Joel Hilliker Ignoring the Muslim Condemnations of the 2005 London Bombings

On July 7, 2005, four terrorists bombed London murdering 52 innocent people. Those who carried out that most terrible mass murder in that criminal conspiracy are the ones responsible. No one else. We must not blame innocent people.

When writing the last post about Joel Hilliker's 2006 article fear mongering about British Muslims in which he mentioned the London bombings I noticed this particular complaint by Hilliker.

Thus, they flee from anything that could be remotely construed as such. One of the most common and predictable means of proving one’s credentials as an officially tolerant person is to insist—surely if one says it loudly and often enough it must be true—that the vast majority of Muslims detest what the terrorists are doing, and that violence is anathema to the imminently peaceful religion of Islam.

It is hard to ignore the fact, however, that these statements always issue from white, non-Muslim types—never from the leaders of this supposedly vast body of “moderate” Muslims.  (Joel Hilliker, The Sickness in Britain's Heart, November-December 2006.)

Note the condemning way Hilliker says "the vast majority of Muslims detest what the terrorists are doing". Hilliker insinuates that this assertion is false. Is Hilliker right?

So Hilliker says that only "white, non-Muslim" leaders make statements insisting that the vast majority of Muslims detested the terrorist bombing. This has the ugly insinuation that many (or even most) British Muslims side with the terrorists who bombed London in 2005 murdering 52 innocent people. Is Hilliker right?

Having read up on the phenomenon of Islamophobia I was aware that this is a common canard among such people. They tend to say, Muslims are silent about terrorism, and other such things. I knew that particular statement needed to be tested.

Turns out Wikipedia has an entire article devoted to listing the reactions to the London bombings. And many statements condemning the bombings came from all kinds of Muslims. Here are more statements from Muslim majority countries condemning the London bombings and Muslim organizations.

The Gulf Co-operation Council "condemns the terrorist attacks which hit the British capital in several locations this morning". ...

Egypt – Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who lived in London until his appointment in 2004, condemned the attacks while at a conference in Brussels. "Everyone is following what's happening in London with great anxiety. It is important to be brave in facing up to the scourge of terrorism," the state news agency MENA quoted him as saying.

Morocco – Communication Minister Nabil Benabdallah gave a statement on behalf of the government, saying that "these heinous attacks underline the need for the international community to...unite its efforts to fight these acts and abort their objectives".

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – President of the Sahrawi Republic, Mohamed Abdelaziz expressed his condolences on behalf of the Saharawi people to the British people and government, vehemently condemning "the terrorist acts" that stroked the British capital. ...

Bangladesh – Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia within hours of the attacks condemned the act of terrorism and expressed deep sorrow upon the deaths in the attacks. Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan later visited the British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury to convey the condemnation of the Government of Bangladesh upon the attacks. ...

Indonesia – Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa has said, "We're shocked to hear the bombing attacks. We condemned them," He also expressed condolences to the victims and their relatives, and pray for the wounded for their early recovery. ...

Malaysia- Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said all Malaysians were saddened and distressed over the bomb attacks in London. He said every Malaysian hates violence and condemns it because violence is not the solution. He stated "I believe all countries and races condemn what had happened in London although we do not know yet who is responsible for the bombing". ...

Pakistan – Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said "We offer our heartfelt sympathies to those who suffered due to such acts". ...

Kuwait – denounced the attacks in a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair from Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is in the United States. Shaikh Sabah expressed Kuwait's "strong condemnation" of the blasts that left a number of "innocent casualties," said the state news agency KUNA. "These terrorist attacks which target innocent lives are against all human norms and values," the Kuwaiti leader said. Shaikh Sabah also expressed "Kuwait's sympathy and support to friendly Britain and to all actions it will take to eradicate vicious terror in order to preserve security and stability".

Lebanon – President Émile Lahoud said that "Lebanon, which has been the victim of violence for years, shares with the British their pain".

Saudi Arabia – Social Affairs Minister Abdulmohsen al-Akkas said his country, battling a two-year wave of attacks by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, knew what London was suffering. "We understand. Since May 2003 we have been experiencing the horrors of terrorist acts" said Akkas, who was visiting London.

Turkey – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that "we have always stressed that the fight against terror is something we all have to join into together. I believe especially that our mutual intelligence organisations need to pool their information and knowledge to be better able to support one another against attacks of this kind". ...

United Arab Emirates – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Shaikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahayan said The UAE government "condemns in the strongest possible terms these horrific crimes and declares full solidarity with the British government" and that the UAE also "supports any measures [the British government] may take to deal with" the attacks. ...

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh denounced the deadly blasts that rocked London, saying "Killing and terrorising innocent people and the destruction of property are not condoned by Islam". He also censured the terrorists for tarnishing the image of Islam by attaching their heinous crimes to the religion.

The Muslim Council of Britain said that it "utterly condemns" the "indiscriminate acts of terror".

The Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network have issued a public statement condemning the attacks, offering their condolences to the British people, and pledging their support in bringing the terrorists to justice. ...

Grand Imam Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of Cairo's Al-Azhar University condemned the attacks and said that the attacks could be not justified as an attempt to force Britain out of Iraq. "This is illogical and cannot be the motive for killing innocent civilians".

Also worth noting is the reaction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spoke of his horror and grief. Amid widespread speculation that the bombings were the work of Islamic extremists, he said that, as it happened, he had "spent this morning with Muslim colleagues and friends in West Yorkshire; and we were all as one in our condemnation of this evil and in our shared sense of care and compassion for those affected in whatever way. Such solidarity and common purpose is vital for us all at this time of pain and sorrow and anger". On Friday he gave the "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4 in which he spoke of the difference between shocked silence and calmness.

Even those associated with Hamas and Hezbollah condemned the London bombings. Would PCG ever to tell their readers such things?

Leading Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim scholar Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah [who was linked to Hezbollah] stated, "These crimes are not accepted by any religion. It is a barbarism wholly rejected by Islam." ...

Hamas – Moussa Abu Marzouk, a spokesman for The Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas, has condemned the bombings, saying "Targeting civilians in their transport means and lives is denounced and rejected".

Even Assad, who would later horrify the world with the violent repression that has occurred under his rule since 2011 that has spawned so much pain and suffering, also sent condolences.

Syria – President Bashar al-Assad condemned the attacks in a cable sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

How did Hilliker miss all this? How is it that Hilliker dares to insinuate that many Muslims support terrorists or that Muslims leaders are silent about these things when there is so much evidence that this is simply untrue.

Hilliker misleading article was published in the November-December 2006 issue of PCG's recruitment magazine, The Philadelphia Trumpet. The editors of that issue are listed as Gerald Flurry, Stephen Flurry, Ron Fraser, Dennis Leap, Mark Jenkins and Ryan Malone. How is it that none of them bothered to note that Hilliker is so wrong with the statement at the start of this post? They also must bear blame for promoting Hilliker's misinformation.

How dare Hilliker and those fellows with him in PCG dare to spread such venomous accusations and insinuations against innocent people.