The battle of ideas – The Jihadist Next Door
In the documentary The Jihadis Next Door Jamie Roberts followed a group of militant activists in London, including Abu Rumaysah who left Britain with his wife and four children the day after being released on bail, travelling to Paris and then Syria.
Abu Rumaysah, real-name Siddhartha Dhar, has not been officially confirmed as the masked figure in a recently released IS video showing the murder of five men accused by Isis of spying for the UK. In the film, Abu Rumaysah tells Roberts that he is from a Hindu background and converted to Islam when he was about 19.
His notion of the black flag of Islam flying one day over Downing Street reminds me of Sharia4Belgiums idea of implementing Sharia in Belgium and Mohamed Bouyeri’s (who killed Dutch writer and film director Theo van Gogh) idea of planting the flag of jihad at the Binnenhof (the seat of the Dutch parliament).
Another guy featuring in the documentary is Abu Haleema who is severely restricted in disseminating his views. The documentary also shows the militants are being confronted during street demonstrations by moderate British Muslims who reject their philosophy. The battle of ideas among Muslims takes place on the streets of London.