ties that bind - sep 11

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Later, when the Armed Forces Muslim Association was launched in October 2009, another prominent website linked to BNP members and supporters called ‘Green Arrow’ similarly lambasted the presence of Muslims in the armed forces. Describing Islam as ‘the cult of the dead paedophile’, the article said ‘no true Brit’ would ever feel safe …with a bunch of moslems [sic] whose loyalty is not towards Our Country but to a dead pervert… 10 The Green Arrow website is not on the outer fringes of the BNP. Detailed analysis by the anti-fascist campaign group, Nothing British about the BNP, reveals that the Green Arrow author was a ‘welcome guest’ of the Bridgend BNP in December 2008. 11 The website has also been used to publicise the views of individuals such as Bill Murray, former secretary of the Welsh BNP who left the party to become director of Soldiers off the Street. 12 Of course, the views of the BNP and their supporters find little traction with the vast majority of people. But the campaign which delivered a measure of electoral success to the BNP during the European elections in June 2009 focused on – in part at least – an anti-Muslim platform which exploited these fears. Such concerns will only have been exacerbated by the Fort Hood shootings carried out in November 2009 by a Muslim serviceman, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, in the United StatesArmy. Expressing radical beliefs and making contact withAnwar al-Awlaki – an al-Qaeda theoretician – Hasan’s activities did attract the attention of the FBI, although no action was taken. 13 Hasan later betrayed his comrades and countrymen by killing 13 people and injuring a further 30 at the Fort Hood base inTexas. It prompted widespread debate and concern, among both Muslim and non-Muslim communities, about the place of Muslims in the armed forces of western countries. Those concerns are very real – and widely held across the country. For example, Gallup, a global opinion research company, and the Coexist Foundation, which is a UK-based charity promoting better understanding between Abrahamic Faiths, teamed up to create the Muslim West Facts Project (MWFP). It aimed to ‘disseminate the findings of the Gallup World Poll to key opinion leaders in the West and Muslim world’. 14 Polling conducted by the MWFP in 2009 revealed the chasm between the perception of the British public as a whole, compared to that of British Muslims regarding the question of whether Muslims are loyal to this country (see figure 1 below). 15 Almost half of the general public (49 percent) do not believe Muslims are loyal citizens, compared to 82 percent of British Muslims who believe that British Muslims are loyal – revealing a marked disjuncture between the way Muslims and the wider community view the former. Despite the loyalty most Muslims feel towards Britain, there is an apparent scepticism and perceived lack of belonging where the armed forces are concerned (see Table 6, page 78). The armed forces today need to better communicate their message, by demonstrating the long-standing record of service which Muslims have rendered to this country since they first joined the forces of the East India Company in 1757. 16 A letter in October 2009 signed by three former Chiefs of the General Staff – Lord Guthrie, General Sir Mike Jackson, General Sir Richard Dannatt – and Major General Patrick Cordingley, who previously led the 7th Introduc�on 10 http://www.thegreenarrow. co.uk/index.php/writers/arrowstraight/335-armed-forces-musli m-association-launched; (emphasis from original article retained) 11 http://www.nothingbritish. com/10/bnp-blog-condemns-thecontribution-of-muslim-servicemen/ 12 Ibid. 13 Protecting the Force: Lesson from Fort Hood, Report of the DoD Independent Review (January 2010); Also see: http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrl/ press-releases/investigationcontinues-into-fort-hood-shooting 14 www.muslimwestfacts.com. See also: http://www.euroislam.info/2009/05/15/the-gallup-coexist-index-2009-a-globalstudy-of-interfaith-relations/ 15 The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations (Gallup, 2009) p.20 16 David Omissi, Sepoy and the Raj: The Indian Army 1860-1940 (London, 1994) policyexchange.org.uk | 9
Ties that Bind 17 Stolen Valour: How the forces of extremism and racism are hijacking the good name of Britain’s military, and what needs to be done to stop them, edited by James Bethell. See: www. nothing british.com/Stolen Valour.pdf 18 Ibid. 19 http://www.wewerethere. defencedynamics.mod.uk/ww1/b ackground_ww1.html 10 | policyexchange.org.uk Armoured Brigade (Desert Rats) in the first Gulf War, went some way towards addressing this. 17 Their letter called on the BNP to ‘cease and desist’ from hijacking ‘the good name of Britain’s military’. It continued: Commonwealth soldiers, who comprise about 10% of the Services, represent an invaluable contribution to the success of Britain’s military, both in history and the current day. Many have won the highest awards. 18 Figure 1: Do you think the following statement applies: ‘Muslims living in this country are loyal to this country’? 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 36 49 15 Bri�sh public Bri�sh Muslims Don’t know/refused Does not apply Applies Popularising the record of Muslim servicemen who fought for Britain in the First and Second World Wars is one of the ways the armed forces can undermine the canards of the BNP – while reconnecting with British Muslims and encouraging them to consider military careers. It is a remarkable fact that hundreds of thousands of Muslims volunteered to fight for Britain during the First and SecondWorldWars. In 1914 they even fought the ostensible Muslim power of the day – the Ottoman Empire – with whom it was feared their loyalties might lie.Why did they choose to fight for Britain? What motivated them? And how did they reconcile the competing demands on their loyalty – between a King who required their services, and an Ottoman Sultan who, as Caliph, demanded their loyalty as the successor to the Prophet Mohammed and leader of the Muslim community? Of course, it was not just Muslims who volunteered. During the Great War, over one million men from across the Commonwealth enlisted for the British war effort from territories as far and wide as the British West Indies to Egypt; from the Indian subcontinent to Mauritius, Fiji and China. 19 Hindus, Sikhs and others from within the Indian Empire played their own particular distinguished parts in this record of service. But their role in the service of the Crown is not contested today, either from within or without their own communities, in the same way as is that of Muslims.That is why a renewed focus on what really happened to Muslims in past conflicts holds so much of the key to their future participation in our national life. The effect of 9/11 on Muslim identity in the West has been acute, causing many to regard the relationship between their creed and country as being in 82 6 12
Page 1 and 2: Ties that Bind How the story of Bri
Page 3 and 4: 2 | policyexchange.org.uk About the
Page 5 and 6: 4 | policyexchange.org.uk Appendix
Page 7 and 8: 6 | policyexchange.org.uk Executive
Page 9: Ties that Bind 3 See: http://www.cp
Page 13 and 14: Ties that Bind 12 | policyexchange.
Page 15 and 16: Ties that Bind 27 Omissi, The Sepoy
Page 17 and 18: Ties that Bind 16 | policyexchange.
Page 19 and 20: Ties that Bind 41 Ibid. p.28 42 Ibi
Page 21 and 22: Ties that Bind 47 Geoffrey Bennet,
Page 23 and 24: Ties that Bind 58 Ibid. Also see, M
Page 25 and 26: Ties that Bind 64 Punjabi Musalman
Page 27 and 28: Ties that Bind 74 Omissi, Sepoy and
Page 29 and 30: Ties that Bind 84 The Comrade, 7 No
Page 31 and 32: Ties that Bind 90 Ibid, p.5 91 Ibid
Page 33 and 34: Ties that Bind 107 Ibid. 108 Supple
Page 35 and 36: Ties that Bind 128 Ibid. 129 Ibid.
Page 37 and 38: Ties that Bind 146 Ibid., p.90 147
Page 39 and 40: Ties that Bind 159 Punjabi Mahomeda
Page 41 and 42: Ties that Bind 166 Ibid., p.129 167
Page 43 and 44: Ties that Bind 181 CAB/24/54, Natio
Page 45 and 46: Ties that Bind 187 India’s contri
Page 47 and 48: Ties that Bind 191 Judith Brown, Mo
Page 51 and 52: Ties that Bind 211 Ibid, p.55 212 I
Page 53 and 54: Ties that Bind 224 Omissi, Sepoy an
Page 55 and 56: Ties that Bind 238 Ibid, pp.70-72 2
Page 59 and 60: Ties that Bind 265 CAB/66/58/25, Na
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270 The Gallup Coexist Index 2009:
Page 63 and 64:
Ties that Bind 278 Note that Al-Muh
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Ties that Bind 286 http://www.times
Page 67 and 68:
Ties that Bind 299 Hans Wehr, A Dic
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Ties that Bind 308 http://www.dohad
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Ties that Bind 315 http://web.archi
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Ties that Bind 329 http://www.indep
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Ties that Bind 340 Keynote Address
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Ties that Bind 350 http://www.publi
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Ties that Bind 364 Humayun Ansari,
Page 83 and 84:
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Ties that Bind 390 Ibid, p. 49. 391
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Ties that Bind 406 Policy Exchange
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Ties that Bind 419 http://www.musli
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Page 93 and 94:
Ties that Bind 435 Ibid., p.606 436
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439 London Gazette, 3 July 1945, ht
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96 | policyexchange.org.uk Bibliogr
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Ties that Bind 98 | policyexchange.
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