Cameron tells Muslim communities to do more to tackle extremism

Reuters reports his speech after he made it; most of the British newspapers so far are reporting Muslim reaction to what he was expected to say.

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Muslim communities and families on Friday to do more to fight extremism, warning some Muslims risk fostering radicalism in young people by quietly condoning extreme views. Cameron highlighted two cases this week – a 17-year-old from northern England who blew himself up in Iraq and three sisters who abandoned their husbands and are believed to be in Syria with their nine children – as examples of how people can slide from prejudice to extremism.

He told a security conference in Bratislava that people who for example believe democracy is wrong, women are inferior and religious doctrine trumps the rule of law share the ideology of Islamist extremists.

“There are people who hold some of these views who don’t go as far as advocating violence, but do buy into some of these prejudices giving the extreme Islamist narrative weight and telling fellow Muslims ‘you are part of this,'” he said.While the government has a role to play in tackling radicalisation, so too do communities and families, he said.

“We need to have a frank debate about the role that everyone has to play,” a source in Cameron’s office said.

This pup journalist at the Guardian calls him an “inadvertent PR man for Islamic extremists”.  Baroness Warsi isn’t happy either. 

The Telegraph, in advance of the speech called it “a courageous dialogue about faith and society” The comments are good. 

 Yousif Al-Khoei, from the Centre for Academic Shia Studies, described the Prime Minister’s comments as “unhelpful”. “If the Government is serious about tackling ISIS they really need to take serious steps to tackle rampant Islamophobia – and we are actually recruiting more youths by targeting religion and targeting the people,” he told Sky News.