Et opprop fra britiske muslimer hevder at regjeringens forslag til anti-terror-tiltak bidrar til å demonisere islam, og vil drive radikale under jorden.

Det var påfallende i hvilken grad de 40 underskriverne mente at det var islam som religion som ble angrepet.

Nearly 40 signatories, including the Islamic Human Rights Commission and the Muslim Association of Britain, said new measures outlined by the prime minister could lead to Islamic values being «demonised».

The leaders jointly issued a six-point statement in response to the government’s response to last month’s London bombings.

It said: «We fear that recent events are being exploited by some sections in society to demonise legitimate Islamic values and beliefs and hence consider it appropriate to make the following observations.»

Oppropet understreker undertryktes rett til å gjøre opprør, hvilket må bety at ikke all terror er terror. Dette synspunkter er mildtest talt lite passende i dagens Storbritannia.

The statement criticised the use of the term extremism, which it said had no tangible legal meaning and was unhelpful.
The joint statement argued that the right of people to resist invasion and occupation was legitimate and said that questioning the legitimacy of Israeli occupation was also valid political expression.

The leaders also criticised the decision to ban the group Hizb ur-Tahrir, which is outlawed in Germany, and which Mr Blair specifically stated he intended to proscribe.
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On issuing today’s statement, Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: «The British Muslim community has always been a law-abiding community and all its endeavours to create a just society have been entirely peaceful.

«However, we will not allow the demonising, devaluing or targeting of the concept of Islam which will we hold very dear.»

Hvis disse underskriverne er representative, betyr det at ledende muslimer ikke ser noen forskjell på dem selv og terroristene. De opplever tiltakene som rettet mot seg.

Miljøene vender seg innover, og trekker seg tilbake, kan det se ut som. Det virker ikke å være noen dialog med myndighetene. Ordene betyr forskjellige ting.

Muslim groups warn of radical backlash