Fall Issue 2005
1 Sep 2005
You may recognize the title of this article as a play on the famous words of Winston Churchill. In praise of the Royal Air Force’s heroics in the Battle of Britain, Churchill said, “Never in the face of human conflict has so much been owed to so few by so many.” Now, as then, London is being bombed. Today, however, the bombers are not Nazis but Muslim terrorists. Even the politically correct BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), which normally balks at the word “terrorist” in deference to the word “bomber,” concedes the point that London’s present assailants are terrorists.
Worldwide speculation is rife that Osama bin Laden may have been behind the July 7 attack that killed 56 people, as well as the July 21 debacle that failed to claim innocent lives thanks to the incompetence of a terrorist bomb maker. It appears implausible to me that England, along with the whole of Western Civilization, is being attacked by a global terrorist network controlled from a cave in Afghanistan by a man who’s afraid to answer his own cell phone. Still, thanks to the media’s magnification of Osama bin Laden to monstrous proportions, the specter of Osama’s al-Qaida hangs over every terrorist incident occurring throughout the world. By believing in this mythical, monolithic terrorist network, the world is easily duped into deeming Islam a “peace-loving” religion hijacked by a few box cutter armed al-Qaida members.
In no way am I attempting to downplay the perilous predicament Islamic fascists present to today’s world. Instead, I’m merely attempting to redirect people’s attention from an overstated enemy—Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida—to an overlooked one—Islam itself. Though Osama bin Laden may serve as an inspiration to today’s would-be terrorists, the cave from which he’s scared to stick out his head is not the incubator of Islamic fascism; rather, it is mosques and madrasses all over the world. For example, consider the Finsbury Park mosque in north London.
Until his arrest last year on nine counts of incitement to murder, Finsbury Park’s radical imam, Abu Hamsa al-Masri, praised the 9/11 terrorists, publicly stated his support for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, openly proclaimed his hatred of the West, preached jihad against the non-Muslim world, and taught his followers not to waste their bullets on infidels, but to “crush” infidels’ heads, “wring” their throats, and “cut them in two.” While freely fueling the fires of such hatred under the guise of free speech, al-Masri enjoyed all the rights of British citizenship and lived for years on social welfare payments. Another fiery preacher frequently heard at the Finsbury Park mosque is Abu Qatada, whose London sermons were found on videotapes in the apartment of 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta.
Among those known to have frequented the Finsbury Park mosque are Zacarias Moussaoui—the suspected nineteenth hijacker—and Richard Reid—the foiled shoe bomber. Another frequent worshiper is Saad Fagih, the controversial leader of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia. Although Mr. Fagih is wanted in Saudi Arabia and considered a terrorist by our government, he lives and works freely in London, running his own radio station. It was on an Islamic Web site connected to Mr. Fagih that “The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe” posted the following message shortly after the July 7 bombings: “Rejoice, Islamic nation. Rejoice, Arab world. The heroic mujahedeen carried out a blessed attack in London, and now Britain is burning with fear and terror, from north to south, east to west.”
It is no coincidence that the suicide bombers of July 7 were second-generation British Muslims from north London. They were not foreigners dispatched by a diabolical bearded figure hiding somewhere in a dark cave in Afghanistan; instead, they were homegrown terrorists. As one of their neighbors aptly put it, “It is not a matter of al-Qaida people doing it—the people are doing it themselves.” In light of this, it may be prudent to concern ourselves a little less with the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and a little more with the goings-on in Muslim mosques and madrasses.
Don Walton
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