In the aftermath of
this week’s dreadful terror attack on the Palace of Westminster, which has so
far left five victims dead and around 40 people injured, many of them
seriously, the Prime Minister Theresa May addressed the
House of Commons. Among other remarks by Mrs May which struck
the right tone of steely calm, there was however this exchange. A Conservative
MP, Michael Tomlinson, said:
“It is reported
that what happened yesterday was an act of Islamic terror. Does the Prime
Minister agree that what happened was not Islamic, just as the murder of Airey
Neave was not Christian, and that both were perversions of religion?” To which
the Prime Minister answered: “I absolutely agree. It is wrong to describe what
happened as Islamic terrorism; it is Islamist terrorism—a perversion of a great
faith.”
To which one can
only groan, head in hands: here we go again. Since 9/11 the British political
establishment has refused to acknowledge that the jihadi terrorism being
conducted in the name of Islam is actually inspired by… Islam. Islamic jihadi
terror has instead been called “un-Islamic” or even “anti-Islamic” or “a
perversion of Islam” or “a warped ideology”. Everything but what it actually
is: terrorism inspired by a fanatical but legitimate interpretation of Islam.
Mrs May’s statement
was in this risible vein. Yes, “Islamist” is a reasonable neologism – I use it
myself – to describe political or jihadi Islam and thus necessarily
differentiate it from the un-extreme, pacific interpretation of the religion to
which millions of Muslims subscribe. But to assert – as Mrs May
did – that Islamism is therefore not Islamic is demonstrably ridiculous. Does she
think the concept of jihad is not Islamic?
Full Article At: http://melaniephillips.com/midst-grief-still-confusion/
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