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Terrorism and Community Relations

I shall follow up some of the points made by the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) and, like him, I praise the Chairman of the Select Committee, who looks after our proceedings impartially. We are all very pleased about that. We Select Committee members make it clear in the report—and we reiterate it today—that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom totally reject terrorism in this country. That is made clear in a number of paragraphs in the report, particularly paragraph 177 on page 48, in which"““We reject any suggestion that Muslims are in some way more likely to turn to terrorism than followers of other religions.””" As the Chairman of the Committee stated, it is important that anti-terrorist legislation should in no way be seen by the Muslim community as directed against it. Nevertheless, in the report we accept"““that there is a clear perception among all our Muslim witnesses that Muslims are being stigmatised by the operation of the Terrorism Act””." That is undoubtedly extremely harmful to community relations. We go on to say that special efforts should be made by the police and Government to reassure Muslims that they are not being singled out unfairly. Any discrimination against Muslims because they are Muslims would be wrong in itself—like discrimination against any group—and counter-productive. Page 17 of the report, which is about stop and searches, is of interest. We must take into account the different numbers. The number of whites stopped in 2003–04 was 20,637, the number of blacks stopped was 2,704 and the number of Asians stopped was 3,668. One assumes that Muslims would be the main part of the latter category. Even those figures are not so excessive as to give the impression that Asians, whether Muslims, Hindus or Sikhs, are being stopped in such a way that unfairness is being applied by the police. It is interesting to note that a Muslim activist in my borough, if not in my constituency, was quoted recently in the local press as saying that, when he got on a train, he wanted to stay in one piece while travelling and to go home in one piece. My borough has a relatively large Muslim community, although there are more Muslims in the next door constituency. A young schoolgirl of 11 or 12 came up to London for the day with her teacher. It was 7 July. They were near Tavistock square. Fortunately, no harm was done to them. One can imagine the sheer relief, which, as parents, we would all feel, when the daughter came back safe and sound. That illustrates a point that has already been made: the victims of terrorist attacks can include anyone, including Muslims. That should not be forgotten. When the IRA was bombing Britain, there was a need to ensure that Irish residents were seen not as the enemy but, like the rest of us, as potential victims of the terrorists. A terrible tragedy occurred on 21 November 1974 in Birmingham, when 21 people were murdered in two public houses. Half of them were under the age of 25 and among the victims and seriously injured were people of Irish origin. The IRA could not care less. Why should it, given its distorted terrorist point of view? Likewise, the small number of Muslim terrorists, who are totally isolated from their own community—let alone from British society as a whole—have no concern whether or not the victims are Muslims. Given their totally distorted point of view, they might even say that, if the victim is a good Muslim, they will just go to paradise earlier. That needs to be borne in mind. Just as during those 30 years of sustained IRA terrorism it was necessary to prevent, in any way possible, thugs attacking the Irish, so today there is no lesser need to ensure that Muslims are not subjected to attacks by thugs and hooligans. Clearly, that is the responsibility of all of us: the police, the local community and politicians at local and national levels. It is also a necessity, as stated in our report, for the Muslim community to ensure that those extremists are weeded out from mosques and community organisations, where they can spread so much harm and poison. That responsibility lies first and foremost, as it must do, with the Muslim community. The hon. Member for Hertsmere mentioned not only prejudice against Muslims, but anti-Semitism. That is highlighted in our report. I do not want to exaggerate the dangers of anti-Semitism in our country. I do not believe that the level of anti-Semitism is anywhere near what it was in the 1930s. Blackshirts are not marching through the streets of east London, causing mayhem and fear. The situation is different today. However, it is important to recognise that elements of international terrorism are bound up with anti-Semitism. Before the American journalist Daniel Pearl was murdered in Pakistan—his head was cut off—his captors made him say this: ““My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I'm Jewish.”” Why did his killers force him to say that? The explanation is clear. In their eyes, he was not only an American. To them, the very fact that he was Jewish justified killing him. The poisonous anti-Semitism that led to the life of that American journalist being taken is the same sort of anti-Semitism that it is so important to combat at every opportunity, both in our country and elsewhere. Although I said that we must be careful not to exaggerate the dangers of anti-Semitism, as the hon. Gentleman pointed out, the evidence given to us by Gerry Gable, who has for so long been associated with the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, and by representatives of the Union of Jewish Students showed that, in some places of higher education, such as the Open university, anti-Semitic remarks have been made, and that in certain cases anti-Semitic attacks have taken place. I again make the point that when I mention anti-Semitism I am not referring to criticism of Israel's policies. No one could be more critical of Israeli policies than I am. Indeed, last year, I initiated a debate on Israel's policies in the occupied territories, and along with colleagues demonstrated my total distaste about what was happening and my solidarity with the Palestinians, who are the victims. Therefore, when I mention anti-Semitism I am not referring to Israel, although those who spread anti-Semitism try to link them. It is important to recognise that in some institutions of higher education a very small number of extremists among Muslim students are spreading that type of poison. They use every opportunity to encourage anti-Jewish prejudice. The academic authorities have the important responsibility of stamping that out. We expect them to stamp out anti-Muslim sentiments. We are not going to tolerate that and I hope that the academic authorities—at the university of London or any other such institution—will not accept any of that either. Likewise, the academic authorities and others must not be complacent about anti-Semitism on their own doorstep, and where it is happening—they have a responsibility to know about that—they should take appropriate action.