Sometimes you look at a story and think, is it jihad or not? If a story has certain aspects that fit the bill then it’s easy to say: ‘Aha! It’s jihad’ and often mistakes made by the authorities in how they handle a case feed the rumours that an accident or an attack is indeed jihad. We saw this with the Glasgow bin lorry crash when a refuse truck ploughed into a group of shoppers shortly after there had been incidents of ‘jihad by car’ in France and Israel. In the end it turned out to be nothing more than a tragic accident but the authorities fed the speculation that this was a jihad attack by declaring that there would be an absolute ban on the naming of the driver of the bin lorry. Because of the naming ban, brought in to protect the council workers in the bin lorry from press attention, many assumed, with good reason, that the Islamopanderers of Glasgow City Council had hidden the identity of the driver because he was Muslim. Local councils in the UK have such a bad reputation for shielding Muslims from criticism or even hiding their crimes for ‘community cohesion’ reasons, that I can easily see where the assumption that the driver in this tragedy was a Muslim.

Now there is another story where people are asking: ‘Is this incident an ordinary crime, or is there an Islamic aspect to it?’

The story in question is one about a series of arson attacks on a Hampshire church. There are aspects of this case, such as the first fire when a bible was set alight, giving the attack a distinct religious aspect, the return visit of the arsonist which saw the church completely destroyed and the knowledge that in the Middle East and parts of Europe the burning of churches by Muslims is getting more common. These aspects may make people think ‘Islam again’. Because the person arrested for the crime, a young man of 17, is considered a minor under English law then he cannot be named in press reports. This lack of an identifier will fuel speculation that this is a hate crime committed by a Muslim.

If the alleged offender is not a Muslim and there is no ‘jihad’ aspect to this case and the authorities wish to quash such speculation about identity and motive, there is a simple thing that they can do and that is name the alleged arsonist and name them early. There is provision in the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 which governs the conduct of court cases involving minors for lifting the ban on naming a minor if it is in the public interest to do so. It strikes me that stopping rumours about whether or not the alleged offender is a Muslim or not is very much something that is in the public interest.

Just think of the mischief that could be made between now and either the trial ends or when the alleged offender turns 18? Because the state doesn’t want the public to know who he is, it will only cause even more speculation as to what he is.

If it does turn out that he’s Muslim and there is a jihad aspect to this case which is revealed after the trial has ended it will to nothing to stop the perception that the British police, crime prosecutors, local councils and the third sector are pandering to Muslims. This will cause further distrust of those entities. If the state wants non-Muslims to riot against and attack Muslims then unnecessary secrecy like this goes a long way to creating the conditions where non-Muslims feel that the state and its agencies have abandoned them and are favouring Islam.

Name him now, because naming is more than justified in this case, and could save a whole heap of trouble.

Link

Original story of the Hampshire Church fire from the Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3136665/Teenager-arrested-suspicion-arson-200-year-old-church-completely-gutted-fire-causing-1m-damage.html

Detail of the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 that governs the naming of offenders and alleged offenders who are considered as Minors.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/reporting_restrictions/

How hiding the identity of the driver in the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy fuelled speculation that this was a jihad attack

https://www.fahrenheit211.net/2014/12/29/the-unintended-consequences-of-hiding-the-identity-of-the-driver-in-the-george-square-tragedy/