ENGAGE has posted a reply to Leo McKinstry’s column in yesterday’s Daily Express, where he warned against celebrating the overthrow of tyrants like Mubarak and Ben Ali.
McKinstry spouts the usual right-wing nonsense about the possible “installation of hardline Muslim theocracies in Cairo, Algiers or Tripoli”, resulting in “a terrifying new era of totalitarian repression, which would also grievously threaten the security of both Israel and Europe”. It is clear, however, that McKinstry’s real hatred is directed not so much against the “hardline Muslim theocracies” of his imagination but rather against Islam as a faith.
Referring to the horrific assault on US reporter Lara Logan in Tahrir Square, McKinstry writes: “Two of the most malevolent traits of Islam were captured during her terrifying ordeal. One, the rampant misogyny we see all the time in Britain, whether it be in the imposition of the burkha or the activities of Muslim sex gangs preying on young white girls. The other, the ingrained anti-semitism of the creed.”
He continues:
Islam has long proved incompatible with Western ideas of secular liberalism, which makes the events in Africa all the more concerning. Thanks to the malign twin forces of mass immigration and multi-culturalism, all our societies have large Muslim populations: three million in Britain, five million in Germany and 10 million in France.
Instead of integrating, many Muslims in Europe have clung to separatism, reflected in everything from the incidence of domestic terrorism to the demands for the acceptance of Sharia law. One shocking survey of Muslim students at British universities showed that a third supported killing in the name of Islam.
The response of Western politicians is sickening. Rather than strive to uphold our civilisation, they tell us there is no cause for worry. The real problem, they tell us, is the nasty prejudice of Islamophobia, so they try to impose a climate of censorship with accusations of racism.
Even worse, parts of the Left have sought to make common cause with Muslim zealots, pretending that the anti-Western, anti-Israeli, anticapitalist sentiment of Islam is somehow progressive when in truth it is deeply reactionary.
We have to open our eyes. The West will not survive if we continue to deceive ourselves.
If you’re ever inclined wonder where the likes of the EDL and the BNP acquire their ignorant racist fantasies about Islam, just read Leo McKinstry’s column.