Kaffir Queen

I am not the world's greatest fan of the Royal Family - in fact I'm not a supporter of the monarchy at all - but it does trouble me that a group of six young Muslim men saw fit to print a leaflet which said:

“Kaffir [unbeliever] Female Devil the self-proclaimed Queen Elizabeth and her accursed Jubilee”.

Now the group of young men from Birmingham had set out to launch a murderous attack on the English Defence League (EDL) - who were holding a rally that day in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire - but they arrived late and didn't get to distribute their leaflets about the Kaffir Queen.

Nor, due to their tardiness and terrible planning, did they manage to attack the EDL with firearms, knives and explosives - since the EDL had packed up and headed home early after one of their 'star speakers' pulled out of the Dewsbury rally.

But what I don't get is this - what are the mosques and suchlike places teaching young Muslims when they come away with this stuff about the 'Kaffir' Queen Elizabeth.

Surely they must realise that we live in a 'secular' society where unbelievers along with people of different religious faiths - are encouraged to respect one another and live in peace?

Although maybe I'm just being naive - maybe under the radar and out of public view - some of these mosques are preaching hatred and intolerance - and that violence is an acceptable way of expressing political or religious beliefs.

I can understand people wanting to stand up to the EDL - and on another day I might have taken part myself - not with bombs and knives, of course - but out of solidarity with minority groups of all kinds who are often on the receiving end of the EDL's vile propaganda.

So it seems to me that these young Muslim men - who all face being sent to jail - are just as bad as the EDL members they set out to confront that day or, if anything, worse - since their intention was to injure and possibly kill people.

Which brings me to Ken Livingstone - who is reported as saying the other day that US foreign policy had “fuelled the anger” of the Boston bombers.

Ken - the Labour candidate for London Mayor - told an Iranian television channel that the bombers had “lashed out” because of anger and a desire for revenge over Western intervention in the Middle East, his words reported as follows:

“There was such ignorance in the Bush White House about Islam and about the history of so many disputes that exist in the Middle East. People get angry — they lash out."

“It’s the whole squalid intervention that has disfigured the record of the Western democracies. I think this fuels the anger of the young men, who — as we saw in Boston — went out, and, out of anger and demand for revenge, claimed lives in the West.”

Now all I can say is that these are weasel words indeed - because they certainly give the impression, to me at least, that the young men 'lashing out' - have some reason or justification for doing so - even if only in their own minds.

Which is nonsense of course - just as offensive and ridiculous as young men in Birmingham  deriding a 'Kaffir Queen' or deciding that the objectionable views of the EDL are an excuse for offended Muslims to lash out with guns, knives and explosives.

To my mind experienced politicians like Ken Livingstone have a duty to confront and challenge this Islamist propaganda - instead of giving interviews which suggest that these murderers and potential bombers have some kind of legitimate point.