Nobody wants to admit the scale of the Islamist extremist threat to our democracy

Feb 25, 2024 by Jill

by Anna Firth, Telegraph:

Not enough has been done to tackle the fact that many fundamentalists with bad intentions live and walk among us.

In 2021, Sir David Amess was stabbed to death by an Islamist extremist who targeted him because of the way he’d voted in the Commons on the war in Syria. I was elected as Sir David’s successor two years ago this month, and not a day goes by when I don’t think of how he was brutally murdered simply for doing his job.

[…] The events of Wednesday have certainly changed how I feel about doing my job as an MP. My office overlooks Whitehall and, on Wednesday, I could hear and see the protesters as they marched and grew in number and volume. I’d spoken in the SNP’s ceasefire debate and had stated my opinion that we cannot possibly vote for a ceasefire and leave the remaining Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas. Seeing the baying mob outside made me feel wary of leaving the safety of my office.

I’d also come up against such attempted intimidation in my constituency. Shortly after the Hamas attacks of October 7, I went to my local synagogue to express my sympathies to the Southend Jewish community and to ask if I could do anything to help. I was welcomed warmly and my offer of help was appreciated.

I also have a mosque in my constituency, so a few days later I reached out to see if I could do anything to support them, especially in terms of organising humanitarian help for the innocent people of Gaza. I was invited inside and offered a seat before being surrounded by a number of men and one woman. She immediately started shouting, jabbing her finger in my face and demanding to know “how many babies had to die to satisfy my blood lust”. My aide, who was with me, suggested that we leave.

A few days later, there was an anti-Israel protest in Southend with dolls covered in fake blood scattered on the pavement, under people holding placards saying “Anna Firth kills babies”. I was horrified. A police officer stood by and watched but did nothing. When I saw Met Commander Sir Mark Rowley a week later in the Commons, he agreed that this was intimidation and explained that the police do have powers to intervene and stop people inciting violence like this. So why didn’t they?

Read here (£)