British Prime Minister David
Cameron delivered a remarkable and powerful speechMonday on combatting
radical Islamist extremism, a topic many other Western leaders including
President Obama avoid tackling head on.
Cameron, speaking at a Birmingham
school, appropriately distinguished between "Islamist extremism" – a
fundamentalist political ideology with religious underpinnings and "Islam
the religion." He directly addressed moderate British Muslims, framing the
struggle against radical Islam as a phenomenon that is plaguing the Muslim
community.
"I know too how much you
hate the extremists who are seeking to divide our communities and how you
loathe that damage they do," he said.
Cameron defined what he saw as
the roots of the threat. While many point to poverty or Western wars in the
Middle East, Cameron explicitly called out Islamist ideology and radicalization
as driving the violent threat facing British and other societies.
There is no single path to
radicalization, he said, but even non-violent ideology can be a
"gateway" to violence.
"It may begin with hearing
about the so-called Jewish conspiracy and then develop into hostility to the
West and fundamental liberal values, before finally becoming a cultish
attachment to death," Cameron said.
The speech was part of a
five-year plan Cameron is implementing this fall in hopes of curbing
Islamist extremist influences. It calls on empowering British Iraqis, Syrians
and Kurds, who can speak about the devastation ISIS is wreaking in their native
countries.
Cameron also invited "some
pretty uncomfortable debates – especially cultural ones. Too often we have
lacked the confidence to enforce our values, for fear of causing offence."
But a true debate would give
greater influence to Muslims who oppose and challenge the radical narrative, he
said. "There are so many strong, positive Muslim voices that are being
drowned out. Ask yourself, how is it possible that when young teenagers leave
their London homes to fight for ISIL, the debate all too often focuses on
whether the security services are to blame? And how can it be that after the
tragic events at Charlie Hebdo in Paris, weeks were spent discussing the limits
of free speech and satire, rather than whether terrorists should be executing
people full stop? When we allow the extremists to set the terms of the debate
in this way, is it any wonder that people are attracted to this ideology?"
He also addressed young British
Muslims who might be tempted to travel to Iraq or Syria to wage jihad.
"You won't be some valued
member of a movement," Cameron warned. "You are cannon fodder for
them. They will use you. If you are a boy, they will brainwash you, strap bombs
to your body and blow you up. If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse
you."
The speech is significant because
of Cameron's direct approach and specific references to "radical Islamist
ideology." That something many other Western leaders, including President
Obama, avoid as a matter of policy. The Islamic State, the president has
said, "is not 'Islamic.'"
Cameron, in contrast, said it is
not enough to condemn ISIS or al-Qaida.
"This means confronting
groups and organizations that may not advocate violence – but which do promote
other parts of the extremist narrative," he said. "We've got to show
that if you say 'yes I condemn terror – but the Kuffar are inferior', or
'violence in London isn't justified, but suicide bombs in Israel are a
different matter' – then you too are part of the problem. Unwittingly or not,
and in a lot of cases it's not unwittingly, you are providing succor to those
who want to commit, or get others to commit to, violence."
This applies directly to many Islamist
groups in the United States and the West which, acting as civil liberties
organizations, justify terrorism in some contexts especially against
Israeli civilians.
According to Cameron, their
doublespeak and double standards only serve to promote the extremist narrative.
Source: http://www.investigativeproject.org/
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