The descendants of Al-Muhajiroun

There was a demonstration on London on Friday. Several hundred people, lots of slogans. The texts of slogans that I've seen on the pictures were "Freedom go to HELL", "Annihilate those who insult Islam!!!", "Exterminate those who slander Islam", "Slay those who insult Islam", "Behead those who insult Islam", "Butcher those who insult Islam", "Butcher those who mock Islam", "Massacre those who insult Islam", "Kill those who insult Islam" (a bit repetitive, I know), "Europe is the cancer, Islam is the answer", "Europe, you will pay, demolition is on its way", "Europe, you will pay, your extermination is on its way", "Europe, you will pay, 9/11 is on its way", "Be prepared for the real holocaust", "As Muslims we unite, we are prepared to fight", "You dug your grave, lie in it!", "Europe you will pay Bin Laden is way" (no, don't ask me. Maybe they meant gay?), and "Europe, take some lessons from 9/11".

The latter is not such a bad advice, really. Europe probably should take some lessons from 9/11 as to how not to organize airport security and military response. Also, as to whom not to let into the country.

I am sure that in worse parts of rural Pakistan such demonstrations are quite de rigeur. Problem is, this was London. And inciting people to commit murder is rarely covered under freedom of speech. I guess some people just can't grasp the concept.

There are some other things they cannot grasp. The people who organized this were Al-Ghurabaa, a British Muslim organization so fanatical that they denounce Hamas as atheist infidels. They are a reincarnation of Al-Muhajiroun, who declared a war on UK, and are trying to declare a war on Europe, too.

Hmm, what was it that von Clausewitz said about declaring war on an enemy of vastly superior numbers while actually being in the enemy camp? "Bad idea", to put it shortly. But I am afraid that they are getting all their advice on tactics and strategy from their Holy Book too, with the obvious results.

Muhammed did have some advice on strategy. Some of it was fairly sound, too, like "when you are trying to conquer the whole world all your truces have to be temporary". What he failed to mention is that any strategy based on the assumption that your adversary is a lot nicer than you are has to be temporary too, and might come to an end in unexpected ways. If their former leader Omar Bakri were with them, he could have told them that in a voice of bitter experience, but he isn't, and he hasn't.

The slogan about the cancer and the answer was familiar. I saw it in summer 1998 in London, in the hands of the same guys, except that then it was "Western culture is the cancer, Islam is the answer" or something like that. ("Islam - the future for Britain" was another popular one.) It was both on the slogans and on the flyers that bearded men were giving out to passerbys along Edgware Road. Don't know what offended them about the Western culture back then. Crusades, probably. Or something, who cares. I wondered briefly why so many of them wish to move to such a cancerous place, but the self-preservation instinct prevented me from asking them.