Preaching hate, dealing with it, and the Sun's take on it all.
I missed the Dispatches documentary on Monday which focused on the extremism preached at Green Lane mosque in Birmingham, but from the discussion on Pickled Politics and the transcript posted on the MPAC-UK website, it's apparent that the views held by the preachers are the kind that ought to lead to them being potentially prosecuted, rather than being allowed to continue to do so with impunity. It's been well-known for a long time that the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia are especially keen to get their own brand of Islam increasingly exported and distilled around the globe. Rich donors, as well as the Saudi government itself have been involved in doing so. The key question has always been just how much of an influence such funding is having, whether those being preached to are becoming at least somewhat "radicalised", and whether those who have then been radicalised having actually acted upon what they've been taught rather than just being "arm-chair activists".
The Dispatches documentary therefore might result in a reappraisal of just how far such extremist preaching is becoming the norm in Britain. I've always had the impression that such teaching and lectures are rare in the extreme, and that far from the scaremongering of some, only low numbers have become radicalised and, crucially gone on to act on their beliefs. For instance, we know that the 7/7 bombers were not influenced by any known cleric or preacher at their local mosque - rather, their radicalisation came from their own studies, use of the internet, etc, and they then traveled to Pakistan for their final tutoring and training. The opening of the trial this week into the alleged 21/7 bombers has however shown that those involved in that apparent plot had definitely been in attendance at the infamous Finsbury Park mosque, a revelation embarrassing to the security services and their apparent stand-offish approach to clerics such as Hamza and Qutada.
The documentary also asks questions of those in attendance when such preaching was taking place. Were they possibly frightened of speaking out against such extremism, were they lapping it up or was it simply nothing outside the norm? Blaming Muslims as a whole like Lord Stevens did in his infamous Screws piece last year and expecting them all to condemn something they are patently not responsible for is one thing, but questions do also need to be raised about the apparent lack of concern, both from those in charge of the mosque and from those attending the lectures at what was openly going on.
It is therefore wrong to only bleat that those who both preach such unacceptable extremism and those who partake it are a tiny minority and to ignore the wider implications. Those clerics, imams and mullahs who are doing so need to be exposed. Those who are funding them need to be exposed. There needs to be a wider debate, both within and outside the Muslim community about just how it deals with the minority within that preaches potential violence and separation. However, it needs to be done without major fanfare, without the sensationalism which the Dispatches programme on occasion appears to have slipped into, and without as a result stigmatising the community as a whole.
The biggest danger is that those who make up the minority within the minority make the Muslim community as a whole both a potential target for violent backlashes, additional hostility and open to being tarred as unwilling both to integrate and as being a threat to the "indigenous" population, things that once would have been regarded as being extreme-right territory which are increasingly becoming mainstream thought. Every time another "plot" is broken up, another potential jihadi, no matter how ridiculous his plans, brought to court, the task becomes tougher. The very thing we cannot depend upon is the media reporting both fairly and calmly; you only have to see yesterday's post to realise that. This makes it all the more urgent that this debate has to take place.
Speaking of which, here's the very reason why I've expelled the previous god knows how many words:
THE SUN today reveals our Secret Services have won hundreds of millions of pounds more for the fight against terror.
And not a minute too soon, judging by the C4 documentary on rabble-rousing Muslim fanatics.
Everyone who watched the Dispatches episode will have been horrified by the implications for British security.
Worshippers at a major Birmingham mosque were urged to slaughter all “kuffars” - non-Muslims.
As said, I haven't seen the programme, but taking the transcript on MPAC as what was transmitted, the closest that is came to worshippers being urged to slaughter non-Muslims is this:
Preacher: God, help us win the fight against the kuffaar, in every field, in every department of life. We beg you to help us fight against the enemies of our religion. Help us fight the kuffaar
Without wanting to get entirely into semantics, it's an ambigious enough statement that can be taken to mean violently fight the "kuffaar", but it certainly isn't saying without nuance slaughter or kill them.
Clerics demanded the overthrow of Westminster democracy, ranted against Jews and called for death to homosexuals.
Most chilling of all was that children with “soft hearts” should be groomed as suicide bombers.
Every blood-curdling rant was captured on camera by an undercover reporter.
The clerics claim they were quoted out of context.
But the context was all too vivid. They think they are winning.
Rubbish. This was just clerics preaching as they have been apparently trained to do. Who are this "they", and how do they think "they" are winning?
The 2005 London Tube bombings were far from the last.
Now we're back to scaremongering. Remember everyone, stay scared.
Mosques across Britain are now recruiting grounds for extremists bent on destroying our way of life.
Again, this is taking one example and extrapolating it across the country. Mosques across Britain are a potential threat; the extremists want to destroy "our" way of life. Rather than regarding them as criminals who should be dealt with like all the rest, we're instead giving them too much credit and being too scared of what are no more than just hate-filled bigots. The real threat is from the "quiet ones" who stay under the radar, rather than the ranting likes of Anjem Choudrary. It's also worth remembering that Omar Bakri Mohammad was expelled from Britain where he could have been heavily monitored, where as now he's in Lebanon web-casting his hate to his closest followers and god knows who else. Deporting preachers and other "tough" measures are not necessarily the best response; they are however the easiest.
Tracking them is costly – and vital.
Perhaps so, but at the same time we ought to demand that the security services are at the very least answerable to parliament, just as other state-run organisations are. At the moment they can act almost with impunity, as the rendition scandals have shown. Such a reform is just as vital as pumping in endless amounts of money.
Labels: Dispatches, Green Lane mosque, Scum-watch, Sun-watch, tackling extremism
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Hey Scepticisle,
good post - I'm really with you that the most important factor to consider in tackling the Islamic extermism in the UK is to make sure with each step you reduce, not increase their support. I think we really inflate the reputations of these crackpot preachers by treating them as the greatest ever threat to our existance. I had a lot to say about yesterday - better policing being the answer to this, not kneejeark policy-making. Have a peek at my blog
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InMyHumbleEtc |
Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:50:00 am
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