A common struggle

A common struggle-Muslims and the secular left (Peter Dwyer) 2. 
  
Interesting interview, but does Dr Siddiqui really believe 
Afghanistan was about that damn pipeline? I have it on pretty 
good authority from a friend working in private intelligence in 
the international relations arena that the pipeline argument is 
a 'red' herring. The proposed gas pipeline is simply unviable 
and is not going ahead. The war was about many things, but the 
pipeline, he says, was not one of them.

Be interested to know if anyone else knows. I'm also not 
convinced by the argument that Bush's wars are not about Islam. 
If Afghanistan had been Buddhist, it wouldn't have had the 
Taliban in charge or host Bin Laden and co. The neo-cons in the 
White House are a bizarre breed of Christian-Zionist 
fundamentalists; they don't like Islam and they don't like Arabs.

Pete - you posted it from the 'gospel', but what do you think of 
the content?

Stuart

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A common struggle

DR GHAYASUDDIN Siddiqui is leader of the Muslim Parliament of 
Great Britain and a prominent member of the Stop the War Coalition. 
He spoke to Socialist Worker about the impact of the anti-war 
movement on the Muslim community in Britain. Dr Siddiqui uses the 
term Islamist to refer to groups the mainstream press would 
usually call Islamic fundamentalists.

IF YOU start from 11 September, immediately after there were a 
number of meetings which led to the formation of the Stop the War 
Coalition. We were there from the very beginning. We saw this 
development as very positive, one that would allow the Muslim 
community to get out of their ghettos and play a role in mainstream 
politics, in this case a mass protest movement. We said this was a 
great opportunity. I remember sending a statement to all Muslim 
community leaders saying that we must realise this. There is a lot 
of pent-up frustration, especially among our youth. Through this 
movement we showed them there is a real alternative to being 
supporters of Bin Laden. 

We have seen a growing number of Muslims, especially young people, 
participating in the demonstrations. For them to see being part of 
wider society and a mass movement as the way forward is very 
important. 

An Islamist organisation like Hizb ut Tahrir issued a statement 
saying we should have nothing to do with the Stop the War 
Coalition, that it was led by the left, and so on. 

We took the view that the future of Iraq will be decided by Bush 
and Blair, and big business which ultimately they represent. 
Historically the Islamists have always been accused of working 
with big business. We said, is that what you want to be 
remembered for? For goodness sake reconsider your position. 

Their position was just silly or stupid. They had one 
demonstration on their own and I was told it wasn't very big. 
That is not to say people like this will disappear, but their 
space is shrinking. That has been a major result of the anti-war 
movement. A debate is beginning to happen about what is the best 
way of pursuing political issues arising in the Muslim community. 

The Muslim community, like any other, has loads of organisations of 
different persuasions. But I think that the old barriers are 
breaking down. 

Ordinary Muslims are discussing, and they often find that the 
arguments put forward by their own leaders are not so powerful 
as some of those put forward by others. 

A few weeks ago a hardline youth movement invited me to talk to 
their meeting. This could not have happened before. Also within 
the Muslim community issues like secularism, human rights and 
civil liberties are being discussed. 

In the Islamist view these are secular issues that the faithful 
are not supposed to be interested in. But now people are 
seriously discussing all these issues. A number of us feel we 
need a youth movement for the Muslim community, one that 
addresses issues like globalisation, the environment and such 
things. So far no Muslim youth group has declared for that kind 
of agenda. 

So there have been a number of meetings within the community, 
and we are hoping such a group will be launched soon. This would 
be a major development and a result of engaging with the mass 
movement. 

Bush's war is not a war about Islam. I have always said, do you 
honestly believe that if Afghanistan was a Buddhist country the 
US and Britain would not have attacked? They attacked Afghanistan 
because it provides the shortest route for a pipeline from 
Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. The massive demos around the 
world negate the argument. 

If this is a war against Islam, why are all these people who 
aren't Muslim marching? 

People are beginning to see it is something different. My 
argument is that people all over the world demonstrate because 
they see the Americans going out for full spectrum dominance. 
It is a war between the oppressor and the oppressed, and we are 
the oppressed, millions of us from all kinds of backgrounds. 

We must go out and build bridges, and make it a common struggle. 
The anti-war movement has also politicised a whole young 
generation. Look at young people and school students-they have 
been so brilliant. The anti-war movement has inspired millions 
all over the world. 

The challenge for the whole movement now is to channel the 
energy into something positive and make it long lasting. There 
are other issues. The Asian Times asked me to comment on the 
Labour performance in the elections. 

I gave two reasons for their poor performance. One was Labour's 
participation in Bush's war on Iraq and the other is 
privatisation of public services. These are the major reasons 
why traditional support for Labour, including in the Muslim 
community, has been eaten away. 

The problem at the moment is that in a general election there 
is no other alternative so the Labour Party will still get 
elected. Do we want Iain Duncan Smith to be prime minister? 
Of course not. Charles Kennedy and the Liberals have failed 
too. I thought the war was a great opportunity for them, but 
Kennedy wasn't up to the mark. There is a great challenge 
the movement, to build an alternative people can trust. 

In the recent elections only around 30 percent of the electorate 
voted. Some say this showed people were not interested in 
politics. But then in the movement a huge number of people were 
very interested in politics. People are coming to realise that 
when a party gets elected, when they are in power, they become 
prisoners of the establishment. 

We have seen how big business has taken charge of the White 
House. If that can happen in the US it can happen elsewhere. 
Unless the progressive movement rises to the challenge we can 
see things like in Burnley with the BNP. 

They feed off the social exclusion, poverty, unemployment. 
Nobody says it is Thatcher's policies that are responsible for 
these, not immigrants or asylum seekers. In areas like Burnley, 
a lot of the segregation you see in schools and housing is the 
result of deliberate policies by councils and governments. If a 
large number of Asians live in one area this is not their choice, 
it is the policy choices of people in authority. 

We are against ghettoisation. Government and council policies 
have to ensure that people interact at all different levels. We 
can build a movement which can counter this globalisation 
process and US hegemony. 

We have to come together if we want any chance to counter the 
forces against us, otherwise we will all be losers.

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