All it takes is a spark

In the light of events yesterday in Woolwich it didn't take long for the army of bigots to make themselves seen. They were on Twitter, on Facebook, on the news and, more seriously, in public.

It only takes the mindless, barbaric acts of a pair of men, a metaphorical spark if you will, to rekindle racial hatred and violence, as well as unnecessary and unjust intervention from unrelated persons (perhaps I am included in that group, although I try to be impartial). It is true that the attack in London does itself seem racially and politically motivated. But in my view that is no justification for any similarly mindless retaliation.

Unfortunately, it seems that this view is not shared by some people. The BBC have reported that overnight two arrests were made for violent acts that are being seen as direct responses to the violent killing in Woolwich. One of those arrests was for "racially aggravated criminal damage" in Gillingham, another man was arrested at a mosque in Braintree for attempted arson, and, perhaps predictably, around 250 supporters of the English Defence League clashed with police at the scene in Woolwich.

In my view, all that the original attack has achieved (although I would rather wish it would not have achieved anything) is that it will be a cause of fear for many people, and unjust hatred among others. Already the armed forces have issued advice that military personnel should "conceal" their uniform when in public [EDIT: advice repealed at 10.45] and, as mentioned above, reprisals against innocent Muslims did not take long to rear their ugly racist head.

Perversely, those who have sought to defend the Muslim community from abuse have sometimes become offensive or bigoted themselves. This tweet from Nick Robinson (above), the BBC's Political Editor, infers that he received a backlash after reporting on the Six O' Clock News that the attackers were of "Muslim appearance", as he says himself he was quoting official sources so any offence caused would not have been from him in any place, but what is more notable is that when you bother to investigate those who were seemingly offended - as I have - you find that it is not the Muslim community who are up-in-arms at the remark but in fact mostly middle class, white suburban housewives or leftist liberals who will attack the mainstream media at every chance they get. [EDIT: Nick Robinson's BBC Blog "One phrase and why I'm sorry I quoted it"]

I have nothing against leftist liberals, in fact I may even class myself as one (perhaps more centralised on the spectrum than those in question here), but it is often the case that this pool of people hijack a situation in the name of the anti-establishment movement. I welcome and embrace a free and open society where anyone can question the media and have their say on current affairs, I just wish that sometimes people would consider their words and actions a little more carefully and perhaps bother to check that what they say, think or do is relevant, truthful and just.

As is common at times of despair the light of human decency and reason will reveal itself. This picture (left) shows a totally innocent and unconnected woman, named by the Daily Telagraph as Cub Scout leader Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, trying to talk-down one of the men involved in the attack, reportedly asking him "Would you like to give what you have in your hands?", referring to the knife clearly visible in the man's left hand. Ms. Loyau-Kennett says that she spoke to the man in an effort to prevent further violence. This woman acted selflessly, in the pursuit of the safety of those around her. She had no way of knowing that the man she was talking to would not attack her and she should be highly commended for her actions.

The men who savagely killed a man on the streets of London should be condemned by all, although there will unfortunately forever be some who will remain sympathetic to their cause. These men who wanted to "start a war in London" represent only themselves, they have been denounced by the very Muslim community whom they claim to fight for and as such any attack or hatred towards that community is totally unjust and should be equally condemned. The two men involved were shot by police and are both under arrest in separate hospitals, it seems clear at this time that they acted alone so there is no need for knee-jerk reprisals.

The police investigation is ongoing and my thoughts and condolences go out to the family of the victim [EDIT: Victim named as Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (right)] of this savage and barbaric attack. [EDIT: I also wish to extend my condolences to the families of the
attackers, who will be facing a very difficult road of emotion and torn loyalty.]