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Strange(ish) coincidence re: recent raids on terror suspects in Leeds.
Friend of a friend runs a Muslim newspaper in Leeds, which received a letter a few weeks ago regarding the UK election results. Letter claimed that Blair’s re-election was indicative of the lack of dissent demonstrated by the British Muslim community, and bemoaned their apparent unwillingness to use their vote to express their displeasure with the present government. Aside from the fact that said letter seemed to ignore Bethnal Green, as well as Labour’s drastically reduced overall majority, it was hardly a notable correspondence. Anyways, friend of a friend asked me to respond to the letter, in the hope of starting a debate.
So I emailed off my reply Monday night. And then found out yesterday that one of the houses raided, in Dewsbury, belonged to the author of the letter. Letter is below; not especially fundamentalist or inflammatory as you can see. I know that the guy has been pretty vociferous in his condemnation of Blair & Bush, but his good friends (who are my good friends) seem shocked that he’s viewed by the authorities as being implicit in the attacks on London. Best not to jump to conclusions; especially as I don’t even know the bloke. And I understand that the government has to pursue every lead which they have. I just hope that they don’t use recent events to hassle every Muslim whose dared to be forthright with their criticisms of US/UK foreign policy.
Just like millions of people all over the country, I was waiting in anticipation for the results of the General Election. As the results slowly filtered through, I realised that my biggest nightmare was about to come true, no not Nick Griffin becoming prime minister (although maybe only a matter of time)…..In high density Muslim constituencies, Labour still held the majority vote.
So what! You may wonder? Muslims have always traditionally voted for Labour as their policies have helped the Muslim communities prosper. But just take a look at their record Under Tony Blair. He went into war in Afghanistan, Labour have illegally been bombing Iraq for the last two years, and have failed to resolve the Palestinian situation, where the Muslim holy sites are in danger of being destroyed.
In these three countries alone, the Muslim death toll numbers upwards of hundreds of thousands. And we Muslims continued to put an X next to Labour at the election. Okay, maybe not next to Tony Blair’s name but for Shahid Malik who was the Dewsbury candidate, who for all his good intentions and purposes is still ultimately answerable to Tony Blair. Can Shahid Malik single-handedly bring British troops back or stop another invasion?
I hold Tony Blair, leader of the Labour Party directly responsible for not only Muslim brothers and sisters being killed but also the British and American troops that have lost their lives for George Bush and his government’s hawkish agendas.
To quote Ralph Nader:
The accountability of government has gone to the point where
The very use of the Law is the instrument of illegality
As Muslims this was our chance to show the Labour government that we are not happy with their foreign adventures I find it hard to see innocent Muslims die all around the world because of this War on Terror. Try telling the Iraqi orphans that I voted for the leader who is accountable for your parents being killed. Try telling that to the Palestinian parents whose children are being murdered everyday as a result of British foreign policy. Try telling Reg Briggs???? (who stood against Tony Blair in his local constituency) that I voted for the leader who is responsible for the death of his son.
We as Muslims have an accountability to take care of our ummah, regardless of whether they are our own blood, our neighbour, or even Muslims that live thousands of miles away in another country.
Even without the Muslim vote, Labour might still have won the election, but a big decrease in the labour majority would not only have surprised people, but would have sent shockwaves across Westminster. Muslims would not feel powerless and would have realised we can have a major say in British politics. Jack Straw, was potentially in danger of losing his seat in the Labour heartland of Blackburn. He won in the end, with pretty much the same majority. A sizeable decrease in his majority might have made him think twice before he decides to invade Iran or Syria or any other country that is deemed necessary for regime change.
After Tony Blair won his election he said “We have listened and learned”. We will have to wait and see, but I have heard these kinds of statements before from many a politician. He seems to have developed selective hearing, the hearing that tells him he is always right. |
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