really interesting

[meknesi]

Yvonne Ridley: It Can't Get Any Worse
By Yvonne Ridley


I went to a political rally the other night to get the
low down on Tony
Blair's proposed new anti-terrorism measures to make
Britain a safer
place.

There was a great crowd turnout, not too many Muslims,
and the most
outstanding speaker was a man called John Rees a
co-founder of the
anti-war
movement in the UK.

During his speech he issued a sinister warning to all
Muslims, both
home and
abroad, and I will pass on his words to you so you can
make your own
judgment.

He said: 'Don't ever say that 'things can't get any
worse' because
believe
me they can. That is exactly what the Jews across
Europe believed when
they
were persecuted in the 20s.'

He then took us on a terrifying two-decade history of
Jewish
persecution
which covered harrowing scenes in the Warsaw Ghettoes,
the nightmare of
Nazi
Germany and eventually we went on to the death camps
and gas chambers.

The message was clear. If we (as in Muslims) do not
wake up we will
become
the 'new Jews' in terms of persecution.

The media hype against 'The Muslims' has already
started in both
America and
across Europe.

Islamaphobia is rife in journals across the States and
the UK.

We are already being corralled and labelled by Blair
who wants to
introduce
more restrictions on our shrinking freedoms and
liberties.

Some of us risk being deported if we dare to criticise
and a number of
our
foreign national brothers have already been
re-arrested and detained
after
previously being held in Belmarsh for years without
trial or charge.

Two, who are single and have no family in the UK, were
treated in the
notorious Broadmoor Hospital suffering from depression
and post
traumatic
stress disorder, during their detention which breached
all human rights
(according to the most powerful judges in Britain who
ordered their
release).

When they were released under control orders they
struggled to exist
under
these primitive restrictions. Goons working for police
intelligence
monitored their every move threatening to re-arrest
and charge them if
they
made one slip up.

Their homes were regularly searched without notice at
any time of the
day or
late at night, causing terrible stresses and fears for
the families.

These brothers came to Britain believing it was a
haven of human
rights.
Many of them were escaping the brutality of their past
and the majority
are
still vulnerable, asylum-seekers and refugees with
wives and children
who
were born in this country.

They have now become sacrificial lambs while British
Prime Minister
Tony
Blair shows how strong and macho he is. This action is
being taken
against
the weakest and most damaged people.

One brother is a polio victim and needs a wheelchair,
while another has
no
arms. Many escaped or were inmates of the brutal
Algerian desert prison
camps.

They have never been charged or linked to any acts of
"terrorism"
against
Britain let alone the London bombings last month in
which all the
suspects
appear to be 'home grown'.

They are political prisoners in every sense of the
word and should be
protected by the UK.

Blair has now ordered that they be rounded up and
deported because he
says
regimes like Jordan have given their word these men
will not be
tortured or
killed.

That's a bit like asking an alcoholic to look after
the key to the
drinks'
cabinet. Of course they will be tortured, brutalised
and beaten -¦ that
is
what Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Algeria, Tunisia and
Morocco are infamous
for -
check out their records on Amnesty International's
website.

One of our brothers was dragged from his hospital bed
last Thursday by
the
Immigration Department. When a regular visitor of his
called
Immigration and
demanded to know his whereabouts she was reassured he
would be well
cared
for. "This is Britain," he said. She has now
discovered that particular
brother is on suicide watch in a prison far away from
London and his
doctors
and solicitors.

In her moving report on the Cage Prisoners website
(www.cageprisoners.com),
she says: 'These unjust cruelties are being carried
out in our name.
Will we
now sit back and watch when they are eventually
deported, forced on to
a
plane and handed over to the Algerian authorities as
"suspected
terrorists"
with the assurance that they will not be harmed?

'Personally, in this political climate, I fear for us
all. First they
came
for the Muslims and I did not speak out for I was not
a Muslim . . .
then
they came for me and there was no-one left to speak
out for me.'

The reality of Blair's Britain can also be checked on
the Stop
Political
Terror website of which I am a patron
(www.stoppoliticalterror.com)

We live in very troubled times and we have, as
Muslims, to unite and
find
safety and courage in our numbers across both sides of
the Atlantic.

I spoke at a recent conference in the north of England
promoting unity
across the Muslim communities in Britain but the press
reports in the
US
media were misleading or exaggerated.

I was accused of incitement for making a political
speech in which I
likened
Tony Blair to Pol Pot. Some very pompous
leader/opinion writers in New
York
and Dallas said this was ridiculous to compare Blair
to a mass
murderer.

Really? Well I know Pol Pot killed millions over the
years, but give
Blair
time. He's only taken us into four wars in five years
and the death
toll in
Iraq alone exceeds 500,000 according to those who
would know - the
Iraqis!

He encouraged the US-led United Nations Sanctions
which, for more than
a
decade, were responsible for the deaths of over one
million. Throw in
another 32,500 innocent Afghans and then there's a
constant flow of
Muslim
blood pouring forth from Palestine.

How many innocents do you have to kill before you hit
the 'mass killer'
ratings?

But there was something else Pol Pot did - he
ruthlessly censored the
citizens of Kampuchea because he could not stand
criticism and he did
this
by destroying the libraries of Cambodia.

Blair has already hinted he will close down Islamic
bookshops, destroy
literature and videos he deems offensive.

His incitement laws are so draconian none of us will
dare recount the
tale
of Robin Hood to our children ever again. Why, just
talking about a
folk
hero who robbed the rich to give money and food to the
poor is
tantamount to
glorifying terrorism!

United we stand, divided we fall. We must stretch our
hands across the
water
and give each other support during this dark period in
our history.

Send messages of support to your European brothers and
sisters - we
really
need it. But whatever you say, please don't say: 'It
can't get any
worse.'

It just did.
:brother: :brother: :brother:

[Noor]

Great read. JazakAllahKhair for posting that.

I once saw Yvonne Ridley at a conference, and boy was she amazing, May Allah reward her for her efforts. Ameen