A Burning Issue
November is now over, and Remembrance Sunday barely passed, a time when millions of British people buy poppies to remember all those who fought and died for Britain in wars since 1914, including the hundreds of thousands who died fighting fascism between 1939 and 1945.
It’s also a time that we burn effigies of Guy Fawkes on the bonfire. Unfortunately, this time last year another type of burning took place. A year ago, poppies were being set alight by Muslim extremists and Qur’an’s were being torched on the street by right-wing extremists.70 years on after the horrors of the Nazis, when books by Jewish authors and others they disapproved of were being thrown onto bonfires, it would be nice to think that the days of book burning were behind us.Sadly, recent events have proved that to be untrue.
In September 2010 , we witnessed the revolting and insensitive spectacle of Pastor Terry Jones threatening to burn the Qur’an on 11th September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Jones is Head of the Dove World Outreach Centre in Florida, a grand sounding organisation which in reality has a mere 50 members. He made claims he was burning the Qur’an in response to the development of Park 51, a planned 13-story Muslim community centre to be located two blocks from the World Trade Centre site despite the fact that it had been widely reported that the centre would be open to the general public and would promote interfaith dialogue.Yet its close proximity to Ground Zero was seen as an opportunity for Jones to provoke Muslim opinion around the world. By staging what became a media circus outside his church he threatening to burn a copy of the Qur’an on the anniversary of 9/11.
In the end he failed to carry out it out, but the damage was done. The idea had gained currency.
Sadly it was on Tyneside in 2010 That a Qur’an was burnt and the event filmed.
As The Guardian reported: “A video of the Gateshead incident, posted on YouTube, shows two men with headscarves covering their faces, wearing tracksuits and trainers, and dousing what appears to be the Qur’an with petrol before setting light to it as several others look on. They utter abuse, and others are heard to shout, “This is for the boys in Afghanistan; September 11 international burn a Qur’an day”, before another book is thrown onto the small fire. At one stage the burning book is kicked.”
Provocative actions such as the burning of the Qur’an are known to make it more dangerous for British soldiers in countries such as Afghanistan. And surely this is the rub. Extremists on both sides need each other in a macabre symbiotic relationship.
In November 2010 about 30 extremist Muslims, supporters of Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), exploited Remembrance Day by burning poppies. In a disgracefully move which desecrating the memory of British soldiers, including those who had fought against the menace of Hitler and the Nazis. At the same time, separated by a line of police, were members of the racist, football hooligan organisation, the English Defence League (EDL).
Its bizarre that the EDL could possibly claim to represent White English people in general.
What is sad is that Islam has historically also represented tolerance and diversity. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the country now known as Spain was then known as Al-Andalus, and was ruled by Muslims. The capital of Al-Andalus was Cordoba and was located in the southern Spain region. Although Muslims ruled the land, Christians and Jews were also treated with full respect and allowed to flourish. It was an early example of a working multicultural society.
It is now December again, and Remembrance Sunday has passed, a day like all days, when surely we should be concerned about the burning of books and poppies in our own communities. There are ways out of the cycle of violence and I hope that the silent majorities in all communities are brave enough to engage with each other constructively in the coming years and we can put these terrible events behind us.
What cannot be in doubt is that extremist behaviour by anybody, whether it be Islamic Fundamentalists or right-wing EDL thugs only encourages the other side to indulge in their own outrageous behaviour. All decent people in North-east England and across Britain want to see an end to all offensive, extremist behaviour from whatever quarter it comes.