British establishment denial over Islamist extremism drifts into absurdity
Melanie Phillips — the outspoken and brilliant analyst of British establishment hypocrisy and denial over Islamist extremism — has once again become the target of a vicious and wholly dishonest attack for her courageous stance.
Long a hate figure among the weakest and the worst in Britain’s opinion forming classes, her prescient book Londonistan has been lambasted by a Guardian columnist who draws from a bizarre report by the University of Exeter’s European Muslim Research Centre which blames writers such as Phillips for fanning the flames of Islamophobia by having the effrontery to draw attention to Islamist extremism.
Bizarre, indeed deranged, as this line of thinking may be it is an all too familiar illustration of the mindset of a British establishment which simply cannot cope with the consequences of its decades-long love affair with multi-culturalist political correctness.
As Phillips rightly says in her blog in the Spectator (see link below): “The real agenda of this study is censorship by intimidation – to defame and smear all those who comment, however responsibly, on a matter of such intense public importance as Islamic extremism and terrorism.”
For as she explains:
“My argument in Londonistan – which is not about London — is that the British state first turned a blind eye to, and ever since has chosen to appease, Islamist extremism, allowing the radicalisation of British Muslims to gather pace, tolerating the preaching of hatred and doing nothing to stop Islamist subversion through the spread of sharia law. I have repeatedly said that this compromises the safety and security not only of society in general but of those many British Muslims who are desperate for the government to stop the radicalisation and intimidation of their community, and who are horrified by the way in which the British establishment has embraced extremist Islamist bodies and individuals as responsible interlocutors.”
And, referring to the University of Exeter study, she goes on:
“This study claims effectively that such commentary incites violence against British Muslims. There is not one shred of evidence for this. Remarkably, the authors make no acknowledgement of what is overwhelmingly likely to be the biggest reason for animosity against Muslims — the repeated acts of terror and the 2000-4000 potential terrorists within the British Muslim community as reported by the intelligence service, not to mention the refusal by community leaders to take any responsibility for this state of affairs.”
Phillips contrasts the approach of the authors in relation to media reporting and racisim with the consequences of the demonisation of Israel for British Jews:
“Conversely, the authors make no acknowledgement of where truly false and irresponsible reporting has indeed inflamed violence against a vulnerable British minority. The way the British media reports the Middle East incites irrational hatred not just of Israel but also Jews in general. This reporting takes the form of false claims about Israel’s aggressive and illegal behaviour, medieval-style blood libels that Israel deliberately kills Palestinian children, and conspiracies between Israel and America to put the world’s security at risk.”
This is a brilliant take down of a lamentable state of affairs. To read it in full, click here:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/5741566/censorship-by-intimidation.thtml
January 31st, 2010 at 2:17 pm
I had better buy this book and decide for myself. Interestingly, Norwegian author Aslak Nore has written a book called “Extremistan” which might just possibly touch upon some of the same topics. Better buy that one as well.
Must read more.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Since I have read your book its now time for Melanie Phillips.
January 31st, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Although I question Melanie Phillip’s views on global warming and marijuana, I believe that she performs a truly heroic service when she reports and warns about the British ruling class’s indifference to Islamism, rising anti-Jewish hysteria, and social decay. One woman may save Britain from it’s suicidal tendencies.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:32 am
At one end of the spectrum, the establishment are afraid to publicly acknowledge Islamic fundamentalism at all. At the other, the BNP tars all Muslims with the same extremist brush. Both positions are delusional and dangerous. By refusing to acknowledge the threat, the establishment hands the agenda to the BNP, and the long-run consequences for Muslims in this country are likely to be unpleasant.
Melanie Philips is scrupulous in distinguishing between violent Islamic extremists and ordinary Muslims. She brings the issue of extremism into the light where it can be addressed, and thereby does a great service to the Muslim community.
The University of Exeter seems to think that not talking about fundamentalism will make it go away. It is a little late for that.
February 1st, 2010 at 2:33 pm
The contribution of the weak response of British society to Islamic extremism to its demonisation of Israel is little appreciated.
To wit, if Britain reacts irretrievably self-destructively toward Islamism, how can it not expect the same reaction from Israel? To praise Israel or at least remain neutral would imply that it needed to reassess its own stand on the much closer to home destruction that is taking place. It is a cognitive problem the government and the press solve by condemning Israel at every turn, thereby justifying their own views. Thus, British anti-Semitism is a reflection of its own impotence to deal with its problems. When British dependence upon Middle East oil is reversed, anti-Semitism will disappear as if by magic and so will tolerance for Islamism.
February 1st, 2010 at 2:56 pm
It is so easy to fool people that innocents can be trashed before the truth becomes known. Here is a funny and tragic example taken from http://www.theaugeanstables.com that suits Britain’s current attack on Jews.
After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies.. The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.
Good luck to British society in trying to overturn its own misconceptions. It seems it is taking far more than three days to correct them.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Isn’t that the same clownish University near Plymouth (beside the many partly Saudi-funded Universities that are basically the problem of the British higher education) that gave a position to a radical Israel-hater Israeli??? Of course, the question is moot.
February 1st, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Melanie Phillips is one of the modern-day Three Graces. The other two are Anne Bayefsky at “Eye on the UN” and Caroline Glick at the Jerusalem Post.
For Robert Lambert at the University of Exeter, the well-known web phrase “cone-head surrender-monkey” comes to mind.
February 2nd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
“The University of Exeter seems to think that not talking about fundamentalism will make it go away.”
I think that’s a benevolent assumption.
February 2nd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Melanie Phillips, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Bat Yeor, Phyllis Chesler, Orianna Fallaci, Pamela Geller….the list of doughty women who do not stand by whilst the West is slowly submerged.
All writers, all worth reading for the illumination and true passion they bring to a subject mired in threat or political correctness.
(As an aside, Hirsi Ali and also her protege, Geert Wilder get the double whammy of both state persecution and Muslim death threat all rolled into one in the freedom loving, spliff toking, oh so liberal coffee house society of the Netherlands.)
Londonistan is impeccably researched and was quite a breakthrough when published. I believe that even to get it to print took some doing in the atmosphere of intimidation which brings me to Andy Gill’s point.
“Melanie Philips is scrupulous in distinguishing between violent Islamic extremists and ordinary Muslims. She brings the issue of extremism into the light where it can be addressed, and thereby does a great service to the Muslim community.”
Melanie does not quite fit into the nice little fantasy woven here.
The banners of books and cartoons, the agitators, the movers and shakers in the quest for Shariah are not ‘violent extremists’ who would kill us in the war against the West. They adopt the more subtle and subversive route paved by the likes of Inayat Bunglawala, Tariq Ramadan and others with the ear of government and academia and far more dangerous in the grand scheme.
Read what Melanie has to say about that viper like bunch. She is not stupid and certainly does not hold back from exposing the truth.
Violence is but one path and the multi headed hydra exploits any avenue in its insatiable desire to infiltrate our societies.
Mohammed stated ‘War is deceit’ and as he is the one who must be obeyed as channeler of the word of God, there’s no argument in the world which can counter this and his many other edicts.
There are moderate Muslims, there must be but where are they? It seems to me that most insiders who do spill the beans are actually apostates who decided enough was enough.
Even secular Turkey, once a model of Kemal’s drive to modernism is reverting to the same old, same old which drove those Moors and Ottomans right to the gates of Vienna.
As for Muslim ‘community’? What’s that, apart from a false construct designed by Islamists and politicians to offer the immpression of one homogenised mass who happen to worship the same God?
They’re all different and a cut off point between moderate and fundamentalist is again a fallacy. It’s shades of grey, nuancing, opportunism and within one grouping there be may be shahids, those merely desirous of Shariah and ones who hardly visit the mosque at all.
That is our wheat and chaff problem. How it is solved only time will tell.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Logdon, you are very right! But let’s write the Dutch politician’s name precisely: Geert Wilders.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Britain goes completely mad
This from the BBC’s head of religion who just happens to be a Muslim:
‘Aaqil Ahmed, a controversial executive whose appointment last year prompted more than 100 complaints, said: “I think all the faiths should be treated in the same way. I don’t believe in treating any faith differently.” ‘
‘Mr Ahmed’s comment that Christianity should not receive preferential treatment comes despite nearly three-quarters of the population describing themselves as Christian in the last census.’
Source: Church of England is ‘living in the past’, says BBC’s head of religion
http://tinyurl.com/y86lohs
This is not so much a “drift into absurdity” as a headlong rush to national sucide.