizb ut Tahrir decides to make it up, Standpoint, 25 January 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, What future for Islamism now?, Standpoint, 25 February 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, "We call them the nutters, because that's what they are", Standpoint, 26 February 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, How does this end?, Standpoint, 2 March 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Parliament Square is not Tahrir Square, Standpoint, 3 March 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, In Defence of Quilliam, Standpoint, 15 March 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Egypt's New Dawn Chorus, Standpoint, March 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Jihadis React to Bin Laden's Death, Standpoint, 7 May 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Hizb ut Tahrir implodes, Spittoon, 19 June 2011. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Lush Cosmetics' Foul Anti-Semitic Smell, Gatestone Institute, 9 August 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Shouldn't Rights Be Tied to Responsibilities?, Gatestone Institute, 3 October 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, "There Is No Place for the Jew in Libya", Gatestone Institute, 14 October 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Who are the Jihadists Afraid of?, Gatestone Institute, 24 October 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Ties that Bind: How the story of Britain's Muslim soldiers can forge a national identity, Policy Exchange and the Pears Foundation, 5 September 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, UK: Policework on Islamists Backfires, Gatestone Institute, 14 November 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, "Inspire" Magazine: Open Source Jihad, Gatestone Institute, 25 November 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Anwar al-Awlaki’s father and Al Muhajiroun, Harry's Place, 6 December 2011.
• Shiraz Maher, Countering Awlaki, Gatestone Institute, 15 December 2011.

2012

• Shiraz Maher, British Organization Backing Religious Intolerance, Gatestone Institute, 26 January 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Hizb-ut-Tahrir: Sharia Law 'by Force' Enabled by the UK and the US, Gatestone Institute, 1 February 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Britain Bans Iran's Press TV - Finally, Gatestone Institute, 2 February 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, UK: Islamist Intimidation Shuts Down Free Speech, Gatestone Institute, 16 February 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Britain's Divisive Dog-Whistle Politics, Gatestone Institute, 30 April 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, German Arrests and the Rise of the Megaphone Jihadists, Harry's Place, 14 June 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The Despots' Collaborator, Gatestone Institute, 15 June 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The struggle to deal with foreign terror suspects, The Spectator, 3 July 2012. Also posted on Harry's Place.
• Shiraz Maher, Declaring a civil war in Syria could inspire more to turn from Assad, The Spectator, 16 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, An arms race in the Middle East is a real possibility, The Spectator, 20 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Tony Blair’s legacy on tackling extremism, The Spectator, 24 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Talk of an imminent victory in Syria is overstated, The Spectator, 26 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Remembering the Munich victims, The Spectator, 27 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Romney’s foreign tour isn’t derailing his campaign, The Spectator, 30 July 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The revival of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, The Spectator, 2 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Islam at the Olympics, Gatestone Institute, 2 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Annan’s resignation suggests a military resolution to Syrian conflict, The Spectator, 3 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, What the government should do to tackle honour violence and forced marriages, The Spectator, 4 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The rot at the heart of the Syrian administration, The Spectator, 6 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, What multiculturalism really means, The Spectator, 7 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Memoir of an Islamist, The Spectator, 9 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, How William Hague changed the Foreign Office, The Spectator, 10 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Mursi shores up his powers, The Spectator, 13 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Saudi Arabia is the early victor of the Arab Spring, The Spectator, 14 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, British residents join Syrian uprising, The Spectator, 16 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Is Mursi really trying to build links with Tehran?, The Spectator, 21 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Galloway and Murray’s smears ignore how simple the Assange case is, The Spectator, 22 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Mursi’s mischief and muscle in Iran, The Spectator, 30 August 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Citizen Khan says absolutely nothing new, The Spectator, 3 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Blair should not be cowed by Tutu, The Spectator, 4 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, How Iranian media saved Ahmadinejad from embarrassment, The Spectator, 5 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Save the Children and Osama bin Laden, The Spectator, 6 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The latest attempt at British justice for Babar Ahmad will probably fail, The Spectator, 7 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Closed: Last Synagogue in Egypt, Gatestone Institute, 7 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Why the bounty on Salman Rushdie has increased, The Spectator, 17 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, We need to hear more from Tony Blair on Syria, The Spectator, 18 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Western governments are failing to stand up for their own values, The Spectator, 20 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Afghanistan’s triumph: the return of cricket and other ‘frivolities’, The Spectator, 21 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Israel faces difficult choices over the Sinai, The Spectator, 24 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The death of Osama bin Laden, The Spectator, 25 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, "Honeymoon with Galloway Nearing Its End", Gatestone Institute, 25 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The era of Abu Hamza is now finally drawing to a close, The Spectator, 25 September 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Obama’s ‘economic patriotism’ attack on Romney, The Spectator, 2 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Will the protests in Iran continue to build or fade away?, The Spectator, 5 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Should British citizens expect British justice?, The Spectator, 6 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The shooting of Malala Yousufzai, The Spectator, 10 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Britain’s illiberal state, The Spectator, 12 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Gary McKinnon case: campaigners accuse Theresa May of double standards, The Spectator, 16 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Why Prince Charles’ letters should not be published, The Spectator, 17 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Ahmadinejad vs Iranian judiciary, The Spectator, 22 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, When US Troops Leave Afghanistan, Gatestone Institute, 25 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Muslims and the Republican vote, The Spectator, 30 October 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, “Lack of knowledge of Indian soldiers in WWI must change”, British Future, 4 November 2012. Also posted on Harry's Place
• Shiraz Maher, David Cameron is out to warn of the nuclear threat from Iran, The Spectator, 6 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Mob Rule Replaces Rule of Law, Gatestone Institute, 6 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Obama’s top foreign policy concerns for his second term, The Spectator, 8 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Abu Qatada walks free at our expense, The Spectator, 13 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Can Hamas contain Gaza’s other terrorist groups?, The Spectator, 15 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The Petraeus and Allen business raises questions about US defence, The Spectator, 15 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Jordanians protest against King Abdullah, The Spectator, 16 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, The Gazan conflict poses a dilemma for Mohammed Morsi, The Spectator, 19 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Operation Pillar of Defence leads Israel to strategic failure, The Spectator, 22 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Few would shed tears if Britain barred Anjem Choudary from returning, The Spectator, 27 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Could a major escalation in the Syrian conflict be imminent?, The Spectator, 30 November 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, Mursi has divided Egypt in two with his authoritarianism, The Spectator, 3 December 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, What can the international community do to stop Assad using chemical weapons?, The Spectator, 6 December 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, A long road ahead for equal rights in Saudi Arabia, The Spectator, 19 December 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, How Obama united Syria’s rebel groups, The Spectator, 20 December 2012.
• Shiraz Maher, ‘One Pound Fish’ singer deported, The Spectator, 26 December 2012.

2013

• Shiraz Maher, New terrorism control measures under the spotlight, The Spectator, 2 January 2013.
• Shiraz Maher, What can the Pakistani government do about drones?, The Spectator, 3 January 2013.
• Shiraz Maher, The need for self-assured American power has never been greater, The Spectator, 8 January 2013.
• Shiraz Maher and Samar Batrawi, What Jihadists Thought About Boston, Foreign Affairs, 7 May 2013.

2014

• Shiraz Maher, Taking radicalised children from their parents is a dangerous idea, The Guardian, 3 March 2014.
• Ian Black, Rania Abouzeid, Mark Tran, Shiraz Maher, Roger Tooth and Martin Chulov, The terrifying rise of Isis: $2bn in loot, online killings and an army on the run, The Guardian, 16 June 2014.
• Shiraz Maher, The west should take note: there is no avoiding Isis, The Guardian, 21 August 2014.
• Shiraz Maher, Why the British jihadis fighting in Syria and Iraq are so vicious, Daily Mail, 21 August 2014.
• Shiraz Maher, Islamic State: What the Kassig murder video tells us, BBC, 17 November 2014.

2015

• Shiraz Maher, It’s dangerous just to let radicalised Britons go and join Isis, The Guardian, 25 February 2015.
• Shiraz Maher, The roots of radicalisation? It’s identity, stupid, The Guardian, 17 June 2015.
• Shiraz Maher, Muslims in Britain must feel and act more British, Daily Mail, 21 July 2015.
• Shiraz Maher and Nick Kaderbhai, Bashar al-Assad is still the problem, The Telegraph, 26 September 2015.

2016

• Shiraz Maher, The latest video from Islamic State was its most menacing warning to Britain yet, New Statesman, 30 January 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, The Brussels attacks point to the existence of a broad terrorist network in Belgium, New Statesman, 22 March 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Amid a fragile ceasefire, Syria’s original protesters are rediscovering their voice, New Statesman, 26 March 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Why did European intelligence agencies fail to stop the Brussels attacks?, New Statesman, 4 April 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Understanding the boy who became Islamic State’s chief executioner – and his victims, New Statesman, 9 April 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, As Syrian forces lay waste to Aleppo, how much longer can we tolerate the slaughter?, New Statesman, 7 May 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, The war within wars, New Statesman, 20 June 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Why so-called Islamic State chooses to bomb during Ramadan, BBC, 5 July 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Shiraz Maher on Isis: the management of savagery, New Statesman, 12 July 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, How al-Qaeda inspired the Nice terror attack, New Statesman, 15 July 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, The Nice attack showed the threat posed by lone actors – we should brace ourselves for more, New Statesman, 21 July 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Islamic State’s most important leader is dead – what will happen now?, New Statesman, 12 September 2016.
• Shiraz Maher, Brothers in blood: how Putin has helped Assad tear Syria apart, New Statesman, 27 October 2016.

2017

• Shiraz Maher, Between twin barbarisms, New Statesman, 13 March 2017.

Resources

Full transcript of the BBC Panorama report How I Became a Muslim Extremist can be found here.

Affiliations

• Gatestone Institute - contributing author
• Institute for Middle Eastern Democracy – advisory board (circa September 2011) member
• International Center for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London - Senior Research Fellow (circa September 2010 – present)
• Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya - panellist at an 11 September 2008 meeting of the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Israel
• Policy Exchange – former Senior Fellow (circa September 2008 – September 2010)
• The Spittoon - blogs cross-posted frequently
• Standpoint magazine (he formerly jointly ran its Focus on Islamism blog)
• Student Rights – former advisory board member (circa December 2011)