I couldn’t go to any of the commemorative events at the site of Lee Rigby’s murder in Woolwich South London this year. Friends did attend and thus I know that, as usual, everything was decently and respectfully done.
There are events in Manchester today, including a minute’s silence and a memorial service. But from my armchair here in east of East London it seems that the news is largely ignoring Lee Rigby (so last five year) and is reporting Manchester from the point of view of condeming, less the jihad that murdered schoolgirls and their mothers, and more the groups who have been trying to bring the threat of jihad to public attention.
Such as the New Statesman – “How the Manchester bombing turned the city into a symbol for the far-right”, which condemns the football lads (be they FLA or DRLA) and praises to the hilt, Figen Murray and Dan Hett the mother and brother of murdered Coronation Street fan Martyn Hett for their anti-racist support for fellow Muslims.
The Guardian does pay tribute to each individual which is quite touching. and then gives Dan Hett a whole column to himself to warn about the ‘hostile environment for immigrants’. That under Sharia law his late brother would not last long, and his mother would probably also be honour killed for marrying a non-Muslim non-Turk doesn’t seem to have come to his notice. The Guardian doesn’t allow comments very often any more. Comment is no longer free.
The Telegraph reviews a Channel Four documentary – A Year of Hate Crime, review – glimmers of hope emerge from Britain’s 2017 nightmare. So far comments are allowed, but many have been deleted.
The opening of Manchester: a Year of Hate Crime (Channel 4) was a litany of horror, the stuff of dystopian nightmares that starkly illustrated the extent to which racism fuels hate crime.
Will Jessop’s austere film continued as such, documenting hundreds of incidents that occurred in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing. The headline-grabbing events – such as the Islamophobic attack on Finsbury Park mosque – were interspersed with lower-level incidents affecting far fewer, yet emblematic of dwindling human decency and respect towards minorities.
There were glimmers of hope: The admirable response of the Finsbury Park imam protecting the attacker from retribution, and the absence of wider reprisals; the steady community work of Greater Manchester police; the conciliatory sermons of local imam, Irfan Chishti.
This was not a film to inspire much optimism. While it would be easy to dismiss Tommy Robinson and his band of knuckle-dragging acolytes as the lunatic fringe, the truly alarming development was how the antagonists are getting younger.
I find my hope in the comments.
The top one, at time of writing is
- The hate crime which overshadowed all others, was the bombing of a peaceful pop concert, killing and maiming many innocent young people. That’s the main concern here.
- Totally idiotic, uneducated and blinkered comment about Tommy Robinson who understands at ground level what’s going on in our society far better than any politician. I would put far more credence on what he says than most journos, esp those at C4 and the BBC. Tommy Robinson is worth watching on youtube.
- The worst hate crime in the year following the Manchester attack occurred on the 3rd June at London Bridge.I assume that was included in the programme?
- Unbelivable rubbish 700 hundred young teen girls were killed or wounded in the manchester attack, lets talk about hate.
- I believe the youngest girl murdered with a nail bomb for the crime of being an infidel while enjoying a pop concert was 8 years old. I suppose that’s where the real hate is…Channel 4? That’s just another pile of steaming leftist %%%% you can keep, along with the B.B.C….
- I am proud of those folk filmed in Manchester standing up against the invading savages. We are outnumbered here in London but I refuse to spend any of my money in business owned or operated by them or even look at them anymore.
- Interesting. Not only are comments being removed, this article has been removed from the main Telegraph page. Did the poor little writer of this rubbish not like the overwhelming dissent against her view?
- Yup. Couldn’t stand the critisism of his pi$$- poor piece.
- Utter crap – “a year of hate crime?” not one incident of an underage girl being sexually assaulted “because she’s just a white slag”? Pull the other one.
- What an evasive, disrespectful, and heartless way to commemorate the vicious and deliberated murder of 22 innocent people and the injuring of many more in Manchester. Get real DT. People were butchered because of the ethnicity and culture. That was the real hate crime; not the name-calling that followed it.
- Interesting that there is not a single comment here defending the Channel 4 programme or the ideas behind it. I would love to hear some cogent argument from them for a change, as opposed to the usual slurs against those who disagree with them. Come on Channel 4: I challenge you here and now to give us a good reason why we shouldn’t be seething with anger about the Manchester (and other terrorist) attacks and your seeming inability to acknowledge the truth about what is going on in this country…
Read them before they are deleted.
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One Response
Esmerelda – thanks for this! The article is appalling… but as you say, the comments are very heartening. Lots of rationally-angry and well-informed people. One hopes that some of the less-brainwashed politicians – there are a few – might occasionally take a peek at these sorts of comments streams, and get a feel for the way the wind is blowing and the tide flowing.