Jamie

Weinstein

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June 23, 2009

In the UK, an Islamist Threat from Within

LONDON – On a warm London evening last week, I attended what was supposed to be a debate between Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, and Anjem Choudary, a radical Islamist activist in the UK who envisions an England under Sharia law. The two were supposed to debate the merits of Sharia Law vs. British Law, but when I showed up a confrontation had erupted between the radical Islamist followers of Choudary and David Toube, a gentleman attending the event who sought to watch the debate with the mixed group of men and women with whom he came (including some Muslims).

But the radical Islamists would have none of it. After being prevented from entering with his female companions, Toube consulted the man who was responsible for renting the venue and was informed that sex-segregation was not permitted. With this new information in hand, Toube then tried to reenter the auditorium with one of his female friends. This time he was assaulted and forcibly removed by Choudary’s thugs, who told Toube they couldn’t care in the slightest that he was going to report the incident to the police.

While the assault was not as serious as it might have been, Choudary’s thugs meant business. Looking into their eyes, one saw unrestrained evil. And Choudary’s organization, al-Muhajiroun, is not reputed for being composed of boy scouts. According to the Centre for Social Cohesion, 15 percent of those convicted of terrorism-related offenses in the United Kingdom “were either members of, or have known links to, the organization.” Present at the event was al-Muhajiroun member Simon Keeler, who was convicted in April 2008 of inciting terrorism. Two offshoots of al-Muhajiroun have already been banned by the British government under the 2006 UK Terrorism Act. Thankfully, the British police showed up in force before things got completely out of hand.

“The Sharia is taking this country,” Choudary proclaimed to his followers and gathered press outside the auditorium after the debate was officially cancelled. “In a couple of generations this will be a Muslim Country, Inshallah (Allah Willing) . . . We will dominate this country brothers and implement the beauty and the perfection of the justice of al-Islam.” Choudary’s supporters responded with chants of Allah Akbar (Allah is Great) while their lady folk stood removed from the fray dressed in full burkas. This is not the type of scene one expects to see in the center of London.

Choudary, who notoriously hosted a conference praising the 9/11 hijackers as the “Magnificent 19,” refused in an interview with me to condemn the 2005 London Bombings. This isn’t surprising considering that in other settings Choudary has said you cannot be an innocent victim unless you are a Muslim and that he would never condemn Muslims for what they do. Despite Choudary’s propaganda, listening to the interviews he has given there is no question that he is a supporter of terrorism against the West and a potential abettor of it.

But Choudary was once a far different person.

“He was an ordinary guy,” the assaulted spectator Taube told me in an interview about Choudary, with whom he was friends at university a generation ago. “He had friends who were from all different walks of life, ethnicities, social classes. He was a normal, nice bloke. And somehow in the last 20 years he has become the leader of basically one of the most dangerous, fascist groups in Britain.”

Indeed, in college Choudary drank and occasionally smoked marijuana. I asked Taube how a student like Choudary would be treated in the type of Sharia-governed society he seeks to create in the UK.

“You know, in the sort of Sharia state he would want to create, he would be very severely punished for his conduct back then,” Taube said. “From what I have seen tonight he has become a demagogical leader of a fascist organization and that is not an improvement on a student who smokes a little bit of marijuana.”

“I would like the old Andy Choudary back again,” Taube lamented in conclusion. “I’ve lost a friend.”

But Andy is now Anjem, the leader of a dangerous fifth column in Britain. Showing up to the debate flanked by two bulky bodyguards for protection, Douglas Murray called for the British government to ban Choudary’s organization.

“This event tonight, the people at this event, once again the thuggery and intimidation they have practiced show why al-Muhajiroun should be banned,” Murray told the press. “And it is an extraordinary oversight by the British government. I hope they rectify it in the next few hours.”

As for why the debate was cancelled?

“You can’t debate ideas when people get assaulted when they turn up to a debate,” Murray said. “You can’t get a debate or free inquiry, free discussion taking place under these circumstances.”

I have never in my life seen eyes filled with so much evil as I did last week. I have little doubt that if Choudary gave his hooligans the go ahead to engage in much greater violence than the limited violence they did engage in, many of his followers would have been delighted to do so.

Choudary’s organization poses a real and present danger to British society. They are trying to take advantage of the freedoms the West provides to instill their anti-liberal vision on it. They are dangerous and the British government has a responsibility to see to it that the public is protected from this menace.

While the West confronts radical Islamist terrorists abroad, it cannot forget the threat that exists from within.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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