Security is a very important human right

Submitted by Gabriel Grosso (United Kingdom), Jan 24, 2003 at 07:26

I live in Britain where human rights groups are very strong. The concern for human rights is not in itself a problem and the British (as well as the French) should be proud of their tradition of religious and political tolerance. However, the concern about human rights is a double-edged sword.

Let me explain. The extremist cleric Abu Hamza from Finsbury Park (North London) runs a network of violent militants in the UK. The irony of all of this is that if he tried to act in this way in his native Egypt, he would be locked up for life. What does this tell you? That less-developed countries are better equipped to deal with religious extremism than democracies like Britain, France and, of course, the United States.

A British cleric is currently on trial for "soliciting murder of Hindus and Jews" -- and the judge has barred Hindus and Jews from the jury because the cleric's attorneys claimed that that was the only way to ensure that he would get a fair trial!

Britain, France, Italy etc. are all obsessed with human rights. However, we condemn subliminal human rights violations in Europe and America while we tolerate terrible human rights violations in the Middle East.

WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR VIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS. SECURITY IS A HUMAN RIGHT TOO. I am sorry for those innocent immigrants who got unfairly detained in Texas. It shouldn't have happened. What has happened can be justified on the grounds that security is a very important human right.

We are faced by a threat and we need to know what goes on in our countries. Security must become the number 1 priority in Canada, USA, Britain, France, Germany, Italy etc. However, always remember to respect non-totalitarian Muslims. We need to accept, tolerate and respect law-abiding Muslims.

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