In Afghanistan, he is all for it:
If you are asking me what are my feelings towards people fighting occupation, the answer is I completely support them. I believe in the inalienable right to defend yourself against foreign occupation.
This is what he said last week on a tour of Ireland backed by FOSIS, the Islamist student group, and Irish stoppers.
It is a ridiculous statement. There is no “foreign occupation”. US soldiers and other western troops in the country are serving alongside the Afghan National Army in a fight with a common enemy. Poll numbers have long shown substantial support for foreign troops among Afghans and precious little for the murderous Taliban and al Qaeda.
It is no surprise that people such as the managers of the East London Mosque have no problem with Begg and Cageprisoners spreading their extremist messages. Disregard the latest dishonesty from the mosque:
We would like to reiterate our position on violent extremism, and the roads towards it, as having no moral or religious justification.
…
When our Chairman returned to the UK in early January he ordered a review of our hiring policy. We clarified that the list of speakers needed before a booking is confirmed should henceforth include those speaking “via a live link or via a pre‐recording”. This condition was later amended so that now speakers must be approved before giving even a provisional booking.
Hey, a man who supports the murderers of British troops? Nah, that’s not violent extremism. In he comes on 1 December, with Cageprisoners patron Yvonne Ridley and Asim “it is incumbent upon all of us to support the jihad” Qureshi.
The trouble is that extremists are still supported by the idiot left as well. Consider this report from last weekend:
Last night Stephen Pittman, Secretary of the Joseph Rowntree Trust, defended his charity’s funding of the group. He said: “I’ve recently spoken to Cageprisoners and I have had a commitment that they are completely opposed to any form of the use of terrorism aimed at civilians.
“They are completely committed to the upholding of human rights standards … [and] have distanced themselves from this man [al-Awlaki].
“Cageprisoners has now stated that it is not supportive of anything al-Awlaki is saying relating to the use of violence.
“We have got a Muslim community in Britain which feels highly alienated and the people who in our view are able to build bridges and make links to those young Muslims are people like Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners.”
Yes, Quakers campaigning for “peace” are funding a man who supports the Taliban, who revel in the slaughter of civilians. They have wasted £170,000. And they can’t see the problem.
By the way, don’t fall for the “Awlaki changed after Yemen imprisoned him [in 2006 and 2007], he wasn’t bad before that” line which Cageprisoners and other apologists are trying to sell. Evidence against that lie has been presented on this blog. Here is some more, from a New York Times profile of Awlaki, referring to Awlaki’s time in London:
“He was the main man who translated the jihad into English,” said Abu Yahiya, 27, a Bangladeshi-British student of Mr. Awlaki’s lectures in 2003.
Or try this comment from a discussion on an Islamist forum two days ago:
I remember him at a small Q and A in the main hall at Jimas maybe 2000 or 2002,cant remember which one, basically he was asked a question about the rulers and what was his dawah to them or why was he sent etc..once he said he has sent to change them if they dont stop their evil after the dawah has been given to them then we will change them by force i.e jihad. kinda made clear where Anwar was going deen wise, that and his CD’s hitting the street, in particular his Jihad series, it was positively mind blowing and still is masAllah…
Or this one from the same forum:
By the way if you listen to his seerah and other works, which were recorded in America [Awlaki left America for good in 2002], he clearly calls people to jihad
Funding Cageprisoners was not the Rowntree Trust’s only ridiculous move. It has also granted £85,000 to Conflicts Forum, an Islamist promotion outfit run by Alastair Crooke, a former British spook and a crackpot. Conflicts Forum’s advisors include Mr Begg; antisemite and Hamas supporter Ismail Patel of Friends of al Aqsa, a group dedicated to fanatical hatred of Israel; and Azzam “Kaboom” Tamimi.
The Trust has also granted £60,000 to the Khomeinists of the self-styled Islamic Human Rights Commission for “implementing a communication strategy”.
Amnesty International too continues to support Begg. Its Malvern Hills branch will host Begg this Friday.
Anyone who really cares about the plight of Afghans, peace, and “alienation” of British Muslims should oppose Taliban supporters.
At this point anyone who instead promotes them is part of the problem of extremism and deserves nothing but ridicule.
