watchthevideo
15-10-2006, 06:08 PM
Mr. Andrew Dismore (Hendon) (Lab): I represent Hendon, which has one of the biggest Jewish communities in Britain. I am also a vice-chair of the Labour Friends of Israel and one of the officers of the body about which my right hon. Friend the Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) spoke.
In the short time available, I want to focus on some of the anti-Semitic activities of fundamentalist organisations. Rather than describe them all, I shall concentrate on the activities of al-Muhajiroun and its leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, and its sister organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir. I first took an interest in their activities five or six years ago, but particularly after I witnessed an anti-Semitic demonstration that they had organised outside Brent town hall in May 2000. They were picketing a celebration of Israel's independence day, and their chants included "Dirty Jews we want your blood", "All Jews burn in hell", "The Muslim will fight the Jew—we will kill the Jew" and so on. Two demonstrators were arrested but released without charge.
However, al-Muhajiroun has a much longer history of anti-Semitism. In June 1998, one of the group's activists, Avais Khan, told a rally in Trafalgar square that
"the Holocaust was a fabrication. How wicked, how evil the Jews are. They don't even deserve the death of the dog."
In September 2000, the group produced a leaflet referring to "Jewish Murderers". At a demonstration in January 2000, its members chanted "Gas the Jews". In May 2000, the group issued a leaflet stating:
"O Jew, hide in your bunkers, because the Mujahideen are coming so be ready to surrender or die like a dog."
The group's leader is Omar Bakri Mohammed. In October 2000, he said that Jews who actively supported Israel did so at their peril:
"If they are going to raise funds for Israel, they are going to put themselves in the conflict and become legitimate targets for Muslims wherever they are".
On 13 October 2000, al-Muhajiroun put out a leaflet saying:
"The hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them".
On 20 October, in Derby, the group organised a demonstration with leaflets saying "Kill the Jews". So it goes on. There are many examples of the group's anti-Semitic activity. Has any al-Muhajiroun leader or activist been prosecuted? Absolutely not. I regard that as a pusillanimous response from our forces of law and order. How can the organisation continue to promulgate its message of hatred against the Jewish community with such impunity?
After 11 September, things got even worse, and the group started issuing statements praising the attackers. Soon after 11 September, Omar Bakri was quoted as saying:
"When I first heard about it, there was . . . delight about such an attack."
On the very night of 11 September, posters were put up urging Muslims to kill the Jews; Omar Bakri's mobile phone number was at the bottom. The year after, the group organised a demonstration in Trafalgar square—the so-called magnificent 17 demonstration—to praise the suicide bombers. The London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, banned the demonstration. He was the only person who was prepared to take any action against the group, but it took no notice and held the demonstration anyway. Anjem Chaudhary and, I think, one or two others who were responsible for organising the demonstration were prosecuted but let off with a very minor penalty.
Other hon. Members have referred to al-Muhajiroun's activities on university campuses. For years, the group and its sister movement, Hizb ut-Tahrir, have contributed to a climate of fear for Jewish students and other minorities on British campuses. In October 2000, a poster appeared on campuses throughout Britain stating:
"The last hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill the Jews."
I am pleased to say that, after that, the National Union of Students took action to ban al-Muhajiroun from student unions for distributing anti-Semitic material. That is an important step, but the group nevertheless continues to organise around universities and, I regret to say, some sixth-form colleges.
There are many more examples of what al-Muhajiroun has been up to, but I shall mention just two. In January 2003, I was debating on television with Omar Bakri Mohammed. He told the audience that I said what I did only because I was Jewish and therefore "biased by default". I have no hesitation in saying that I am not Jewish, unlike my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde. None the less, those comments demonstrate the extent of the anti-Semitic behaviour of al-Muhajiroun and Omar Bakri Mohammed, who automatically assume that anybody who criticises them must be Jewish and, no doubt, that everybody would otherwise agree with them.
Omar Bakri Mohammed is undoubtedly a controversial figure. In April 2003, he was under attack for receiving state benefits. He said:
"Ask the Muslim people where they would prefer their taxes to be spent—on me, or homosexuals, lesbians or Jews".
Again, that reveals his anti-Semitic behaviour.
There is a more sinister side to the organisation. Omar Bakri Muhammed is not the buffoon that some people believe him to be. He comes from a wealthy background in Syria. He was a Hizb ut-Tahrir activist in Damascus who fled to Beirut and then to Saudi Arabia, where he was wanted for illegal Hizb ut-Tahrir activity. He fled to the United Kingdom in 1985 and, in 1991, he called for John Major, the then Prime Minister, to be assassinated. Despite that, he was given indefinite leave to remain in 1993. Ten years later, the threat was repeated. In 2001, al-Muhajiroun activist Abdul Rehmon Saleem called for the assassination of Prime Minister Blair. The organisation actively supports terrorism, and it is about time that we dealt with it.
In the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, on 30 May 2000, Muhammed boasted of the extent to which young British Muslims were being recruited for military training overseas. They were sent to fight in the trouble spots of the world but only, he said, when they were fully trained—not just militarily but ideologically. On the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme in June 2000, Abu Yaya, who turned out to be a mujaheddin activist, talked about the weapons training that he had had overseas. He had learned to use a Kalashnikov, to ambush, to make bombs and even to use artillery.
It was not just idle boasting. The Mike's bar bombers in Israel in 2003—two Britons, Asif Muhammed Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif—were associates of Omar Bakri. He openly claimed on the BBC that the two men had come to him for instruction, and in The Daily Telegraph, he stated that Sharif was a martyr, who had died in the cause of Muslim lands and Muslim people. He said,
"I knew Sharif very well and he used to attend regularly at my sessions. He was my brother and I am very proud of him and any Muslim who will do the same."
It goes on. Hassan Butt, another al-Muhajiroun activist, said in May 2003 that "close to 50" British volunteers had approached him for advice on emulating the suicide attack in Israel. Asked whether that meant suicide missions in Britain, he replied,
"Yes, absolutely. When they're needed and when they're required . . . if they want to and they believe Islamically that it's allowed, then fair enough."
He went on to say that
"it would not surprise me if a suicide bomb did take place in Britain. It would not surprise me at all."
Those are very forward-looking quotes, bearing in mind last night's arrests in Manchester of people who, I have little doubt, will be tracked back to al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Muhammed and supporters of sharia and Abu Hamza. They show clearly how young British Muslim society has been affected and why action has to be taken. The organisation's boast is that its objective is to see the black flag of Islam flying over Downing street, a claim that is repeated time and again.
We have powers under section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to remove Omar Bakri Muhammed's indefinite leave to remain. I urge the Home Secretary to use them, so that Muhammed can be removed from our society. The time has undoubtedly come for al-Muhajiroun to be proscribed under the terrorism legislation as an active organisation promoting and supporting terrorism, not just overseas but in the United Kingdom.
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Andrew+Dismore/07207d4a-3753-4ad0-ae5f-0dd422bebe45.htm
In the short time available, I want to focus on some of the anti-Semitic activities of fundamentalist organisations. Rather than describe them all, I shall concentrate on the activities of al-Muhajiroun and its leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, and its sister organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir. I first took an interest in their activities five or six years ago, but particularly after I witnessed an anti-Semitic demonstration that they had organised outside Brent town hall in May 2000. They were picketing a celebration of Israel's independence day, and their chants included "Dirty Jews we want your blood", "All Jews burn in hell", "The Muslim will fight the Jew—we will kill the Jew" and so on. Two demonstrators were arrested but released without charge.
However, al-Muhajiroun has a much longer history of anti-Semitism. In June 1998, one of the group's activists, Avais Khan, told a rally in Trafalgar square that
"the Holocaust was a fabrication. How wicked, how evil the Jews are. They don't even deserve the death of the dog."
In September 2000, the group produced a leaflet referring to "Jewish Murderers". At a demonstration in January 2000, its members chanted "Gas the Jews". In May 2000, the group issued a leaflet stating:
"O Jew, hide in your bunkers, because the Mujahideen are coming so be ready to surrender or die like a dog."
The group's leader is Omar Bakri Mohammed. In October 2000, he said that Jews who actively supported Israel did so at their peril:
"If they are going to raise funds for Israel, they are going to put themselves in the conflict and become legitimate targets for Muslims wherever they are".
On 13 October 2000, al-Muhajiroun put out a leaflet saying:
"The hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them".
On 20 October, in Derby, the group organised a demonstration with leaflets saying "Kill the Jews". So it goes on. There are many examples of the group's anti-Semitic activity. Has any al-Muhajiroun leader or activist been prosecuted? Absolutely not. I regard that as a pusillanimous response from our forces of law and order. How can the organisation continue to promulgate its message of hatred against the Jewish community with such impunity?
After 11 September, things got even worse, and the group started issuing statements praising the attackers. Soon after 11 September, Omar Bakri was quoted as saying:
"When I first heard about it, there was . . . delight about such an attack."
On the very night of 11 September, posters were put up urging Muslims to kill the Jews; Omar Bakri's mobile phone number was at the bottom. The year after, the group organised a demonstration in Trafalgar square—the so-called magnificent 17 demonstration—to praise the suicide bombers. The London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, banned the demonstration. He was the only person who was prepared to take any action against the group, but it took no notice and held the demonstration anyway. Anjem Chaudhary and, I think, one or two others who were responsible for organising the demonstration were prosecuted but let off with a very minor penalty.
Other hon. Members have referred to al-Muhajiroun's activities on university campuses. For years, the group and its sister movement, Hizb ut-Tahrir, have contributed to a climate of fear for Jewish students and other minorities on British campuses. In October 2000, a poster appeared on campuses throughout Britain stating:
"The last hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill the Jews."
I am pleased to say that, after that, the National Union of Students took action to ban al-Muhajiroun from student unions for distributing anti-Semitic material. That is an important step, but the group nevertheless continues to organise around universities and, I regret to say, some sixth-form colleges.
There are many more examples of what al-Muhajiroun has been up to, but I shall mention just two. In January 2003, I was debating on television with Omar Bakri Mohammed. He told the audience that I said what I did only because I was Jewish and therefore "biased by default". I have no hesitation in saying that I am not Jewish, unlike my hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde. None the less, those comments demonstrate the extent of the anti-Semitic behaviour of al-Muhajiroun and Omar Bakri Mohammed, who automatically assume that anybody who criticises them must be Jewish and, no doubt, that everybody would otherwise agree with them.
Omar Bakri Mohammed is undoubtedly a controversial figure. In April 2003, he was under attack for receiving state benefits. He said:
"Ask the Muslim people where they would prefer their taxes to be spent—on me, or homosexuals, lesbians or Jews".
Again, that reveals his anti-Semitic behaviour.
There is a more sinister side to the organisation. Omar Bakri Muhammed is not the buffoon that some people believe him to be. He comes from a wealthy background in Syria. He was a Hizb ut-Tahrir activist in Damascus who fled to Beirut and then to Saudi Arabia, where he was wanted for illegal Hizb ut-Tahrir activity. He fled to the United Kingdom in 1985 and, in 1991, he called for John Major, the then Prime Minister, to be assassinated. Despite that, he was given indefinite leave to remain in 1993. Ten years later, the threat was repeated. In 2001, al-Muhajiroun activist Abdul Rehmon Saleem called for the assassination of Prime Minister Blair. The organisation actively supports terrorism, and it is about time that we dealt with it.
In the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, on 30 May 2000, Muhammed boasted of the extent to which young British Muslims were being recruited for military training overseas. They were sent to fight in the trouble spots of the world but only, he said, when they were fully trained—not just militarily but ideologically. On the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme in June 2000, Abu Yaya, who turned out to be a mujaheddin activist, talked about the weapons training that he had had overseas. He had learned to use a Kalashnikov, to ambush, to make bombs and even to use artillery.
It was not just idle boasting. The Mike's bar bombers in Israel in 2003—two Britons, Asif Muhammed Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif—were associates of Omar Bakri. He openly claimed on the BBC that the two men had come to him for instruction, and in The Daily Telegraph, he stated that Sharif was a martyr, who had died in the cause of Muslim lands and Muslim people. He said,
"I knew Sharif very well and he used to attend regularly at my sessions. He was my brother and I am very proud of him and any Muslim who will do the same."
It goes on. Hassan Butt, another al-Muhajiroun activist, said in May 2003 that "close to 50" British volunteers had approached him for advice on emulating the suicide attack in Israel. Asked whether that meant suicide missions in Britain, he replied,
"Yes, absolutely. When they're needed and when they're required . . . if they want to and they believe Islamically that it's allowed, then fair enough."
He went on to say that
"it would not surprise me if a suicide bomb did take place in Britain. It would not surprise me at all."
Those are very forward-looking quotes, bearing in mind last night's arrests in Manchester of people who, I have little doubt, will be tracked back to al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri Muhammed and supporters of sharia and Abu Hamza. They show clearly how young British Muslim society has been affected and why action has to be taken. The organisation's boast is that its objective is to see the black flag of Islam flying over Downing street, a claim that is repeated time and again.
We have powers under section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to remove Omar Bakri Muhammed's indefinite leave to remain. I urge the Home Secretary to use them, so that Muhammed can be removed from our society. The time has undoubtedly come for al-Muhajiroun to be proscribed under the terrorism legislation as an active organisation promoting and supporting terrorism, not just overseas but in the United Kingdom.
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Andrew+Dismore/07207d4a-3753-4ad0-ae5f-0dd422bebe45.htm