Jameah Islameah School

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Jameah Islameah School is an independent Islamic school in East Sussex. The school is located on a 54 acre site and has residential facilities to house male students aged 11 to 16. The school is independently owned and the proprietor functions as the principal. In December, 2005, Jameah Islameah was inspected by the Office for Standards in Education which noted that it "does not provide a satisfactory education for its pupils."^[1] At the time of the inspection, the school had nine students.^[2]

According to BBC News the school purports to teach students to become Islamic leaders, training them to the level high enough to teach in local Masajeds and Madares.^[3]

1 Terrorism arrests
2 Closing
3 Notes
4 References

[edit] Terrorism arrests

There have been allegations that the school was used in the training and recruitment of terrorists. According to testimony from Al Qaeda suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, in 1997 and 1998, Abu Hamza and groups of around 30 of his followers held terrorist training camps at the school, including training with AK47 rifles and handguns, as well as a mock rocket launcher.^[4] In 2003 or 2004, the grounds of the school were used for an Islamic-themed camping trip, at which Omar Bakri Mohammed lectured. The trip, which was advertised by word-of-mouth, was attended by 50 Muslim men, most of whom were members of al-Muhajiroun. Bakri claimed the activities at the camp included lectures on Islam, football, and paintballing.^[5]

On 1 September 2006 the Jameah Islameah school was searched by up to a hundred police officers^[6] as part of their operations, although no arrests were made.^[7] The local Sussex Police held a cordon around the site for 24 days in an operation that cost them over one million pounds.^[8] Meanwhile the Metropolitan Police searched the buildings and grounds and the lake.^[9]

On the evening of 2 September over 40 police officers entered a south London halal Chinese restaurant called The Bridge to China Town and, after talking to customers for over an hour, arrested twelve on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.^[10] Two further arrests were made elsewhere in London.

By 6 September two men had been released.^[11]

[edit] Closing

On February 9, 2007, the Department for Education and Skills closed down the school, because it "continues to fail to meet the standards which all independent schools must meet under the Education Act 2002." The school had not been operating at the time, due to lack of students.^[12]