Is it extremist to call British soldiers 'butchers of Basra'?

Image © John Dodd

Anti-war protestors dressed in Islamic clothing caused outrage on Tuesday when they marred an army homecoming ceremony by calling British troops "cowards, murderers, terrorists, butchers of Basra" and held up photos of Iraq war victims. The event provoked angry attacks from both bystanders and the tabloid press, raising concerns over the safety of the country's two million strong Muslim community.

Around 12 protestors turned up to object to 200 soldiers of The Royal Anglian Regiment marching through Luton (50 km north of London). While at first they were held back by police forces, the tide soon turned when angry union flag-waving bystanders turned upon the group shouting "scum" and "no surrender to the Taliban". Two people were arrested. The response to the protest was largely outrage with tabloid newspapers labelling the group "sick", "extremist" and a "mob". The Muslim Council of Britain said it was "appalled" by the media reaction and that the group was simply providing "fodder for Islamophobes keen to drive a wedge between Britons".

Images from the parade

These photos were posted by Flickr user John Dodd.

Angry bystanders face the police, who are protecting the protestors.

Luton Mayor Lakhbir Singh (centre) attended the ceremony.

"These people are certainly not extremists. They’re just impassioned"

Rizwaan Sabir is currently studying for a master's degree in Islamic extremism at Nottingham University. 

This protest shows anger and frustration from the Muslim community in failing to bring about drastic change in British foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. They're sick of seeing the day-to-day of humiliation of Iraqi and Afghani people by soldiers. They view the army as a symbol of modern British/Western imperialism.

These people are certainly not extremists. They're just impassioned. Unless they're part of a group which is engaged in a violent organisation like Al-Qaeda, then just standing on the street with placards does not make them extremists. Rather, this is an example of politicisation. Second and third generation Muslims especially have become very politicised in Britain. One reason for this is the foreign policy of the UK and US etc, but another is the demonization of the Muslim community. They've been pushed into politicisation rather than stepped into it willingly.   

[For this] the media is largely to blame. Like all stories concerning what they refer to as Islamic extremism, this one has been exaggerated and sexed-up, with talk of ‘this radical fringe back from hell'. The media only causes problems for social cohesion. Headlines like that of The Sun [who described the protestors as ‘sick Muslim extremists'] can easily influence those who are largely ignorant. It's a great shame that a whole two million people will have to face the possibility of some fascist beating them up because some 20 people held up anti-war placards at the army. If this is such a big issue, then why not sit down and debate with the protestors instead of exciting the population?"

Protestors shout "come on England" and "get out of our country, fuck off". Video posted on YouTube by "lutonloyal".