LONDON, July 1, 2007

British Muslims Worry About Backlash

Name-Calling And Anxiety After Attempted Attacks In Glasgow, London

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    Residents look on as police officers stand outside a house in Hatherley Street, after a raid searching for terror suspects on July 1, 2007 in Liverpool, England.  (Getty Images)

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(AP)  Name-calling, anxiety, fear and anger rippled through Britain on Sunday after three failed bomb attacks in London and Glasgow. Government and religious leaders appealed for calm, but some Muslims braced for a backlash — while some non-Muslims looked for someone to blame.

The attacks sparked scattered incidents of racist abuse on the streets of London, with young white men targeting Muslim taxi drivers and others of South Asian appearance. Glasgow lawmaker Mohammad Sarwar said some Muslims in Scotland had been threatened or targeted with abusive graffiti.

"I have spoken to a number of people from the Muslim community and the Asian community who feel very angry," he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

He said Scottish Muslim leaders were meeting in Glasgow to discuss the attacks' impact on their community.

"They're concerned about a backlash and that's why the emergency meeting has been called."

Muslim anger was directed at the terrorists — but also at a society some felt singles Muslims out for scrutiny whenever there is a terrorist attack.

"We are seething with anger about this," said Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain.

"As a community not only are we just as likely to be victims as anyone else, but we are also looked to in order to provide direction and in some respects take responsibility for this," he added.

"We are sick of being defined as a community by terrorism and having to answer for it."

On an official level, government and Islamic groups say they have made great strides since July 7, 2005, when four British Muslims blew themselves up on the London transport system, killing 52 commuters.

In the weeks that followed, several mosques were attacked by arsonists, while others received hate mail. Some women reported having their traditional head scarves pulled off in the street.

Relations between the government and many British Muslims had already been strained by the unpopular wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Many Muslims also feel they were unfairly targeted for suspicion and have born the brunt of the government's tough new anti-terror measures.

The government has made a point of reaching out to Muslim groups and consulting with umbrella organizations like the Muslim Council of Britain, which represents more than 400 affiliated mosques and organizations.

Gordon Brown, who took over as prime minister from Tony Blair on Wednesday, appointed Shahid Malik, an up-and-coming legislator from northern England, as the country's first-ever Muslim government minister.

On Sunday, Brown stressed the need to isolate extremists from the broader Muslim community.

"We have got to separate those great moderate members of our community from a few extremists who wish to practice violence and inflict maximum loss of life in the interests of a perversion of their religion," he said.

On the streets of London, the city's famous stoicism and tradition of tolerance were still in evidence — but tinged with an undercurrent of unease.

"I haven't had one nasty look or one nasty comment," said Abdul Basit, 26, a bearded Muslim man strolling the streets of Whitechapel, an east London area home to large Muslim and working-class white communities.

"It's all about education. As long as people know who we are and what our religion is about and know that we don't condone, it, then it's all right."

But suspicion remained.

"I haven't talked to anyone about the car bombs, but I definitely think the Muslims around there are still connected with the car bombers," said David Delmas, 23. "Even if not directly, and they aren't friends with them, I think they understand why they did it and where they're coming from, and that is a big problem."

© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by toolmangler-2009 July 2, 2007 11:35 PM EDT
Where did the posts go?
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by lorelei77-2009 July 2, 2007 11:19 PM EDT
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by sy2502 July 2, 2007 4:22 PM EDT
***Every*** ***time*** ***something*** ***like*** ***this*** ***happens***, ***you*** ***hear*** ***the*** ***Muslim*** ***community*** ***complain*** ***about*** ***backlash***, ***but*** ***you*** ***barely*** ***hear*** ***any*** ***condemnation*** ***of*** ***their*** ***terrorist*** ***brothers***. ***They*** ***can*** ***say*** ***they*** ***are*** ***not*** ***all*** ***terrorists***, ***but*** ***we*** ***all*** ***read*** ***the*** ***poll*** ***conducted*** ***among*** ***British*** ***Muslims*** ***only*** ***a*** ***few*** ***weeks*** ***ago*** ***about*** ***how*** ***many*** ***condoned*** ***terrorist*** ***attacks*** ***and*** ***the*** ***killing*** ***of*** ***innocents*** ***in*** ***the*** ***name*** ***of*** ***Allah***. ***They*** ***say*** ***these*** ***terrorists*** ***don***'***t*** ***represent*** ***Muslims*** ***and*** ***their*** ***faith***, ***but*** ***they*** ***don***'***t*** ***seem*** ***particularly*** ***bothered*** ***or*** ***offended*** ***by*** ***the*** ***fact*** ***some*** ***people*** ***use*** ***their*** ***faith*** ***as*** ***an*** ***excuse*** ***to*** ***kill*** ***innocent*** ***people***. ***They*** ***got*** ***up*** ***in*** ***harms*** ***for*** ***the*** &***quot***;***offense***&***quot***; ***of*** ***a*** ***cartoon*** ***depicting*** ***their*** ***Prophet***, ***but*** ***I*** ***guess*** ***terrorist*** ***attacks*** ***in*** ***his*** ***name*** ***are*** ***not*** ***offensive*** ***enough***. ***They*** ***demand*** ***tolerance*** ***from*** ***our*** ***country*** ***but*** ***we*** ***don***'***t*** ***get*** ***any*** ***from*** ***theirs***. ***Until*** ***they*** ***show*** ***their*** ***good*** ***will***, ***they*** ***have*** ***no*** ***right*** ***to*** ***ask*** ***for*** ***any*** ***from*** ***us***.
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by casper10x July 2, 2007 2:21 PM EDT
How can the MEDIA be so Sensitive/stupid ?

Muslims could be less worried, if they organize a mass rally to root out the radicals in their mosques, or march in favor of freedom for all religions, like in GAZA. Or protest the Burning of all the YMCAs in Arab countries. Or bring in by force those bad apples who have been spreading hate. But no, all we get is not just silence but defiance, and entitlement. Come on. The Average JOE is no DOPE, and we are getting sick of this ....
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by hamiltongrad July 2, 2007 2:13 PM EDT
his is also a battle for our minds.

Not as you may think.

But, we must, pull away from the Leftist, Academic brain washing we , our society has that has taught us to be NICE , that all societies are EQUAL , that if we only listen and talk to our enemies we can "work it out." No body would really want to harm us, we are good, all inclusive, tolerant.

All of that is out the window. What to do now, that we have to grow up.

(Thank you Gaye5- another example of not being taught the truth, by our schools and media. Thanks again.))
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by radiob-2009 July 2, 2007 11:51 AM EDT
July 2, 2007, 3:03 PM (GMT+02:00)





Five people in custody are of Middle East origin. Two more arrested Monday. One suspect still at large is described as %u201Ca planner.%u201D

Dr. Asha was arrested with his wife driving on the MI6 highway. They lived in Newcastle.

He qualified as a doctor in Jordan in 2004 and worked at the hospital from Oct. 2005.

At least one key suspect is still at large
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by radiob-2009 July 2, 2007 11:43 AM EDT
counter-terror sources report that ten days ago, the US gave the Czech government specific warning of large-scale al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Prague, targeting government buildings, the US embassy, American firms and Jewish and Israel locations in the Czech capital. All American missions and military facilities in Europe were placed on alert.

France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Spain have also tightened their anti-terror precautions.

Our sources add that the London and Glasgow bombing attempts took the Americans by surprise. They had expected the jihadists to strike elsewhere in Europe.
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by ajmarine1 July 2, 2007 8:20 AM EDT
Gaye5,
What I have written is...Lest we forgot, some seem to have forgotten or been tooo young to know..


If you listen to FeelFree1, Randals, or grazinggoat, everything is our fault.
Reply to this comment
by gaye5 July 2, 2007 8:13 AM EDT
2003 5th Aug, a car bomb exploded outside the Marriott hotel in down town Jakarta, Indonessia killing 10 people and wounding nearly 150.
The hotel was the site of many U.S doplomatic receptions and was also used by U.S officers for 4th of July celebrations.

When Atrocity followed atrocity, but the fury of the United States was never aroused, there is something wrong.
Interestingly, people often respond to the list by disparaging other religions, as if pulling everyone down to the same level satisfies some sort of moral preconception about religion and culture in general. Since no other religion inspires the sort of terrorism that Islam produces, the critic invariably finds it necessary to change the rules of comparison for one side of the equation in order to contrive preferred results.

Typically, this will take the form of reaching far back into a religion's history to find the worst that can be found, even if it is in a time of war or is in utter contradiction to the teachings of the faith.

No, the terror war didn't start on the 11th of September. What happened on 9/11 is that America began fighting back.

What I have written is...Lest we forgot, some seem to have forgotten or been tooo young to know..
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by gaye5 July 2, 2007 8:10 AM EDT
1993 6th Feb, a bomb explodes in a parking garage below the world Trade center, in new York, killing six people and wounding more than a 1,000.
Six islamic militants were convicted in the bombing and sentenced to life in prison.
1995 13th Sep, A rocket-propelled grenade pierces the wall of the US Embassey. in Moscow but causes no injuries...
1998 7th Aug, twin blasts rock the U.S Embassies in Nairobia, Kenya and Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The blast killed at least 247 people in Nairobia
and 10 in Dar es Salaam with more than 5,000 injured. 12 Americans died in the Nairobia blast.
2000 12th Oct, a bomb triggered by suicide bombers aboard a small boat tears a 40 by 40 foot hole into the side of a U.S. destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 soldiers and injuring more than 30...
2002 Jan, Wall streets reporter Daniel Pearl is kidnapped in Karachi and killed by Islamic militants protesting the detention of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo bay Cuba.
2002 8th May, A suicide car bombing in Karachi kills 11 French engineers.
2002 14th June, a car bomb at the U.S. Consulate in Karaachi kills at least 12 people and injures 50 more.
2003 12 th May, In one of the deadliest terror attacks on America since Sep 11th, attackers shot their way into three gated compounds housing
Westerners in Ryadh, Saudi Arabia, and set of car bombs. At least 10 Americans were killed and 50 people injured including 30 Americans.
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by ajmarine1 July 2, 2007 8:08 AM EDT
Gaye5,

AJMarine1, this is just what some think, but if you know American hisory, we were being attacked well before Iraq,

I know this, but people say we did things just to get oil, our support of Israel, the Shaw (SP) of Iran, and the list goes on.

I think the nations of the Middle East and the rest of the world need to choose up sides and declare World War III and get this c**p over with once and for all; winner take all.
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by gaye5 July 2, 2007 7:56 AM EDT
1985 8th Aug, a large car bomb killed 2 and injured 20 at a US base in Frankfurt, a US soldier was murdered for his identy papers is found a day
after the blast.
1985 7th Oct, Palastinians hijacked the cruse liner Achille Lauro which was sailing in the Mediterranean sea. They shot dead Leon Klinghoffer, an elderly wheelchair bound man from New York and threw him over board..
When
1985 18th Dec, an Arab suicide squad simultaneously attacks US and Isreali check-in decks at the international airports of Rome and Viennia. The attacks claimed the total of 207 lives.
When
1986 2nd April, four Americans are killed when a bomb explodes under a seat on a TWA airline, on route from Rome to Athens.
When
1986 5th April, a West Berlin disco frequented by Americans is bombed. The blast kills 2 US soldiers and an German woman, and injured 150
people, many of the off -duty military personal.
When
1986 5th Sep, Hijackers seized a Pan Am 747 carrying 358 people at Karachi airport. 20 people are killed when security forces storm the plane.
When
1988 21st Dec, on it's way from London to New York a Pan Am Boeing explodes over Lockerbie, scotland killing all 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground.
Reply to this comment
by gaye5 July 2, 2007 7:50 AM EDT
Should we do this to their embassies in our countries, of course not...
1979 4th Nov. Islamist radicals stormed the US embassy in Tehran and, with the support of the Ayatollah Khomeini, proceeded to hold 52 Americans hostage for the next 15 months. It was also the start of a pattern that would be repeated time and again in the years and administrations that followed.
1979 4th Nov, Islamic students from the U.S Embassy in Terhran, Iran holding 52 Americans hostages for 444 days. All hostages were released unharmed hrs after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40th u.S President.
1993 18th April, A massive car bomb at the U.S Embassy in Beirut murdered 63 people including 17 Americans.
1993, 23rd Oct, A Shiiti suicide bomber blows up the U.S marine barracks in Beirut the attack killed 241 Marines and 48 French paratroopers,
all members of the U.N peace keeping forces.
1983 12th Dec, a Shiite extreemist set off car bombs in front of the US amd French Embassies in Kuwait city killing 5 people and wounding 86.
1984 20th Sep,, a car bomb at the US Embasy annex in East Beirut Lebonon killed 16 and injured the embassador.
1985 12th April, near a US base in Madrid, a bomb exploded in a restaurant popular with Americans, killing 18 Spaniads, and injuring 82, of which 15 were Americans.
1985 14th June, Shiite gunman seized a TWA Flight 847 and forced it to Beirut, Lebanon. Navy diver Robert Stethem is killed at the start of the ordeal and 39 Americans are held hostage for 17 days.
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by gaye5 July 2, 2007 7:43 AM EDT
AJMarine1, this is just what some think, but if you know American hisory, we were being attacked well before Iraq,
-Why did bin Laden start his attacks on American targets during President Clinton%u2019s administration, when the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians was in its heyday and Israel had redeployed from ALL Palestinian cities (leaving 98% of the Palestinians to live under PA rule)?

Why did bin Laden himself give so many excuses for his attacks on the U.S. (U.S. presence in Muslim land, westernization, etc.) but never mentioned the Palestinians until AFTER 9/11?

The war we are in didn't begin on Sept. 11, 2001. It began well before. World wide, there have been over 6867 terrorist attacks by Muslims since Sep 11th and most of them are in countries who have not gone to Iraq.. but here are some of the attacks just against America before sep 11th..

1973 1st March, eight Fatah terrorosts, operating under the Black September banner stormed the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Khartoum, Sadan.
The terrorists took a U.S ambassador Cloe Noel, Belgian Charges d'Affairs Guy Eid and two arab diplomats hostage demanding the release of PLO and Baader-Meinhof Gang terrorists, including Robert F.Kennedy's Palestianian assassin sirhan Sirhan and Black September commander
Muhammed Awadh (Adu Daud), from prison in exchange for the hostage's release. The next evening, the Palestinians brutally murdered Noel, Moore, and Eid. They released their other hostages on March 4.
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by ajmarine1 July 2, 2007 7:04 AM EDT
Gaye5,

Again, if you listen to some posters, all this is pay back for the wrong we have done to the Middle East; they say we have brought this on ourselves.
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by gaye5 July 2, 2007 6:55 AM EDT
radiob, it is strange that Mohammad chose Allah to be his only god. Allah was one of 360 gods in the days of his great grandfather who incidentally also started a religious scam, it was just that Mohammad was more successful in sucking people in for his cause, than his great grandfather who also found his religious scam very profitable..
This god 'Allah' (which was spelt a bit differently but pronounced the same), was a god of agriculture, (which Mohammad hates) and of the sword and war (which was more to Mohammad liking). This god allah also had the crescent and a star just like Mohammad's god hmmm...
One can only wonder why Mohammed chose a god of the sword and war eh... They hate us and want us gone and if only even 1% are extremists in the world today, that makes a great army..
From the Washington Times:

Joint Chiefs of Staff planners have produced a 27-page briefing on the war on terror, and says that Islamic extremists may be supported by 1% of Muslims worldwide.
Even support of 1 percent of the Muslim population would equate to over 12 million extreemists, but what if there is 10% or 20%, and from the Muslims reaction to Sep 11th throughtout the world it is thought that it could be as high as 30 to 50%.. or more.
Yep the infidel sure dont have anything to worry about with this wonderful man as an example of how Muslims should live their lives..
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by ajmarine1 July 2, 2007 6:52 AM EDT
Gaye5,

Sounds like "Catch 22."
Reply to this comment
by gaye5 July 2, 2007 6:26 AM EDT
AJMarine1 said....
If the Muslim governments and Muslim religous leaders would denounce these kinds of acts.

AJMaeine, They cant denounce these acts as they would have to denounce Islam and Mohammad, I wasnt going to post more of their verses but here are a few more...and there are many more than these..notice that they raided people..

Tabari VI:138 %u201CThose present at the oath of Aqabah had sworn an allegiance to Muhammad. It was a pledge of war against all men. Allah had permitted fighting.%u201D
Qur%u2019an 8:39 %u201CSo, fight them till all opposition ends and the only religion is Islam.%u201D
Qur%u2019an 8:59 %u201CThe infidels should not think that they can get away from us. Prepare against them whatever arms and weaponry you can muster so that you may terrorize them. They are your enemy and Allah%u2019s enemy.%u201D
Bukhari:V5B59N516 %u201CWhen Allah%u2019s Apostle fought or raided people we raised our voices saying, %u2018Allahu-Akbar! Allahu-Akbar! None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.%u2019%u201D

Ishaq:285 %u201CThen the Apostle went raiding in the month of Rabi u%u2019l-Awwal making for the Quraysh. Then he raided the Quraysh by way of Dinar.%u201D

Ishaq:286 %u201CMeanwhile the Apostle sent Sa%u2019d on the raid of Abu Waqqas. The Prophet only stayed a few nights in Medina before raiding Ushayra and then Kurz.%u201D
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by gaye5 July 2, 2007 6:06 AM EDT
Yes singinrick, I know a lovely Muslim lass who has had to change her name and is in hiding... here are some more verses..but will we wake up??? And will Muslims do differently today for their belovered leader..
Ishaq:204 %u201C%u2018Men, do you know what you are pledging yourselves to in swearing allegiance to this man?%u2019 %u2018Yes. In swearing allegiance to him we are pledging to wage war against all mankind.%u2019%u201D

Ishaq:280 %u201CThe Apostle prepared for war in pursuance of Allah%u2019s command to fight his enemies and to fight the infidels who Allah commanded him to fight.%u201D

Ishaq:208 %u201CWhen Allah gave permission to his Apostle to fight, the second Aqaba contained conditions involving war which were not in the first act of submission. Now we bound themselves to war against all mankind for Allah and His Apostle. He promised us a reward in Paradise for faithful service. We pledged ourselves to war in complete obedience to Muhammad no matter how evil the circumstances.%u201D

Qur%u2019an 8:7 %u201CAllah wished to confirm the truth by His words: %u2018Wipe the infidels out to the last.%u2019%u201D

Muslim:C53B20N4717 %u201CThe Prophet said: %u2018This religion will continue to exist, and a GROUP of people from the Muslims will continue to fight for its protection until the Hour is established.%u2019%u201D
Reply to this comment
by xzavierbrown July 2, 2007 5:14 AM EDT
Posted by hamiltongrad at 01:42 AM : Jul 02, 2007
+ report abuse

******************

and europe was once ruled by the mighty peace loving fairies where killing was unheard of, wishy washy liberal!! read about the history of europe and middle east AND IT MIGHT DISSAPOINT YOU. Another disappointment for you..its just been less than a century since these eurpeans been ripping each other's arses..and it would continue way after your dead, your children are dead and your children's children are dead.

sucks to be human..huh?

people LIKE YOU, would had been robbed, gutted and hanged by a pole till that flesh falls of your bones for being weak and detached from reality. EASY PREY..
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