Just started reading the new book by Ayaan Hirsi Ali after a review in the guardian today - its interesting, and the review talks about the difference between radical anti-islam in the netherlands (viz van Gohh's movie/assasination) and the UK - this set me to thinking about the 7/7 bombers in england that summer.
My review is that they are not symptomatic of very much about the UK at all, and it is very sad that the people that carry out radicalisation of young men exploit a well-known psychological weakness in them, to completely irrelevant ends - neither did it cause significant backlash (as such attacks in netherlands and france have done) nor did it do as much to cause more muslims (or any otherreligious group) to become more radically religous (fundamental), not even as much as, say, Jack Straw talking about the veil. The fact that 50+ people died including these bombers has become like roadkill, rather than martydom - its just not the same part of the landscape that Guy Fawkes, or the Miners striking (and some dying) against Thatcher, inhabit. Perhaps its partly the british phlegmatic nature, or just the sheer SIZE of the multiple cutural and religious groups in the UK - it would take a huge, protracted incident to make long term impact - we dont do stuff that way.
Meawhile, the plight of women in Islamic nations and Socieities from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, and the wrong parts of palestine and syria is really quite depressing, and enough to put me of my pea and ham soup.
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