Is there an anti Islamic agenda in the UK?

Anyone watching the BBC news this evening would have seen their propaganda machine in full flow, in outlining of the structure of the Islamic State, quotes such as 'married to sister' were casually interspersed with the relevant information being conveyed - pictures of a crying British mother shown while a solicitor read a statement about her daughter's indoctrination into IS.

An executive who confirmed they would offer only humanitarian aid to fighters in Iraq only a few weeks ago are now fully involved in a system of air strikes against IS and the leaders of both government and opposition are proposing a tough response to the fighting; suggestions even being made that passports of UK muslims who travel to Syria could be revoked. We have always been at war with Eastasia.

This draconian response, cracking down on those who offer aid in Syria is not new, post 9/11 the Blair government used invocation of a state of emergency to pass the anti terrorism, crime and security act (ATCS act) - the most drastic reaction of any European state to an attack which took place on a different continent. The ATCS act allows the UK to indefinitely intern those suspected of 'terror charges' pending deportation, whether that deportation was granted or not. This new policy of revoking the passports of even British nationals suspected of such is an extension of the draconian, authoritarian school of thought in dealing with the threat of fundamentalism.

But is this reaction based on previous successes? Succinctly, no, since the ATCS act was brought in in 2001, stop and searches amongst the muslim community have increased drastically, anti immigration politics has come to the fore electorally and parties such as UKIP and the BNP have gained widespread support at local level. The demonisation of the muslim people in Britain as an 'enemy within' has been motivated by the increased securitisation and aggressive foreign policy implemented by the Blair government and now continued by the coalition.

This culture of fear has not been allayed in many cases by the mainstream media within Britain. Of course the main news outlets such as News International and BSkyB distribute a 'Fox-lite' geared towards the conservative elements within UK society, but other more traditionally balanced outlets such as the BBC fail in their depictions of society in many cases as well, as outlined in the beginning of this article.

Choudary on the Immigration Row
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJxn8AYtfq8

There is a major issue in Britain at the minute with framing the arguments of fundamentalist Islam. In Channel 5's 'Big Immigration Row', muslim cleric Anjem Choudary was introduced to the audience as, 'radical muslim Anjem Choudary, hate figure to some as you may hear,' as jeers were thrown from the studio audience. Whilst the author would not give support to the perspective of Islam held by Choudary, framing him in this light drastically dilutes his ability to convey any perspective whatsoever, the message that the killing of Lee Rigby in Woolwich was at least partially motivated by the global nature of the 'war on terror' which Britain has got itself involved in. This lack of interest in understanding the motivations of radical Islam generates hate towards the normal, functioning members of British society.

The ignorance of the mainstream media in helping us understand the motivations of IS and others in a rational and balanced way remains a problem in the ongoing and escalating conflict, and allows for the situation to continue to escalate; with liberal values of the multicultural, tolerant society we aim to build giving way to securitisation and marginalisation of some within our communities. Bourgeois conservative David Cameron, hate figure to some as you may hear does not seem to be leading us out of this mess.

Do you agree? Leave your comments below.