Remember when Britain had a real Prime Minister?
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 10/06/2001 4:33:38 AM PDT by Movemout
London (CNSNews.com) - Former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher drew rebukes from religious leaders and current Tory party officials Thursday after she told a British newspaper that Muslims have not adequately condemned the September 11 attacks on the United States.
In an interview published Thursday in The Times of London, Thatcher said: "The people who brought down those towers were Muslims, and Muslims must stand up and say that that is not the way of Islam ... I have not heard enough condemnation from Muslim priests."
It was Thatcher's first public comments since the attacks.
The Conservative Party released a statement Thursday that said, in part: "Earlier this week, the Conservative leadership met with senior leaders of the Muslim community to discuss the terrorist atrocities and the recent spate of anti-Islamic attacks in this country. We agreed to publicly condemn both international terrorism and any attempt to restrict freedom of religious expression ... We simply do not agree with Lady Thatcher."
Party leaders also condemned Thatcher's statements. Michael Heseltine, who served as Thatcher's deputy prime minister, said during an interview with the BBC: "I find it difficult to find words to describe my horror" at her remarks.
The Church of England also expressed surprise, saying that there was indeed a "rapid and vocal" condemnation by Muslim leaders.
In a letter to The Times obtained by CNSNews.com, The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) slammed both Thatcher and the newspaper, which printed the interview on its front page.
"We at the MCB find it rather ironic that whilst preaching restraint, tolerance and understanding you appear to practice none of these in giving Baroness Thatcher's inflammatory and ill-informed remarks such high profile in your newspaper," the letter read. "We hope that you will exercise better judgement in the way that you act in the future."
MCB Secretary General Yousuf Bhailok called Thatcher's remarks "insensitive."
"Her comments were hurtful to the Muslim community," Bhailok said. "What would she say, for example, if we demanded that all of Christendom apologize for Timothy McVeigh?"
On September 11, the Muslim Council issued a "total condemnation" of the attacks, stating, "no cause can justify this carnage."
Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim College, told The Times that every mosque in Britain, with the exception of two radical sects, had condemned the attacks and made them the subject of sermons.
"We have also written numerous articles, letters and given comments to that effect," Badawi said.
After a lackluster showing at the general election in June and a change of leadership, the Tories have tried to appeal to a broader range of the British public, including ethnic minorities. Party leaders declined to speculate Thursday on how Thatcher's remarks would affect the Conservatives' image.
Thatcher served as Prime Minister from 1979 until her ouster as Conservative Party leader in 1990.
BS! The purpose of 9/11 was to kill as many Americans as possible and to rub our noses into our impotence by using our technology and freedom against us. Our reaction to Muslims is based on the aftermath of this act of war. Our reaction to Muslims is based on the Muslim celebrations throughout the world following the deaths of 7000 innocent American civilians. Our reaction to Muslims is based on your pious defense of Islam when it is indisputable that the attackers were motivated by religion … and that religion was Islam.
The American people understand sectarian divisions within a religion. We do not hate all Muslims, but we are getting pretty sick of those who hate us, and their apologists. Yes, that means you.
Love and peace.
Don't let the boneheads wear you down Maggie.
Give it a rest. You've been a busy little boy for a newby.
Love and peace.
IRNORANCE IS STUPIDITY “
Actually, no. One can be ignorant of certain things while being wise. For example, ignorance of spell checking does not make one stupid.
Modern diplomacy sure is strange. In the age of instant communications, Orwellian doublespeak must be maintained.
Personally, any expressions of outrage which must be induced from these Muslim "leaders" by pressure or by appealing to their fear of world outrage is meaningless.
This is a religious war.
It's simply a question of how long it will be before the west accepts it and responds in kind.
Isn't that sweet?
Pour invective and hate daily through hundreds of TV stations, radio stations and bullhorns exhorting savages to kill Americans, but...
We must carefully look for the magic sites that whisper "regrets"?
If you can not see the dichotomy, you are worse than an idiot; You are one of them.
You mean he didn't have "Christian Crusade" plastered all over his headband?
He didn't shout "Allah"? He didn't belong to a group know worldwide as "
ISLAMIC Jihad"?
What is so 'horrible' about this simple statement?
It's her personal opinion - she holds no public office - and the weeping and wailing from British Muslims and her own party is a mostly PC knee-jerk reaction ('we can't upset the Muslims') and a plain political reaction from the out-of-power party who fears 'offending' possible future voters. The 'outcry' in England is way out of proportion. This attempt to condemn anyone, even a former Prime Minister, who dares to note that Muslim clerics are less than forthright in their condemnation of the terrorists is a result of, first PC gone wild and second, a denial of the fact that the terrorists were driven by hate that their religion taught them, albeit a distorted version of the religion.
The assault on the WTC and the Pentagon September 11th was not an act committed by terrorists who happened to be Muslim; the act was carried out by men who were driven by a twisted conception of their faith. It was very much a religious act for them. This reality requires severe condemnation from Muslim clerics worldwide and to date, it's been rather muted when it should be loud and clear.
Lady Thatcher has a point.
The screen name alone might lead us to that conclusion, if the rhetoric wasn't proof enough.
'Night.
Islam shields these animals, it rises up to decry racisim in others whenever one of its chldren tosses a rock - or a bomb.
Proof is a nonsensical term where the entire audience is bound to ignore it.
These freaks, and their entire rooting section, have carried victimhood to the logical end - blind presumption that any and all crimes committed BY self defined victims are justified within their own definition.
Same thing applies to our own islamic militants and to the illegal alien invasion currently being papered over as racisim on the part of English speaking Americans.
Diplomacy in this regard comes down to serious threats and making it very clear that the threats will be carried out.
Dropping 'food aid' and free passes on them has clearly not worked.
And by the looks of demonstrations daily worlwide, it is exactly what most Muslims want too.
I am impatient to accomodate them.
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