One Step Behind

As I mentioned I'm reading a series of articles by Adrian Morgan about the rise of the EDL and co. In it he offers a transcript of an interview with John Denham (taken from the BBC Today programme from September 12th). According to the transcript, Denham said:

What we're seeing at the moment is small, but I think we do need to take it seriously enough to say that there are obviously people who would be provocative, hope that there's not just a reaction but there's an over-reaction and then people blame the people who over-react and the situation gets out of control.

While he may be talking about the protests of the EDL and others, his statement makes far more sense when read about Al Muhajiroun's protest in Luton back in March. That was the latest in a series of a protests designed to provoke an over-reaction and this time it worked.

The Government clearly understands the game being played here, but they're one step behind meaning that though they know that the danger lies with blaming those who over-react and not those who are doing the provoking, that is precisely what they have done. Had they acted earlier and stronger against Al Muhajiroun we would not be seeing the rise of the EDL now.

Proving My Point on Prevent

Earlier in the week I argued that the Prevent strategy should be scrapped. The main reason was that the State should not be in the businesses of funding one idea over another or trying to encourage its citizens to adopt one set of beliefs over any other. However, I also made the more practical point that Prevent can never do what it hopes to do.

Prevent hopes to give funding to groups that oppose Islamism in the hope that these groups will discourage the growth of Islamic extremism in the UK. It seems to me that this can never work because any organisation receiving money from the British State will be ignored and shunned by anyone who harbours ill-feeling towards the British State.

Engage (the Islamist group) has a piece today that underlines this point. Talking about the Quilliam Foundation (an Islamic group set up to fight against Islamic extremism) they say:

As ENGAGE readers will be well aware, Ed Husain and Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam Foundation have been funded by the Home Office and the Foreign Office to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds to help promote the idea that violent extremism is the result of 'Islamist ideology' and of course has nothing whatsoever to do with our own violent warmongering policies abroad. The Quilliam Foundation are openly regarded with utter contempt and derision by UK Muslims...

Is there any point funding a group to tackle extremism in the Muslim communities when the very act of funding them undermines their ability to do the tackling?

Honour Attack in Burnely?

According to The Asian News:

Mohammed Islam, 48, struck Shadiya Islam repeatedly, threatened to pour acid in her face and told her he would kill her after the police arrived.

According to the prosecution this was the result of his daughter's declaration that she intended to move in with her boyfriend. If that is true (and since the defence was so weak it probably is) then this was the first step on the route to a possible "honour killing".

As a side note, this is quite worrying:

Jawad Babar, defending, said [Mohammed] Islam was quite liberal and had not imposed any major sanctions on his children. They had gone to school, he allowed them to work and they were free to chose their partners.

Allowing your kids to go to school and choose who to marry is not exactly the preserve of liberals. Makes one wonder what he would consider normal.

Some Thoughts

For those interested in the EDL and co I've just come across a series of articles written by Adrian Morgan on an American site called Family Security Matters. Not read them yet but worth noting for future reading.

On another note two websites have gone down. Islamist site Engage has apparently exceeded its Bandwidth while the BNP site is simply not loading. Apparently this is not the first time the BNP site has gone down, see here about it in May this year.

MCB - Scrap Prevent and Change Foreign Policy

A favourite line of Islamists is that all Islamist terrorism is the result of foreign policy and that to end terrorism we must change our foreign policy to fit in with their demands. In short they advocate that we surrender to the demands of the bombers (or at least some of the demands).

The MCB has put on its website its response to the inquiry about Prevent. They essentially call for it to be scrapped and say that it could never work anyway because foreign policy must change. The key bits are paragraphs 7 and 8:

7. Significant amounts of public funds have been invested in the Prevent programme. The monitoring and intelligence gathering agenda of Prevent are matters that best reside within the National Security Strategy. It was an error to have contaminated the way a department like Communities and Local Government is publicly perceived by placing national security concerns in its orbit. Community development and cohesion policies ought to apply to all communities fairly and equitably, based on need.

8. While the focus should be on a criminal and policing strategic response, the MCB appreciates the need to explore the underlying causes. However, there seems to have been an expectation that community bodies, by showing ‘leadership’, can wave a magic wand and ask young people to remain oblivious to international political developments at the root of the frustration – not least the injustice in Palestine that has lasted well-nigh sixty years.

If there's one thing we mustn't do to stop terrorism it is to give in to the demands of the terrorists. And groups that shout from the sidelines that we should surrender should be compared to the bloke who watches his mate punch you in the face then suggests that you should pay up to stop it happening again.

Islamists Push "Jewish Control"

As we reported a few days ago the Jewish Board of Deputies (a communal organisation) wrote a submission to the Commons' Communities and Local Government Committee for their inquiry into the 'Prevent' strategy. (see here, and here for my thoughts on Prevent). In the submission they suggested that it was probably best not to give money to Islamist organisations as part of a plan to stop the spread of Islamism. Among the groups mentioned was the Muslim Council of Britain and this has annoyed other Islamists. Their response - push the angle that Jews are too powerful.

At Engage (the Islamist organisation run by MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala) the story ran under the headline:

UK Jewish body sets conditions for government engaging with MCB

Is it reading too much to consider the title to be deliberately misleading with the aim of giving the impression that the "Jewish body" is somehow forcing a change rather than simply advising one?

And then we have MPACUK with their headline:

Islamophobia within the Jewish community questioned as JBoD attacks MCB

It doesn't say who's doing the questioning so we can assume that it is MPACUK itself. Moreover, note that the headline talks of the "Jewish community" then the article starts of talking about the "Jewish Zionist community" before accusing the Jewish community as a whole of having a problem with Islamophobia.

In the last paragraph of the article they also push the "Jewish control" line:

It is the height of arrogance for a Jewish group to tell our community what political views we can and cannot hold, it is also a sign of its immense political power that it can dictate to the Government who they should talk to, but most telling it shows that rampant Islamophobia within the community has reached its most powerful groups and governs its policies towards our community.

In the minds of Islamists, it seems, being Jewish and mentioning your concern about the funding of Islamists by an anti-Islamist programme and this amounts to dictating to the Government in a demonstration of your control.

MPACUK Attempts to Hijack Peaceful Prayer

3,000 Muslims gathered on Friday in America to pray at Capitol Hill. The organisers say this on their website:

The objective of this gathering is to invite the Muslim Communities and friends of Islam to express and illustrate the wonderful diversity of Islam. We intend to manifest Islam's majestic spiritual principals as revealed by Allah to our beloved prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM) of Arabia. Likewise; we intend to inspire a new generation of Muslim to work for the greater good of all people. We shall serve all people, regardless of race, religion or national origin.

Moreover, Fox News reports:

The rally is intended to be all about prayer, and no political speeches or signs will be allowed, said the event's organizer, Hassen Abdellah, president of the Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, N.J.

Another organiser said:

This is not a protest, it is a day of prayer, of devotion, hoping that we can work ... for the betterment of the world community.

And finally the crowd were informed at the beginning of the event:

We’re here to pray, and not to protest.

Yet, despite all this, MPACUK is trying to hijack the simple and peaceful act of praying for their own ends. They say:

This prayer is a political act

...

We must use politics in all spheres of life to communicate the truth to the world - through mass political acts such as this, to voting, to lobbying the media in order to give a balanced representation of Islam and Muslims.

Not content with stirring up trouble themselves they now seek to spin the acts of other Muslims to their own ends. They might like to read what one of the organisers told the crowd, though:

America is not perfect. But I will say something it took me my whole adult life to come to: America is not perfect, but I want to tell the truth: It is one of the best places in the world to live.

Vicar of Bolton Slams EDL

The Vicar of Bolton, Rev Matt Thompson, spoke out against the EDL ahead of their proposed "protest" in Manchester. The EDL claim to be fighting only against Islamic extremism with the best of intentions, hoping to uphold all that is great about Britain.

The Reverend said:

What worries me about the English Defence League is when we see pictures of young, white males giving Nazi salutes. This is the kind of hateful ideology their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents fought to defeat.

Quite so. Below is the kind of thing he is talking about (taken from here):



Lest anything think that the snap was not from an EDL march, see the man in black in the background and compare his t-shirt with those available from the EDL shop here.

Islamists and BNP agree - it's the Zionists!

The emergence and rise of the EDL seems to have caused some confusion and concern. Islamists are confused as to how to react. Up to now it was simple - everything the Islamists didn't like was a Zionist plot. The terrorist attacks carried out by Islamists were Zionist plots. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were Zionist plots. Bad press was Zionists etc etc.

As we all know, when Islamists talk of Zionists they generally mean Jews. And Zionist plots must have someone Jewish involved to be valid. Not normally hard to find since there are plenty of Jewish people working in important posts in the Western World. But the EDL doesn't have Jews involved with it and hence the confusion. No Jews means no Zionist plot so how can Islamists react without sacrificing their simple world view?

Fortunately for them the EDL are also aware that Islamists hate Jews so, as part of their provocation, they march with Israeli flags. And that, you see, is all that Islamists need to draw the link. Hence articles on MPACUK's website entitled "Exposed! The EDL and Its Zionist Connection" and "Far-Right and Zionist Thugs Unite Against Palestinians". The evidence for the connection is the flag:

their [the EDL's] motives were soon revealed by their racist chanting and by the unfurling of an Israeli flag by the EDL skinheads.

and

Together they chanted “We hate Muslims” while waving Israeli flags

Some Islamist groups are more subtle. Take the IHRC as an example. It is not a coincidence, I think, that the images they use to illustrate their articles about the EDL are the ones in which Israeli flags appear prominently. See here and here.

So much for the Islamists, what about the BNP? Well, they're concerned. The EDL are gaining much publicity with their own brand of racism and anti-Muslim feeling. The BNP is worried for two reasons. Firstly they might well lose support as the EDL gains ground because the two have similar aims. Secondly, though, the BNP is terrified that the EDL will make them look bad. They have tried hard over the last decade or more to look respectable and become electable and have sadly, succeeded to some extent. If people link the EDL to the BNP, even just by having common membership, then this could ruin their plans.

So finally the BNP find common ground with the Islamists - they blame it on the Zionists. In an audio message on the website of Simon Darby (the BNP's Deputy Chairman) Griffin explains how he thought the EDL was a conspiracy by the British State (again any excuse to ensure that the EDL being racist doesn't make people realise that the BNP is also racist) but now realises that it is a Zionist false-flag operation. (see here for the audio from about 6.55 and here for some of the transcript).

Once again we find that the common denominator among these three groups of extremists is anti-Semitism. Scary times for Britain's Jews if they find themselves caught in the crossfire.

Casuals United Come Clean

The group calling itself Casuals United is claiming that it was one of the main reasons for the establishment of the EDL and now acts as a feeder to that group. They say:

If these 30 - 40 [members of Casuals United] had not embarked on the initial anti Choudrey protests, then the EDL and other Defence Leagues would not be where they are now.

...

Casuals United now exists simply as a recruiter for the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Defence Leagues. We do not organise demos, we simply use online and otherwise communication networks of lads to drum up support.

This is part of an article starting with the question "What are we all about?" The EDL have gone to great lengths to portray themselves as being simply anti-Islamist. They have no problem with Muslims, apparently, and hate Nazis too. They have nothing to do with the BNP and they're certainly not racists.

But go to their site and you will quickly believe otherwise. The background is a tiled picture of the UK with the words "**** off, we're full". Nothing anti-Islamist about that. That's anti-immigration pure and simple, along the lines of the BNP. But more damning is the article in which they try to explain what they're about. At the end of it they have a video of Shahid Malik giving a speech. In it he explains how there are growing numbers of Muslim MPs and he jokes that one day all MPs will be Muslim (because of the exponential growth in their number) and suggests that one day we might have an MP who happens to be Muslim too.

The reaction?

Do Muslim MP's like Malik really think we are that thick? Our advice is this, NEVER EVER vote for any Muslim MP or Councillor as its clear their main interest "inshalla" is the advancement of Islam and not the interests of this country.

Extrapolating from a joke from one Muslim MP to every Muslim in the country? Sounds like simple racism to me. So much for being only anti-Islamist.