I’ve been pondering whether I should comment on the egregious Aki Nawaz’s racist diatribe in the Guardian’s Comment is Free. The Devil’s Kitchen and Chris at Strange Stuff got there before me and pretty much said all that there is to say. So what is left to add?
Certainly if Mr Nawaz expects me to go down on bended knee and beg his forgiveness for the failure of Muslims to integrate into our society, he’d better get his woolly hat, skates and gloves out for his visit to hell, because it isn’t going to happen. Ever. There is nothing to beg forgiveness for. As others have pointed out, if he wishes to live under the contemptible and incompetent Shari’a law, he is free to do so. I believe they use it to persecute people in such places as Saudi Arabia and Iran where a fair trial is an oxymoron. He has a passport, one presumes, what is stopping him boarding a plane? Goodbye and good riddance. If he hates “Britishness” so much, what is keeping him here?
He believes that Muslims have not integrated because of the behaviour of the indigenous population. Wrong. They have not integrated for exactly the same reason ex-pat Brits have not integrated into the local culture and language of the Costa Del Sol – they are too bloody lazy, arrogant and contemptuous of that culture to do so. Ultimately, any problems that causes for them is, frankly, their own doing. I plan to move to France in the near future. I have much learning to do. My French is far from adequate (although renovating a house has forced me to improve somewhat). I have to deal with the cultural differences that exist between a British city and rural France. I have to get to know my new neighbours, speak to them in their own language and integrate. I expect to integrate and they expect me to do so. It is only proper. Unless one is a Muslim, it seems, in which case, it is the indigenous population that is expected to integrate.
Mr Nawaz is the epitome of the whining, hard-done-by complainer who has nothing to complain about, yet manages to waste everyone’s time with a badly written article (as bad as his tedious, unimaginative (c)rap “music”) complaining anyway. I wasted a part of my life reading this garbage. Will Mr Nawaz refund me? I doubt it…
Bitter, twisted and sour of face, Mr Nawaz believes that we should provide special treatment because of his religious beliefs. That we should make the effort regarding integration, that we are racist because of the Muslim population’s failure to do so. Once more, religion and race are conveniently conflated to demonise the object of his ire.
I don’t give a flying fig for his religious beliefs. He is entitled to believe whatever nonsense he wishes. He is not entitled to special treatment as a consequence, though. I despise his religious beliefs, so have no intention of respecting them or him for holding them. His religious beliefs are contrary to modern enlightenment values. We believe that men and women should be treated equally. We also believe that sexuality does not warrant a death sentence. Just as we believe that the victims of rape are victims; unlike the faux “victims” Muslims claim to be. Nor do we believe that “honour” killings are anything other than brutal murder and should be punished in the harshest way possible. My refusal to treat his beliefs with anything other than utter contempt is not racist. His whole CiF article is a rant about “white” Britons. The only racist here is Mr Nawaz.
So, Mr whiny, hard-done-by Nawaz, what’s stopping you buying that one–way ticket? Of course, as has been pointed out; should you go, you won’t be given a platform to complain about the host nation in the same way as you are here. That’s a little piece of Britishness you’ll miss pretty quickly.
Update: In response to his inevitable critics, Nawaz continues his racist rant in the comments. A better example of pure arse dribble would be hard to find.