Many British Muslims Put Islam First

NRO: Survey Shows Many Are More Loyal To Fellow Muslims Outside U.K.

(National Review Online)  This column was written by Patrick Basham.

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The recent homegrown plot in Britain to blow up transatlantic flights will intensify the fear that the country's 1.6 million Muslims are rejecting political tolerance and free speech for a violent, radicalized version of Islam. There is a real concern that British Muslims do pose a threat to that country and its traditional values. So how prevalent are such radical views among British Muslims?

Some answers are provided by the most comprehensive survey to date of Muslim opinion in Britain. The results from NOP Research, broadcast by Channel 4-TV on August 7, are startling.

Forty-five percent say 9/11 was a conspiracy by the American and Israeli governments. This figure is more than twice as high as those who say it was not a conspiracy. Tragically, almost one in four British Muslims believe that last year's 7/7 attacks on London were justified because of British support for the U.S.-led war on terror.

When asked, "Is Britain my country or their country?" only one in four say it is. Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law. According to the report, "Half of those who express a preference for living under Sharia law say that, given the choice, they would move to a country governed by those laws."

Twenty-eight percent hope for the U.K. one day to become a fundamentalist Islamic state. This comports with last year's Daily Telegraph newspaper survey that found one-third of British Muslims believe that Western society is decadent and immoral and that Muslims should seek to end it.

The news is no less alarming on the question of freedom of speech. Seventy-eight percent support punishment for the people who earlier this year published cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. Sixty-eight percent support the arrest and prosecution of those British people who "insult Islam." When asked if free speech should be protected, even if it offends religious groups, 62 percent of British Muslims say No, it should not.

Also concerning freedom of speech, as the NOP Research survey reports, "hardcore Islamists" constitute nine percent of the British Muslim population. A slightly more moderate group is composed of "staunch defenders of Islam." This second group comprises 29 percent of the British Muslim population. Individuals in this group aggressively defend their religion from internal and external threats, real or imagined.

The scary reality is that only three percent of British Muslims "took a consistently pro-freedom of speech line on these questions." The Muslim threat to British security is so severe that the assistant London police commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, has called for an inquiry into the radicalization of young Muslims. Ghaffur sadly describes "a generation of angry young people vulnerable to exploitation."

Before the London bombings, British intelligence services estimated that one percent of British Muslims either support or are involved in terrorism. While this is mainly a peaceful and productive immigrant population, a significant number are prepared to act against their own country.

The British government believes that, in recent years, 3,000 British Muslims have returned home from al Qaeda training camps. Intelligence experts estimate that 1,200 Muslim radicals (80 percent of Pakistani origin) are currently pursuing a terrorist rather than a democratic option to vent their disgust at Tony Blair's support for America's invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and opposition to Hezbollah.

This terrorist weed that is choking the U.K. is especially hard to eradicate because it is growing in British soil. America's fastest-growing religion is Islam, but here in the States the numbers are not a security concern, as a commitment to Islam has not overwhelmed a strong attachment to America itself — another victory for the cultural melting pot.

By contrast, the U.K. embraced taxpayer-subsidized multiculturalism and has paid a very dear price, indeed. The result — cultural apartheid — has encouraged a significant number of Muslims to exhibit more loyalty to fellow Muslims outside of the U.K. than to their fellow Britons.


Patrick Basham is director of the Democracy Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

[ronniehm]

It's interesting how for some people, religion is the only thing that keeps them from killing others, and for others, it's the justification. Yeah, Christians have a bloody history, but this is 2006, and frankly, I don't see Christmas trees and "In God we trust" as particularly threatening to my devout atheism. In the name of tolerance, I can live with Christian "terrorism." So when will Islam evolve?

[khubla]

It will be religions that will destroy our civilization. We must have the courage and backbone as governments to teach the masses that all religions are false and breads nothing but hate and misery. We need to close all church-sponspored schools, both in Europe, U.S. and places like Pakistan for teaching false docturns. If we look at past history we can readly see the role of religion in wars.

[fartnocker2]

What a dum report . All tru Muslims put there religion ahead of anything , family,freinds,state,or country .That is why they are willing to be killed to kill .

[fartnocker2]

The cities of Detroit and Chicago an LA an San Fran best be on the alert.The odds of home grown will come from those cities .

[khwezzer]

Born-again evangelicals are the same way, but MORE extreme. Their jesus comes first. Then comes Israel and after ALL of that, their country.

[salimuk]

COMMENTS ABOVE REF

http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/D/dispatches2006/muslim_survey/muslims.html

[salimuk]

The poll shows that Muslims do not form a single homogenous community.
The problem is often less the reality of Islamophobia than the exaggerated perception of anti-Muslim hostility. The consequence being the creation of a siege mentality within Muslim communities, stoking up anger and resentment, and making more open to religious extremism.
the poll suggests that community leaders seem to be as out of touch with ordinary Muslims as the rest of us... The most worrying figure is that almost 9/10 Muslims seem unsure as to who does represent Muslim views in this country and 4/5 do not know who represents their political views. Given this political marginalisation, is it surprising that many Muslims feel alienated or that some may harbour conspiracy theories or extremist views?
we must stop treating Muslims as if they formed a single, homogenous community and thinking that the only way to engage to them is to appeal to their faith. Second, we need to stop feeding the victim culture by exaggerating the extent of anti-Muslim hostility. Such hostility certainly exists, but the gap between the perception and reality of Islamophobia provides fertile ground for the growth of conspiracy theories and extremist views. And finally, it is time that politicians stopped subcontracting out their responsibilities to so-called community leaders and started taking seriously the issue of political engagement with their constituents, both Muslim and non-Muslim.