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I was really, really shocked at 7-7, but not surprised
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Not surprised, because when it was revealed that there were four young, impressionable Muslim men
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that had conducted this vile and heinous act, I was shocked, but I was not surprised
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And I was not surprised because 9-11 had happened only a few years before
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And we had already seen what international terrorists inspired by al-Qaeda could actually do and the havoc they could wreak
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And it struck me personally because they were young British Muslims. A couple of them had traveled to Pakistan, I believe
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had been radicalized and had gone to Pakistan and then were making these bombs in a makeshift environment
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And it hit home to me. It hit home to me very, very strongly because I'm a British Muslim myself
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And I've been talking about radicalization since 9-11 and trying to challenge some of the narratives
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that these young people get inculcated with. And I remember it very, very distinctly
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because I was growing up in a period when I was at school in the mid-80s
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and then at university in the mid-90s, where there was a lot going on
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There was the book burning of Rushdie's book in the late 1980s. Then there was a lot of angst towards British foreign policy
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from a whole range of sources, be it towards Bosnia. Then we had Kosovo, although the West intervened in that
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to save Muslim lives. You saw ongoing conflict in the Middle East
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and then you also saw the Iraq War which Eliza Manning and Buller actually mentions in this documentary She said to the government at the time that this will increase the threat to the UK
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the fact that the UK intervened in that war. So I've been talking, I was talking about this
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at the time. So it was not a surprise to me. But I was, I was deeply shocked by it
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But as I say, I was not surprised. And I wasn't surprised because I've been challenging my fellow Muslim travelers and co-religionists for a long time about the issue
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of radicalization amongst certain parts of the British Muslim community. And it's not one
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community. There are many and there are individuals who are responsible for their own actions. But
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this radicalization was nothing new. Al-Mahar Jeroon, Abu Hamza, Umar Bakri Muhammad, all of
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these groups going around spouting vile hatred towards the West, and in particular towards Jews
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This was nothing new. And the thing that I find and found disturbing was, and I still find
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disturbing to this day, is that there are too many of my co-Muslims in this country who I deeply
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respect and are law-abiding and want to get on with their lives. But there was a massive problem
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with denial. A huge problem with denial, with an inability to look inwards and to look at one's
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actual navel and think about why, why people, certain people are going down the road and being
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radicalised to the extent that they want to kill their fellow citizens. Why was that happening
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And it was no good, in my view, and this still happens today in North London dinner parties
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where you were told that 9-11 was a Mossad plot and this had nothing to do with Al at all And by the way all the Jews in the buildings at 9 got messages to get out of the building before it collapsed I mean when I ask can you provide the evidence No one ever can
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But this is the kind of nonsense that in certain circles gets promulgated to this day, right
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So you've got an issue, a deep-seated issue with denial. Therefore, when people in Beeston and Leeds say that they were deeply shocked
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I understand that it must have been absolutely horrific. And the community felt targeted
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I understand that. But I was shocked, but I wasn't surprised. So why were so many people actually surprised
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when all this bile and nonsense was being spouted on the streets of London
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and up and down this country for years, for years, and nothing was done about it
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Nothing was done about it by the authorities and nothing was done about it by individual Muslims
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who should have been also joined in the battle, in the jihad for the soul of Islam
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Why did that not happen? I'll tell you why. Because it's hard. That's why
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Because people would rather say that these people who conducted this act on 7-7
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these vile individuals, are not Muslim. But they are. And we need to recognise that
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And we need to stop having our ostrich mentality with our heads buried in the sand
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because it's going to get us absolutely nowhere. Now, does that mean that every Muslim in the country is a terrorist
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Of course it does not. No more than it means that every Irish person is an IRA terrorist
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or that every Catholic is a paedophile. So we need to get beyond this hypersensitivity about the fact
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that there are people who are Muslim, who identify as Muslim, who've been inculcated with complete bile and hatred
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who then go and act out this. And it not just 7 London Bridge attacks twice Westminster Bridge Manchester Arena bombing The death of Lee Rigby I mean I could go on So let just be real and honest and open with
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ourselves about where we are and reflect on this. So I want to hear from you. If you were
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affected on that day, if you remember that day, what do you remember about it
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how did it affect you? When I was going on the tube for days after that
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I always carry a black rucksack to work with my laptop. I noticed people moving away from me in carriages
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It's tough. It's tough for everyone. How did you feel then? How do you feel now
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If you are Muslim, how do you feel about your religion being completely hijacked
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and ized by people who want to go and kill people in the name of your religion
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um against western foreign policy and how do you feel about people constantly saying
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but this was absolutely appalling but it just doesn't it just doesn't wash the but doesn't wash so i want to hear from you
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if you're affected how you reflect on it now if you are if you are directly um you lost someone in
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this, how it affected your own behaviour, even if you didn't, how you look back on it now 20 years
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later, how far do you think we've come? And if you're a British Muslim, please give me your
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perspective on it, because no one is saying that all Muslims are terrorists. But by the same token
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we can't say that we can sit back and do absolutely nothing and criticise, prevent
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which has got all sorts of issues with it, and not have anything in its place. So please tell me
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please tell me how, how you're going to win the battle for the soul of your religion and my religion called Islam
