So it is foregin policy!

My fellow blogger Azad Ali wrote a blog a few weeks ago titled It’s foreign policy stupid! He was of course referring to one of the main contributing factors which disillusioned and alienated young British Muslims.

There are many international ‘adventures’ one can cite; Bush’s war on Iraq, which thus far cost over a million lives. Though British people overwhelmingly objected to what by any standard of International law was an illegal war. This did not sway Tony Blair, he preferred to hoodwink Britain into joining Bush’s war based on lies and deals struck previously in private.

The decade old conflict in Palestine, where the Israeli killing machine fulfils all its barbaric whims on the defenceless and dispossessed Palestinians. Remember what Israel did in Jenin April 2002, then in Lebanon 2006. All the while Israel increased its illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, bulldozed Palestinian homes, contaminated Palestinian water supplies with raw sewage and built an apartheid wall cutting off Palestinian neighbourhoods.

These ‘adventures’ are the single most important contributing factor to the radicalisation of British Muslims.

Many Muslim grass-roots organisations such as IFE and umbrella bodies such as the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) tried in vain to impress this point upon the government of Tony Blair. Of course, Tony Blair and his administration would have none of it. Mr. Blair’s obstinate and mega narrative, assisted by self-professed ‘leaders’ and ‘born again extremists’, sought to push the blame on the ‘Islamist.’

Then we had the genocide in Gaza, where after almost two years of siege Israel’s war machine went to work. Despite the manipulation of Western Media by the Israelis, atrocities were carried out by the IDF in front of our eyes and the world simply looked on. Women and Children were not spared, illegal use of weapons, bombing of schools run by the UN no less, targeting of ambulances, and even hospitals. Did we get any outright condemnation from the government? Israel right or wrong exposed Western double standards.

Lord West of Spithead, the security and counter-terrorism minister it seems has got the message. The Guardian reports he was scathing about Tony Blair’s assertion that foreign policy did not heighten risks of a terror attack in the UK. Lord West referring to Gaza said: “We never used to accept that our foreign policy ever had any effect on terrorism, well, that was clearly bollocks.”

And “They [the Blair administration] were very unwilling to have any debate about how our foreign policy impacted on radicalisation.”

Having accepted this fact, it is important that the government works to redress the damage caused thus far. Britain needs to regain its independence and formulate its own foreign policy. Remember Blair’s sound bite ‘ethical foreign policy’ well it’s time British foreign policy lived up to justice, fairness and equality, values which are quintessentially British.

As regards to Lord West’s point, I can confirm Muslims have become disillusioned and alienated. Can you blame them having watched the kind of terror rained down on Gaza by Israel. But thanks to organisations like IFE and BMI and the Stop the War Coalition, Muslims have collectively joined with millions of Britons in demanding justice for the oppressed. 

These organisations have been busy galvanising young and old, Muslim and Non-Muslim by organising protests, campaigns, and political lobbying to ensure the government lives up to its role and acts in the interests of Britain.

And instead of listening to highly paid ‘ex-extremists’ Muslims who don’t even have an iota of influence, the government would be better advised to listen to organisations who really do have their finger on the pulse.