Another sensible voice from the Muslim world

This is not the first time we've heard from Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, the general manager of Al-Arabiya news channel, on Marathon Pundit.

This brilliant article, written shortly after the Beslan terrorist attacks, found it's way into a Neil Steinberg Chicago Sun-Times column a few days after it's publication. That column is here. (Blogspot been acting funny lately, you might have to click on the link, then click "go"on your browser button.) The Steinberg column was used as a discussion point by suspended DePaul professor Thomas Klocek, when he attempted to have a rational conversation about Middle Eastern politics with some Muslim students at DePaul.

This Steven Plaut article summarizes Thomas Klocek's free speech troubles at DePaul University.

But back to Mr. al-Rashed. This column, Expel Extremism Today, sent my way by a tipster, appeared late last week on then online version of the Asharq Alawsat, a London-based Arabic newspaper. Like the above al-Rashed article, this too is a brilliant piece of journalism.

Some key excerpts:

For over ten years now, myself and other Arab writers have warned against the dangers of recklessly handling the issue of extremism that is now spreading like the plague within British community.

It was never understood why British authorities gave refuge to suspicious characters previously involved in terrorist activities. Why would Britain grant asylum to Arabs who have been convicted of political crimes, religious extremism or even sentenced to death? Not only are they admitted to the country, they are also provided with accommodation, a monthly salary, and free legal advice for those who want to prosecute the British government.

The answer I believe is what I call "blind generosity", despite its legal or political pretenses. This bizarre logic stuns those such as students in search of establishing their careers abroad, who are rejected citizenship. These people do not have criminal records like the others.

Extremism, like many other diseases, is an infectious one. A small dose of carriers can spread the infection like wild fire, establishing a community full of destructive thoughts and practices such as the horrific event that took place in London recently.

And it concludes...

In the matter of one decade, (the extremists) have established organizations, promoting their beliefs all over the world and denounced others as infidels in mosques, schools, and the media, and have publicly called for battles to begin. They have spread into the city of London, reached the outskirts and communities who have had no previous record of extremism and its practice. The results were illustrated last Thursday.

So why has this happened?

Until recently, there was the delusion in London that extremists will not target Britain, but rather only use it as a base, protecting their freedom as they worked against Arab and Islamic governments. For this reason, Britain was full of convicted opponents known for propagating their extremist ideologies. The time has come for British authorities to sternly deal with extremism before complete chaos is unleashed onto British society.

In the past, we talked about stopping them. It is now time to expel them.