Consequences of Hate-Filled Political Rhetoric and Illegal Military Interventions

In recent years, the number of terrorist attacks and hate crimes in western countries has risen to levels never seen before, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent citizens. Recent studies suggest that there are clear connections between terrorism, illegal military interventions in the Middle East, and those politicians who regularly use hateful rhetoric against immigrants.

This has been more evident in the UK, which has suffered four terrorist attacks in just four months, the latest against the Muslim community only a week ago. In the aftermath of those attacks, the number of hate crimes increased fivefold in London and 530% in Manchester, according to the Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks).

Source: The Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime, Home Office. 12 months to March in year shown

A Met police spokesperson said that the number of hate crimes against Muslims had increased sharply in the last four years. They recorded 343 incidents in 2013, 1009 in the year before March 2016, and 1260 in the year prior to March of 2017.

Last year, the UN the body Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination argued that the continuous anti-immigration rhetoric used by British politicians during, and after the Brexit campaign, resulted in a significant increase in the number of hate crimes and in the potential radicalization of several individuals.

The committee reported that more than 3,000 allegations of hate crimes were made to UK police in the week before and the week after the Brexit vote, an increase of 42% over the two corresponding weeks in the year before. It also pointed out that numerous politicians and journalists regularly fail to condemn hate crimes against ethnic minority groups.

The UK military interventions in the Middle East have not seemed to help reduce the level of terrorism. Instead, they have served as a platform for ISIS to carry out its massive proselytizing, especially to those vulnerable people who often feel discriminated against by society.

The Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn recently said, “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought against other countries and terrorism here at home.”

“That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions. But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people and will fight rather than fuel terrorism.”

 

It seems clear that explicit support for an illegal war overseas often backfires with unpredictable consequences. And then that action, far from reducing terrorism, boosts it.

Rhetoric that is hostile to an ethnic group, including locals, or any action that could be understood as hostile by them, will do nothing but feed their perception that they will always be targeted, resulting in the radicalization of numerous individuals.

Numerous right-wing politicians and journalists remind us how the constant discrimination against ethnic minorities fuels terrorism, resulting in the backlash which the enormous tragedies previously mentioned represent.

To believe that Islamist terrorism is going to be eradicated anytime soon would be very naive. However, western governments could easily reduce the number of terrorist incidents in their respective territories by ending their hate rhetoric against immigrants and by building bridges between communities.

Tolerance is the key to reducing tensions and solving the existing problem. Although there are many distinct communities in the world, and each one has its own peculiarities and customs, all of them have things in common, and most importantly they are all made up of human beings.

For that reason, it is important to emphasize those common points and downplay the differences that set those community apart.  Even though this may sound utopic, it is crucial to remember that people and people alone determine what is real and what is not. By persuading governments of the importance of leaving their hateful rhetoric aside while showing the importance of building bridges between communities, global society will move a step closer to achieving unity and getting away from division once and for all.

 

Jeremy Corbyn Is Back

Last Thursday, Jeremy Corbyn arose from the ashes after over 30 years of relentless smear campaigns seeking his political death. The establishment, the Tories, the tabloids, and several Labour MP’s had joined forces to deal a coup de grace against him in the snap election. However, Corbyn’s stunning results blew them all away and upturned the old political and economic orthodoxies.

The Labour Party won 262 seats, – 32 more than in 2015 – the largest increase in seats and votes since 1945. Even so, the Tories won the election, although without an absolute majority, getting 318 seats, or 13 fewer than in 2015, which has obliged Theresa May to form a chaotic pact with the DUP, an extreme unionist North Irish party with numerous former terrorists.

With this outcome, Corbyn will challenge the now failing Tory government from the first day and will try to force a new general election later on this year, which could eventually proclaim him Prime Minister.

Corbyn said, “Labour will invite parties to defeat the government and vote for Labour’s manifesto in a “substantial amendment” to the Queen’s speech, as well as suggesting the party would also kill off the “great repeal bill”.

“We are ready and able to put forward a serious program which has great support in this country,” he said, though the Labour leader conceded his party “didn’t win the election”.

“We are going to put down a substantial amendment to the Queen’s speech which will be the main points of our manifesto. So we will invite the House to consider all the issues we’ve put forward – jobs-first Brexit, policies for young people and on austerity,” he said.

 

After all that; the constant defamations, machinations of oligarchs, vitriolic attacks by war-mongers and ruthless propaganda by the corporate media against him were ignored by millions of Brits, and Corbyn has a real chance of winning a new possible general election with an absolute majority.

According to recent polls, most of those who did not support him, did not do so because they thought he was unelectable, and they would now vote for him in a new election. Also, Labour MPs who once disparaged him are now praising him. And part of the media has phased out their constant smear campaigns against him.

Corbyn’s resurgence would have been impossible without the mass support of young people, who voted for him in numbers never seen before in history. They have decided that he represents the future of the UK and not the past and that his manifesto is more than just a pipe dream. They believe that it is a realistic plan to transform UK society into a fairer one. Hundreds of thousands of old folks have united with them in thinking that with Corbyn as Prime Minister, anything is possible.

Before becoming Labour Party leader in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn had been toiling in obscurity on the back-benches in parliament for over 30 years. From there he affirmed his political convictions, leading him to become today’s leader. His honesty and his fierce defense of the working class have characterized his long political life.

All these difficult efforts have started to bear fruit. The support of young people and the mass mobilization of elderly has provided Corbyn with an undeniable mandate to begin a new modern social revolution, which should end with the creation of a real democracy.

The type of democracy where the citizens will control all political institutions and politicians will become their real representatives. A democracy where politicians will never again be seen as powerful actors in the world, but rather as the people’s servants.

Everyone thought that Corbyn was a moribund politician close to retirement, but the people and only the people, have made him arise from the ashes to finalize his work. From now on, the constant defamation, machinations of oligarchs and vitriolic attacks against him will no longer matter. Corbyn has come back and he will never leave again until he finishes his new popular mandate. And most importantly, the people — teenagers, elders, women, man, locals, immigrants, etc. — appear now to be willing to follow him until the bitter end.

Conservative Organizations, Theresa May, and Their Connections with ISIS

Tomorrow, the world will watch the lastest episode of a long-term soap-opera involving conservatives and Islamist terrorism. The UK will hold a controversial general election that will be definitive in the fight against Islamist terrorism.

Over the years, western society has assumed that conservative parties such as the Tories in the UK are more reliable than the lefties in the fight against terrorism. In recent times, however, there has been clear evidence that ISIS and conservative forces have been helping each other. 

ISIS has used terrorism to spread chaos worldwide and thereby influence elections in Western democracies. Conservative forces have used this chaos to bolster racism and use the ready-made fear campaigns for their own ends, to ensure their re-election.

Recently, Theresa May has used the latest terrorist attack in London to launch a manipulative fear campaign to improve her chances of winning the election. Additionally, she has announced measures that purport to improve security but will not, and will bolster racism in UK society, which is the ultimate goal of ISIS.

Theresa May is trying to adopt the ploys used by George W. Bush’s campaign during his re-election in 2004. Bush was one of the first conservative world leaders to use terrorism as a tool to win elections and cause destruction overseas.

Bush had the lowest presidential approval ratings ever recorded in 2004 as a consequence of the Iraq War. Though most pundits contended that he did not have any chance of being re-elected in the presidential election that same year, he launched a mass “fear campaign” based on two points:

1. Vote for me, and you will be safe.

2. Vote for someone else, and terrorist forces will invade your country.

Bush’s fear campaign proved successful when he was re-elected. Within a few weeks, Americans started thinking that “Muslims” represented a real threat to their lives. As a result, there was an increase in the number of racial attacks across the US. This was later used by ISIS to attract new combatants. It targeted those “Muslims” who were born in the US and had suffered from harassment, intolerance, and racial attacks. That created hundreds of potential new terrorists ready to commit terrorist attacks in the US and the UK.

Theresa May, who is now following in the footsteps of Bush, could cause a catastrophe if she became Prime Minister. ISIS is actively helping her to win this election through terrorism. ISIS knows that terrorism bolsters conservative forces, which tend to react by using an anti-immigration narrative, leading to an increase in racial attacks. This is the best scenario for ISIS to recruit new militants. Consequently, it is clear that conservative parties cannot lead the fight against terrorism any longer.

Furthermore, May is still endorsing Saudi Arabia -the main state sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East- and led a cut off of 20,000 police officers as home secretary, leading terrorists to circumvent British security surveillance. For that reason, anyone who is still thinking of voting for May should think twice before casting their votes.

Jeremy Corbyn has made numerous mistakes during his life, like everyone else. However, he has spent most of his life by trying to integrate immigrants and unite UK society. If he became Prime Minister, he would commit more resources to security forces, allow them to monitor potential terrorists, thus resulting in a substantial reduction of terrorist attacks in the UK. This election is all about two options:

1. Theresa May: An increase in the number of terrorist attacks.

2. Jeremy Corbyn: A reduction of terrorist attacks.

If you are by chance a British person reading this piece, you must know that this is your time to take action to build a better world. Think about the aforementioned two options and vote for the better one, and remember that Corbyn’s victory would make the UK safer. In a certain way, the destiny of Europe, western countries, and the world is in your hands!

Note: In this opinion, piece I refer to the political class that represents conservative organizations. So I assume that not all conservative supporters endorse any sort of collaboration with Islamist terrorism.