Terror at the mosque
In a third terror attack on British soil in less than a month, a lone driver last week mowed down worshippers near a London mosque, injuring 12 people, one of whom later died. “I am going to kill all Muslims”, and “This is for London Bridge”, he is said to have shouted as he drove a rented van into a group who had been attending late-night Ramadan prayers at Finsbury Park’s Muslim Welfare House. Dragged from the cab and pinned down by angry onlookers, the man reportedly begged to be killed. But he was shielded from serious injury by an imam who called for restraint, before police arrived minutes later.
The suspect was later identified as Darren Osborne, 47, an unemployed father-of-four from Cardiff. Neighbours described him as a violent heavy drinker with a history of mental problems. He was arrested on suspicion of terror offences. Theresa May said the attack was “every bit as sickening” as the London and Manchester atrocities.
What the editorials said
Jeremy Corbyn, in whose constituency the Muslim Welfare House is located, declared himself “totally shocked” by the attack, said The Times. But the sad fact is it was all too predictable. Different faith communities now “coexist in entrenched mutual suspicion”, and anti-muslim sentiment is growing: far-right extremists now account for a third of all referrals to the Prevent deradicalisation scheme. Extremists on both sides are stoking the flames, said the Daily Mail. One leading far-right figure described this atrocity online as a “revenge attack”; Isis has issued a statement telling British Muslims they are now “at war with Jews and Christians”. Such voices must be countered. “If we allow the terrorists to divide us, they have won.”
The one bright spot in this horrific story is the courage and humanity displayed by the mosque’s imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, said The Independent. So much for the warped idea that all imams are “fellow travellers of Isis”. The spirit of Abu Hamza, who once preached hatred at the nearby Finsbury Park Mosque, has finally been exorcised.
What the commentators said
For years, British Muslims have been accused of oversensitivity and of “playing the victim” when they have complained of rising hostility, said Basit Mahmood in The Independent. But when Islamophobia “goes unchecked”, violence against Muslims is the inevitable result. The past month has seen a 40% rise in the number of racist incidents, and a fivefold rise in cases of Islamophobia, according to the office of the London Mayor. Muslims live in fear: after so many press reports of women being spat at and hijabs being pulled off, my own mother agonises about leaving home alone. The right-wing media bears much of the blame, said Nesrine Malik in The Guardian. Over the years, it has contrived to “normalise” anti-muslim feeling: in different circumstances, it would itself be called “radicalisation”. Tabloids no longer bother to conceal their prejudice. Columnist Katie Hopkins has been allowed to keep her job at the Daily Mail even after her tweet about a “final solution”. “Islamophobia has its preachers too.”
Let us try to keep politics out of the debate, said Douglas Murray on his Spectator blog. Right now, the very people who refuse openly to blame Muslim figures for any crime committed “in the name of Islam” are lining up to hold their political enemies responsible for the tragedy at Finsbury Park. J.K. Rowling, among others, has even pointed the finger at Nigel Farage. Can’t we have a little consistency on this? The truth is that “Britain is not Islamophobic”, said Qari Asim in The Daily Telegraph. London has a Muslim Mayor, our Parliament is the most diverse in history, with several women Muslim MPS, and you can wear a headscarf and still become queen of The Great British Bake Off. I hold down a job as a senior lawyer while also leading daily prayers at a mosque. And look at how the leaders of all parties have joined in condemning the latest outrage, treating it no differently than an Islamist-inspired terror attack. Despite the latest horror, Britain remains “one of the best countries in the world to be a Muslim”.