the reality of global Islamism, and undermines efforts to combat terrorism.
Giles Fraser, a writer for The Guardian and former Canon Chancellor of St. Pauls Cathedral, recently wrote that there is no ideological connection between Islamist terror and Islam itself. The West, Fraser claims, blames "conservative Islam and the dangerous ideas contained in the Quran," for the recent horrors in Kuwait, Tunisia and France, because we refuse to "face our responsibility" for the "long history of disastrous western interventions in the Middle East."
Progressive Muslims might have reason to declare that Islamic scripture does not sanction terrorism, but no one can claim violent Islamic movements do not cause their own violent acts.
To back up his argument, Fraser cites a report published by a British group called Claystone. The study posits that "the connection between radical theology and terrorism" is built on a "flimsy empirical basis," encouraged by "conservative political lobbyists keen to blame conservative Islam for terrorism."
Claystone, however, is run by Haitham Al-Haddad, a British Salafist who describes Jews as "apes and pigs" and "enemies of God." He also claims that Osama bin Laden is a "martyr" who would enter paradise.
The Claystone report claims that Salafist Islam is an ally in the fight against terrorism. The report also makes the baffling claim that people who commit terrorist acts do not necessarily subscribe to extremist beliefs.
In the world of Giles Fraser, Baroness Warsi and friends, it seems as if terrorists are not radical, extremists are not extreme, and Islamism is not the product of Islamist ideas.
There is plenty the British government gets wrong on the question of extremism. It continues to fund problematic groups, such as Finsbury Park Mosque, which is run by Hamas operative Muhammad Sawalha; or Islamic Relief Worldwide, an Islamist charity that promotes extremist preachers. In addition, the government has proposed harsh measures to combat extremist preachers, including efforts to censor what clerics may write or say in public.
But on the question of moral responsibility, David Cameron seems to have it right. The West is not to blame for terrorism. Islamist violence is actually the product of a religious ideology openly committed to enveloping the world. It is not our domestic or foreign policies that Islamists dislike, but the existence of anything not belonging to their version of Islam -- which includes us in the West.