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"The UK foreign policy is
the main reason behind the growing sense of angry and
frustration among young British Muslims," said Tikriti. |
CAIRO — Three days before the first anniversary
of the 7/7 terrorist attacks, a sweeping majority of British Muslims
said there were no circumstances that would justify suicide bombings
in Britain and that they would feel shame to learn that a close family
member had joined Al-Qaeda, a survey for The Times newspaper showed on
Tuesday, July 4.
An overwhelming 93 percent think that suicide
attacks on civilians in the UK cannot be justified and 86 percent
rejected targeting military establishments, according to the Populus
survey.
And a whooping 98 percent of the 1,131 British
Muslims polled said they would feel shame if a family member decided
to join Al-Qaeda.
The survey further indicated that 87 percent
believe that the men who carried out the London bombings should not be
regarded as "martyrs."
Also 86 percent believe that the cause of the four
British-born Muslims who killed 52 people in their bombing attacks was
not right.
Half of the British Muslims believe that their
country's involvement in the Iraq war was the principal reason for the
London bombings.
British Muslims, estimated at some 1.8 million
people, had denounced the grisly London attacks, saying there was no
justification whatsoever to take innocent lives.
Valuable Contribution
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"Government itself cannot go
and root out the extremism in these communities," said
Blair. (Reuters) |
More than nine out of ten Muslims (92 per cent) say
their community makes a valuable contribution to British society.
But sixty-five percent think the community needs to
do more to integrate properly with British society.
And four out of five British Muslims (79 per cent)
believe that their community has experience increased hostility since
the London bombings and three quarters (74 per cent) say that Muslims
are viewed with suspicion by fellow citizens.
After the attacks, nearly two-third of British
Muslims considered leaving the European country after a string of hate
crimes and attacks.
The survey further showed that 56 percent believe
that the government has failed to combat extremism.
Fifty percent think the intelligence services have
the right to infiltrate Muslim organizations to gather information
about their activities and the way they obtain funding.
The Independent reported Monday, July 3, that
internal intelligence agency, MI5, and police have been spying on
8,000 people through information gathered from colleges, mosques,
internet websites and agents on suspicion of being Al-Qaeda
sympathizers and future terrorists.
Biased Coverage
The Times called the survey "the largest poll
of Muslims in this country" and gave prominence to the lower
percentage in negative aspects.
Using the same headline, the paper said that a
"significant minority" of British Muslims believe they are
at war with the rest of society, and that 13 percent believe the men
who carried out the attacks should be regarded as martyrs.
"The coverage is very typical of the right
wing press," Anas Al-Tikriti, the former president of the Muslim
Association of Britain (MAB), told IslamOnline.net over the phone from
London.
"Our media continue to concentrate on the
negative side of the story," added Tikriti, now Chief Executive
of the Cordoba Foundation, a research organization working with the
decision-making bodies in Britain and Europe to promote dialogue.
He also cited the coverage of the right-wing press
of the forthcoming IslamExpo, the largest Muslim cultural exhibition
in the world, which is to open in London on Thursday, July 6.
"You can read headlines like 'IslamExpo
coincides with the 7/7 attacks' with some media focusing on the
Palestinian guests," he said referring to media stereotypes about
the Palestinians as suicide bombers who target innocent Israeli
civilians.
Tikriti further took an issue with the description
of the poll as the biggest-ever pulse-taking of the Muslim minority.
"1,131 is the basic requirement for a survey,
if you want the 'largest' then you speak about 10,000 people
surveyed," he noted.
Assistant Met Commissioner Tariq Ghaffur,
Britain’s most prominent Muslim policeman, said the poll shows that
there is a minority of people within the Muslim community who do
effectively pose a danger.
"The tipping point between someone feeling
anger and alienation and then engaging in the kind of atrocities we
saw last July or being exploited by somebody who wants to commit a
terrible act is very, very small," he told The Times.
Causes
Tikriti, however, insisted that regardless of the
percentage and media coverage, it is high time the British government
tackled what really radicalizes vulnerable youths.
"The UK foreign policy is the main reason
behind the growing sense of angry and frustration among young British
Muslims," he contended.
"We told the government it is your foreign
policy in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, which would lead to
radicalization and extremism."
The British parliament's influential Foreign
Affairs Committee said on Sunday, July 2, that international
conflicts, such as Iraq and Palestine, breed feelings of injustice in
the Muslim world which can boost support for terrorism, even inside
Britain.
Tikriti said newly-strengthened anti-terror laws
have further alienated many Muslims due to random arrests and
searches.
"The raids, imprisonment without charge,
anti-terror laws are all creating a climate of suspicion and fear
among Muslim youths," he said.
"If you build a bridge, you have to build a
bridge from both shores," he added. "Muslims have built half
of the bridge and the government has not."
A massive police raid on a Muslim house in east
London in has broadened a confidence gap between Muslims the police.
Two young Muslim brothers, one of whom was shot
during the raid, were arrested and then later released without charge.
Police admitted the operation was based on wrong intelligence.
But Tikriti said the socio-economic factor also
plays a key role in alienating British Muslims.
"Of course poor housing conditions, unequal
opportunities in schools and in public services and unemployment all
contribute to alienating young Muslims," he insisted.
A recent study, conducted by university researchers
in Birmingham, Derby, Oxford and Warwick, said 14 percent of Muslims
aged over 25 were unemployed, compared with the national unemployment
rate of 4 percent.
It also found Muslims had poorer levels of
education and were more vulnerable to long-term illness.
Gov't Responsibility
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"The government has put an
awful lot of effort into the security side but it hasn't
invested anything like as much energy into the cultural
side," said Mundy. |
In a related development, Prime Minister Tony Blair
said Tuesday he was trying to engage with the Muslim minority, but
extremism could not be defeated by government alone.
"Government itself cannot go and root out the
extremism in these communities," he told a parliamentary
committee.
"I am not the person to go into the Muslim
community and explain to them that this extreme view is not the true
face of Islam."
Blair immediately drew rebuke from one of his own
Labour lawmakers, who said members of a Muslim task force set up after
7/7 attacks were frustrated and despondent at the lack of progress.
Sadiq Khan, a British-born Muslim, said Blair was
behaving like the nursery rhyme character the Duke of York —
"marching all these talented British Muslims up the hill of
consultation and dialogue, only to march them down again."
He said some Muslims - already "some of the
most disillusioned and ... disenfranchised members of our
community" - would feel yet more alienated.
Seven working groups were set up in the wake of the
July 7 attacks to form a "Preventing Extremism Together"
task force.
They reported back to the government last November
with 64 recommendations, including a call for a full public inquiry.
Simon Mundy of the Centre for Defense Studies at
King's College London, which has compiled a study on the impact of the
London bombings, said shifting responsibility to the Muslim community
was not the answer.
"The government has put an awful lot of effort
into the security side but it hasn't invested anything like as much
energy into the cultural side," he said.
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