“The latest WikiLeaks revelation: 1 in 3 British Muslim students back killing for Islam and 40% want Sharia law”, reads a typical shock-horror headline in today’s Daily Mail. The reference is to the findings in a July 2008 report by the right-wing anti-Muslim think-tank, the Centre for Social Cohesion, whose figures were quoted in a leaked diplomatic cable from the US embassy in London.

Regular readers of the Mail may have been struck by a feeling of déjà vu. And understandably so. The paper ran an article on the CSC report at the time, under the headline “One third of British Muslim students say it’s acceptable to kill for Islam”. The Mail has just seized the opportunity to recycle an old story. But then, you can never have too many scaremongering articles about Muslims, can you?

And this is hardly “the latest WikiLeaks revelation” anyway. TheMail‘s article quotes from two diplomatic cables, one dated 6 January 2009 and the other 5 February 2010. As you can see, they were released by Wikileaks back on 14 December.

Nor can the unnamed Daily Mail reporter claim that their belated exposé is based on any original research. In fact the article is clearly derived from a piece that appeared on the right-wing US website WorldNetDaily on 16 December.

See also “Daily Mail scaremongers about ‘Killing for Islam'”, ENGAGE, 22 December 2010

Update:  See Martin Robbins, “Mail’s Wikileaks ‘revelation’ about Muslim students is their own 2008 story”, The Lay Scientist, 22 December 2010