� 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A British official has raised the ire of his
country's Muslims after urging them to follow the "British way" of political
dialogue and reject Islamist terrorism.
Denis MacShane, Britian's minister for Europe, was speaking to his
Rotherham, UK, constituency after the bombings in Istanbul when he likened the
terrorists to Nazis and urged British Muslim leaders to use "clearer, stronger
language" to speak out against them, the Guardian of London reported.
The paper said, however, UK Muslims across a wide spectrum regarded the
remarks as "outrageous" and "disgraceful."
"It is time for the elected and community leaders of British Muslims to
make a choice: it is the British way � based on political dialogue and
non-violent protests � or it is the way of the terrorists against which the
whole democratic world is now uniting," MacShane said, according to the London
paper.
"I hope we will see clearer, stronger language that there is no future for
any Muslim cause anywhere in the world that validates, or implicitly supports,
the use of political violence in any way."
Democracy, he continued, "has no place for terrorism and � like Nazism and
other forms of tyranny � it must be defeated by the common will and
determination of all who live under rule of law and in democratic freedom."
In response to MacShane's remarks, angry Muslim groups across the country
maintained terrorism always has been condemned by law-abiding citizens.
"We do not need lectures from a representative of a government that has
conducted an unlawful war against Iraq," said Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman
for the Muslim Council of Britain, according to the Guardian. "The Muslim
community has consistently condemned terrorism, and we condemn this latest
attack on the British consulate and HSBC in Turkey.
"Our sympathies go out to the relatives of the Turkish and British
families," he said. "The attacks only emphasize that the disastrous war in
Iraq has not reduced the risk of terrorism, as our own governments had us
believe beforehand, but has exacerbated it."
Bunglawala said if MacShane "is serious about wanting to reduce the war on
terrorism, he and his government should look again at reducing the causes of
terrorism."
"It is about time the government recognizes that the war on terrorism is
failing, just as the anti-war movement warned them on Iraq," he said, the
Guardian reported.
Anas Altikriti, director of communications for the Muslim Association of
Britain, called the remarks "an outrage and extremely disgraceful" and "no
way" to address the 2.5 million law-abiding Muslims in Britain.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission,
insisted the "majority of Muslims have consistently condemned violence against
any individual no matter what the source," according to the London daily.
He said MacShane's call for "clearer, stronger language" is "ridiculous."
"What does he want us to do? Apologize so much as to give an indication
that somehow we are all responsible when we are not?" he asked, according to
the paper. "If attacks are carried out by Muslims we condemn it, if it comes
from non-Muslims we condemn it. I just wish some people in government would
take a similar view."
