Antisemitism and terrorism
Although the powers that be are loath to admit it, the main driver of the great increase of antisemitism in the UK over the last year is the growing influence of Islam in the UK.
We have a large number of Hindu immigrants, of Sikhs, of Polish and Ukrainian Catholics. But we don’t find them organising marches through our cities crying out for the destruction of Israel and its Jews. Polish Catholics and Indian Hindus are not noted for acts of terrorism in the UK. Europe is hosting significant numbers of Ukrainians, refugees from the war with Russia. Yet, no matter how strongly they feel about that conflict, we don’t find them marching through London, Berlin and Paris every weekend calling for the destruction of the Russian state and its people.
Our politicians and the media assure us that we are teetering on the verge of a right-wing uprising. Yet Ken McCallum, Director General of MI5, Britain’s home security service, admitted that 75% of terrorist threats come from Muslims. The remaining 25% McCallum puts down to unspecified ‘right-wing extremism’.
But it is undeniable that the overwhelming bulk of home-grown terrorist threats are from Muslims.
This despite his further assertions that the majority of the remaining threats come from ‘state actors’ such as Russia’s GRU military intelligence, which he says has a ‘sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets’. Iran and China are also active. But it is undeniable that the overwhelming bulk of home-grown terrorist threats are from Muslims.
Recognise the source of the problem
The vast majority of British people just want to get on with our lives, including getting on with our neighbours – Muslims as well as everyone else. Yet we cannot do that by pretending that there is not a very real problem of social disorder, violence and hatred coming from a large number of Muslims. We cannot address the problem of antisemitism and terrorism unless we address the source of the problem.
The argument in response is that the great majority of Muslims just want to live quiet lives and get on with their work and build a better life for their families. Yet, there is strong evidence that a very significant minority of Muslims, at least, do not. Polling indicates that Muslim attitudes and values diverge significantly from the settled population. The behaviour of many UK Muslims bolsters the claim of Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, that ‘There is no moderate Islam.’
More than half of British Muslims consider the atrocities of October 7 last year were to forward the Palestinian cause. Only one in four British Muslims recognise that Hamas committed murder and rape. Muslims generally are more likely to have a positive than a negative view of Hamas. Fifteen per cent of British Muslims have a ‘very positive’ view of Hamas, with 14% saying they had a ‘quite positive’ view. This level of support for a group the government designates a terrorist organisation is disturbing.
This level of support for a group the government designates a terrorist organisation is disturbing.
On the reverse question it was revealed that only 24% of British Muslims have a negative view of Hamas: 13% of those polled had a ‘very negative’ view, with 11% having a ‘quite negative’ view of the group.
Surprisingly to many, it was also revealed that Muslim women are more radical than men. Sixty-five per cent of Muslim women want to make Eid-al-Fitr a public holiday, 57% want compulsory use of halal food in all schools and hospitals, while 52% want to make it illegal to show a picture of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Overall, 32% of British Muslims think it would be ‘desirable’ to implement sharia law within the next two decades.
A little less liberal
The time is growing short for the West. We live in liberal democracies where we are relatively free to pursue our lives without undue hindrance. If we are to retain what remains, we are going to have to be a little less liberal and a little more democratic.
Our liberal convictions see no difference between peoples and insists that all cultures are valid. Those good liberal traits which we value in the West, such as personal magnanimity, empathy, compassion and kindness are seen by the radical Muslim as weakness and an opportunity for spreading Islamic cultural values, including sharia law. Here in the West, a civilisation built on Christian principles, we cannot welcome into our countries people who fundamentally reject those principles. To do so invites our own destruction.
Those good liberal traits which we value in the West, such as personal magnanimity, empathy, compassion and kindness are seen by the radical Muslim as weakness and an opportunity for spreading Islamic cultural values, including sharia law.
Legal immigration
We cannot say why we don’t want unrestrained immigration or certain kinds of people to stay without seeming hard, nasty and selfish, and Christians are not supposed to be mean. It is an inevitable part of liberal thinking that we cannot acceptably say ‘No’ to people who do not like us and want to change our way of life, but who want to benefit from us in the meantime.
Christians should recognise that there are differences between the responsibilities of government and the responsibilities of individual Christians. Governments are responsible for the security of all (Rom 13:1–7). An individual Christian may be willing to endanger everything to assist refugees, but at the same time he cannot insist that his neighbours share that risk. There has to be a balance between personal responsibility to show compassion and the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens.
Illegal immigration
Christian must recognise that regardless of emotional appeal and mitigating circumstances, the initial act of entering a country illegally is a sin. Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–14, indicate that it is a sin to violate a nation’s immigration laws. It is right that prosperous nations should have immigration laws which reflect compassion and understanding of those in danger.
... there is no biblical teaching which forbids a nation setting its own immigration laws which reflect the needs of the people already living in the country.
However, there is no biblical teaching which forbids a nation setting its own immigration laws which reflect the needs of the people already living in the country. As immigration laws do not violate God’s Word, it is wrong to trespass upon those laws.
Seventy three per cent of Britons think that the country in 2024 is in a worse state than it was in 2010, and 78% think that the immigration system is worse today than it was in 2010.
And yet our governments do nothing which has any effect on the increasing number of immigrants, legal and illegal.
The Rev. Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack is a retired Church of Scotland minister; now a member of the Free Church of Scotland. Check out his many incisive articles on his blog, A Grain of Sand.