ties that bind - sep 11

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
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