1st Oct 2016

FE Week

How do you spot signs of radicalisation? After Ofsted’s thematic review into Prevent found “a worrying number of providers struggling to implement the duty”, Zubeda Limbada and Lynn Davies explain how to spot signs of radicalisation.

14th Sep 2016

Unesco

Lynn Davies: Can education prevent violent extremism? Hard power is not enough to counter violent extremism based on hatred and ignorance. How can education help? What should we do to build resilience to propaganda among youth around the globe? How should schools address the issue? Should teachers have a surveillance role? These are some of the questions raised in this opinion piece.

22nd Dec 2015

British Journal of Educational Studies

This article analyses how education is positioned in the current concerns about security and extremism. This means firstly examining the different meanings of security (national, human and societal) and who provides security for whom. Initially, a central dilemma is acknowledged: that schooling appears to be simultaneously irrelevant to the huge global questions of security and yet central to the learning of alternative ways to conduct human relations.

29th Nov 2017

The Guardian

Zubeda Limbada, from the Connect Justice thinktank, said: “At a time when the Islamic State has attracted 500 British citizens, we need to ensure direct and ongoing community engagement with the diverse UK Muslim communities happens regularly in the fight against terrorism …

23rd May 2018

International Sociology Association

Preventing violent radicalization of youth through dialogic evidence-based policies: ConnectFutures, who involve former radicals in their programmes, to go to schools and talk with youth about how gangs and extremist groups attract their members and to contest their potential and make youth more aware of how to counter recruitment strategies and to prevent them from getting involved.

22nd Oct 2016

Newsweek

Zubeda Limbada & Lyn Davies: Since 9/11, there has been a trend of referring to terrorist attacks as “new terror,” which falsely and unhelpfully severs current acts from the longer history of political violence. There has been considerable discussion too about whether the current terrorism of jihad is a new phenomenon.

7th Sep 2016

Family Lives

With concerns about home-grown terrorism, or young people going off to fight, it is not surprising that a growing number of families may be worried that their children or relatives might be drawn into extremism.  We try to answer some questions – starting with definitions (although it is important to note there is not universal agreement on these).

29th Nov 2017

BBC Radio 4

Should schools and teachers refer children they believe to be at risk of radicalisation to the Channel programme based on visual changes? Has enough clarity been provided to schools around this by government? Zubeda Limbada discusses the issue with the BBC’s John Humphreys arguing that common sense should prevail and that teachers should be able to concentrate on nurturing the mind of pupils as trust and relationships matter.

18th Oct 2019

Victoria Derbyshire

In this panel discussion around what works in the counter extremism arena, Zubeda Limbada (Director of ConnectFutures) explores what practically works when engaging with young people and communities around tackling the narratives of hate on far right and Islamist extremism.

11th Sep 2015

BBC World News: Have Your Say

France has seen a peak in young people joining the terror organisation and the programme explores why this may be the case for those in Europe as whole. Is it about romance, a misplaced sense of adventure or the attractive messaging put out on social media? Zubeda (director -ConnectFutures) shares her thoughts around the complexity of the issues and the wider implications.

6th Jul 2019

BBC Newsnight

Zubeda Limbada (director, ConnectFutures) articulates that legally banning ideas and individuals is not an appropriate measure when tackling extremist and/or terror ideologies as that is not a solution befitting of a democratic society. That approach didn’t work with Gerry Adams/IRA so driving ideas and individuals underground is problematic.

29th Nov 2017

Schools Week

Hijabs are none of Ofsted’s business: Schools should be safe spaces – allowing outside authority figures to probe young girls’ choice of religious expression is precisely the wrong approach to take, argues Zubeda Limbada

26th May 2017

Time Magazine

Limbada, director of ConnectJustice, noticed that children have started to self-censor what they say to teachers in fear of innocuous question about the Middle East being misconstrued. “Some students come up to us and say ‘our parents have told us not to talk about these issues because they are scared we will be put in the Channel program’”, she tells TIME.

11th Sep 2015

Schools Week

Interviews with former extremists offered as free Prevent resource for schools: A social enterprise (ConnectFutures) has released short films of former extremists discussing their experiences for use as an educational resource.

6th Jul 2019

The Times

London gangster is fourth man in Isis phone video: Last Wednesday the talk turned to a series of chilling images featuring a previously unknown Londoner brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle in Syria and threatening the West. The person in question can be revealed today as Abdullah Hassan, the fourth suspect…

23rd Aug 2014

BBC News

‘No quick fix’ in dealing with extremism and radicalisations. New powers to tackle extremist groups are being looked at by the government, the home secretary has said. Zubeda Limbada from Connect Justice, a group which offers independent expertise in counter terrorism, spoke to the BBC about the problems in dealing with radicalisation.

13th Jan 2016

BBC Victoria Derbyshire

Listen to Laura Zahra McDonald talk about former extremists and the preventative roles. What does de-radicalisation mean versus disengagement? What happens when a former extremist does not give up belief in ideology especially through violent means. 850 UK citizens have gone to Syria as of 2016 so what role can the government play? What role does Prevent play in this?

11th Sep 2015

BBC Radio 4

The Prevent duty: What’s the role of teachers when a child is vulnerable to extremism and terrorism? Zubeda Limbada discusses…

16th Jun 2015

BBC Local: Masala

British citizens joining ISIS: Are communities condoning Islamist extremism? Zubeda Limbada discusses…

5th Jun 2017

BBC Victoria Derbyshire

“The govt has got to engage beyond a minority of communities and build trust” Zubeda Limbada, director of ConnectFutures talks about homegrown extremism, prevention, Manchester and Westminster attacks, why terrorism occurs, and the practical steps communities, police and schools can take?

15th Dec 2017

BBC Breakfast

In light of the Manchester and Westminster attacks of 2017, BBC’s Naga Munchetty asks Zubeda Limbada (director of ConnectFutures) what is Prevent, why some communities may not trust the scheme and the reasons why and how we at ConnectFutures try to address all forms of extremism in our Prevent training with schools and organisations.

12th Oct 2015

BBC Radio 5 Live

Prosecutors say that at the centre of the plot foiled earlier this year were a husband-and-wife team who put the self-styled Islamic State’s cause at the centre of their marriage. Listen to our Director, Zubeda Limbada discuss this with the BBC’s Dominic Casciani as to whether Madihah Taheer, 21 was a victim or a perpetrator?

16th Jun 2015

BBC Newsnight

Zubeda Limbada discusses why British citizens are going to fight in Syria and why trust with communities and government plays a central role. She goes on to explain why identity and engagement within communities needs to be discussed if we are going to get to the root cause of the problem. However, in order to do so, people need safe spaces to engage in those conversations.
19th Jul 2019

BBC Midlands Today

Our director Zubeda Limbada talks to the BBC here about why we film powerful stories like that of Hezron and their importance when delivering our training to over 20,000 students in the UK in 2018/19.

15th Dec 2017

BBC Newsnight

Laura Zahra McDonald discusses some of the challenges of the Channel intervention Programme (the British government’s voluntary programme for those vulnerable to radicalisation) and if an individual refuses assistance.

12th Oct 2015

Birmingham Live

Gang survivor speaks out: “There is no glamour in gangs – it’s a violent and scary place”: Hezron Brown is using his powerful story of pain and redemption to steer young people away from crime and knives.

13th Dec 2018

BBC Midlands Today

This case was particularly important as it raised disturbing questions around the type of social media (Whatsapp) messages exchanged between 21 yr old Madihah Taheer and her husband Ummar Mirza as they plotted an attack in Birmingham with a £150 knife.
29th Nov 2017

Schools Week

Schools should be safe spaces – allowing outside authority figures to probe young girls’ choice of religious expression is precisely the wrong approach to take, argues Zubeda Limbada

18th Aug 2011

BBC News

Zubeda Limbada, said: “It’s almost like being invited into a private function. “It’s like being invited into a mosque and having access to seeing the type of prayers that people do in a mosque.

12th Oct 2015

The Telegraph

Zubeda Limbada, director of ConnectFutures, which works to promote trust between communities in order to reduce the risk of extremism, criticised the role of teachers in reporting children.

13th Dec 2018

CNN

Zubeda Limbada from Connect Futures, an outreach organization that tackles radicalization and extremism, agreed with the analysis that that far-right extremism and Islamic extremism “feed each other”.
13th Jan 2016

Victoria Derbyshire

Listen to Laura Zahra McDonald talk about former extremists and the preventative roles. What does de-radicalisation mean versus disengagement?

7th Jul 2019

The Sun

Speaking in a video by ConnectFutures, a deradicalisation group, he said: “We were extreme in the streets, and when I came to the religion [Islam] we just went from one extreme to another.”

22nd Jan 2018

Hits Radio

VIDEO: Martyn Hett’s mum hits out at internet trolls in new anti-extremism film by ConnectFutures. Martyn was one of the 22 people killed in the attack at Manchester Arena.

14th Mar 2018

The Daily Star

Professor Lynn Davies defines violent extremism as “when you do not allow for a different point of view; when you hold your own views as being quite exclusive.