Terrorism

I very nearly wrote this article following the Manchester Arena attack, but given events in London overnight it really has to be written now.

It seems that the country is, unfortunately, going to have to endure a period under direct attack from so-called Islamic terrorists. I say so-called because these arseholes have sod all to do with your local mosque, and in truth are blighting the name of a long respected religion. Make no mistake, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country are every bit as pissed off with these wankers as we so-called Christians are (I don’t have much to do with the church either…).

Before you can deal with terrorists, you have to understand their motivations – what’s in it for them… Islamic fundamentalists would love nothing more than for our country to turn against its Muslim citizens – they want to be able to portray the Islamic faith as under attack. The best response to these attacks, therefore, is to simply not fall for it, to recognise our Muslim neighbours for the innocent victims they are in all this, and move on.

To the media, I say we shouldn’t be making a song and dance about the attacks. Yes, they are a tragedy, and I in no way wish to denigrate the memory of the victims of such attacks, but days of rolling news and national headlines are precisely what the terrorists want. I say we tell them to Foxtrot Oscar instead. Report attacks, fine – but then move on.

Finally, to the “terrorists” themselves…

This is Britain – we’ve been here before and we know the drill. You are an irritant, and like any other irritant, you will in time be dealt with. In London you are dealing with a city that came through The Blitz, night after night of carpet bombing from the air, with a steely determination to take the fight back to those who brought it here in the first place. The Luftwaffe didn’t break our spirit with thousands of bombers, so you’ll forgive us if we don’t cower in fear at the prospect of some mush with a transit van. That’s not who the British are.

London is a multicultural city, where we choose to live together in a common society. We know how much that annoys you, and we don’t apologise. Got a problem with that? We don’t care…

After the Manchester attacks the local community, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, pulled together in countless ways to address what happened. We need to see more of that – more solidarity, more defiance, more “with respect, shove it!” for terrorism. Want to strike at the very heart of the terrorists? It’s easy – the communities, Muslim and non Muslim alike, just need to pull together. Trust me, they’ll hate that…

As for the so called English Defence League and other associated nutters out there who will be foaming at the mouth to get stuck into the “muzzies” over this, I have two messages. First of all, stop – you’re an embarrassment. Secondly, you’re going to have to come through the rest of us…

The only thing that beats hate is love.