Southport Murders and Riots
Like with the rest of the country, we were appalled to learn of the monstrous and horrific knife attack on innocent and defenceless young children in Southport. We are heartbroken by the savagery that has resulted in the deaths of three of these children, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to their bereaved families, loved ones and friends. We also hold deeply in our thoughts the many other children injured in this terrible ordeal and those brave and selfless adults who put their lives on the line to protect them, two of whom remain in critical care. We pray for their full recovery from this trauma.
Children are the light of the heart and the joy that makes life worth living. They are rays of sunshine and warmth, angelic in their innocence and simplicity, who naturally gravitate toward conciliation over conflict.
The patently malicious, wicked, and deliberate dissemination of lies, calumnies, and evidentially false information on social media, along with the dog-whistle Islamophobia in mainstream media outlets, was aimed at implicating the UK Muslim community in this heinous crime and thereby damaging social cohesion between Muslims and non-Muslims across the country and beyond. It has been truly sickening to see, read, and hear about the glee with which Muslim haters – from the EDL hoodlum-in-chief to Members of Parliament – hijacked this tragedy for their own nefarious and self-serving xenophobic agenda that has resulted in wanton destruction of property, looting, attacks on and hospitalisation of police officers, stabbings and acid attacks on innocent people, and desecration of graves.
While the use of social media and digital platforms to spread hatred is a relatively recent phenomenon, the weaponization of public discourse for fleeting political gain is unfortunately not new. As history continues to show, and power brokers continue to enable, hate speech coupled with disinformation can lead to stigmatisation, discrimination and large-scale violence. The media and political class, irrespective of affiliation, must shoulder the blame for the decades of demonising the Muslim community, refugees and immigrants. It was only recently that politicians disdained about sending refugees “back to where they come from”, and cabinet ministers branded peaceful marches in solidarity with the people of Palestine as “hate marches” – words emblazoned shamelessly on newspaper covers by “fire-starters” now wringing their hands over the social inferno they spent years kindling.
However, blaming the fire starters and social arsonists alone for the pogroms now rampaging the streets of the UK ignores the pervasive and institutionalized hate speech culture, which history repeatedly identifies as a ‘precursor to atrocity crimes, including genocide’, be that the years of despicable propaganda against Jews that led to the Holocaust; the hate speech exacerbated by ethnic tensions that resulted in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda; the nationalist propaganda through party-controlled media in Bosnia and Herzegovina that culminated in the Srebrenica genocide of Bosnian Muslims; and the genocide of Gazans in occupied Palestine presently unfolding before our very eyes.
Racism is satanic. Islam identifies the first ever racist as the Devil, who refused to bow to Adam (peace and blessings be upon him) because of his belief in his own superiority, driven by a supremacist complex. The Lewisham Islamic Centre calls upon all communities to unite against racial supremacy, hate and Islamophobia. We urge Muslims and non-Muslims to remain vigilant and to take extra precautions in public and to look out for one another in the face of the latest manifestation of this evil.
We would like to thank the London Borough of Lewisham, the Police, faith leaders, councillors and Lewisham citizens who have reached out to the Lewisham Muslim community out of genuine concern and in solidarity with the Centre, whose goal remains championing and upholding social cohesion, and fostering peace and tolerance to ensure that everyone can live and thrive in harmony.
The Centre’s doors are always open. We encourage anyone with concerns – whether Muslim or non-Muslim – who feels the need to talk, to please come by. We would be more than happy to welcome you.