The LA Times reports:
"The large numbers of Muslims of South Asian descent plays a role in the amount of homegrown militants in the U.K. Britain has the largest population of Pakistani immigrants in the world, and British radicals find inspiration, training and direction in Pakistan, an outpost for the remnants of Al Qaeda and affiliated networks that operate training camps and hatch plots against the West.
Moreover, critics say, a longtime British policy of tolerating Islamic ideologues has turned London, known sardonically as "Londonistan," into a haven for holy warriors and allowed extremist ideas to seep into mainstream thinking in Muslim communities.
Britain remains a caldron of Islamic movements and militants whose diversity and volatility are unmatched in Europe: Somali refugees, Saudi financiers, Egyptian scholars, Afro-Caribbean jailhouse converts."
The article paints a frightening picture of neglect of minorities and an indifference to issues affecting Muslim communities - not only in Britain but across Europe. Witness the riots in France at the end of last year. Read the LA Times article, in full, here, for an insight into an issue which won't easily go away unless tackled head-on.
For another perspective on what is driving young people to terrorism - this time from Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of the Beirut Star Lebanon - read this piece in The Age here. As Khouri says:
"Talk about wake-up calls. The arrest of 24 people in England who allegedly planned to blow up numerous planes over the Atlantic Ocean is about as dramatic and dangerous as it gets in the wake-up-call department. Something is driving average young men to plan and execute deeds of brutal, almost unimaginable, inhumanity, targeting innocent civilians in the West who have nothing to do with whatever conflict may be at hand here."
"The large numbers of Muslims of South Asian descent plays a role in the amount of homegrown militants in the U.K. Britain has the largest population of Pakistani immigrants in the world, and British radicals find inspiration, training and direction in Pakistan, an outpost for the remnants of Al Qaeda and affiliated networks that operate training camps and hatch plots against the West.
Moreover, critics say, a longtime British policy of tolerating Islamic ideologues has turned London, known sardonically as "Londonistan," into a haven for holy warriors and allowed extremist ideas to seep into mainstream thinking in Muslim communities.
Britain remains a caldron of Islamic movements and militants whose diversity and volatility are unmatched in Europe: Somali refugees, Saudi financiers, Egyptian scholars, Afro-Caribbean jailhouse converts."
The article paints a frightening picture of neglect of minorities and an indifference to issues affecting Muslim communities - not only in Britain but across Europe. Witness the riots in France at the end of last year. Read the LA Times article, in full, here, for an insight into an issue which won't easily go away unless tackled head-on.
For another perspective on what is driving young people to terrorism - this time from Rami Khouri, editor-at-large of the Beirut Star Lebanon - read this piece in The Age here. As Khouri says:
"Talk about wake-up calls. The arrest of 24 people in England who allegedly planned to blow up numerous planes over the Atlantic Ocean is about as dramatic and dangerous as it gets in the wake-up-call department. Something is driving average young men to plan and execute deeds of brutal, almost unimaginable, inhumanity, targeting innocent civilians in the West who have nothing to do with whatever conflict may be at hand here."
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