Robb Leech is a British
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
maker and former
tree surgeon
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...
.
His stepbrother, Richard Dart,
converted to
an extreme form of Islam in 2009 and later became
a convicted terrorist. Leech made two films charting Dart's conversion and later conviction and imprisonment: ''
My Brother the Islamist'' in 2011 and ''My Brother the Terrorist'' in 2014.
In 2015, Leech made a third film, ''Welcome to the Mosque'',
which explored the everyday life at the
East London Mosque
The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accomm ...
in
Whitechapel
Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...
, one of the biggest mosques in the UK. Leech's filming coincided with
three schoolgirls from nearby
Bethnal Green Academy
Mulberry Academy Shoreditch is a comprehensive co-educational academy for students aged between 11–18 in the Bethnal Green neighbourhood of the Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London.
The school was founded in 1959 as Daneford School, as ...
going to Syria to join the so-called
Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
and documented the mosque's attempts to help the missing girls' grieving families, while battling allegations from sections of the media that it was responsible for
radicalising the girls themselves.
See also
*
Jihad
''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
*
Islamism
Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...
*
British Bangladeshis
British Bangladeshis () are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots are from Bangladesh. Bengali Muslims have prominently been migrating to the UK since World War II. Migration reached its peak during the 1970s, with ...
*
British Pakistanis
British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani ...
References
British documentary filmmakers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{UK-film-bio-stub