Right-wing commentators and extremists, who blames Muslims for Friday's terror attacks in Norway, have sought to justify their prejudices - or just blamed them anyway.
Right-wing commentators and extremists, the first to point the finger of blame at ‘them bleeeedin’ Muslims’ for Friday’s terror attacks in Norway, far from admit their prejudicial jumping to conclusions and offering a simple “sorry”, have sought to justify their actions – or just blamed Muslims anyway.
Foremost among them was the EDL, forever claiming to be “not racist” like the BNP, who further exposed themselves for the deluded, hate-filled bigots they are. Incredibly, they have accused Norway of a “cover up” over the attacks.
As Political Scrapbook reports, the official EDL London Facebook page has claimed a “cover up by the left”, laying out supposed evidence for their conspiracy theories, blaming a media “cover up”, and, bizarrely, claiming far-right fanatic Anders Behring Breivik was more like “a rich kid belonging to uaf”.
But it’s not just in the gutter where such sentiments lie.
On the Telegraph blog, James Delingpole, pointedly failing to utter a single word of condemnation of Breivik or his ideology, mentions:
“USS Cole, and the Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam bombings, and the Madrid train bombings, and 7/7, and the ‘Mumbai’ Massacre and the shoebomber plot and the Heathrow plot and the LAX plot and the New York car bomb plot and the Fort Hood massacre and, oh, yeah, 9/11…”
Note the use of quotes around Mumbai. Seems it all went wrong when the colonial names were ditched in Delingpole’s mind.
Even Labour MP Tom Harris (yes, a Labour MP) couldn’t help himself, with a ‘I know I shouldn’t have blamed the Muslims BUT…’ validation of his views:
“I got it wrong and I apologise. I should not have jumped to conclusions, especially not so early on in such a terrible sequence of events.
“But (and of course there’s a “but” or I wouldn’t be writing this), the palpable relief that swept through the left when the identity of the terrorist was made known – a 32-year-old Norwegian christian fundamentalist – was revealing. Here, thank God, was a terrorist we can all hate without equivocation: white, christian and far right-wing.”
And, just as with Delingpole, no real condemnation of Breivik, compared to the paragraphs of condemnation of Islamist terrorism.
In the Sun, meanwhile, despite splashing with “‘Al-Qaeda’ massacre: Norway’s 9/11” on Saturday, today, a massive picture of Amy Winehouse and just half a column on Norway.
As the excellent Charlie Brooker wrote in today’s Guardian:
“Soon, the front page of Saturday’s Sun was rolling off the presses. “Al-Qaeda” Massacre: NORWAY’S 9/11 – the weasel quotes around the phrase “Al Qaeda” deemed sufficient to protect the paper from charges of jumping to conclusions.”
It won’t surprise you that Fox News gets a mention from Brooker as well:
“Some remained scarily defiant in the face of the new unfolding reality. On Saturday morning I saw a Fox News anchor tell former US diplomat John Bolton that Norwegian police were saying this appeared to be an Oklahoma-style attack, then ask him how that squared with his earlier assessment that al-Qaida were involved. He was sceptical. It was still too early to leap to conclusions, he said.
“We should wait for all the facts before rushing to judgment. In other words: assume it’s the Muslims until it starts to look like it isn’t – at which point, continue to assume it’s them anyway.”
Finally, with the likes of the Mail, Express and Tom Harris in mind, Brooker concludes:
“As more information regarding the identity of the terrorist responsible for the massacre comes to light, articles attempting to explain his motives are starting to appear online. And beneath them are comments from readers, largely expressing outrage and horror. But there are a disturbing number that start, ‘What this lunatic did was awful, but…’
“These ‘but’ commenters then go on to discuss immigration, often with reference to a shaky Muslim-baiting story they’ve half-remembered from the press.
“So despite this being a story about an anti-Muslim extremist killing Norwegians who weren’t Muslim, they’ve managed to find a way to keep the finger of blame pointing at the Muslims, thereby following a narrative lead they’ve been fed for years, from the overall depiction of terrorism as an almost exclusively Islamic pursuit, outlined by ‘security experts’ quick to see al-Qaida tentacles everywhere, to the fabricated tabloid fairytales about ‘Muslim-only loos’ or local councils ‘banning Christmas’.”
Islamist extremism is a real threat, and this blog has called on the Left to examine itself or tackle any assistance, unwittingly or otherwise, it may give to it. But, given that Breivik quoted extensively from right-wing UK newspapers in his ‘manifesto’, you would think this is the time for the Right to do so similarly, rather than beat the anti-Islam drum.
48 Responses to “Norway tragedy: The hard-right haters are still going on about Islam”
Ed's Talking Balls
‘Islamic extremists have a legitimate reason to fight back against Western Imperialism’
Repugnant. I don’t legitimise terrorists, who will always find some way to justify why they slaughter defenceless civilians.
Hz
Maybe just maybe people were “relieved” (if indeed that is the right word) it wasn’t an Islamist attack because there are plenty of people in this country who are far too happy to use an Islamist attack to have a go at ordinary Muslims? It’s only been a week since Mark Stroman was executed in America for responding to the 11th September attacks by shooting three people whose only crime was to be Asian in appearance (one was a Hindu, ffs).
Maybe people were glad that this wouldn’t cause a wave of mosque attacks, EDL marches and other inflamatory behaviour by people who will take any excuse to attack Muslims. You can cry and scream all you like about tutted comments, but the number of churches which will be burnt cos of this is zero, and number of blonde white people who will be beaten up in ‘revenge’ will be zero.
And once again, what is with the desperation to paint all leftists as friends of extremist Islam and argue that groups with nationalist agendas as leftwing? Seriously? My dad spent the 1970s and 80s stating calmly that he was a peaceful, anglophile Irish man, not denying that the IRA were Irish.
Dave Atherton
If I can add further fuel to the fire and accuse the left of more hypocrisy. During the Toxteth, Brixton, Broadwater Farm and other riots the liberal-left went out of its way to appease perpetrators of violent disorder, criminal damage and in the case of PC Blakelock, murder.
While NOTHING justifies in any shape or form Breivik’s actions of utter evil, when the UK’s white working classes want their grievances addressed on immigration and as the main recipients of multi culturalism they are howled down as swivel eyed racists and toothbrush mustachioed, Nazis. So much for a mature, open, democratic debate.
This is the major disconnect from middle class socialism of Labour and the reality if you are working class and have tried to illustrate it with what real working class people do as a society and lifestyle.
I have lived in multi cultural societies for 25 years, Hackney, Leytonstone and Stratford and it does not bother me that much. However I can understand people who do.
Dave Atherton
@Hz What about this. I was attacked by 6 Asians in Bethnall Green East London on Christmas Eve 2003 for no other reason than I was not one of them. I had said nothing and done nothing. Also here are a couple of other recent incidents in Tower Hamlets, the latter quote is from the BBC, the first Daily Mail.
“A vicar was in hospital last night after being attacked in his churchyard by two youths in what is being treated as a ‘faith hate’ crime.”
“Four Muslim men who assaulted a religious education teacher because they did not approve of him teaching Muslim girls have been jailed.”
Anon E Mouse
Hz – I have yet to see Labour supporting female commentators in the press criticise muslims at all for their repression of woman. Please outline when the Indy’s Yasmin Alibhai-Brown has ever condemned Islam. She’s afraid of retribution from Islamic fanatics.
On this very site a contributor called Kevin Meagher refuses to criticise the IRA and actually claims that terrorist atrocities committed by that organisation were “Guerrilla Warfare” and not terrorism despite Labour proscribing them as terrorists in 2000.
And he was an advisor to the then Labour Northern Ireland Secretary so that feeling is at the heart of the Labour project.
https://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/01/gerry-adams-david-cameron-departure-from-commons/index.html
Ken Livingston has associated with a horrible Islamic nutter called Yusuf al-Qaradawi who calls for homosexuals to be executed and claims husbands have the right to beat their wives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Livingstone#Meeting_with_Islamic_Cleric_Yusuf_al-Qaradawi
Your post sounds great but the FACTS speak for themselves I’m afraid….