Hate breeds hate, breeds hate

Six young men all from the West Midlands sought to take their hatred of the hate filled English Defence League to a level that could kill and maim literally hundreds.

Mohammed Saud, Omar Khan Zohaib Ahmed, Jewel Uddin, Mohammed Hasseen, and Anzal Hussain pleaded guilty at a London court to preparation for acts of terrorism.

Five of the men travelled to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire to intercept an EDL demonstration. The attack had to be abandoned because the group arrived late.

Their terror activities were only discovered by chance when traffic police noticed the group being suspicious and pulled them over. A routine search discovered the ‘home made bomb’, along with other weapons.

There are a number of worrying elements to this story, not least as to why the intelligence authorities did not have these clearly dangerous and committed men on their surveillance radar? The other question is that both these extreme groups terrorize neighborhoods and communities: The EDL has, for far too long been given an air of respectability it has never deserved. Many of its members have been found guilty of physical violent offences. Equally the five radicalized men shame their religion and help demonize the overwhelmingly peaceful and law abiding Muslims in the UK.

We have said for a long time that the politics of hate finds its conclusion in violence. That the two hate filled groups seek each other is no surprise. Neither group should be tolerated.

Simon Woolley