Originally posted by @Rallyboy
I hesitate to impose on the sadness of what has happened, as a respected MP who actually had a passion for causes and worked for her constituents has been lost in terrible circumstances, but there is a worrying trend developing.
In the aftermath of this appalling murder there is some debate as to how it is being portrayed in the media…
It’s quite clear that if this had been committed by someone linked to Islam it would be described as a terrorist attack.
I completely recognise what you’re describing, and it is by far the first time that I’ve seen concern over this apparent double standard raised.
I agree, but I think the word “terrorism” is a more dangerous double standard in and of itself. This goes back to the time of the Troubles, but there has always been a separate and distinct legal track for those accused of terrorism as opposed to those accused of murder. The justice system in Northern Ireland wouldn’t do jury trials on the matter, for example.
Today, the double standard applies in what rights you have if you are accused of terrorism. A mass murderer will get the full benefit of the protection of our justice system, provided that terrorism isn’t included as part of the charges. Of course, the irony is that the person terrorised everyone he murdered, all of the victims’ families plus the community at large. The mass murderer gets judicial process. The mush who is found with a copy of the Anarchists’ Cookbook* is a terrorist, regardless of whether he has done anything or not.
* By that definition, most of my year were terrorists. The Anarchists’ Cookbook was swapped around on floppy disc a lot back then. Oddly enough, saying “ooh, that’s interesting” or “look at what the fuck they let you buy over the counter in the US” was as far as our super-villainry went.
But because there appears to be a link to the far right, it has been dismissed as a loner with mental illness.
In these cases I would suggest that mental illness could be the main factor to some degree, but there appears to be a reluctance, both here and in the States, to link attacks like this to the far right, whereas linking to Islam is a default setting.
And it slots right into a disturbing agenda.
I really want to find this link, and perhaps I will - it was not widely reported at the time. I think the biggest haul of explosives ever found in this country belonged to a white extremist in Lancashire, discovered during the height of the terror scare.
Terrorism really is in the eye of the beholder. I think a huge problem is that we’ve allowed others to set that agenda, and determine who fits into what camp. Reflecting, I don’t think that the term is helpful at all, certainly not from a judicial standpoint, and especially if it establishes two different legal pathways for the same base crime.
But you’re right - there is a disturbing agenda out there, that seeks to demonise Muslims and at the same time and puts white people into a category where they are almost unable to be the perpetrators of such acts. They’ve taken this rhetoric too far. It was barely tenable when all Muslims were in the frame. Is Britain ready, psychologically, to admit to organised terror in other areas of British life?
The sad thing is that all of this has been bred and nurtured by our media. I don’t for a second condone any action like this.
Politicians being murdered on the streets evokes some fairly bad times in human history. However, this country has been pumping out the same general message when it comes to Islam for fifteen years. We’ve all seen the racists crawl out of the woodwork, enabled by a general sense that it’s okay to have a go at Islam.
When you have a young, visible MP that campaigns not just for refugees, but also Palestine, in the face of this new age of acceptable racism, you always run the risk of appealing to complete nutters that buy into the rhetoric much more than was ever intended.
poor sog, as if Coldplay wan’t depressing enough