1.
Syria
Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Alawites, Mandeans, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon.
However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC.
The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
2.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
ISIL gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre. This group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, ISIL originated as Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and participated in the Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces. The group proclaimed itself a caliphate and began referring to itself as Islamic State or IS in June 2014. As a caliphate, it claims religious and military authority over all Muslims worldwide and its adoption of the name Islamic State and its idea of a caliphate have been widely criticised, with the United Nations, various governments, and mainstream Muslim groups rejecting its statehood.
As of 2015, ISIL is estimated to have a budget of more than USD$1 billion. In April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām, while the use of either one or the other acronym has been the subject of debate, the distinction between the two and its relevance has been considered not so great. Of greater relevance is the name Daesh, which is an acronym of ISILs Arabic name al-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī al-ʻIrāq wa-al-Shām. This name has been used by ISILs Arabic-speaking detractors, although – and to a certain extent because – it is considered derogatory, as it resembles the Arabic words Daes. Within areas under its control, ISIL considers use of the name Daesh punishable by flogging or cutting out the tongue, in late June 2014, the group renamed itself ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah, declaring itself a worldwide caliphate. The name Islamic State and the claim to be a caliphate have been widely rejected, with the UN, various governments. Frances Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said This is a terrorist group, I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam and Islamists.
The Arabs call it Daesh and I will be calling them the Daesh cutthroats, the group is very sensitive about its name. They will cut your tongue out even if you call them ISIS – you have to say Islamic State, the Islamic State is mocked on social media websites such as Twitter and YouTube, with the use of hashtags, mock recruiting ads, fake news articles and YouTube videos. ISIL is a theocracy, proto-state and a Salafi or Wahhabi group and it follows an extremist interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence, and regards Muslims who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates. According to some observers, ISIL emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and it adheres to global jihadist principles and follows the hard-line ideology of al-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups. However, other sources trace the roots to Wahhabism. For their guiding principles, the leaders of the Islamic State, are open and clear about their almost exclusive commitment to the Wahhabi movement of Sunni Islam
3.
British Bangladeshi
British Bangladeshis are people of Bangladeshi origin who reside in the United Kingdom having immigrated to the UK and attained citizenship through naturalisation or whose ancestors did so. They are known as British Bengalis, in reference to the ethnic group from that region. Large numbers of Bangladeshis immigrated to the UK, primarily from Sylhet, located in the north-east of the country, the largest concentration is in London, primarily in the east London boroughs, of which Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion. This large diaspora in London leads people in Bangladesh to refer to British Bangladeshis as Londonis, Bangladeshis form one of the UKs largest group of people of overseas descent and are one of the countrys youngest and fastest growing communities. The 2011 UK Census recorded nearly half-a-million residents of Bangladeshi ethnicity, Bangladeshis form a largely homogeneous community. Rates of unemployment are typically high, there is overcrowding, British Bangladeshis have the highest overall relative poverty rate of any ethnic group in the UK with 65% of Bangladeshis living in low income households.
Bengalis had been present in Britain as early as the 19th century, some ancestors of British Bangladeshis went to the UK before World War I. Author Caroline Adams records that in 1925 a lost Bengali man was searching for other Bengali settlers in London and they mainly immigrated to the United Kingdom to find work, achieve a better standard of living, and to escape conflict. During the pre-state years, the 1950s and 1960s, Bengali men immigrated to London in search of employment, most settled in Tower Hamlets, particularly around Spitalfields and Brick Lane. In 1971, Bangladesh fought for its independence from Pakistan in what was known as the Bangladesh Liberation War, in the region of Sylhet, this led some people to join the Mukti Bahini, or Liberation Army. In the 1970s, changes in immigration laws encouraged a new wave of Bangladeshis to come to the UK, job opportunities were initially limited to low paid sectors, with unskilled and semi-skilled work in small factories and the textile trade being common.
When the Indian restaurant concept became popular, some Sylhetis started to open cafes, from these small beginnings a network of Bangladeshi restaurants and other small businesses became established in Brick Lane and surrounding areas. The influence of Bangladeshi culture and diversity began to develop across the East London boroughs, the early immigrants lived and worked mainly in cramped basements and attics within the Tower Hamlets area. The men were illiterate, poorly educated, and spoke little English, so they could not interact well with the English-speaking population. Some became targets for businessmen, who sold their properties to Sylhetis, by the late 1970s, the Brick Lane area had become predominantly Bengali, replacing the former Jewish community which had declined. Jews migrated to outlying suburbs of London, as integrated with the majority British population. Jewish bakeries were turned into houses, jewellery shops became sari stores. The synagogue at the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane became the Jamme Masjid or Great London Mosque and this building represents the history of successive communities of immigrants in this part of London
4.
Islamic Forum of Europe
The Islamic Forum of Europe is an Islamic organisation based in the United Kingdom with affiliates in Europe. Its charitable arm is the Islamic Forum Trust and its youth wing is named the Young Muslim Organisation, and its womens wing is Muslimaat UK. Its London and Sunderland branches are affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain and its first president was Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari who became chairman of the East London Mosque, succeeded by Musleh Faradhi as President since 2005. Dawatul Islam is now based at another mosque, Jamiatul Ummah Bigland Street, abdullah Faliq is the Deputy Secretary-General, who help set up The Cordoba Foundation. The Italian and Greek IFE were founded in 1996, whose ameer currently is Hafiz Mawlana Aminur Rahman, expoIslamia, an event held by the IFE, has welcomed such speakers as Anwar al-Awlaki. Muhammad Rabbani, a senior activist at IFE, went on to become managing director of Cageprisoners. While at IFE, in 2009 he told recruits that, Our goal is to create the True Believer, to mobilise these believers into a force for change who will carry out dawah, hisbah.
This will lead to change and Iqamat-ud-Deen. The IFT has donated £16,119 to the Staffordshire Muslim Centre charity and it owns properties that it rents out for private hire to other organisations, one of which is in Lozells, Birmingham, it owns the Union, Berners Street, Lozells in Birmingham. It set up the Oldham Muslim Centre branch at a cost of £2. 2m which opened in April 2010, vice chairman of the project Syed Badrul Alam, and Central President of the IFE Mohammad Habibur Rahman were at the opening. The trust owns 120-122 Chadderton Way, in Oldham, the group in 2006 was described as part of a movement of Bangladeshi immigrants in London away from secular left politics towards Islamist politics. IFE is reported as the group runs the East London Mosque. A Dispatches documentary aired on 1 March 2010 suggested the IFE are an extremist organization with an agenda that went against Britains democratic values. Dispatches quoted Azad Ali, the IFEs community affairs coordinator, as saying, Democracy, if it means at the expense of not implementing the sharia, alis controversial blog Between the Lines was hosted by the IFE.
Galloway was recorded as saying that his 2005 election owed more than I can say, more than it would be wise for me to say, the programme claimed that the IFE helped Lutfur Rahman to gain the leadership of Tower Hamlets Council from 2008 until 2010. Six unknown Labour councillors told Dispatches that a senior IFE official had threatened to mobilise the groups supporters against them if they did not support the candidate. IFE in a response to the stated that the programme Presented a grossly inaccurate. The programme failed to broadcast IFE’s responses to many of the allegations and therefore failed in its basic obligation of fair, honest, in Feb 2010 The Daily Telegraph described the group as a sophisticated political group with a structured rank system and hardline goals
5.
Vice News
Vice News is Vice Media, Inc. s current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of under-reported stories, Vice News was created in December 2013 and is based in New York City, though it has bureaus worldwide. In December 2013, Vice Media expanded its news division into an independent division dedicated to news exclusively. Vice Media put $50 million into its news division, setting up 34 bureaus worldwide, Vice News has primarily targeted a younger audience comprised predominantly of millennials, the same audience to which its parent company appeals. On May 24,2016, a change in leadership at Vice News resulted in the laying off of some 20 editorial, before Vice News was founded, Vice published news documentaries and news reports from around the world through its YouTube channel alongside other programs. On 17 September 2014, Vice News launched a phone app for iOS. In November 2014, Vice News launched its French-language version, in October 2015 Vice hired Josh Tyrangiel to run a daily Vice News show for HBO.
Tyrangiel had recently left Bloomberg, where he was reported to be “a divisive figure who was admired and despised during his six years there. ”The following May, it was announced that Tyrangiel had been given control of the weekly Vice on HBO show as well as Vice News. As the announcement was made, Tyrangiel promptly laid off much of the news staff, in an interview given the previous week, Vice Media founder Shane Smith called Tyrangiel “a murderer, ” foretelling a “bloodbath” in digital media. In June, Tyrangiel touted various new hires he had brought aboard as part of his team and it will include allowing The Guardian access Vice’s video production skills with content distributed to its millennial-skewed global audience. On April 21,2014, while covering the conflict in Ukraine, Simon Ostrovsky, in 2015 two journalists and their translator were arrested in Turkey. Since its creation, Vice News has covered emerging events and widespread issues around the world and it publishes daily articles on its website on a variety of world current events, along with maintaining a Vice News Wire where it displays wire reports from around the world.
Vice on City, A weekly television series on City, a Canadian television network, and in August 2014, was described by The Guardian as one of the fastest growing channels on YouTube. “Its videos may fail every rule in the BBC impartiality book, but they are brilliantly edited and, utterly compelling. Vice News has found young, fearless foreign correspondents to serve an audience who are bored stiff by traditional outlets but are quite prepared to watch videos on their mobile phones. ”Vice’s brand image marketing as an edgy, hip outlet have helped drive its popularity with young people. “Mainstream media is not trusted by a lot of people, and rightly so, so they step in and fill in, “People see a sense of fun behind it. Jon Stewart is very popular, but he’s an entertainer, other critiques mention that their work is more affiliated with entertainment rather than hard-hitting news. Official website Vice Newss channel on YouTube Vice on City The Islamic State — the controversial video filmed in the Islamic State
6.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I.
In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008.
The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them
7.
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Thracians, Phrygians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire.
The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black.
The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
8.
The Independent
The Independent is a British online newspaper. The printed edition of the paper ceased in March 2016, nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet newspaper, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as free from party political bias and it tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. In June 2015, it had a daily circulation of just below 58,000,85 per cent down from its 1990 peak. On 12 February 2016, it was announced that The Independent, the last print edition of The Independent on Sunday was published on 20 March 2016, with the main paper ceasing print publication the following Saturday. Launched in 1986, the first issue of The Independent was published on 7 October in broadsheet format and it was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds.
All three partners were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwells ownership, marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper. The paper was created at a time of a change in British newspaper publishing. Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the Wapping dispute, production costs could be reduced which, it was said at the time, created openings for more competition. As a result of controversy around Murdochs move to Wapping, the plant was effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside, the Independent attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his companys new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan It is, and challenging both The Guardian for centre-left readers and The Times as the newspaper of record, The Independent reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989.
Competing in a market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years. Some aspects of production merged with the paper, although the Sunday paper retained a largely distinct editorial staff. It featured spoofs of the other papers mastheads with the words The Rupert Murdoch or The Conrad Black, a number of other media companies were interested in the paper. Tony OReillys media group and Mirror Group Newspapers had bought a stake of about a third each by mid-1994, in March 1995, Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into OReillys Independent News & Media, MGN, and Prisa. In April 1996, there was another refinancing, and in March 1998, OReilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, brendan Hopkins headed Independent News, Andrew Marr was appointed editor of The Independent, and Rosie Boycott became editor of The Independent on Sunday. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favour but was a commercial failure, Marr admitted his changes had been a mistake in his book, My Trade
9.
Leicester Mercury
The Leicester Mercury is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the Leicester Daily Mercury, the paper was founded by James Thompson, already proprietor of the Leicester Chronicle which he had merged with the Leicestershire Mercury ten years earlier. The Leicester Daily Mercury would be a paper, the first to be published in Leicester. The first issue was published on 31 January 1874 from the offices at 3 St Martins. The paper had a staff of 25 and a circulation of 5000, along with the rest of Britains regional daily press, the Leicester Mercury has struggled in circulation terms over the past two decades. The paper had a circulation of 69,069 per day in the first half of 2008. This represents a decline of some 5. 7% and a drop of 47% when compared with a sale of 139,357 copies in the equivalent audit period for 1989. The newspaper is the sixth largest-selling regional title in England, in 2001, after a re-design and relaunch, it was named Regional Newspaper of the Year.
In 2006 the paper attempted to reduce costs by ceasing publication of its weekday editions for Loughborough, North West Leicestershire, Melton Mowbray. They have been replaced with two editions, covering the east and west of Leicestershire respectively. There are however still two editions published daily to cover the city of Leicester itself, the Mercury has retained its reporting staff in each of the market towns, despite substantial editorial staff cuts in other areas - achieved through non-replacement of departing staff. In addition, the paper relaunched its Sporting Blue sports newspaper with tête-bêche binding to cover the two major sports teams, Leicester City and Leicester Tigers. From January 2010 to September 2011 the paper championed its own youth paper and its content was entirely written by people under the age of 25, often taking unique angles on some of the Mercurys hard hitting stories by illustrating how they would affect young people. During 2011 it was edited by Sam Newton, the offices of the paper are on the corner of St Georges Way and Queen Street.
Since June 2016 the paper has been edited by George Oliver, the newspapers headquarters have undergone a complete external transformation, at a reported cost of £12. 5m, and has now reopened to the general public. The new-look building is in keeping with the plans for an office core close to the Mercurys head office. However, in April 2009, some of the production work was moved to a hub in Nottingham which carries out work for the Nottingham Post. However, about 60 journalists remain in the main Leicester office, all of the newspapers reporters remain in Leicester or other Leicestershire towns, as do the sports writers and feature writers, along with the proofing function
10.
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district mostly in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and partly in the London Borough of Hackney. Located 3.3 miles northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically a hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney, the parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green in 1900 and the population peaked in 1901, entering a period of steady decline which lasted until 1981. Some 173 people were killed at an incident at Bethnal Green tube station in 1943. Bethnal Green has formed part of Greater London since 1965, the place-name Blithehale or Blythenhale, the earliest form of Bethnal Green, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon healh and blithe, or from a personal name Blitha. Nearby Cambridge Heath, is unconnected with Cambridge and may derive from an Anglo-Saxon personal name. The area was marshland and forest which, as Bishopswood. Over time, the name became Bethan Hall Green, which, a Tudor ballad, the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, tells the story of an ostensibly poor man who gave a surprisingly generous dowry for his daughters wedding.
The tale furnishes the parish of Bethnal Greens coat of arms, the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel is reputed to be the site of his begging. Boxing has an association with Bethnal Green. Daniel Mendoza, who was champion of England from 1792 to 1795 though born in Aldgate, since numerous boxers have been associated with the area, and the local leisure centre, York Hall, remains notable for presentation of boxing bouts. He was a capable pastoral visitor and established a parochial school, after examining the text of the sermon, the Bishop of London condemned it as containing erroneous and dangerous notions. As a result, the bishop sent Woodard to be a curate in Clapton, the Green and Poors Land is the area of open land now occupied by Bethnal Green Library, the V&A Museum of Childhood and St Johns Church, designed by John Soane. In Stows Survey of London the hamlet was called Blethenal Green and it was one of the hamlets included in the Manor of Stepney and Hackney. From that date, the trust has administered the land and its books are kept in the London Metropolitan Archives.
Bethnal House, or Kirbys Castle, was the house on the Green. One of its owners was Sir Hugh Platt, author of books on gardening, under its next owner it was visited by Samuel Pepys. In 1727 it was leased to Matthew Wright and for almost two centuries it was an asylum and its two most distinguished inmates were Alexander Cruden, compiler of the Concordance to the Bible, and the poet Christopher Smart. Cruden recorded his experience in The London Citizen Grievously Injured and Smarts stay there is recorded by his daughter, records of the asylum are kept in the annual reports of the Commissioner in Lunacy
11.
East London Mosque
The East London Mosque, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate, serves Great Britains largest Muslim community. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Europe, in 1986, the mosque was one of the first in the United Kingdom to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan. Construction of the three-storey East London Mosque began in 1982 on land left empty after bombing during World War II, the architect was John Gill Associates. The exterior is a brick pattern in two colours, with the front facing Whitechapel Road and the rear on Fieldgate Street. The mosque is capped with a dome of about 8. 5m diameter. The minaret rises to about 28. 5m above ground level, the mosque has two large halls, a gallery, offices and a retail unit. Construction for phase 1 of the expansion, called the London Muslim Centre. Adjoining and connected to the mosque, it is a building with a prominent entrance featuring a sweeping mosaic pattern.
The centre has two halls, a seminar suite, a nursery, classrooms, a fitness centre, a small Islamic library. It was designed by Markland Klaschka Limited, at the beginning of the 20th century, London was the capital of the extensive British Empire, which contained tens of millions of Muslims, but had no mosque for Muslim residents or visitors. People associated with the London Mosque Fund over the years include, Syed Ameer Ali, Sir Hassan Suhrawardy served as the Chairman of the executive committee. The Aga Khan III served as life President of the Board of Trustees, both Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, translators of the Qur’an, were trustees of the Fund. Nathan Rothschild served as a trustee, historian T. W. Arnold became its Secretary, and was replaced by Sir Ernest Houston. Sir John Woodhead became its Treasurer, the Earl Winterton was a trustee of the Fund. From 1910 to 1940 various rooms had been hired for Jumuah prayers on Fridays, finally, in 1940, three houses were purchased at 446–448 Commercial Road in the east end of London as a permanent place of prayer.
On 2 August 1941 the combined houses were inaugurated as the East London Mosque and Islamic Culture Centre at a ceremony attended by the Egyptian Ambassador, the first prayer was led by the Ambassador for Saudi Arabia, Shaikh Hafiz Wahba. From the late 1950s the local Muslim population began to due to further immigration from the Indian subcontinent. The migrants settled in areas already established by Sylheti expatriate community working in the local docks, during the 1970s, this immigration increased significantly
12.
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in the East End of London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Because the area is close to the London Docklands and east of the city, it has been a place for immigrants. The area was the centre of the London Jewish community in the 19th and early 20th century, in the latter half of the 20th century, Whitechapel became a significant settlement for the British Bangladeshi community, particularly on Whitechapel Road and Brick Lane. Whitechapels heart is Whitechapel High Street, extending further east as Whitechapel Road, the churchs earliest known rector was Hugh de Fulbourne in 1329. Around 1338, it became the church of Whitechapel, for unknown reasons. The church was destroyed through enemy action in World War II and its location, Whitechapel High Street and Whitechapel Road are now part of the A11 road, anciently the initial part of the Roman road between the City of London and Colchester, exiting the city at Aldgate. In times, travellers to and from London on this route were accommodated at the coaching inns which lined Whitechapel High Street.
By the late 16th century, the suburb of Whitechapel and the area had started becoming the other half of London. Located east of Aldgate, outside the City Walls and beyond official controls, it attracted the less fragrant activities of the city, particularly tanneries, breweries and slaughterhouses. In 1680, the Rector of Whitechapel, the Rev. Ralph Davenant, William Booth began his Christian Revival Society, preaching the gospel in a tent, erected in the Friends Burial Ground, Thomas Street, Whitechapel, in 1865. Others joined his Christian Mission, and on 7 August 1878 the Salvation Army was formed at a meeting held at 272 Whitechapel Road, a statue commemorates both his mission and his work in helping the poor. In the Victorian era the population of poor English country stock was swelled by immigrants from all over. Writing of the period 1883–1884, Yiddish theatre actor Jacob Adler wrote, The further we penetrated into this Whitechapel, never in Russia, never in the worst slums of New York, were we to see such poverty as in the London of the 1880s.
This endemic poverty drove women to prostitution. In October 1888 the Metropolitan Police estimated that there were 1,200 prostitutes of very low class resident in Whitechapel, reference is specifically made to them in Charles Booths Life and Labour of the People in London, specially to dwellings called Blackwall Buildings belonging to Blackwall Railway. Such prostitutes were numbered amongst the 11 Whitechapel murders, some of which were committed by the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. Riis had recently documented the astoundingly bad conditions in large swaths of the city of the United States. London, a socialist, thought it worthwhile to explore conditions in the city of the nation that had invented modern capitalism
