It was a bit of a surprise, to say the least, that five of the suspected terrorists were arrested in High Wycombe - a rather unremarkable little town, where we live.
As always, when these things happen, my thoughts turn to my Muslim neighbours who suffered so much in the aftermath of the attacks in London last summer and following the attacks in NY and Washington in 2001.
Sometimes, when I go to a Quaker meeting, I try to remember what a close friend of mine told me once about going to the mosque, surrounded by teenagers shouting abuse. When I tell people I consider myself to have Quaker leanings, I do not have to worry about their reactions - no-one's scared of the Quakers. I spoke with a Muslim psychiatrist a while back who said he is weary of people asking him questions about terrorism, as though there was nothing else interesting or relevant about Islam than its response to terrorism.
I will try to remember these things as the Muslim community around me fall under suspicion at this time, and ask myself, what can I do in solidarity with the thousands of British Muslims, and the hundreds of Muslims in our immediate community who want to live peacefully just as much as I do.
I appreciated Jonathan Cook's (originally from High Wycombe) reflections on the recent arrests.
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As an event of embarassing honesty, I must admit a sigh of relief at the arrests ... for about 30 seconds... a sort of visseral responce to the idea that an act of violence might not happen... then I remember who we are speaking about, the folks behind the badges... and I found myself thinking of the Guildford 4, Birmingham 6, Leanard Peltier, Lynne Stewart, Philberto Ojeda Rios, Rosin McAliskey, The Chicago Black Panthers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all the innocent nameless masses who were arrested or shot so that some might enjoy a short moment of relief from ...
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