By Daniel Pipes
16 July 2018
Beyond Terror: Islam's Slow Erosion
of Western Democracy
By Anne Marie Waters
Spring 2018
Every European country with an advanced
Islamist problem has a political party in parliament focused on dealing with
this challenge – except one, the United Kingdom. This absence of what I call a
civilisationist party (because it seeks to save Western civilization) has
profound implications; it means the British have no way to enact legislation
against the Islamist threat nor do the existing parties feel pressure to pay
attention to it. For this reason, "Londonistan" has the bleakest
prospects of any Western country.
Anne Marie Waters, author of the book in
your hands or on your screen, is one of the few who can fill the gap. As Beyond
Terror: Islam's Slow Erosion of Western Democracy amply shows, she has the
biography, skills, knowledge, and will to found a civilisationist party.
Indeed, she initiated the process in late 2017 by establishing For Britain, a
party "for the forgotten majority."
Seen in this light, Beyond Terror serves
the triple purpose of self-introducing Waters to the public, documenting the
civilisational problem, and laying out her policies.
The self-introduction emphasizes her and
the Left's mutual disaffection; it shows how criticism of Islamism rendered her
longstanding political home no longer hospitable. I found her insider's views
illuminating, especially how pro-Islamism has become integral to the Left's
world view and program. It's reached the point, Waters explains, that "the
modern political Left will turn on its comrades if they fall out of favour with
Islam." Strangely, opposing "a far-Right religious extremism that
openly discriminates and condones violence against women, executes homosexuals,
and punishes dissenters with the sword" gets one in big trouble.
This could only happen because "the
modern Left has adopted a whole new set of priorities. No longer concerned with
the rights of the working classes or protecting vulnerable minorities, the new
university-educated middle-class Left is an ideological beast." In other
words, economics is now secondary to identity politics. Workers, make way for
the academics. Goodbye Marx, hello Gramsci.
"Far Right" is what The Economist
calls Waters and what The Times of London calls For Britain; but this adjective
outrageously distorts both their political identities. Waters comes from a
strictly leftist background, having been a member of the Labour Party for about
10 years. Her political activism began in favour of keeping the socialist
National Health Service. She served as both a trade union representative and as
a board member of the National Secular Society. She calls herself a second-wave
feminist and a near-free-speech absolutist.
Following her clash with the Left, her
outlook now contains centrist qualities: She believes in personal liberty, in
limited state intrusion, government accountability, low migration, and
Christian- and secular-based Western civilisation. She favours the free market
along with a strong public sector. She is a nationalist who opposes mass
migration. In keeping with this profile, For Britain is neither Left nor Right,
much less far Right, but represents what it calls "the decent
majority."
Waters is shy about providing specifics on
her travails in starting the party (did you not wonder why this very
British-oriented book is published in the American Midwest?) and discussing
future tactics. I look forward to more information from her on these topics.
The second part surveys outrages of the
Islamist scourge, knowledgeably covering twelve Western countries (with special
attention to the United Kingdom and the United States) and lightly touching on
several Muslim-majority countries. She documents the ravages of the combined
Islamist-Leftist machine on such topics as freedom of speech, homosexuality,
and school instruction.
Anne Marie Waters, speaking under the sign.
The final part offers Waters'
prescriptions. She begins by noting that, when it comes to the twin issues of
immigration and Islamisation, the parties which dominate the British House of
Commons, four in number, "are entirely inseparable" in their
agreement on a "deliberate sanitisation of Islam." She portrays this
collusion as an elite arrogance that views the voting public as
"completely stupid."
Fortunately, if free speech "has
dramatically decreased among our leaders, “it "still exists in some form
among ordinary people." And so, paraphrasing George Orwell, Waters turns
to those ordinary people: "hope lies with the proles." A populist
surge is needed, and now: "The only way Islamism will be defeated, or even
confronted, is through the power of the people. We must use our vote and our
right to stand for political office in order to unseat complicit MPs."
She outlines a program consisting of five
steps:
Jameah Islameah
Islamic School in Kent was closed down after a counter terror raid.
Restore
accountable government by returning power from international institutions
(i.e., the European Union) to the nation-state.
Teach children
positively about their country.
Apply one law to
all, thereby ending "harmful Islamic practices."
Take control of
immigration and deport immigrant criminals.
Keep a close
watch on Islamic institutions for signs of Islamism.
These are
unarguably sensible policy prescriptions, though I would add a #6:
"Marginalize Islamism and help strengthen moderate Islam."
Waters understandably does not include such
a recommendation. She writes: "I do not believe that Islam and Islamism
are distinct. ... Islamism is merely the political implementation of the
doctrines of Islam." In contrast, I hold the two are distinct: Islam is
the entire faith, Islamism is one (extremist) interpretation of it. For Waters,
Islamism represents the only true form of Islam; for me, it is just one way of
implementing Islam and other, more benign interpretations exist and are equally
valid.
This matter has profound importance: Waters
disbelieves, and I do believe in a moderate Islam. She has no hopes for changes
in Islam; I argue that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the
solution. Among other benefits, my approach offers the possibility of
cooperating with anti-Islamist Muslims, something I hope For Britain will make
a priority.
Despite our disagreement on the nature of
the enemy, Anne Marie Waters and I stand in the same trench, fighting the same
opponents. I therefore hope this manifesto will contribute to creating the UK's
urgently needed civilisationist party that For Britain will soon enter
parliament, and once there, it will help shape the country's future.
Daniel Pipes
President, Middle East Forum
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
April 2018
The above text may be reposted, forwarded, or translated so long as it is
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Source: danielpipes.org/18397/foreword
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/books-and-documents/daniel-pipes/radical-islam-is-the-problem-and-moderate-islam-is-the-solution/d/115841