Monday, July 02, 2007

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Muslims Should Stand Up And Be Counted

There's a quite brilliant ARTICLE by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in The Independent today, the thrust of which I think every Conservative would agree with. She argues that it is time for sane, orinary Muslims to stand up and be counted. She reckons the Muslim Council of Britain is a busted flush and denounces them as 'apologists'. Here is an extract from the article, but do read the whole thing HERE...

As they wake up to news of the foiled car-bomb attack on Glasgow Airport, I know what millions of my compatriots - atheists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Christians - will be saying, their easy Sunday ruined by yet another alleged Islamicist plot: "What's wrong with these crazed Muslims?" "Why the hell are they here if they hate it so much?" "When will we be rid of the lot of them?" "What do they want?" "Other minorities also have a hard time, they don't blow up nightclubs and airports". What these aggrieved Britons don't realise is that exactly the same conversations are taking place in most Muslim households too, with many more expletives flying. Sane, ordinary British Muslims are even less forgiving of such nihilists, whose barbarism undermines our fundamental right to belong to this country as absolute equals. These are hobby terrorists with screwdrivers and screwed heads; they appropriate legitimate concerns, turn them into excuses on their own violent reality shows, sure to be broadcast again and again on screens around the world. With no politics, no aim, no dreams, no noble imperative, for these Islamicists and their ideological masters, the means is the end. They are at once satanic abusers of our faith and social misfits unloved by all except their own reject band of brothers. Scorned by those they claim to defend, the dreaded sociopaths now seem determined to wound fatally the social contract made between this country and Muslim citizens. Only each assault deepens our sense of nationhood. We still rail against racism and unethical
government policies - and I do so incessantly, as you know. Unlike self-righteous neocon liberals, we see how our young are profoundly affected by Iraq and Palestine. However, when bloodthirsty Islamicists strike, we experience a collective intensification of our attachment to Britain. There is no place like this home for us, the only place we want to live and die in.

On Saturday night, at a lavish Shia wedding in Hertfordshire, Muslim guests were livid about "these bastards giving us a bad name". "Send them packing to the Middle East or Pakistan," said a solicitor to much cheering at one table. "Time to say we love this country. For Muslims, no better country - that's why so many want to come over," added a businessman, who had come here penniless and turned his fortunes
around within 10 years. The father of the bride, too, arrived in Britain with little and joined a small English family firm. He brought entrepreneurial energy; they gave him encouragement and support. This ultra-loyal immigrant for many years led the pre-dawn prayers at our main mosque in Kensington. As we enter another hyper-crisis period, the danger is we will again succumb to the dystopian nightmare of irreconcilable clashes and culture wars. Calls for draconian laws are sure to ring through the nervous land, although thus far the new government sounds more temperate. The measured response is an acknowledgement that few Muslims now excuse the killing brigades. The apologist Muslim Council of Britain, whose leader was knighted by Mr Blair, is a spent force. It tried to incite rage and riot over Salman Rushdie's knighthood and failed. Muslims realise what a disaster that confrontation was for both sides. Now, the MCB grovels and seeks rehabilitation. Ex-militant Ed Hussain and Hassan Butt have written denunciations of fellow jihadis. The hardline Hizb-ut Tahrir asks Muslims not to "fuel dangerous political agendas". These organisations have been humbled and discredited...

...I am not naive. Islamicists are cunning and well-connected. Their backers pretend to believe in liberal democracy while plotting its demise. But there are now passionate Muslim democrats standing up to be counted....

...With friends like these, Britain can beat its enemies within. Have faith; a time will come when jihadis will terrorise our lives no more.

61 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the YAZZ! She's fab- but a bit PC. She does come out with a load of cobblers most of the time, but on this she's dead right. PS: has anybody got a word in edge-ways with her during a debate?

Chris Paul said...

Ed Hussein ... that's where this comes from. He is a very articulate and expert analyst of this problem and was excellent on R5 Sunday afternoon.

But, here's the problem, he was advocating forced re-education and effectively internment or imprisonment under Big Brother thoughtpolice. How would this play with liberals of all parties?

Mr Eugenides said...

You might also want to read the article that former Al-Muhajiroun member Hassan Butt wrote in the Observer yesterday. Excellent stuff.

Anonymous said...

This just reads like telling the punters what they want to hear. Some of the people involved in the latest bombings appear to be doctors - the top of the professional tree. One cannot easily dismiss the jihadists as a bunch of crazies. There is something much more problematical about this situation and I feel that we have yet to get anywhere near finding an answer.

Newmania said...

I know what millions of my compatriots - atheists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Christians - will be saying

No she does not what they will be saying is that we should have been a damn sight more careful about who we let in , in the first place . As the traitor Labour Government continue to allow uncontrolled immigration we are naturally going to get our share of any scum floating on the world’s ocean.( They are not going to do tbis because new immigrajts are hardly likely to vote Conservative) It is simply not true that there is a peaceable majority the relationship between Muslims and the murderers is more akin to that of the IRA to the tacit N Ireland support they always enjoyed and without which they could not survive. We will make no progress with this problem until will step up to the mark and face these facts

This Country belongs to the English and our culture should accommodate other ethnicities only to a minor extent . They are not equivalent they are worse and unwelcome. The bombers will recognise A B`s appeasement for what it is .The invention of the Dove element is always the first step on the way to submission. Muslims are to blame for the actions of Muslims and “Hearts and Minds “ will not be won by weakness and delusion .They will be impressed by strength.

Same old bleeding heart rubbish .If we were not the prey of self hating Liberals we would have little problem . It works in America where they well know they wqill not be tolerated

Unsworth said...

Iain, on a matter of housekeeping you're going to want to change your headline, I think.

As to the delightful Yasmin's view - has she only now come to this conclusion?

What has she been thinking all this time?

AndyR said...

chuck unsworth: "Iain, on a matter of housekeeping you're going to want to change your headline, I think."

Surely a subliminal reference to Corporal Jones... "They don't like it upm!"

Anonymous said...

Not interested in anything the woman says. Why is this blog the apparent mouthpiece of this vile woman? Does she had compromising pictures of you Iain? Seriously, shut her up and I'll even watch 18DS again.

Anonymous said...

People like Ken Livingstone will stir matters if they can; and those who adulate dead Trotsky will use their positions in the media and ad hoc groups to keep the Islamist pot boiling over......

There are too many people with a vested interest in assaulting the structures of this society and many of them live in the shadows letting hotheads take the risks

Anonymous said...

I normally can't stand YAB, but on this she talks *some* sense.

Can she explain, then, why it is that the media (especially the BBC) seem so keen to parade out an endless roll of Muslim voices, every time there is a terrorist attack, to express their "regret" at the killings in tones and words so unconvincing, it is almost as bad as condoning the attacks?

Purrleazee.

It doesn't fool anyone. We all know that many, many so called "moderate" Muslims (granted, not all) have sympathy with and clandestinely support terrorist bombings. Many more, if they don't support them, they certainly will not actively help the police or security forces in finding or convicting one of their own.

This endless string of platitudes is as empty as it is believable. Noone is fooled by this insistence that Islam is an entirely peaceful and modern religion.

We all know it isn't.

The Muslim community will not regain the trust and respect of the rest of the population until it is seen to be dragging out extremists from its Mosques, naming and shaming radical preachers, calling for an end to the most barbaric practices of honour killings, forced marriage and female multilation and preaching the values of liberal democracy on the airwaves.

We seem more concerned about appeasing Muslim opinion nowadays than actually confronting the community to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Makes my blood boil.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's a start. Now let's have some action.

Which Muslim organisation is prepared to print and market a version of the Koran which omits all the stuff about murdering infidels?

Anonymous said...

Iain, On my pc the first comment on these blogs is always partly obscured by the headline. I wonder if other bloggers have this problem and if so, whether your IT people can fix it?

Anonymous said...

12:20

You make excellent suggestion!

Anonymous said...

“Let’s avoid presumptions,” said Daud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the MCB, when asked if Islamists were behind the car bombs in London and Scotland. “It can be the work of Muslims, Christians, Jews or Buddhists.”

Them there Buddhists, fiendishly evil, the lot of them. Pretending to be pacifists all these centruies when, as the MCB points out, they should be prime suspects in every terrorist outrage.

Old BE said...

Their backers pretend to believe in liberal democracy while plotting its demise.

Now we know why Labour love them so much!

Anonymous said...

I'm sick to death of muslims in Britain "standing up to be counted" ie shouting their big mouths off.

They should pipe down for a change or b@ggar off somewhere where their self-centred ranting may be better appreciated.

Anonymous said...

We are reaping the effects of the storm that was allowed to brew under (ahem) past Conservative governments made worse by this government's inadequate policing of our borders.

Under Thatcher and Major all sorts of radical islamic groups were allowed to set up shop here and preach revolution and hate that was then exported back to their home countries. Nothing was done to extradite these people back to their home countries and the view seemed to be that as long as they did not stir up trouble here then that was okay. It was even rather naively suggested that having them here allowed us to develop intelligence about them.

Well now the chickens have come home to roost.

Anonymous said...

Reading the late Oriana Fallaci will tell you all you need to know about the muslim's intentions in Europe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Force_of_Reason

The Remittance Man said...

Farr Knell!

I never, ever believed that this side of Kingdom Come I'd agree with Yazzer. Even partially.

Thanks for introducing me to a totally new experience, Mr Dale.

We'd probably stillfight like cat and dog over my theories about closing borders and applying red hot pokers to certain suspect's behinds.But it's a start

Anonymous said...

"Their backers pretend to believe in liberal democracy while plotting its demise."

pretty similar to some of the Christian 'fundies' behind George Bush.

Ms Brown is a wee bit behind. The Islamic Council has been putting up some pretty bright articulate and totally pro-British young Imams on TV recently. One of them even managed to sit for 20 minutes next to the appalling Melanie Phillips this morning. Now that IS brave!!

Anonymous said...

Trumpeter Lanfried: What web browser are you running, and what version? Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc ...

Man in a Shed said...

I'm afraid YAB misses the point. These things happen as there are many people making the case for them on religious grounds in the Islamic world.

Like Mr Eugenides I think this should be read with Hassan Butt's article in the Observer, that is more informed, analytical and in terms of its prescriptions a much better grounding for hope and action.

His point is the problem is how Islam is currently interpreted. The roots of all this run deep.

He says, "If our country is going to take on radicals and violent extremists, Muslim scholars must go back to the books and come forward with a refashioned set of rules and a revised understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Muslims whose homes and souls are firmly planted in what I'd like to term the Land of Co-existence."

YAB just seems naive - despite he protestations - and in the current climate dangerous..

hatfield girl said...

I'd be having less of a Mandy Rice Davies moment if there'd been more recognition that it isn't just a few baddies letting us all down; but that the Labour party needs to understand they can't choose the battlefield to suit themselves when they start a war and kill hundreds of thousands of people.

We're all on the battlefield now, Muslims, Christians, and Nothing in Particular - put there by Labour foreign policies.

Newmania said...

pro-British young Imams

Pro British ? Well how very generous of them how inclusive and plural. Perhaps we might be allowed to stay here then? If that’s alright.
The B M C have on several occasions issued what amount to threats of bombing campaigns if our foreign policy was not to their liking. We can at least thank them for giving the lie to the Liberal rotten apple myth
Why is it I wonder that the bourgeois Left always imagine one member of a "Group” speaks for all. Why should a Westernised ethnic Muslim have the slightest idea about the forces moving within his religion? My impression is that there are some peculiarly myopic apologists of this sort.
I think it would be good and timely gesture for a Union Jack to be placed on every Mosque in the Land . If this is something the occupants feel uncomfortable about perhaps this moderate majority would like to explain why.In fact why not oblige the service (whatever that might consist of )to begin with a pledge of allegiance to the country they live in. Should some feel they would rather sod off I feel with patient therapy I could learn to live with it.

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I'd dearly love to believe Yasmin but something tells me her article is a little economic with the truth. Until we see the Muslim population of Britain out on the streets publicly denouncing these atrocities with the same fervour they manage for muslim "causes" then I reserve judgement. If these atrocities are an affront to their religion and causing damage to their standing as good citizens then they should shout it from the rooftops not mutter it within their own communities at weddings etc.

I also cannot believe that someone, somewhere does not have suspicions or knowledge of terrorists within the Muslim community. Turn them in if they're so worried about what this is doing and my do to them in the future.

Until either of these things happen and are seen to happen, the non-Muslim, British population will not trust Muslims, will not want Muslims in the UK and will, I fear, do their damndest to get rid of Muslims. Never forget the civil war in Northern Ireland between politically and religiously motivated bigots, has only just "ended". Maybe the mainland is approaching such a tragedy.

Roger Thornhill said...

At least YAB was not totally hatstand this time (maybe a topic she actually understands for once - meow). Not bad. We need to see these real people elbow past the "community beards" and speak out.

The big thing to watch for is the use of "innocents", i.e. they protest at the harm to "innocents". In Islamist code that means "Muslims that we approve of", so all others are fair game according to them.

Anonymous said...

ed [2.02 PM] I am running Internet Explorer.

Anonymous said...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1544897.stm
--------------------------------
It's a damn shame this ghastly person has only now said these things. I remember her appearance on BBC's Question Time, immediately after 9/11. The above link takes you to an apology issued by Greg Dyke afterwards. Read some of the comments about her as well. The hatred displayed by some of our own citizens and that strange class of person called a 'British Resident' is also on display. I was ashamed of her. Weasel words, and too late. Well said 'Newmania'. right on the button. As far as I am concerned she should shut up!

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/3xqs6b

Anonymous said...

If Daud Abdullah wants to discredit the organisation he represents (the MCB), and make himself look very foolish, he should continue to say things like:

"[the latest attacks] can be the work of Muslims, Christians, Jews or Buddhists.”

Anonymous said...

"What these aggrieved Britons don't realise is that exactly the same conversations are taking place in most Muslim households too"

No they are not. That is just another lie, perpetuating the myth that the majority of Muslims are moderate. They are not. Statistically, a majority want to overthrow our way of life and replace it with Sharia Law. A significant number believe that the bombers have a legitimate cause. Etc. Etc.


YAB is a Ugandan Asian who came here as a refugee from persecution. Fine. We are good at that. The persecution in Uganda is over now Yasmin. Why don't you go back?

Anonymous said...

You have no idea what the majority of Muslims think.

Anonymous said...

You have no idea what the majority of Muslims think.

July 02, 2007 3:03 PM


I don't care what they think....only what they do.

That is the nature of our democracy....think what you like but be careful what you do

Anonymous said...

I think we should encourage voices like Yasmin's rather than berating her. Of course, this is all about shutting the stable door, isn't it? Unfortunately, we are in this position because of a reckless and naive policy which has encouraged the rise of extreme Islam. Said policy has not been built on sound libertarian principles, but the twin evils of multiculturalism (let them get on with it) and political correctness (you can't say that!), exacerbated by a blinkered policy of uncontrolled immigration to fan the flames. Garnish with universal human rights (can't deport them) and Ye shall reap from what Ye sow!

Anonymous said...

This blog is racist man!

lol, and an MP is hosting it! Great publicity for your party.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, right on. And what's more it's really homophobic. Man.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:49 - Hey man - you think this blog is racist? What were your first thoughts when you heard about the recent terrorist attacks? Who did you think MIGHT be responsible? Did you notice how the media avoided stating anything about the perpetrators until much later?

20 years ago we would have assumed it was Irish republicans. Today we conclude automatically that it is likely to be a MUSLIM terrorist. We really need to get to grips with this problem and until airheads like you get your heads out of your backsides, we won't get very far, will we?

P.S. Which MP is hosting this blog? I'm sure he will be some day!

Anonymous said...

Hi, i left the coment about this blog being racist earlier. I thought i'd use my name this time.

I just came accross it and as far as i'm concerned, it's very typical of what you would expect from conservatives. A load of indirect racism...

Scipio said...

Fatwah for Brown!

The troube is that Islam is a religion which transcends national boundries. The first duty of a muslim is to his faith and religion, and not his country.

There is nothing at all wrong with this position, providing ones faith and religion are peacable, but if it isn't.....

Yak40 said...

Trumpeter Lanfried

Mine looks the same, running IE7 here.

Iain Dale said...

Avinash, you have made a very damaging allegation against me. Please point out anywhere on this blog where I have posted something that was directly or indirectly racist. If you knew me you would know I would never do any such thing.

Perhaps you have some sort of inverted racism against anything to do with the Conservative Party.

Scipio said...

avinash - or is it avinalarf?

This blog is not racist - but I could point you to some that are. Ones that say things like 'Death to the infidel' and 'death to Jews'!

This blog is about freedom of speech - man - which some might like to confuse with racism in order to clamp down on debate.

Racism is about the illogical dislike of someone based purely upon their skin colour or religion.

disliking someone because of who they are (for example their sexuality) is silly because they can do nothing about it. Disliking somneone because of their skin colour or religion is also silly for the same reason.

But disliking someone because of the things they choose to do - like crash bunring cars into airports to kill innocent tourists, or invade soverign countries to root out non-existent WMD is perfectly acceptabel.

I dislike extreme Islam. But I don't hate individual Muslims who follow their religion peacably.

So, am I still a racist - man?

Anonymous said...

She almost suggests that if they did have "noble aims", their means would be acceptable.

She "wants" a fisking, as David Willetts might once have put it.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

It's clear that other bloggers including Iain Dale fnd my comments contoversial.

But it's true, i've just read over all of these comments, and some of them are shocking, and it fits exactly the stereotypical conservative image.

I'm sure anyone who thinks some of these comments aren't racist is a white british.

Just read the earlier comments! It's indirect racism, which is i guess anticipated given the state of things, but you might as well start using the word packy and get it in the open. Where i'm from anyway, you just wouldn't get away with some of these comments.

Anonymous said...

Which comments?

Be specific.

Anonymous said...

Avinash said...
....Where i'm from anyway, you just wouldn't get away with some of these comments.

And where exactly are you from and what exactly do you mean by "wouldn't get away with...".

Is that a threat "Avinash"?

Anonymous said...

YAB (like all Leftists) is primarily preoccupied by her own feelings - reality is of no interest to her. Her feelings are dominated by her resentments (of a world in which there are people who she perceives to be happier than her) but it would be a mistake to imagine that Leftists are motivated by a desire to make things better, the opposite if anything. Leftists thrive on the suffering of others, in much the same way that good people thrive on contentment. The history of the C20th (roughly speaking) is the history of Leftists trying to make themselves feel better by making other people suffer. This is why explaining to a Leftist why Socialism decreases freedom, increases poverty, and destroys fraternity is entirely pointless. They never were interested in these goals in the first place except as a way of expressing their resentments. The only frank answer a Leftist can give to evidence of a mass famine in China caused by Mao or the death camps in Cambodia is “I could not care less”. In order to satisfy their craving for power (a Leftist who does not crave political power [i.e. anarchist] expresses their obsession with themselves in other ways – such as impregnating and abandoning women or, for the more bloodthirsty, setting off bombs which kill people. Now YAB does not exist in isolation (Those Leftists who repeatedly emphasise community do not do so entirely as a consequence of their craving to punish people of whom they do not approve, they also do it because they want to escape their alienation – they are repulsive even (perhaps especially) to themselves. YAB takes it upon herself therefore to be the spokeswoman of the Asian community. Her hatred of the country that gave her sanctuary is expressed as support for her community. When attacked by Muslim terrorists attacked the West this induced in her not so much indifference in her as delight. Six years after that attack she suddenly decides to assert that British Muslims are proud to be British and proud of its tradition of liberty and tolerance. Why? Because she can see that if things do not change soon (there was a desperate hope that British Muslims would march in protest again Muslim extremists but there was only silence and polls saying that many supported the terrorists) there is going to be a backlash. Normally Leftists thrive in such conditions but YAB (presumably drawing upon her experience in Uganda) wants there to be a peace. What has happened? Well it is just possible that YAB may becoming a nicer, more grown up, less self-obsessed person. Maybe. I hope so.

Little Black Sambo said...

YAB says we are saying, "What's wrong with these crazed Muslims?"
What is wrong with them is Islam. The only tolerable Muslim is a lukewarm lax one.

Anonymous said...

Avinash

Sorry sunshine, the problem is almost entirely in your own head, not ours. You have a serious case of victimhood brought about by over-exposure to the islamophobia grievance industry. If you want a really forthright dismemberment of the extreme elements of ismalic beliefs and practices follow this link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/07/02/do0202.xml

and search for Zaphod comment at 1:08. As a kurdish muslim (at least he claims to be) you can hardly accuse him of racism or ignorance of islam. Personally, I don't agree with most of his "solutions", which have too much baby and not enough bathwater for my tastes. But then again I was brought up in a fundametally tolerant secular society.

To accuse (most of) the good people in this pretty mild-mannered blog of being racist is simply wrong. And calling us "white british" because we don't buy into your grievance, is itself overtly racist.

NJM81 said...

I enjoy reading this blog everyday but Yasmin Alibhai-Brown is an idiot. Her comments might carry more weight if she wasn't an apologist and cheerleader for Islamic jihadism herself.

Her Evening Standard article entitled 'My shame at savouring American failure in Iraq' is one of the most disgusting things I have ever read from a so-called secular liberal.

"I am now wrestling with the demons of callous triumphalism......I am ashamed to admit that there have been times when I wanted more chaos, more shocks, more disorder to teach our side a lesson. On Monday I found myself again hoping that this handover proves a failure because it has been orchestrated by the Americans."

How very brave of her, and her anti-war friends, to take such a morally repugnant stance. Who cares about the Iraqi people? Nothing is as important as giving Bush and Blair a bashing.

And her comments on Israel and Afghanistan aren't much better.

The Remittance Man said...

Avinash,

That would be "White English" on my account, if you please.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure anyone who thinks some of these comments aren't racist is a white british.

What a racist comment from a silly kid....you really must start to think sunshine rather than make asides like "must be a White British"

It is people like you that stir up racial hatred... a white British is racist terminology

Anonymous said...

And what is 'indirect' racism, please, Avinash?

Would a good example of that be murdering your daughter because she wanted to marry someone from the wrong tribe? Pretty extreme form of discrimination/racism that, I'd say, but then, what do I know, I'm only a white British, oops, English, oops, Jewish, oops, female, so my views don't count.

Anonymous said...

Bwoy, Avinash ya really know 'ow fe' get dem people dem back up, to rartid.

Me 'ave posted 'ere more dan once and not yet 'ave a feeling dat dis a blog fe' racism.

If me a 'tink t'ings a so me would a flame dem rass.

Me a feel comfitable in me skin and 'pon dis blog.

Bless ya Hiain, you is de daddy.

R'n'D

Gavin said...

I think Alibhai-Brown's anecdotes are pure lies, just made up in her head. I know exactly how this plays out by now; it's a two-front attack on Britain: First the bombers attack (that's the "direct" action side of the coin) then immediately afterwards, a plethora of "well-meaning moderates" play the victim card and toss out a load of lies about how "REAL" Islam is actually condemning these acts and how the bombers are "hijacking" their good and pure religion, and how the answer is for us Britons to examine ourselves to understand why we have caused this extremism by our "Islamophobia". Rubbish, pure rubbish, and it's two sides of the same coin working quite deliberately in tandem with each other. In my opinion, Alibhai-Brown supports what (almost) happened last week (or at least, I mean she supports the eventual aims of such atttacks), and her article is deliberately designed to continue the smokescreen so that no-one will actually do anything about this problem. I see right through it.

Gavin said...

...and so far, it's working. The government is taking draconian steps to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces, yet is doing absolutely nothing to put a stop to smoking enclosed public spaces.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 3:49- Could you explain your post, man? I just don't get it, man!

You said "this blog is racist, man". In what way? Where has anyone referred to a race in any of the above posts?

Don't tell me you are so ill-educated you think islam is a "race"? Do you think Christianity is a race? Do you own a dictionary? If not, I think there are some free ones on the internet.

Adrian Yelland writes: "Disliking someone disliking someone because of who they are (for example their sexuality) is silly because they can do nothing about it." Agreed. Absolutely. But then you continue: "Disliking someone because of their skin colour or religion is also silly for the same reason."

No,it's not. Certainly people are born with their skin colour and they had no choice about how they popped out of their mother. But you are not born with a religion embedded. You are free to walk away from it at any time, and many people do.

People who remain islamic are culpable precisely because it is not a condition of birth. They are there of their own free will.

Chris Goodman, well said!

Adrian Yelland: "avinash - or is it avinalarf?" Ha ha! I forgive you for the above solecism.

Avinash says: "It's clear that other bloggers including Iain Dale fnd my comments contoversial."

No, sweets, you're not intelligent enough to be controversial. This puts you below Jade Goody.

Tom Tyler is right. As a balletomane, I can see his points - so to speak. First the exotic men run onto the stage and do something very dramatic with lots of jetés! (For the ballet, they should ditch the rucksacks, though; too cumbersome and ugly.) Lighting effects! Cymbals! Drums! Screams offstage!

Stage is blacked out.

Different, softer lighting, softer violins and on comes the corps de ballet of BBC journalists and "communitiy spokesmen". They do a pliéd curtsey, one leg extended behind, their hands clasped in front of them and sadly shake their heads.

Or you could have a Greek chorus of Beebies and islamic spokesmen.

As Tom Tyler says, Alibhai-Brown is playing her part in the Greek chorus. "Ohhhhhhhhh! They do not understand us! A tiny minority are murdering Brits in their own country! Yet we are blamed! Hassled for wearing niqab on street! We are the 'vast moderate majority! Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Ohhhhhhhh, shut Alibhai-Brown!

Little Black Sambo said...

"You are not born with a religion embedded. You are free to walk away from it at any time."
That would be true only of a mad person. You do not choose your ethical/religious/aesthetic beliefs & opinions. You need persuading before you change them.

neil craig said...

There is a certain hypocrisy in our calling for moderate moslems to step up.

We have actively supported the imprisonment of the moderate & popular Moslem ledaer in Bosnia, Fikret Abdic, leader of the Bihac pocket, for the "war crime" of resisting press the al Quaida press gangs at a time when al Quaida were useful to us in destroying Yugoslavia.

It has been suggested that his imprisonment was really because if allowed to stand he would have won a democratic election in the Moslem zone of Bosnia repalcing our openly genocidal friends & achieving a reconciliation across the religious divide.

We wouldn't want that sort of thing would we?

Anonymous said...

one million, one hundred and fifty thousand, two nunderd and twenty one, one million, one hundred and fifty thousand, two hunderd and twenty two.... (feels better already doesn't it.)

Now is there a doctor in the house????!!!

Anonymous said...

Some very good posts here, especially by tom tyler nad Newmania. Well done boys.