The GOS was brought up in Waltham Forest in the days before it became the present-day multicultural melting-pot. Back then, we felt that we were part (albeit a rather far-flung part) of the real East End. When The GOS first met Mrs.GOS, she was sharing digs with one of the Kray twins' girlfriends.
As a child, he cut his intellectual teeth on the magnificent Walthamstow public library system, and has been for ever grateful for the sheer quantity of books and LP records it encouraged him to consume. So when he sees any mention in the press or on the internet of Waltham Forest, as it's called now, his ears prick up, and he was particularly interested to find this article by Jonathan Bunn in the Waltham Forest Guardian …
"Books by radical Muslim authors who advocate violent jihad are available in Waltham Forest's public libraries, it has been claimed.
Research by think-tank the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) found works by fundamentalist scholars who call for violence against anyone who does not follow their interpretation of Islam. The report, Hate on the State, claims the borough's libraries stock 70 books by Abu Ala Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, which it describes as the main Islamist group in Pakistan.
The CSC also found 20 books by Dilwar Hussain Sayeedi, one of the leaders of the Bangladeshi branch of Jamaat-e-Islami. The report claims he has compared Hindus to excrement and defended attacks on the minority Ahmadi community by his supporters. The Foreign Office advised against allowing Mr Sayeedi into the UK in 2006.
The think-tank says it found multiple copies of works by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and prominent Wahhabi clerics who, it is claimed, encourage Muslims to see themselves as separate from and opposed to mainstream British society.
CSC says it found four copies of Islamic Guidelines for Social and Individual Reform by Muhammad bin Jamil Zino, who is described as one of the most virulent Wahhabi clerics. The research found three copies of Selected Writings by Shaheed Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.
A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said "Library stock is chosen by library staff in line with our annually revised stock policy and the over-riding aim is to select a balanced selection of books that is not biased towards any one political or religious point of view."
Cabinet member for leisure, arts and culture, Cllr.Geraldine Reardon, said "We do not seek to censor literature nor do we seek to promote any particular point of view. We are currently reviewing our stock policy to ensure that the stock is well balanced and meets the needs of the users of Waltham Forest Libraries. The council is continuing to work with our community and national experts in taking strong and pioneering steps to tackle and prevent extremism of all kinds."
Sadly the good people of Waltham Forest are not entirely convinced by this. One writes …
How many copies of the following books are in Waltham Forest Public Libraries?
"Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"Why I am not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq
"The Dhimmi" by Bat Ye'or
"The Caged Virgin" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
"The decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam" by Bat Ye'or
"Sword of the Prophet" by Serge Trifkovic
"Because they Hate" by Brigitte Gabriel
"Londonistan" by Melanie Philips
"The Myth of Islamic Tolerance" edited by Robert Spencer
"Among the Believers by VS Naipul
"Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out" by Ibn Warraq
If the stock is to be truly well balanced every library will have a selection from the above list of works by women, Jews, Christians former Muslims, black and white. If not why not?"
Good question. Another says …
"Waltham Forest council has a cheek, claiming it doesn't censor literature. Just last month it banned all copies of the E17 Art Trail map from every council building including libraries - not because of anything antisocial or offensive, but because one of the events criticised council funding cuts. Do councillors really think no one notices the difference between what they say and what they do?"
… while a third is disenchanted with the entire system …
"If the council isn't censoring hate-lit, that may soon be all we've got in our libraries. No one knows where the books from the closed St James library have gone. Every time they 'refurbish' a library it reopens with half the books mysteriously missing. The huge main room at Central library now has just eight small bookcases, some of them empty - but it has piles of books put out for sale. Does anyone on the council know what libraries are for?"
The Centre for Social Cohesion's report "Hate on the State" is available as a .PDF file here, and it makes disturbing reading. Authors James Brandon and Douglas Murray focus mainly on the libraries in neighbouring Tower Hamlets …
"Tower Hamlets' eight lending libraries contain several hundred books and audiotapes by radical Islamists, stocking the works and words of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-e-Islami, many senior Wahhabi clerics and even preachers who have been convicted in the UK of incitement to murder.
Many of these books stocked in the Islam section of libraries:
• glorify acts of terrorism against followers of other religions
• incite violence against anyone who rejects jihadist ideologies
• endorse violence and discrimination against women.
In a number of cases the books are not only on library shelves but are also given special prominence on displays. Such books abuse traditions of rationalism and tolerance and risk damaging community cohesion. In the worst cases they are the tools of radicalisation and increase the risk of Islamic terrorism."
The report also singles out the library services in Waltham Forest, Birmingham and Blackburn.
either on this site or on the World Wide Web.
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