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In the past few weeks extremist fly-posters have begun to appear again in East London.Ìý Kurt Barling has been finding out about fears that despite a ceasefire the Gaza conflict could be undoing the efforts to counter extremist ideology.

It has been a few years since openly Jihadist propaganda has been fly-posted on the streets of London.ÌýIt would appear to correspond with a growing sense of anger amongst many Muslims that the Israeli engagement in the Gaza strip is disproportionate and the violence used asymmetrical.ÌýÌý

Of course many other people have issues with the course this latest military action has taken.ÌýThe papers are full of complaints, including from prominent members of the Jewish community.ÌýThe difference is that it doesn't dovetail with a pervasive sense of grievance amongst many Muslims that it is an extension of the attack on Islam.

The Active Change Foundation

Every Friday Hanif Qadir holds sessions for young Muslims at his Active Change Foundation in East London.ÌýHe invites outsiders to discuss the issues preying on young peoples minds.ÌýThe Middle East remains high up their list of things which they are angry about.ÌýBut Qadir insists that in the past fortnight the intensity of feelings are as strong as any of those that arose after Western forces entered Iraq in March 2003.

This time though there are a couple of differences about the political context in which these concerns are aired.ÌýLet's start with the government's position.ÌýAlthough not openly condemning Israel the government is far more sympathetic to the cause of innocent Palestinians and have repeatedly said so.ÌýAlmost as important in the British context is that the government is far busier listening to Muslim voices and canvassing Muslim opinion.

AFP: Gaza conflict

Last week, for example, Qadir organised for a group from his youth club in Walthamstow to talk face to face with a Government Minister about their grievances.Ìý Above all about how British foreign policy is shaped. Whether or not they liked what the Minister said, the reality is the government is now more open to different domestic interpretations of their policy.

British foreign policy

When I met the Communities Minister on Tuesday he was insistent that the government now recognises that there is a direct link between British foreign policy and radicalisation of young British Muslims.

Sadiq Khan MP was at pains to point out that this doesn't mean these views will dictate a shift in foreign policy.ÌýHowever, as Communities Minister he believes it does mean that it should shape the way in which the government supports those trying to persuade young people that terror is not a viable alternative to politics.

Cementing the point two days later, the Foreign Secretary David Miliband asserted in a speech in Mumbai that the phraseology "War on Terror" misrepresented the challenges of defeating terrorism. The new mantra is that terror organisations need to be tackled at the root, by stopping the flow of weapons and financing, and channeling their followers into democratic politics.

Young dissidents

Usama Hasan is the Imam at a Leyton mosque. He once fought in Afghanistan on the side of pro-western forces.ÌýHe like Qadir has been battling to win the hearts and minds of dissident young Muslim Londoners, some of whom have ended up involved in terror conspiracies and are now in prison.

He says that in the current climate it's good that the government is listening but there is a danger that some young people will once again be seduced by those preaching catastrophic revenge.ÌýHe says the jihadist posters which claim "Jihad is the only solution in Palestine" are reminiscent of the material that was in circulation in the wake of the western forces entering Afghanistan in October 2001.

There is, nevertheless, a very real difference in London this time around. Put simply it is people like Qadir and Hasan. In the wake of the conflict in Afghanistan and the toppling of Saddam Hussein radicals like Omar Bakri Mohammed and Abu Hamza were openly preaching hate and stoking up calls to Jihad.ÌýFew dared to challenge them.

'Staring fanatics in the face'

In 2000 I secretly filmed meetings in Finsbury Park mosque when Abu Hamza was in charge.ÌýVideos produced by Jihadists showing graphic images from the war in Afghanistan were used by preachers to convince young men to go off and fight.ÌýMI5 subsequently confirmed that they were also used to recruit terrorists like Richard Reid and the London bombers.

Outside the Israeli Embassy in London

Now there is an army of people including former Jihadists working hard to counter the preachers of extremism.ÌýThe fact that so many people within the Muslim community have been forced to stare fanatics in the face and challenge them makes taking up violence a more risky proposition all round for would-be terrorists.

There is naturally a hazard in repeatedly associating Muslim communities with fears of radicalisation.ÌýThere are in reality only a handful of people who might get involved in terrorist conspiracies and the Muslim community needs the support of government to isolate them.Ìý

Those doing the persuading like Qadir and Hasan say they also need to be able to convince young people that British Muslim sensibilities are understood by those shaping foreign policy.ÌýForeign policy is after all only an expression of what the British government believes is in the national interest.

Uniting against Jihadists

The danger remains that whilst only a handful may choose violence a large majority may choose isolation for fear of being stigmatised.ÌýÌý

Since the New Year there have been reports of a spate of attacks on symbols of the Jewish community but there has been robust condemnation of these events from many Muslim groups.ÌýStrong evidence in other words that the battle for hearts and minds in the Capital, against terror as a form of political expression, is making headway.