JUST A THOUGHT

For a few weeks now I have been thinking about the position of people in Britain. What I mean to say is as British citizens, citizens of a democratic country, we seem to have the illusion of freedom of speech and thought but is it really freedom?

Our thoughts, speech and actions are affected by the environment around us, the television, media and this entire entertainment culture. If all we receive through our senses is controlled, the definition of words are decided by people we don’t know and we are left to work around such definitions, the visual environment is filled with size zero pieces of flesh and clean cut actors, in what way does all this affect our thoughts, decisions and actions?

I hope you are still with me as I try to explain this mental maze in which I have been engrossed in for the past few weeks.

The definitions of terrorism and extremism have become synonymous with Muslims and Islam. One would be forgiven for thinking that the Muslims in this country were a dominate force if you were to believe the Rupert Murdoch press. In reality Muslims only make up approximately 2% of the population in Britain. The point I wish to make is, why any politician, Prime Minister or Home Secretary, would give a shit about the Muslims of this country. In the modern day war fare of politics where votes count, the politicians have Middle England to think about. Politicians could not care less about any minority. This is exactly why Muslims are being made a scapegoat for the disastrous errors in foreign policy, and an excuse to push through draconian laws.

Since the terror raids that took place in Alum Rock, Birmingham (which is 2 minutes from where I live) I have been thinking about the future of Muslims in Britain. The calls for integration and to embrace ‘Britishness’ (whatever that is) has turned the spot light on the Muslim community once again. I am not going to offer a solution but just say, that as long as the imperialist forces continue their quest for oil in the Middle East things will only get more difficult for Muslims here in Britain. Thanks to the Sun and other right wing voices we are being pushed to hate and despise Muslims. We are told to suspect Muslims; anyone of ‘them’ could be a threat, a terrorist. Fear the man with the beard and the women in the veil. This is the message being sent out; Noam Chomsky hits the nail on the head when he calls such actions ‘Manufacturing Consent’. We are told how to feel, who to feel it towards and thus the government steps in to put all our fears at ease, ninety days detention, ID cards, and anything else they can get through parliament.

The actions of this government are not reflective of the feelings of the British people. This was displayed at this weekend’s anti-war demonstration where up to a hundred thousand protesters came out to voice their opinions. But even here freedom of speech is restricted; you cannot use a megaphone within one mile of parliament. The people attending the demonstration are unique, in that they tend to read alternative news, think about the words coming out of the Prime Ministers mouth and generally are hostile to the modern age of a capitalist, consumer world.

If I am to take my university as an example the students there are more concerned with nights out and cheap drinks rather than showing concern for global poverty, injustices or environmental terrorism. Is this a reflection of the education they are receiving or is it that the students are so engrossed in the system that they couldn’t see injustice until someone kicked their door down and killed their family members in front of their eyes. My faith is somewhat restored in the student species after talking to certain people on the coach, on our way to and from the demo who showed genuine concern about the state of our World. I hope they do something about it, standing up for truth doesn’t stop at attending a demonstration, we have a long way to go. In 1961 two students in Portugal raised a toast to freedom. They were imprisoned for seven years. British lawyer Peter Benenson was shocked by the events and he decided to write a letter to the Observer trying to rally support for the students. The response was massive and a committee was formed to organize the campaign, it grew into a world wide movement which is known today as Amnesty International. I believe we can make a difference.

By Michael Olson