British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced new measures to tackle the rise of Islamic extremism in the UK. With this new set of measures, the government wants to counter the influence of Islamic thinking on government-funded institutions, private charities and businesses. Britain is home to about 3 million Muslims, and many Brits have become concerned about the radicalisation of young Muslims taking place in schools and mosques.
Today, some 500 to 1000 British Muslims are fighting in the ranks of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. Additionally, Britain faces the threat of home-grown Islamic terrorism, as highlighted by the London bombings of 2005 that killed more than 50 people in the London public transport system during the rush hour. According to the domestic security service MI5, the home-grown terror plots are now at an all-time high.
British broadcaster Channel 4 News quoted Prime Minister Cameron as describing Islamic extremism as “one of the great struggles of our generation.”
The government has unveiled its new counter-extremism strategy, and announced a raft of new measures designed to stop radicalisation. (…) The government points to police figures that show 338 counter-terrorism related arrests over the past year, 157 linked to Syria and 56 relating to suspects aged under 20, which is “a growing trend”.(…)The Home Office will create “a new network, linking individuals and groups around Britain who are already standing up to extremists in their communities”, with £5m available for new groups.Guidelines will be tightened so people who have supported extremist views can be denied or stripped of their British citizenship.
Prime Minister Cameron’s announcement was met with sharp criticism from Muslim and left-wing organisations in the country. Britain’s largest Muslim organisation, Muslim Council of Britain, accused Prime Minister of ‘McCarthyism’ and denied that there was any radicalisation in U.K. mosques, challenging the government position by asking, “Do such mosques [that preach extremism] really exist?” UK-based newspaper The Independent writes:
David Cameron’s new strategy to tackle extremism is “flawed” and plans to ban people from mosques have “McCarthyist undertones”, Britain’s largest Muslim organisation has said.The Prime Minister unveiled further measures to protect children and youngsters from being radicalised in a speech on Monday, including plans to close down mosques where extremist meetings have taken place.However, the Muslim Council of Britain challenged Mr Cameron, asking: “Do such mosques really exist?”
Instead of tackling the problem of radicalisation within their own community, the Muslim leadership in Britain have once again opted to attack the messenger.
Unlike President Obama, who thinks “Climate Change” is the only serious challenge worth his time, who constantly downplays the threat of radical Islam, and who stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the Islamic ideology driving the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or Hamas, Prime Minister Cameron has repeatedly found the right words to address the issue of rising radicalisation of Muslims in the West.
Prime Minister Cameron has described the battle with Radical Islam as the “struggle of our generation,” urging the Muslim “silent majority” to finally rise up and tackle fanaticism within their midst.
However, the chances of success for the Prime Minister’s new strategy remain low, unless both Muslim leaders and the community in the U.K. acknowledge the problem — and stand up to fight it. Until that happens, all government sponsored counter-extremism measures, “community outreach,” and “inter-faith dialogues” will remain futile.
(Cover image courtesy BBC News, YouTube)
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