Lost_lady
12-08-06, 00:39
UK Muslims irritated by alleged “terror” plot
Islamic groups in Britain criticized the police for saying that all those arrested for an alleged major “terror” plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound planes were Muslims, AFP reported.
British police, who said that the alleged attacks could have caused “mass murder on an unimaginable scale”, arrested 24 people suspected of involvement in the "terror" plot.
Many of those arrested were said to be British Muslims of Pakistani origin, and some neighbors claimed that at least three of them were new converts to Islam, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson, from London's metropolitan police, said on Thursday that the alleged bomb plot concerned "people who might masquerade within a community behind certain faiths".
The term "community" is often used in Britain to refer to people from the country's minority religions and ethnic groups, particularly the 1.65 million Muslims, who account for 2.8 percent of Britain's 60 million-strong population.
The Muslim council of Britain, the UK’s largest Islamic organization, said that such allegations could lead to a backlash against the Muslim community.
"All right-thinking people must support the police in the intelligence-led actions they take to foil plots," said MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala.
"However, there will also be a sense of unease about how the arrests may be used by some far-right groups and others to portray once again British Muslims as a community as a huge reservoir of potential terrorists… There's a weariness about what will follow,
“We have seen similar high-profile raids in the past where people have been arrested only to be released without charge,” he added.
Mr Bunglawala was apparently referring to a recent failed raid on a house in eastern London, in which two Muslim brothers were arrested – one of them shot.
The June 2 raid failed to produce any evidence of terrorist activity, and the two brothers were released after being cleared of terrorism charges.
"Cynicism"
Fahad Ansari, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, also said there would be "cynicism" from many Muslims about the police's "anti-terror" operation.
"Over the last few years we have seen many high profile raids like this plastered over the press to terrify the public.
”It has been hit and miss on too many occasions. It is causing a lot of mass hysteria."
Mr Ansari also suggested that the alleged “terror” plot may have been timed to reduce the pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government over its stance towards Israel’s brutal offensive in Lebanon.
Blair is in "denial" and "has to realize that there was a relationship" between British foreign policy -- from Iraq to Afghanistan and the Middle East -- and the July 2005 London bombings, Ansari said.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Ken Livingstone warned against blaming Britain's Muslim community as a whole for the alleged “terror” plot.
"Only a united London can help defeat terrorism, which means that all London's communities have their part to play," he said.
In the United States, President Bush also irritated the American Muslim community when he used insensitive and inflammatory terms after news of the alleged “terror” plot emerged. The American President said that the bomb plot showed that the U.S. was still at war with “Islamic fascists" five years after 9/11.
Edina Lekovic, a spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, said she was concerned that Bush’s "Islamic fascists" tag would cast suspicion on all Muslims, even the vast majority who wants to live in safety.
"The problem with the phrase is it attaches the religion of Islam to tyranny and fascism, rather than isolating the threat to a specific group of individuals," she said.
http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/world_full_story.asp?service_id=2473
Islamic groups in Britain criticized the police for saying that all those arrested for an alleged major “terror” plot to blow up 10 U.S.-bound planes were Muslims, AFP reported.
British police, who said that the alleged attacks could have caused “mass murder on an unimaginable scale”, arrested 24 people suspected of involvement in the "terror" plot.
Many of those arrested were said to be British Muslims of Pakistani origin, and some neighbors claimed that at least three of them were new converts to Islam, according to the Associated Press news agency.
Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson, from London's metropolitan police, said on Thursday that the alleged bomb plot concerned "people who might masquerade within a community behind certain faiths".
The term "community" is often used in Britain to refer to people from the country's minority religions and ethnic groups, particularly the 1.65 million Muslims, who account for 2.8 percent of Britain's 60 million-strong population.
The Muslim council of Britain, the UK’s largest Islamic organization, said that such allegations could lead to a backlash against the Muslim community.
"All right-thinking people must support the police in the intelligence-led actions they take to foil plots," said MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala.
"However, there will also be a sense of unease about how the arrests may be used by some far-right groups and others to portray once again British Muslims as a community as a huge reservoir of potential terrorists… There's a weariness about what will follow,
“We have seen similar high-profile raids in the past where people have been arrested only to be released without charge,” he added.
Mr Bunglawala was apparently referring to a recent failed raid on a house in eastern London, in which two Muslim brothers were arrested – one of them shot.
The June 2 raid failed to produce any evidence of terrorist activity, and the two brothers were released after being cleared of terrorism charges.
"Cynicism"
Fahad Ansari, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, also said there would be "cynicism" from many Muslims about the police's "anti-terror" operation.
"Over the last few years we have seen many high profile raids like this plastered over the press to terrify the public.
”It has been hit and miss on too many occasions. It is causing a lot of mass hysteria."
Mr Ansari also suggested that the alleged “terror” plot may have been timed to reduce the pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government over its stance towards Israel’s brutal offensive in Lebanon.
Blair is in "denial" and "has to realize that there was a relationship" between British foreign policy -- from Iraq to Afghanistan and the Middle East -- and the July 2005 London bombings, Ansari said.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Ken Livingstone warned against blaming Britain's Muslim community as a whole for the alleged “terror” plot.
"Only a united London can help defeat terrorism, which means that all London's communities have their part to play," he said.
In the United States, President Bush also irritated the American Muslim community when he used insensitive and inflammatory terms after news of the alleged “terror” plot emerged. The American President said that the bomb plot showed that the U.S. was still at war with “Islamic fascists" five years after 9/11.
Edina Lekovic, a spokeswoman for the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, said she was concerned that Bush’s "Islamic fascists" tag would cast suspicion on all Muslims, even the vast majority who wants to live in safety.
"The problem with the phrase is it attaches the religion of Islam to tyranny and fascism, rather than isolating the threat to a specific group of individuals," she said.
http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/world_full_story.asp?service_id=2473