“Whenever Europeans get together to come up with ways to combat extremism and counter terrorism … they find themselves being the ones prescribed with making all the adjustments – as opposed to the terror-prone Muslims”.
Julia Gorin defends George Bush’s use of the term “Islamic fascists” and warns against accepting European notions of political correctness.
Front Page Magazine, 15 August 2006
For a more balanced view, see Lisa Miller’s article in Newsweek, 12 August 2006
The Bishop of Rochester asks “how does this dual psychology – of victimhood, but also the desire for domination – come to infect so many young Muslims in Britain?” One reason is that “in the name of multiculturalism, mosque schools were encouraged and Muslim pupils spent up to six extra hours a day learning the Koran and Islamic tradition, as well as their own regional languages”.
“Make no mistake, this terror threat is the fault of both the Muslim community and New Labour…. Labour’s complete immigration incompetence has fundamentally changed the character of this country and severely jeopardised our security. And Blair still goes on holiday! No wonder over 50 per cent of Brits want to get out of this septic isle. They are sick of being taxed to death by this Government and smeared as racist if they complain about unchecked immigration. They are being forced out of their own land….
“Labour are still not willing to do the single thing that could help solve this problem, which is to rip up the Human Rights Act NOW. This one single piece of legislation has effectively turned our capital city into Londonistan. The act is exploited by extremists and allows them to stick two fingers up at our laws and values. They’re aided and abetted by leeching lawyers while the more vocal sections of the Muslim community like to wallow in their own self-pity amid claims of social deprivation and Islamophobia….
“People have been remarkably tolerant since 7/7 but the bare-faced cheek of sending an open letter to Blair demanding a change in our foreign policy could act like a red rag to a bull.”
Jon Gaunt in The Sun, 15 August 2006
“The recent letter by various Muslims in the UK and Muslim organisations demanding changes to British foreign policy is an act of unparalleled arrogance…. UK foreign policy has nothing to do with causing Islamic terrorism in the world today as the apologists say – it is solely Islam that is the basis of Islamic terrorism not UK foreign policy…. The BNP intend to ban all so called ‘Religious Organisations’ such as the Muslim Council of Great Britain that openly support an overt political agenda, get involved in political campaigns or that interfere in political issues.”
“History tells us it takes a long time to rouse the British, though once roused they see things through. Maybe the latest terrorist outrage [shouldn’t that read “alleged terrorist outrage”? Or are arrested Muslims deemed automatically guilty? – ed.] will give second thoughts to all those well-meaning battalions of left and right and leaders of the Muslim community who have yet to see an anti-terrorism measure they approve. No to 90 days to question suspects; no to identity cards; no to selective telephone monitoring; and yes, in the name of free speech, to the radical mullahs brainwashing deluded youth.”
Harold Evans at Comment is Free, 15 August 2006
Is ideology or foreign policy responsible for the radicalisation of some Muslim youth? Inayat Bunglawala of the MCB offers a reasoned assessment.
Guardian Comment is Free, 15 August 2006
“Islam needs a reformation, but many of its opinion leaders recognise that they will not benefit from a more tolerant, less ideological religion. They see Islam and their role in Islam as immutable, and denounce as apostates men, and women such as the Canadian Irshad Manji especially, who call for a renaissance of critical thinking. But unless there is more respect for such calls, more tolerance of women’s rights and views and less fear in denouncing extremism, the government dialogue with Muslim leaders will yield little. Only when moderation commands the respect, credibility and allegiance of more Muslims will the nexus with terrorism be challenged.”
“Yesterday Ruth Kelly set out to talk to the Muslim community – again. It’s hard to know what that means. There are no ‘talks’ available with religious fanatics seeking paradise in an impossible cause.”
Polly Toynbee in the Guardian, 15 August 2006
“By now it should be patently clear that we in the West are at war with a hydra-headed and barbaric enemy that has not a shred of humanity and relishes the bloodletting of tens of thousands of innocents, including other Muslims. It is at least as brutal as the Nazis and communist enemies we have faced in the past. Although radical Islam is not militarily as powerful as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, it has the huge strategic advantage of suicide bombing, which is immune to deterrence. Should any of its constituent elements – the Iranian Government or al-Qa’ida – acquire nuclear weapons, it will likely attempt genocide against Israel and create devastation in the West of an unprecedented kind.”
Stephen Morris in The Australian, 14 August 2005
Representatives of an east London mosque used by several of the terror suspects reacted angrily yesterday to what they called a “sick stunt” by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News channel.
Mohammed Shoyaib, the imam of the Musjid-e-Umer mosque in Walthamstow, complained that he and other elders were tricked by a representative from the cable channel, a priest who said he was working for the Vatican and wanted to talk peace.
“He introduced himself as priest working in Rome,” said Mr Shoyaib. “Then he said he was working for peace in the world, that all faiths should work together for peace, that he needs a united message of peace for the American people. Only later he said he was from ‘a sister network of Sky News’, but never mentioned Fox.”
The man spent several minutes conversing on camera with the imam and elders, but they reacted furiously when they learned he was Father Jonathan Morris, a religious pundit for Fox News.
On Thursday, in the aftermath of the arrests by anti-terrorist police, Mr Morris wrote on his Fox News blog:
“Today, officials have uncovered a major terrorist plot to blow up a group of planes on that same route. This is America and the world in 2006, and we are getting used to it. This time they got the bad guys, thank God. As we move forward as a country in these troubling times, our war must be first and foremost against the ideas that shape the hearts of the Muslim masses.”