The Islam Channel has written the following letter to the media and MP's.

Dear Sir / Madam

I am a female presenter on the London based satellite TV station 'Islam Channel'. Following with regret and shock, the sad days of July 7th, I would like to add my opinions to the debate. I would ask you to keep in mind I was on the underground on July 7th and passed through Edgware road station 3 minutes before the bombing.

While it is true that all mainstream Muslim organisations from the more global Hizb-ut-Tahrir, to the local MCB have condemned the action of killing civilians, I feel these condemnations have been largely ignored except for the MCB's, giving the impression that the community is not unified in it's condemnation, and that we have a significant number of groups or "extremist preachers" that condone the attacks by their silence. When it was revealed that the bombers might be British Pakistanis, I had no doubt it would be used by the extreme right to smugly imply in ‘respectable’ ways "we told you so" and used to call for more immigration controls, ID cards, etc.

British Muslims naturally feel an affiliation towards England, Scotland, or Wales, as you would expect, it is human to love familiarity. However we also carry the concept of the wider Muslim "Ummah" or nation, in many ways similar to, but to a greater extent, how some Catholics may feel an affiliation to the Vatican state, or how Jews feel an affiliation to Israel.

In any type of 'war' it would be absurd not know who your ‘enemies’ are and their motivations. The media has been focusing on some very public, transparent, radical, outspoken but peaceful Islamic groups, and, in my opinion, non-existent 'hard-line Imams' (most Mosque Imams practice self-censorship out of fear, which leaves angry youth dissatisfied).

Ambiguous terms like ‘extremist’, ‘hard-line’, or ‘fundamentalist’ have become common currency in the rhetoric related to this whole debate. I would argue this a diversion away from any real threat, in order to subvert a new generation of highly educated radical young Muslims who demand a fair hearing for their peaceful criticism of capitalism or foreign policy, which some find simply unpalatable. If it is proven that British Muslims were involved, it would be wise to be aware that the following logic is used to manipulate "young minds" feeding on widely held perceptions of injustice and not "religious
fanaticism".

Please note the lack of religious justification, i.e. the secular nature of the logic below, which terrorists use on their websites:

(1) The occupation of Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Bosnia, Kashmir, and Xinyiang etc is supported, ignored or executed by western imperialist powers.

(2) The west supports brutal puppet dictators to crush Muslim peoples, and the freedom they yearn for, e.g. President Karimov in Andijan or Mubarak in Egypt, even labelling these brutal dictators as "moderates"

(3) The colonialists have been ‘at it’ for 300 years now, including starving the masses in Africa after they could no longer force them into slavery.

(4) All of the above is used as evidence that the imperial powers are at war with the Ummah (Muslim nation), and the poor.

(5) Re-invading Iraq and re-electing Tony Blair was the last straw, not the cause. So now when ‘the west’ bombs Muslim civilians, Muslims will respond with revenge. The innocent victims of this revenge are indeed innocent, but "collateral damage". The hypocritical ‘west’ also intentionally kills civilians as a strategy of war. Look at Fallujah, the depleted uranium causing the slow death of cancer in almost every family of Iraq. Look at the sanctions that killed millions in Iraq, look at how the west was complicit in the genocide of Bosnians. Also look at how Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, were bombed in WW2, to intentionally inflict as many civilian casualties as possible. Remember Winston Churchill's chemical bombing of Iraqi Kurds, during one of the previous occupations of Iraq?

Even now the occupation forces use mustard gas, nerve gas, napalm and other burning chemicals in Iraq. So, how can ‘the west’ complain about killing civilians?

I repeat, the above logic is not my own, but the logic used by the terrorists on their websites, which is simply padded out with a few out of context verses from the Quran. You will note that it has much to do with foreign policy and
double standards, and little to do with blind hate, religious fervour, or hatred of any civilisation. Even if these people were not Muslim, they would still have the above grievances.

If we were to be tough on crime and the causes of crime, wouldn’t it be sensible to be tough on terrorists, and tough on the causes of terrorism, which isn't Islamism, or religious fanaticism? I firmly believe if it wasn't for Islam's restrictions on war, we would be dealing with a lot more Arab, Chechen, African, Pakistani, Central Asian nationalist or left-wing bombers, rather than the few Muslim bombers.

To taint Islamists for the tragic events in London would be like tainting Christians for the genocide in Bosnia, and for the continuing help the perpetrators like Ratko Mladic get to stay in hiding, by some in the Orthodox Church.

Islam Channel Ltd.
SKY EPG channel 836
http://www.islamchannel.tv

Eurobird 1 and Astra 2A,2B on frequency 11,661 GHz X horizontal

Email pr@islamchannel.

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