A new organization called the British Muslim Initiative (BMI) has issued a long statement about the U.K. terror plots. After one sentence condemning the plots, the BMI devotes the balance of the statement to protesting the use of the term “Islamist” and criticizing the media for citing the views of former Islamic extremists. For example::
… BMI wishes to express its utter disgust at the attempt of some in attempting to score points at this critical time of our country and people, by peddling much repeated myths, falsehoods and lies in order to mend a beleaguered and flimsy argument at a time of great difficulty for all.
This statement was followed by another by the BMI along the same lines, this time praising the new U.K. government:
The British Muslim Initiative welcomes the new tone that has emerged over recent days from corners of the new government under the premiership of Gordon Brown. Following the terror plots in London and Glasgow, the British people had become accustomed to a near frenzied reaction which contained the usage of loaded terms and phrases, closely followed by heavy-handed legislation proposals. However, to hear Gordon Brown speak of the need to confront this threat as a community, and his refusal to descend to the old rhetoric which demonised and singled out one sector of British society, was not only refreshing but also gave impetus to the leaders of the Muslim community and wider society in adopting a unified stand in condemning any threat to our country.
These statements by the BMI are consistent with many other such statements regarding terrorism by Muslim Brotherhood groups who while accusing others of using terrorist incidents to make political points, frequently use the opportunity to attack their critics. Sources in the U.K. believe that the BMI has supplanted the older Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and is headed by Mohammad Sawalha, a past President of the MAB and was referred to by Israeli and U.S sources as a former Hamas military commander, an allegation which he denies.