500,000 Muslims Rally Against Extremism

Nearly half a million Muslims marched through the streets of London yesterday to protest against Islamic terrorism around the world. Their message was that they will not tolerate Muslims who murder in the name of Islam.

One speaker told the crowd that the Muslim community in Britain will crack-down on extremist clerics and that any who are found will be hounded out of the community. He said that Britain was a tolerant environment and it was time for Muslims to show that they wanted to integrate and stand up to Islamic extremism.

Another speaker said that Muslim anger at the treatment of Palestinians must not spill over into anti-Semitism; and feelings of helplessness over the situation in Iraq must not result in terrorism. The crowd joined him in calling for the immediate release of all kidnap victims in the Muslim world, from the 15 sailors to Alan Johnston to the Israeli soldiers kidnapped last summer.

The last speaker of the day reminded people that mistakes are inevitable during police operations but that Muslims must trust the police and help as much as they can. Vilification of the security services only alienated Muslims more and put them under more suspicion.