A large number of Muslim groups and three Muslim MP’s and peers have published an open letter recently to Tony Blair warning that there is a definite link between British Foreign policy and the increasing radicalisation of British Muslims.

To most of us this may seem like a statement of the obvious.  To Tony Blair, his Cabinet and some Tory MP’s this verges on treason.

The first to rush out and try to deny a link was the ever reliable Blairite, Douglas Alexander, whose shrill response to the statement described it as “dangerous and foolish” on the day of publication, he went on to add, “No government worth its salt should allow its foreign policy to be dictated to under the threat of terrorism”.  Next to enter the fray, Kim Howells from the Foreign Office described the letter as “facile and dangerous”.  Both Alexander and Howells are members of “Labour Friends of Israel”.  Clearly stung by the criticism from such a wide group of Muslim representatives, the number 10 spin machine despatched beleaguered Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, to say that drawing a link between government policy and the terror threat would be the “gravest possible error”. She said such suggestions were “part of a distorted view of the world, a distorted view of life. Let's put the blame where it belongs: with people who wantonly want to take innocent lives.”  Curious to note how she could find the words to rush out her statement on this topic yet when innocent civilians were being slaughtered in Lebanon and Gaza she couldn’t see the point of telling the Israelis to stop the massacre.  Worried about the devastatingly honest analysis, John Reid the Home Secretary joined in to say it was a “dreadful misjudgement”.  Not to be outdone, Tories such as Michael Howard have added their two-penneth by saying the letter had given “ammunition” to the extremists.

How is it that a genuine attempt at explanation by a wide range of Muslim groups and individuals is being conflated with excusing terror by so many?  It may not be the massage per se but the messenger.  Consider the fact that analysing the reasons for radicalisation is a necessary first step in combating this very pressing problem and then consider that this group are not the first to make the link.  Think tanks, investigative journalists and academics have all pointed out that there is an undeniable link between British foreign policy and increasing radicalisation of some British Muslims.  On BBC’s Newsnight programme Peter Taylor, an investigative journalist researching radicalisation stated that the common theme in his interviews of Muslims around the world was the word “Iraq”.  Is he facile and dangerous? How about Chatham House? Or the JIC?  Arming the extremists?

To add insult to injury, Tony Blair, one of the architects of the current problems, went out of his way to state that Muslims suffer from a victim mentality in a speech given in Los Angeles he said “Islamist extremism's whole strategy is based on a presumed sense of grievance that can motivate people to divide against each other.”  Presumed sense of grievance? Just take a look at the statistics around the world and you’ll see who the real victims of terror are.  Leaving aside peaceful protests and its illegality for now, the Bush-Blair war on Iraq has resulted in over 100,000 civilians dying.  Are we to let this evil, this act of terror to go unchallenged?

Not content with levelling the charge of playing the victim, Blair and his Israel lobby continue to vilify Muslims as alien to British society.  The increasingly used term “Judeo-Christian” values is used to emphasise the schism.  The reality is that all three Abrahamic religions share common values but the term is used because it is deliberately exclusive.  There are indeed socio-economic problems faced by Muslims in Britain that are to be addressed in part by the Muslim communities themselves, but politically, many Muslims born and bread in Britain have been happy to identify with the mainstream until the events of September 11th 2001 led them to re-examine the hypocritical policies of our government.

Perhaps the chorus of disapproval to the letter would be understandable if Britain’s Foreign Policy were truly independent.  The reality however shows that our country’s foreign policy is largely governed in Washington DC regardless of which combinations of parties are in power on both sides of “the pond” and domestically there is a very active Israel lobby that does indeed influence Britain’s foreign policy.  As proof, examine the reaction to William Hague’s remarks that the Israeli response to Hezbollah was disproportionate.  The backlash from Jewish donors to the Conservative party has begun as reported in The Spectator.  Further, the respective “Friends of Israel” groups in all three mainstream parties exist to hold more than just tea parties.  Post the Suez Crisis, an independent British Foreign Policy would be both novel and welcome.

One of the most nauseating things about witnessing the on-going debate as a British Muslim is the assumption that “Western values”, a thorny notion at the best of times, are somehow assumed to be superior to the values of Muslims.  Which values are we talking about?  The sidelining of the UN, the lies to Parliament, the support of compliant dictators in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, the use of military force that results in the deaths of 100,000’s of innocent civilians?

The critics of the letter have suggested that the British public should dictate the direction of foreign policy, if only that were the case.  When two million people marched against the Iraq war in February 2003, the biggest demonstration in the history of our nation, did the politicians listen?  The scheme to attack Iraq was hatched long before in the US and the military campaign had a momentum that didn’t give a hoot about British public opinion.  This seminal event exposed the democratic deficit in our nation.  We have helped create a situation where a nation is on the verge of civil war, British public opinion is firmly against the war and occupation but our leadership seems incapable to either acknowledge personal fallibility, contemplate political failure or accept its effect on domestic radicalisation.

Muslims in Britain, young and old, feel increasingly bewildered by events in both the international and domestic arenas.  What are we to do?  Doing nothing is no longer a realistic option.  If foreign policy is such a central issue to our lives then we must all register to vote, we must examine our local candidates as individuals instead of representatives of parties, for existing MP’s, examine their voting records and speeches in the House of Commons, interview them, interview the new candidates as well, ask them direct questions such as their views on Palestine, Iraq and domestic terror legislation, take what they say with a pinch of salt, only vote for the candidates that genuinely convince you that they will represent your interests, remain politically engaged.  Most importantly hold your politicians to account.  Those that do not represent your interests should be voted out.


The full text of the letter:-

“Prime Minister, As British Muslims we urge you to do more to fight against all those who target civilians with violence, whenever and wherever that happens.

It is our view that current British government policy risks putting civilians at increased risk both in the UK and abroad.

To combat terror the government has focused extensively on domestic legislation. While some of this will have an impact, the government must not ignore the role of its foreign policy.

The debacle of Iraq and now the failure to do more to secure an immediate end to the attacks on civilians in the Middle East not only increases the risk to ordinary people in that region, it is also ammunition to extremists who threaten us all.

Attacking civilians is never justified. This message is a global one. We urge the Prime Minister to redouble his efforts to tackle terror and extremism and change our foreign policy to show the world that we value the lives of civilians wherever they live and whatever their religion.

Such a move would make us all safer.”