Monday 9 May 2016

London’s Muslim Mayor [updated]

 

Commentators around the globe have leapt on the victory of a London Muslim in the London mayoral election as “the beginning of the end" for the west. The first electoral sign of the “demographic deluge” that (in an echo of Progressives Past) alt-right loonies and tantrum-throwing Trumpeters tar as “race suicide.”

Contrary to what many critics both foreign and domestic have argued, it could be however that

the victory of London’s new mayor as a non-Islamist Muslim is as much a blow to Islamist bigots as it is to anti-Muslim bigots. This victory speaks to the possibilities of integration. It offers hope for our country’s new immigrant families. And as a symbol of social mobility, it provides aspiration to those from humble backgrounds.
    Sadiq Khan’s victory is probably the only bit of good news [from Britain’s local government elections that] Jeremy Corbyn’s far-left-led Labour Party can truly celebrate….

Says Maajid Nawaz, author of that paragraph – a former Islamic radical who renounced jihad and today promotes a Secular Islam – holds that

Sadiq Khan is no Muslim extremist. And it is not only his track record voting for gay rights that proves this. Having known him when I was a Muslim extremist, I know that he did not subscribe to my then-theocratic views.
    Many conservatives who desperately opposed Khan jumped the shark when they
called him a “radical Islamist,” and linked him to sensationalist headlines that declared he had a“hardcore Islamist past.” Nuance is the friend of truth.

So, what about the claims of Islamist association that were raised during the campaign?

In deference to the seriousness of the subject, and the lives lost over it, what came up about Khan’s alleged links to extremists is pertinent. Those questions needed to be asked. I cannot emphasise enough that I write as a liberal, who voted for a Liberal Democrat in this race, and not as a conservative. So now that the election is over, and London has its first Muslim mayor, let us step back and consider the smoke to this conservative fire.

Nawaz offers abundant detail, noting against him however that

Khan is no Muslim extremist. Indeed, this cannot be repeated enough. Nor can the fact that Khan clearly has a record of terribly poor judgment in surrounding himself with Islamists and Muslim extremists, and in using them for votes.

But that doesn’t make him either a terrorist or a terrorist sympathiser; it simply means he’s a modern politician – for which he should be roundly criticised.

Nor does his electoral victory mean the end of western civilisation. It simply shows again that western civilisation embraces all who choose to embrace it.

UPDATE: A good start:

There is no greater responsibility for a Mayor of London than keeping Londoners safe.
It's a responsibility that I take extremely seriously.
London faces a deadly threat from extremism, radicalisation and terrorism.
It’s a threat that I will act to tackle as Mayor.
I will be the British Muslim who takes the fight to the extremists.
Who ensures London has the response capability we need to keep Londoners safe.
Who backs police to do what is necessary during terrorist attacks.
And who acts to tackle the underlying conditions that allow extremism and radicalisation to take root…
* * *
The appalling reality is that a growing number of people in London are being indoctrinated and radicalised into a perverse and disgusting ideology.|
Extremists are exploiting the young, the vulnerable and the weak.
It is online grooming by any other name.
Extremism is a cancer eating away at our society and it is a problem that is getting worse.
Neither the Government, nor our wider society are doing enough to tackle extremism and radicalisation.
Young British children are still being tricked into running off to join Daesh in Iraq and Syria.
Like the three school girls from Bethnal Green who ran off last year to marry terrorists in Syria.
As a Dad, I worry about my daughters
And that’s a fear that I know is shared by many parents in London.
* * *
I’ve always been open about the fact that I have seen the hatred and venom of the extremists up close.
I started my mayoral campaign with a speech in which I talked about how the extremists have targeted me and my family because of our mainstream British views.
Extremists have protested at local Mosques in Tooting and told people I’ve known since I was a boy – my friends and neighbours – that I am going to hell because I believe in democracy.
They have criticised me for taking part in what they call ‘man made laws’ and said that anyone who votes for me will be going to hell too.
I had death threats from extremists when I voted for same sex marriage. I had to discuss police protection with my young daughters – something that no parent should have to do.
It’s what makes me so determined to tackle extremism.
And why I unashamedly say today, that I will be the British Muslim who takes the fight to the extremists.
**
I’ll act to keep Londoners safe.

And

As Mayor, I will be the British Muslim who takes the fight to the extremists. I will keep focusing on keeping Londoners safe, and my positive vision for London's future – most importantly fixing the Tory housing crisis.

RELATED POSTS:

  • “Despite some concerns, Khan is not an Islamist, and is less offensive than the vile old Castro-phile Ken Livingstone, but he has had poor judgment with those he associated with…
        “More importantly, neither Sadiq nor Zac have any clue how to make a significant difference to the policies that the Mayor of London has powers to change, and which are the biggest London-centric issues the city faces.”
    Three elections, none are likely to please: 1. London election – LIBERTY SCOTT

.RELA

17 comments:

Brendan McNeill said...

but he did call 'Moderate Muslims' uncle Tom's. - he has since apologies, but then I guess you would wouldn't you?

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/05/londons-new-muslim-mayor-calls-moderate-muslims-uncle-toms

Time will tell.

Richard Wiig said...

To the degree that Sadiq Khan waters down his Islam, he can be integrated. Islam, however, cannot. The election of a Muslim whose loyalty, if he is to follow Islam, must lie first and foremost to the Umma over any other group of people or nation, is merely testament to how stupid Westerners, in this case Londoners, have become.

Richard Wiig said...

A good start? It's nothing other than the standard and ongoing leftist narrative that speaks of everything other than the actual problem. The perverse and disgusting ideology that he talks of is the teachings of his prophet, but he doesn't identify it as such. Until he does, he is no defender.

"Nor does his electoral victory mean the end of western civilisation. It simply shows again that western civilisation embraces all who choose to embrace it."

No. It shows that the purveyors of multiculturalism and diversity have done their job well. A populace that valued Western Civilisation would not elect a Muslim - a follower of a religion that is antithetical to Western Civilisation - to office.

Richard Wiig said...

Tommy Robinson on the new mayor.

https://youtu.be/wpTt34j8Pso

Peter Cresswell said...

Tommy Robinson is a white supremacist. Nice company you're keeping, Richard.

Richard Wiig said...

You've got to be kidding me? Produce the evidence of his white supremacy. You've been reading too many left wing smear jobs.

Richard Wiig said...

An Egyptian, who is clearly a good bloke.

https://youtu.be/WJtQGHrxAgY

Richard Wiig said...

An insightful essay.

http://gatesofvienna.net/2016/05/bassam-tibi-euro-islam-doesnt-have-a-chance/

Richard Wiig said...

Seriously, Peter, do you have evidence that he is a white supremacist? I think he is a good man. If you can produce the evidence I will change my view, but I think you are unjustly maligning him.

Peter Cresswell said...

So after founding and fronting the EDL, the barrow he's currently pushing now he's out of jail again is the UK 'branch' of Pegida -- whose founder and leader was famous, apart from many other delightful things, for wearing a Ku Klux Klan uniform accompanied by the slogan: "Three Ks a day keeps the minorities away." And his videos show him in his own little uniform sporting a White Pride armband.
I can't imagine what gave me the idea. But I do know I won't be hosting links to his shit here.

Richard Wiig said...

The EDL isn't a white supremacist organisation. It was founded to draw attention to and combat the Islamisation of Britain. It has many members who are not white. And Tommy left the organisation precisely because of the white supremacist thuggish element that dogged it, not to mention the leftist element that constantly sabotaged it. Whenever he found those types there, he kicked them out. Pegida is also not a white supremacist organisation. It is another organisation founded to defend against Islamisation, not to promote white supremacy. You haven't provided any evidence that Tommy Robinson is a white supremacist. As for the other guy, I don't know anything about him, and don't I know if his wearing the KKK uniform mean't much or not (it mean't little when Prince Harry wore a Nazi uniform). I'll have to look into it. If it turns out that he is though, it doesn't automatically make PEGIDA a white supremacist organisation.

Here is Pegida's position statement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegida#Position_paper

Where exactly is the white supremacism?

Richard Wiig said...

Ok. The other guy in question, Lutz Bachman, didn't wear a KKK uniform at all. He posted a picture to Facebook of a man wearing a KKK uniform, along with the slogan about three k's a day. That might be very poor taste, but it doesn't automatically make him a white supremacist. It certainly isn't enough to condemn the man.

Peter Cresswell said...

The thing is, I don't propose to wade through the muck to find out any more. He offers nothing of value, and much that isn't.

Richard Wiig said...

More ad hominem. He's fighting for liberty, so he offers plenty of value. In spreading the falsehood that he is a white supremacist you are doing him a grave injustice. If you are going to make those charges about someone you have an obligation to make sure the charge is true.

Peter Cresswell said...

Ad hominem my arse. Anyone who wants to run around in a uniform sportng a white pride armband is making a statement, and that's nothing to do with Liberty.
That's not Liberty. That is garbage.
I recommend you improve your intellectual hygiene.

Richard Wiig said...

You need to improve yours, at least in this instance. What white pride armband are you talking about? I have never seen nor heard of Tommy Robinson wearing a white pride armband. He opposes white supremacism and racism, yet here are you are calling him a white supremacist. Doing the work of the hard-left, in which they deal to opponents of Jihad far more harshly than they deal to Jihadists, which they act to protect.

Peter Cresswell said...

Your standards and research of those you elect to promote are clearly not mine. Yo may do what you wish, but I will not be promoting his ravings, or anyone like his, here.