Translated material
Crying in the square and in the wilderness
British Muslim protests are becoming more peaceful
The Muslim demonstration in London this Saturday was anything but peaceful. No one chanted “Death to Denmark” anymore, no one appeared dressed as a suicide bomber and demanded that the heads of the cartoonists who dared to draw the Prophet Muhammad be cut off. The main slogan, standardly printed in many copies, could be translated something like this: “We are against inciting religious intolerance.”A BBC correspondent with a bright face conducted interviews, all filled with dignity and restrained indignation. “We came here to declare that we love the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, more than our children, parents, husbands and wives,” a girl in a beige hijab said with conviction, standing in the middle of Trafalgar Square. “But you would also like to reiterate that you are committed to peaceful means of protest only, would you not?” - the correspondent prompted. “Yes, yes, of course, Islam is a religion of peace, we are against violence,” the girl quickly picked up. And people with bored faces crowded around, and the director, it seems, also became sad, decided to end the live broadcast ahead of schedule - the demonstration of Muslim workers smelled strongly of rehearsal.
And this is not surprising, because it was organized by the so-called moderates, that is, Islamic organizations that have grown into the system, with the support of the mayor’s office, and, according to rumors, even higher authorities. They also say that participants in the demonstration were carefully screened to prevent radicals from entering the main square of the city. But as a result, instead of the promised 30 thousand, they managed to collect only five times less, and the demonstration itself proceeded sluggishly, without spark. It’s not like two weeks ago, when fluff and feathers were flying, as they say, at the Danish Embassy in London. How the eyes sparkled, what genuine anger and rage could be read on the expressive faces, what a powerful roar merged thousands of voices demanding righteous retribution. It is immediately clear where the real expression of the genuine feelings and moods of the masses is, and where it is false.
Then, in the wake of that first, sincere demonstration, the police initially rushed to grab the counter-demonstrators - those who tried to speak out in defense of the right to write and say anything. The police are quite understandable; after all, the task was set to be difficult: on the one hand, to prevent the destruction of the embassy, and on the other, not to offend Muslims, to show respect and tolerance towards them. And then suddenly these freedom of speech, as if deliberately adding fuel to the fire, angers already angry and dangerous people even more. The next day, however, it turned out that public opinion did not really like this, and the police had to bring in some of the most violent Islamic radicals for further investigation, including one former drug dealer who dressed up as a suicide bomber.
Great Britain remained one of the few Western European countries in which Danish cartoons were not published by any printed publication. (There is nothing to say about the BBC and other television channels.) They could only be seen on the Internet. Newspapers congratulate themselves and each other on their restraint, but the Internet is full of skeptics among its writers. Some ask: are you sure, gentlemen, that this is wisdom and not ordinary cowardice? Perhaps you are simply afraid, especially after the July explosions, to find yourself facing an Islamic uprising inside the country, and facing ostracism from a billion Muslims outside?
Moreover, quite a few Britons (due to too close friendship with America) are now in Iraq and Afghanistan, so their love for freedom of speech in their homeland may backfire on them. And what could happen to the employees of one particular publication, which would decide to show solidarity with their Danish colleagues, is generally terrible to imagine - they would certainly have to endure fear.
Official estimates suggest there are fewer than two million Muslims in Britain, but Muslim leaders say the numbers are much higher. The community is growing at an amazing rate, both due to higher birth rates and immigration. The Islamic arc stretches across the center of Great Britain - from the north of the country to London, with rapidly growing branches to the west and east. Some demographers predict that in 10-15 years, in all cities of this zone, Muslims will form the majority, they will form local councils, and so on, and Sharia will become the main law, at least for Muslims. After this, the dispute between the two main British Islamist schools, Barelvi and Deobandi, about ways to transform Great Britain into an Islamic state will no longer be of a very abstract nature...
In the meantime, Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to smooth out the impression of the very harsh statements of other British officials who somehow attacked the Danes too harshly. Blair called for respect for “people’s religious feelings,” but at the same time called violence an “unacceptable form” of protest. And Zahir Mirza (a Muslim, judging by his name) from Kent recalled that the cartoons may deserve condemnation, but still they were not intended to ridicule the prophet. “Some Muslims didn't notice the irony. Indeed, the cartoons accurately reflect the view of Islam that Osama bin Laden's supporters cultivate around the world: the idea that the prophet is somehow the forerunner and inspirer of the actions of modern terrorists,” he wrote in the Guardian newspaper. But his voice remained the voice of one crying in the wilderness.