In April, the “Easter Attack” plot became the latest in a series of international terrorist plots, “foiled” by British police days before they were supposedly to be carried out. In line with other terrorist plots allegedly be
The British go one step further: the police storm houses in highly publicised raids to create the impression they are arresting terrorists, as happened last April
Every month or two, a new controversy concerning Islam and Muslims erupts in the UK. Sometimes they concern terrorism or extremism, sometimes education or women, sometimes anti-semitism. Often they are based on wildly sensationalised reports of the statements of some Muslim or another, stoked up by the right-wing media to demonise the Muslim community as whole.
Last month, five young Muslims in Britain were cleared of terrorism charges on appeal, in the latest of a series of trials of Muslims in Britain. FAHAD ANSARI discusses the implications of the case and the growing criminilizations of Islam in Britain.
The attacks carried out by four Muslim suicide-bombers in London on July 7 last year were inexcusable and properly treated by the government as ‘terrorist acts' that posed a serious threat to public safety and security. But its hasty attribution of the bombings to al-Qa'ida, and its decision to enact seriously flawed anti-terrorist laws and orders, have now been brought into question.
As the West’s war on terrorism is constantly expanded to take in more and more Islamic groups, activists and causes, the distinction between terrorism (as defined by the West) and jihad is become increasingly difficult to maintain.
They were supposed to be the British government’s piece de resistance in its domestic war on terror: the smoking guns that confirmed the presence of al-Qa’ida cells in Britain. But a recent wave of police raids on homes, charities and, most spectacularly, a mosque in London have provoked accusations that the government is scapegoating the Muslim community in order to boost support for its involvement in the impending war against Iraq.
Two major elections took place earlier this month. On June 7 general elections took place in Britain, the supposed birthplace of Parliamentary democracy. Tony Blair’s Labour party was returned to power for a second term by a ‘landslide’.
A Kashmiri alim based in Oldham, UK, is fighting government attempts to deport him to Pakistan. Shafiq ur-Rahman, who came to the UK in 1993 as an imam, is accused of being the UK leader of the Lashkar Tayyaba (LT) Islamic group fighting the Indian occupation of Kashmir.
Whatever the truth about the plot and it is difficult to know precisely there is nothing inherently wrong in Chelsea, or indeed princess Diana, showing interest in Islam.
Five British Muslims went on trial in Aden, Yemen, on January 26, accused of planning to bomb the city’s main hotel, the British consulate and a church.
People, especially celebrities, assume a new life after death. And contrary to Mark Anthony’s claim in the play, Julius Caesar, the good that men do is not forgotten. A cynic might say that Anthony was only referring to men, not women. Perhaps.
The US and Britain have increased their shares of the global arms market in 1996 despite claims by Washington and London that they are adopting ethical codes to guide the conduct of foreign policy.
