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London Muslims point to anger behind bomb attacks

Posted on: Wednesday, 13 July 2005, 10:47 CDT

By Mohammed Abbas

LONDON (Reuters) - Muslims living and working around London's curry capital Brick Lane struggled on Wednesday to understand what could push four young British Muslim men to blow themselves up, and take 52 lives in the process.

In a road more used to crowds of restaurant goers, some speculated wars in the Middle East had hardened the bombers' resolve, while others talked of a backlash against Muslims. All were shocked and horrified by the attacks.

"Everyone's just really confused and wondering 'What kind of people are these people"' said builder Feroz Ahmed, 30.

"I think being in Iraq is one of the main concerns, and Afghanistan.

"Now people are looking at you, and making comments. They're calling us terrorists, when we're just normal British law-abiding citizens. It's horrible to see British Muslims involved in something as tragic as this."

Around 1.6 million Muslims live in Britain, and most trace their roots to the Indian subcontinent. Predominantly Bangladeshi Brick Lane is a fairly typical example of the close knit Muslim communities dotted around the UK.

Many of Britain's young Muslims are second, third and even fourth generation immigrants -- the descendants of Indians and Pakistanis who came to Britain after World War II.

The near-certainty that the suicide bombers who blew up three underground trains and a bus were British and from a conventional immigrant background has stoked backlash fears.

"When I went on the underground a couple of days ago, I had people not sit next to me and move to another carriage. They look at you and think 'Oh, he's a terrorist,"' said council worker Mahmud Hassan, 27.

Hassan's niece died in last Thursday's attacks, and her body was identified on Tuesday.

"We're trapped like rats really. We're not looked on as human beings," he added.

MUSLIM ANGER

All those interviewed on Brick Lane condemned last week's bombings as un-Islamic and an insult to the religion. However, many said the attack could not be isolated from wider political issues in the Muslim world.

"This attack is not Islamic -- it clearly states in the Koran that if you kill one person, you have killed the whole of humanity," said 26-year-old Jeda Hussein.

"I condemn the situation but I'm really against this government. This government and the American government, if they hadn't invaded Muslim countries we wouldn't be in this situation," he added.

Some pointed to indignation provoked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and others mentioned lingering anger at the massacre of thousands Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, Bosnia, the 10th anniversary of which fell this week.

"The war in Iraq, what's happened to the Palestinians, Afghanistan -- it's all linked," council worker Hassan said.

"Now they've gone into Srebrenica and they're saying they're sorry for what has happened when they knew what was going on. You can't be sorry for something that you know is happening and you're not willing to stop it."

Those interviewed in Brick Lane were pessimistic about prospects of further integration of Muslim communities into British society after the attacks.

However, the central London road has a long history as a relatively temporary home for recent immigrants, until its inhabitants become more prosperous and move out to blend into wider society.

The Brick Lane mosque was once a chapel for Huguenot refugees and was later converted to a synagogue when the area had a thriving Jewish community.

Britain's Muslims have already established themselves in white collar industries, notably in the healthcare sector.

Britons of South Asian descent -- some but not all of them Muslims -- account for 20 percent of the country's hospital doctors, 16 percent of its family doctors and 12 percent of its pharmacists.

Several Muslims sit in the British parliament.

But for one old man in traditional Bengali attire, the bombings and subsequent racist harassment he had endured had darkened his outlook for Muslims in Britain.

"We used to be happy here," he said. "Now it's very, very hard to live in this country."

Source: REUTERS

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