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Mayor ask religious leaders to denounce bombings

-21/07/05

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has asked people leading religious services across Britain this weekend to talk about the bombings that hit London today, and to make sure that their adherents know that such actions are immoral.

Mr Livingstone made the plea to religious leaders at a press conference with police chief Sir Ian Blair in the capital this afternoon. He urged them to ìdo all in your power to persuade anyone in your congregations who has information [that may help with enquiries] to pass it on to the police.î

The two men were answering questions from the worldís media about four small bombs detonated on Londonís transport system at lunchtime today.

Police and the security services believe that the latest London bombs, which thankfully caused no casualties or loss of life, were carried out by people sharing the ideology of those responsible for last fortnightís blasts, which killed 56 and injured over 700.

This means that they are likely to have been influenced by an extreme distortion of Islam, a matter of major concern to Britainís Muslim communities ñ who have condemned such acts in the strongest possible terms.

Some commentators have noted that the pattern of attacks around a central point forms the shape of a cross. Bin Laden and his sympathisers denounce Westerners as ëcrusadersí, conflating Christianity, the state and historical conflicts between Christians and Muslims.

A leading Methodist broadcaster pointed out earlier in the week that the religious dimension of the current bombing campaign involves the struggle between a theology of life and a theology of death.

Mr Livingstone has been robust in his own denunciation of terrorist tactics, but he has also condemned Islamophobic responses to the bombings, and he has said that Western governments must take responsibility for militarily backing so-called jihadist groups (including Osama Bin Laden) in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The Mayor has also questioned the radicalising impact on Muslims of US-led actions in Palestine-Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied such links, in spite of intelligence advice to the contrary.

At this afternoonís media briefing Mr Livingstone drew parallels between recent events and the Irish Republican bombing campaigns in London during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

He said that Londoners had learned how not to be cowed by such events. ìWe got through that, and we will get through thisî, he declared.

In his previous tenure as head of the now defunct Greater London Council, Mr Livingstone was widely condemned for his willingness to dialogue with those maintaining political associations with the IRA.

Similarly, he has been criticised recently, especially in Britainís tabloid newspapers, for consorting with Muslim spokespeople expressing anger at Western policies and sympathy for suicide attacks in Israel.

However, the Mayorís view is that in order to identify the root causes of extremism it is necessary to talk to those with a finger on the pulse of discontent among young Muslims in particular, without necessarily endorsing their convictions.

Last week the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia said that the link between terror and religion could not merely be pushed aside, and that although people who planted bombs were a small and unrepresentative minority, it was up to the different faith communities to confront their texts, traditions and histories when they appeared to sanction violence.


Find books now:

Mayor ask religious leaders to denounce bombings

-21/07/05

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, has asked people leading religious services across Britain this weekend to talk about the bombings that hit London today, and to make sure that their adherents know that such actions are immoral.

Mr Livingstone made the plea to religious leaders at a press conference with police chief Sir Ian Blair in the capital this afternoon. He urged them to ‘do all in your power to persuade anyone in your congregations who has information [that may help with enquiries] to pass it on to the police.’

The two men were answering questions from the world’s media about four small bombs detonated on London’s transport system at lunchtime today.

Police and the security services believe that the latest London bombs, which thankfully caused no casualties or loss of life, were carried out by people sharing the ideology of those responsible for last fortnight’s blasts, which killed 56 and injured over 700.

This means that they are likely to have been influenced by an extreme distortion of Islam, a matter of major concern to Britain’s Muslim communities – who have condemned such acts in the strongest possible terms.

Some commentators have noted that the pattern of attacks around a central point forms the shape of a cross. Bin Laden and his sympathisers denounce Westerners as ëcrusaders’, conflating Christianity, the state and historical conflicts between Christians and Muslims.

A leading Methodist broadcaster pointed out earlier in the week that the religious dimension of the current bombing campaign involves the struggle between a theology of life and a theology of death.

Mr Livingstone has been robust in his own denunciation of terrorist tactics, but he has also condemned Islamophobic responses to the bombings, and he has said that Western governments must take responsibility for militarily backing so-called jihadist groups (including Osama Bin Laden) in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The Mayor has also questioned the radicalising impact on Muslims of US-led actions in Palestine-Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied such links, in spite of intelligence advice to the contrary.

At this afternoon’s media briefing Mr Livingstone drew parallels between recent events and the Irish Republican bombing campaigns in London during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

He said that Londoners had learned how not to be cowed by such events. ‘We got through that, and we will get through this’, he declared.

In his previous tenure as head of the now defunct Greater London Council, Mr Livingstone was widely condemned for his willingness to dialogue with those maintaining political associations with the IRA.

Similarly, he has been criticised recently, especially in Britain’s tabloid newspapers, for consorting with Muslim spokespeople expressing anger at Western policies and sympathy for suicide attacks in Israel.

However, the Mayor’s view is that in order to identify the root causes of extremism it is necessary to talk to those with a finger on the pulse of discontent among young Muslims in particular, without necessarily endorsing their convictions.

Last week the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia said that the link between terror and religion could not merely be pushed aside, and that although people who planted bombs were a small and unrepresentative minority, it was up to the different faith communities to confront their texts, traditions and histories when they appeared to sanction violence.