Would Muslims leafleting an area 'where many Christians live' ever be advised by Police to leave the area saying "If you come back here and get beat up, well you have been warned."
It's far more likely that Police would provide additional protection so they could carry on their lawful business!
PS Does Naved Siddiqi, of the Islamic Society of Britain, consider East Birmingham to be one of the "No-Go areas" that the Bishop of Rochester, the Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, referred to earlier this year!?!
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3 comments:
A shocking story, and well done to the Police Community Support Officer for making me hate PCSO's even more than I already did.
What LOAT says.
Hello SNAFU, it's the Naved Siddiqi you mentioned. Hope you're well and all that. I came across this by chance and thought I should response to your comments, given that you mentioned me.
1) The term 'no-go area' was used in areas of Northern Ireland, where a civilian could get shot just by being in the wrong place by accident. Later on it was used in the heyday of the National Front, say in the late 70s, when a black or brown skinned person would get their head kicked in, literally, for just being in the wrong place.
So the term used by Nazir-Ali is one that many of us remember and one that describes severe violence on innocent people who walk down the wrong road. That's pretty ugly language, craftily used by Nazir-Ali if I may suggest, because everyone knows there are ghetto-dumps and poor areas, some of which have high concentrations of Muslims... they come with the social problems associated with typically run down areas like that.
Nazir-Ali uses the term to describe a run down area no one would desire to live in, but in doing so he also brings out what he really wants to get across: a mental image of violence. He does this by selecting a term we connect to the Irish scene and the NF scene.
2) It wasn't me having problems naming an area - I can show you many areas I would never wish to live in. It was Nazir Ali. He couldn't.
3) My impression of Alum Rock road (where the incident happened) is quite negative. That place shows me where things are going wrong in our country. It is a run down, depressing place where I personally think people are living in parallel and separate worlds - not a healthy or cohesive thing. I wouldn't want to live there and so you could say it is a no-go area for me in that sense.
4) The American preachers were clearly in a run down area and, well, is it any surprise they eventually got into a dispute with someone? I wonder how two Muslim men would fare doing similar in select parts of Bible Belt America?
5) If I'm honest, the whole reporting of this has been sensationalised, trying perhaps to make a point for evangelical efforts. It appears that the friendly, preventative advice (to use one's common sense) coming from an inexperienced police (support) officer has been used for propaganda. In that sense it's not too far off from Nazir Ali's methods.
Take care, and may God bless you,
Naved Siddiqi
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