Rolled-up Trousers

Questions over the Red Mosque carnage

David Miliband is in Pakistan today lending support to Musharraf's terrorism fight.

Pakistan couldn't be in a more difficult position. The Foreign Secretary distanced himself from the US threat to launch air strikes in the country in order to get to Bin Laden.

Miliband is obviously being very diplomatic with the Pakistani regime. In order to stay close, awkward questions will not be raised about the army's raid on the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad just a few weeks ago.

It was claimed as a victory over terrorists, with the official government reports saying that 70 people lost their lives. However, this has not been open to verification by outsiders, with even funerals being carried out in secret. There are reports that the real death toll could be as much as 600.

That counts as a massacre. There needs to be a real and thorough investigation into what happened.

Brown on ID cards and 28 days

Gordon Brown yesterday laid out proposals before the House of Commons to bolster our security.

Disappointingly, they do not differ much, if at all, from the Blair years. His "third line of defence" (after border police and biometrics at the border) is the introduction of biometric ID cards by 2009. I thought that that the idea of them as any sort of deterrent to terrorism had been long knocked on the head.

More healdine grabbing was his bid to increase 28 day detention to 56 days. He introducced this in a cunning way. Liberty have been arguing that if longer than 28 day detention is needed, due for example to the number and complexity of suspects, then the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 allows for a national state of emergency to be declared and another 30 days of detention. Brown used this stance as cover to say that he's proposing 28 days without the need for a state of emergency, but with judicial and Parliamentary safeguards instead.

The purpose of education - maximising potential

BBC Scotland held a debate entitled "After the Bomb" a week after the Glasgow Airport attack. Following the traditional Question Time format, half-way through the programme a question on faith schools was selected in amongst the other issues affecting the terror threat.

It was a bizarre enough debating point in the context, but despite the fact that the panel did defend Scotland's diverse education system, not one of them made the point that this has nothing to do with terrorism and as such had no place on the programme. You don’t need much of an excuse to attack faith schooling in Scotland, but this was stretching the usual segregation canard to absolute ridicule.

My recent thought on this issue is that those who advocate an educational monoculture in Scotland, and advance community relations as their primary argument, need to explain their presumption for collective education in the first instance.

Before you abolish Catholic schools...

...why not get rid of Rangers and Celtic?

In Scotland, you don't need much of an excuse to attack faith schools. What has struck me for ages though is that while many bemoan how our kids are apparently living parallel lives, no one really gets to what's at the heart of it. It's not schools, it's football.

Kids are always going to go to different schools. In my town there were three - two non-denominational/Protestant, one Catholic. We didn't like the other non-denom (young people are territorial about these things), but the other school was different. It wasn't that we questioned their religious practices, or deplored the fact that they didn't have as direct a relationship with God as us. It's just they supported Celtic.

Cartoons censored, but no one's angry

Lenin's Tomb contains a very good post about the double standards regarding freedom of expression. A magazine featuring a cartoon has just been banned and forcibly taken off the shelves in Spain because a group was offended by it. Group in question being the royal family.

Europe has not been vexed by this blatant act of censorship. You can read some excellent points about this here (though the cartoon is a little full on, please be warned).

I would add that for me this says a lot about power. If Muslims are upset about something, they can only take to the streets. There were no "royal family angry" headlines, press releases or burning effigies of magazine editors needed here. Quietly, phone calls were made, and it was resolved to the satisfaction of the prince and princess.

Lying Muslims with international loyalties

The Scotland on Sunday was virtually the only Sunday not to have any coverage of our rally against terrorism a couple of weeks ago. The Sunday Herald carried three pages of it, while the Sunday Mail, Mail on Sunday, and the Sunday Post all covered it. The Sunday Telegraph put it on their front page.

Now you could say that this was a sin of omission on the part of the SoS. Today's nonsense article today suggests that it may be a bit deeper than that. They've definitely ignored one of things things I said in the lead up to the rally:

We have a simple equation facing us. We have the terrorists on one side, and the rest of Scotland on the other – whether they be Muslim, Christian, people of other faiths or none. We mustn’t start accusing people of being terrorists when they plainly aren’t.”

You know you're an Islamophobe when...

I've been sent a link to an article by a Tom Gallagher at Open Democracy about the attack on Glasgow Airport and the Scottish Muslim and Nationalist reaction to it.

A universal sense of shock was followed by vigorous official efforts to build bridges to the country's approximately 60,000 Muslims. A week later, on 7 July, the cream of Scotland's establishment gathered in George Square in Glasgow's heart to offer them protection and reassurance. The institutions represented included the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP), the police, the Church of Scotland, the trade unions, and the vocal anti-war movement ...

Muslims at the 1,500-strong rally mixed freely with the representatives of political and lobbying groups who made up the bulk of the crowd. The central spot was reserved for Osama Saeed, an articulate young Muslim activist (and former SNP candidate) whose intensity and fluency have made him a sought-after guide to the mood and concerns of Scotland's Muslims since the airport attack.

Gallagher goes on to say that anything I've said however, could be subject to taqiyya. This is a word I first came across at Harry's Place a couple of years ago when I was engaged with someone in the comments section, only to be accused of this. I had to go and look the word up.

So Muslims are now in a lose-lose situation. Say the wrong thing (or something that can be uncharitably construed) and get pilloried. Say the right thing and get accused of lying.

The favoured Muslims

In the last week we've seen yet again the blurring of the lines between Islam and terrorism, not it has to be said by Muslims themselves. But those that want to play this game can just as easily be tarred by association as many Muslims are. At the Cambridge University conference a few weeks ago where Tony Blair spoke (and set the programme depending on who you believe), Shaikh Ali Goma from Egypt was a chief guest as a example of moderation from the Muslim world.

Shortly before the Grand Mufti travelled he'd issued advice that there may be blessings in the Prophet's (peace be upon him) urine. I'm not a scholar, but I can imagine if some had wanted to demonise him, there would be plenty of opportunity. And others found evidence not disimilar to what Shaikh Qaradawi is pilloried for. I also see that Shaikh Goma allows Muslims to sell alcohol and pork in the West. An example of enlightened moderation and integration some would say. But it is only because he sees the West as dar-ul-harb (house of war).

HT

Young and old in the Muslim community need to unite. The aftermath of the failed bomb attack on Glasgow Airport brought two distinct reactions. The mosque elders did their press conference bit, while the second generation wanted to go a bit further and organised Saturday's rally.

There's a tendency on the part of some of the youthful elements to scorn all that our elders have achieved, while it's apparent that some of the older generation see us as something resembling a threat to the current order. It rumbled a bit in the last week, but I was shocked to see an article in the Daily Record claiming that Hizb-ut-Tahrir tried to stand in the elections for the Glasgow Central Mosque committee.

Muslim booted off plane for asking to pray

A young Muslim was booted off a plane at a North airport after asking cabin crew if he could pray before his flight, we can reveal.

The incident happened when the country was on high alert last weekend after an alleged terrorist attack at Glasgow airport.

A source told us that the man - who has not been named - boarded a Thomsonfly flight at Newcastle International Airport bound for a holiday in Malaga, Spain, with friends.

He asked staff if he could go in the galley area - which can be curtained off from passengers - and offer prayers before the flight took off.

However - according to our source - the flight attendant asked the plane's captain who promptly ordered the man off the aircraft.

Sunday Sun

Scotland United Against Terrorism (updated with speeches)

It's been an incredible week. The despondency of the attack on Glasgow airport a week ago was turned on it's head in Glasgow today at the extraordinary Scotland United Against Terrorism rally.

It was called by a few of us younger folk in the Muslim community and quickly backed by the city's mosques and Islamic organisations. We had hoped for a good response from the rest of Scotland in terms of standing with us.

Misplaced revenge

This was the aftermath of an attack on an Asian shop in the Riddrie area of Glasgow yesterday. Someone reverse-rammed a car into the premises and set it on fire. It seems like a copycat revenge attack after what happened at Glasgow Airport.

More pictures here. I only got there after they'd removed the car. Disappointingly, there has been hardly any media coverage of this. I heard from the PA that this has happened, but the way that it was being spoken about was that it was a relatively minor incident. When I got there, they were demolishing the building.

BNP candidate was 'stockpiling chemicals for civil war'

THE wife of a BNP council candidate acc-used of stockpiling chemicals for a civil war reported him after he stopped her watching the television, a court heard.

Kerena Cottage, 29, reported Robert, her husband of three years, after he became "radical" in his religious and political views and removed the TV aerial to shield her from 'government propaganda'.

Louise Blackwell, prosecuting, said: "He became more religious and controlling of her.

"He removed the aerial from the television so she couldn't watch what he described as the brain-washing material being put out by the government."

School bus driver Cottage, 49, is jointly accused with former dentist David Jackson, 62, of conspiring to cause an explosion between 1 January 2006 and 30 September 2006.

Congratulations Alan Johnston

Fantastic news for him and his family.

No doubt it was the people who worked tirelessly to keep him in the public eye that led to this happy moment. Well done to all involved in his release.

Rally Against Terrorism

SCOTLAND UNITED AGAINST TERROR
Saturday 7 July 1.30pm
George Square, Glasgow

Second post after the airport attack

It's been a manic few days. I had actually planned to blog throughout the aftermath of the Glasgow airport attack, but even with the whole mobile blogging thing, chances to sit, reflect and pen a few words have been few and far between.

So apologies on this being my first post since Saturday night. Media demands in the aftermath of terrorist incidents further afield have always been great, and I just really deal with the Scottish media. This time, with the world's cameras and notepads parked variously outside Glasgow's airport, mosques, hospitals, it's been flat out.

I visited the airport today. You have to salute the brave police, airport staff and members of the public who confronted the would-be killers at Glasgow Airport on Saturday. John Smeaton has rightly become national hero with his tale of how he punched the man on fire. How I envy him. I would have loved to be delivering some good punches, kicks and more. If there are more of his ilk want to set themselves on fire, then let them come to my place and we’ll have a bonfire.