In the wake of the Woolwich murderof British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby, father of a two-year-old boy, the statements made by British Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson to defuse the situation were highly commendable. However, a handful of mosques have already been vandalized by those suspected to be sympathizers of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL), which held a violent rally against Islam near the scene of the murder. The headlines in British newspapers Thursday morning were interesting in that even those which occasionally pander to right-wing fanatics did not mention the suspects' alleged religion.
It has been made clear in almost all the statements of various politicians and in the condemnation by mainstream British Muslim organizations that this was just as much a crime against Islam as it was against Britain. Like any minority group,
British Muslims have their own problems, but they are by far the best integrated of Muslim communities in the Western world, certainly better than anywhere else in Europe. We are certain that most Britons will see the Woolwich attack as the actions of some lunatic individuals and will not brand the three million members of the Muslim community in Britain, for it. Our thoughts are at this moment with the family of the slain soldier and very especially with his young son. S. H. Moulana, Riyadh
