August 6, 2005 The sensitivity threat By MICHAEL COREN The British police and security agencies seem to have responded very quickly and, with one horrible exception, extremely efficiently to the recent terrorist campaign in London. But in spite of all this it seems that political correctness still finds a way to break through and to make us all appear faintly ridiculous. Police officers in southern England have been given instructions on how to behave when entering the homes of Muslims suspected of having links to criminal activities. The instructions explain that "the Muslim community feels victimized and suspicious of terrorist police operations and in the current climate a search at a British Muslim household has the potential to become a critical incident and come under intense scrutiny." The point is well made and it is, of course, vital that in the struggle against terrorism we remember that we fight to maintain freedom and respect. More than this, any abuse of Muslims, apart from being intrinsically wrong, would be exploited by extremists as an example of why Islam has to wage war against the West and its values. But sometimes we go just a little too far, and this case the "too far" is reached to an absurd degree. More than a dozen separate points are listed. In case any readers assume this to be some sort of tasteless joke, be assured that it is in fact serious: "Rapid entry needs to be the last resort and raids into Muslim houses are discouraged for a number of religious dignity reasons. "Police should seek to avoid looking at unclad Muslim women and allow them an opportunity to dress and cover their heads. "For reasons of dignity, officers should seek to avoid entering occupied bedrooms and bathrooms even before dawn. "The use of police dogs will be considered serious desecration of the premises. "Advice should be sought before considering the use of cameras and camcorders due to the risk of capturing individuals, especially women, in inappropriate dress. "Muslim prisoners should be allowed to take additional clothing to the station. "If people are praying at home officers should stand aside and not disrupt the prayer. "Officers should not take shoes into the houses, especially in areas that might be kept pure for prayer purposes. "In the current climate, the justification for pre-dawn raids on Muslim houses needs to be clear and transparent. "Non-Muslims are not allowed to touch holy books, Korans or religious artifacts without permission." So now, apparently any non-Muslim cop with shoes, a camera and a dog called Rover is going to be severely out of luck. Zafar Khan is Chair of the Council of Faiths in Luton in Bedfordshire, where one of the alleged terrorists lived and where a car packed with explosives was found. He welcomed the initiative. "It's a question of being sensitive and informed and if that makes the policing more effective and more sensitive, that has to be a good thing," he said. Quite so. Sensitivity is everything and who needs the Royal Marine commandos when we can use Dr. Phil? A police spokesman responded: "We take very seriously the culture surrounding all faiths and feel it is important to respect those beliefs, even while carrying out police business. "We would like to reassure all communities that any current or perceived tensions, which might be heightened as a result of recent events, will not affect how police deal with Muslims or anyone else." Sounds good, means nothing. Just another police bureaucrat speaking not for frontline officers but for the politicians in charge. All of which is extremely reassuring for us here in Canada. Because it proves that we are not the only country in the world so obsessed with appearing liberal, tolerant and understanding that we risk jeopardizing the very security that makes these freedoms possible. Accessed 6 Aug 2005, http://torontosun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2005/08/06/1161335. html [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12hm4c3gt/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123436059/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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