Category Archives: UK

Western policies are to blame, says Livingstone

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ken Livingstone yesterday blamed western policies for contributing to the spread of the extremist beliefs that inspired the London bombers. The mayor of London highlighted the West’s role in the creation of al-Qa’eda by saying: “We created these people. We built them up. We funded them.”

Mr Livingstone has condemned the London bombings in the strongest terms, and immediately after the attack he was widely praised for the way he spoke up on behalf of all Londoners.

But yesterday he abandoned his consensual approach when he claimed that western policies in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq may have influenced the bombers.

Mr Livingstone said: “This particular strand of extremism was funded by the West in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden was just another businessman until he was recruited by the CIA.

“I suspect the real problem was that we funded these people, as long as they were killing Russians. We gave no thought to the fact that when they stopped killing Russians they might start killing us.”

Continue reading →

Mayor is ‘lackey of the Muslim agenda in this country’ – Jon Benjamin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

U.K. Jewish leaders reacted with outrage to the latest comments of London mayor Ken Livingstone, and called him “a lackey of the Muslim agenda” in Great Britain and said he has “always had this extremist hatred of Jews and Israelis.”

Their reactions came in response to comments by Livingstone Tuesday where he seemed to suggest he backs Palestinian terrorists. “He is a lackey of the Muslim agenda in this country,” Jon Benjamin, director general of The Board of Deputies, elected leadership of the U.K. Jewish community, told Ynetnews Wednesday. “Livingstone is prepared to say anything for his support base.”

Ynetnews, 19 July 2005

You can just imagine what the response of the BoD would be if someone were accused of being “a lackey of the Jewish agenda in this country”.

Attacking Al-Qaradawi only plays into the hands of the terrorists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Londonvigil“Those who insist on attacking leading Muslim figures such as Al-Qaradawi, who by the way is not visiting London this summer – though he should be made welcome in the country at anytime for it would be an honour to have him – only play into the hands of the terrorists whose recruiting powers are enhanced by the discrediting of mainstream authoritative scholars and thinkers.

“During his visit to the UK last summer, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi told the Muslim youth in this country that they had only one option and that is to integrate into society, engage in the political process and be law-abiding citizens. He has always insisted that there is no contradiction between being loyal to Islam and to the UK or between an Islamic religio-cultural identity and a British national identity.”

MAB news release, 19 July 2005

IHRC concern at government policy regarding the ‘Muslim Community’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“IHRC is deeply concerned at what appears to be the British government’s strategy to ‘deal with the Muslim community’. In the wake of the attacks of 7/7, Islamic belief and practice has been routinely and glibly criticised by no less than the Prime Minister himself. However more worryingly, the Muslim community has repeatedly been asked, if not ordered to ‘tackle extremism’, ‘fight the causes of extremism’ and other such tasks that are portrayed to the public at large as essential measures to combat the type of terrorism witnessed in London.

“These statements simply fuel the idea that the attacks in London were the result of a process that is understood, transparent and above all accessible to all Muslims in the UK. This simply scapegoats Muslims as the cause of terrorism and is a dangerous stereotype to promote at any level, let alone as the formulation of government policy.”

Islamic Human Rights Commission press release, 19 July 2005

‘Political Islam is the problem! Stop appeasing it!’ – WPI

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“… we are constantly told this terrorist attack has nothing to do with Islam by ‘mainstream’ Islamic groups in Britain such as the Muslim Council of Britain and the Islamic Human Rights Commission. The political Islamic movement is so vile that even some of its brethren – at least in public and in Europe – aim to disassociate themselves from it – but no matter how hard they try, they cannot succeed. Britain’s ‘top Muslim scholars’, for example, are to issue a fatwa effectively ex-communicating the ‘bombers’ – something they are not really allowed to do but good PR nonetheless.

“And they say they are not part of the same movement and that this has nothing to do with Islam. In fact, terrorism is justified and encouraged in Islam. In an interview with BBC’s Newsnight last year, Yusef al-Qaradawi, Ken Livingstone’s ‘moderate Islamic scholar’, said Islam justified suicide bombings. He said: ‘This is not suicide. It is martyrdom in the name of God.’ The Koran is full of verses supporting terrorism…”

Yeah, I know, difficult to distinguish this from the sort of stuff you find on the BNP website, isn’t it? But the author is in fact Maryam Namazie of the Worker Communist Party of Iran.

WPI Briefing No.185, 18 July 2005

Controversial cleric denies visit

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A controversial Muslim cleric who was invited to speak at a conference in Britain is not coming, according to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Egyptian-born scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 79, who has praised suicide bombings by Palestinians, was expected to speak at the Muslim Unity Convention in Manchester next month. But Mr Livingstone, who has welcomed al-Qaradawi on previous trips to London, said that the cleric was not even aware he had been invited.

The mayor’s office telephoned al-Qaradawi’s office with an Arabic speaker and were told that he is not coming to Britain. Mr Livingstone said: “Not only is he not coming (to Britain), he was not aware that he was invited.”

Press Association report, 19 July 2005

Muslim leaders defend Al-Qaradawi visit

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim leaders defend Al-Qaradawi visit

By Hugo Duncan

Press Association, 19 July 2005

Muslim leaders have defended the forthcoming visit of a controversial cleric who praised suicide bombings by Palestinians. Egyptian-born scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, 79, who is banned from entering the United States, has been asked to speak at a conference in Manchester just weeks after the London bombings. Al-Qaradawi, who is head of an Islamic research centre in Qatar, visited Britain last year as a guest of Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. The visit sparked protests from Jewish groups and gay people, who al-Qaradawi also criticised.

Although he distanced himself from suicide attacks in the West he defended suicide attacks against Israelis. He is expected to speak at the Muslim Unity Convention at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on August 7. Mohammed Shafiq, of the Ramadhan Foundation, which organised the event, said: “I do not think that it is a problem. He is a moderate and he says what he has said has been taken out of context and we take his word on that. He is a respected figure in the Muslim community and that is why he has been invited, to help promote cultural and religious diversity.”

Continue reading →

‘Ban this preacher of hate from our shores’, Express demands

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi ban“Now the truth is out. After days of tough talking from the Prime Minister, assurances that strict measures will be put in place against future terrorist attacks and a vow to crack down on the extremists in our midst, the Egyptian-born scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi is to be allowed in to this country.

“He is due to speak at a conference in Manchester: it has yet to be seen whether he repeats his view that suicide bombing in Palestine is ‘martyrdom in the name of God’.

“Just what are we doing letting in a man like that? The United States has barred him: we should be doing exactly the same. For far too long, we have allowed preachers of hate to visit these shores, spouting their evil rhetoric, and what happened in London two weeks ago is a direct result of that.

“It is time to understand once and for all that there are many people throughout the world and some – thanks to a misguided policy of tolerance – living in our very midst who want to destroy the West. And they believe that only by supporting violence and terror will they be able to do so.

“The British tradition of free speech is a fine thing but it has been abused far too far. We should ban this man al-Qaradawi at once.”

Daily Express, 19 July 2005

Two-thirds believe London bombings are linked to Iraq war

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two-thirds of Britons believe there is a link between Tony Blair’s decision to invade Iraq and the London bombings despite government claims to the contrary, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today.

The research suggests the government is losing the battle to persuade people that terrorist attacks on the UK have not been made more likely by the invasion of Iraq.

According to the poll, 33% of Britons think the prime minister bears “a lot” of responsibility for the London bombings and a further 31% “a little”. Only 28% of voters agree with the government that Iraq and the London bombings are not connected.

Guardian, 19 July 2005

Posted in UK

‘The real suicide bomb is multiculturalism’ says Mark Steyn

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“It was the Prime Minister’s wife, you’ll recall, who last year won a famous court victory for Shabina Begum, as a result of which schools across the land must now permit students to wear the full ‘jilbab’ – ie, Muslim garb that covers the entire body except the eyes and hands. Ms Booth hailed this as ‘a victory for all Muslims who wish to preserve their identity and values despite prejudice and bigotry’. It seems almost too banal to observe that such an extreme preservation of Miss Begum’s Muslim identity must perforce be at the expense of any British identity…. Is it ‘bigoted’ to argue that the jilbab is a barrier to acquiring the common culture necessary to any functioning society?”

Mark Steyn takes up the apparently endless right-wing refrain that the London bombings were due to multiculturalism and the failure to impose a uniform “British” (read: white majority) culture on all citizens.

Daily Telegraph, 19 July 2005