Woolwich Murder

The horrific murder on the streets of Woolwich yesterday has shocked and sickened a nation. Almost instantaneously cries permeated the stunned hush after the attack - "Something must be done," and quite rightly so. But as riot police gathered last night to calm the baying crowds it became clear that 'something,' must also be the 'right' thing.

Last night I heard "get rid of them all," at least a dozen times from those around me, 'Them' of course, referring to the society of Muslims that live within our community. Tarring all of 'them' with the same brush, which is an almighty hefty brush at that, is not by any means the answer.

These men were not acting on behalf of a religion, they were hiding behind it. I fail to believe that anyone that can so cruelly hack a man to death like an animal savaging its prey, is carrying out the work of any God be it Allah or otherwise. They were sick and deranged individuals, berated instantly by all and that includes The Muslim Council Of Britain who said: "This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly."

You cannot blame every Muslim for this atrocity any more than you can blame every Christian for the acts of Hitler, or every white man for paedophilia. In Boston when the bombs went off, the state stood together unresolvedly as one to put on a united front to terrorists worldwide, here we crumble and the police- the very force that risk their lives to keep us safe- find themselves the victims of missile attacks as they try to quell the swelling violence.

Many Muslims are British citizens, were born here and are damn proud to be British. For God’s sake don’t target them and blame them for the act of two utterly cowardly, despicable and almost certainly psychologically disturbed creatures (and creatures are what they are, because someone capable of taking another man’s life in such a horrific way no longer has the right to call himself a human being).

Don’t lower yourselves to their standards and instead take the proverbial hand of your neighbour be it Black, White or Asian and show the world that we stand together as a nation, that we will not be defeated by acts of terrorism from anybody.

Finally as you close your eyes tonight, no matter what religion, say a prayer for the family of the victim, because in the end it is them that have to pick up the pieces now.