7/7 – Provocation or genuine terror attack? The two views of George Galloway’s Respect Coalition

Under British law, political parties are obligated to inform us of the names of their major donors. A visit to the website of the Electoral Commission reveals that nearly half of the money donated to George Galloway’s Respect Party comes from one man, Dr Mohammed Naseem. Google searches quickly reveal that Dr Naseem, in addition to having been a Respect candidate for Parliament, is also a leading figure in the Islamic Party of Britain. And that party, whose website is largely dormant, did have some things to say about the recent terrorist bombings in London in a document posted yesterday (16 July).
That document, entitled “In Times of Terror the Truth takes a Tumble” makes the case that Islamic fundamentalists were not responsible for the terrorist bombings. The reasons given include:
* They could not have been Islamic fundamentalists because one of them was “married to a Hindu lady”
* The Israeli politician Netanyahu was warned not to leave his hotel before the general public was informed that there had been a bombing — tipped off by the Mossad, which somehow knew what was really going on.
* Critical evidence, such as a CCTV camera on the number 30 bus, suspiciously disappeared from the scene.
* Finally, who benefits from the attacks? Why the Blair government, of course!
There is more, but here’s a typical sentence:
“London needed a real terror attack in order to numb people sufficiently for the government to push through legislation that they had not been able to push through even before their electoral fiasco.”
(By “their electoral fiasco” the author means Labour’s unprecedented third straight election victory.)
These are the views of Dr Mohammed Naseem’s organisation, the Islamic Party of Britain. They were written by the party’s general secretary, Dr Sahib Mustaqim Bleher, a German-born convert to Islam.
Contrast this with what George Galloway told the House of Commons on the very day of the attacks:
“I condemn the act that was committed this morning. I have no need to speculate about its authorship. It is absolutely clear that Islamist extremists, inspired by the al-Qaeda world outlook, are responsible.”
Dr Mohammed Naseem is a leading figure in the Respect Coalition. He is its single largest donor, providing nearly 50% of the funds reported to the Electoral Commission. He was a Respect candidate for Parliament in the general election. The organisation he leads, the Islamic Party of Britain, is today saying that the attacks were a provocation, staged by the police, the Blair government, or the Mossad — or all of them together.
George Galloway — do you stand by what you said in the House of Commons on 7 July, or do you share the views of your colleague Dr Naseem and his Islamic Party of Britain?