The inhumane killing of a young British soldier in London yesterday is truly a terrible act of cruelty, of that there is no doubt. Carried out by a radical, extremist Muslim, the unfortunate result of the act is likely to be a backlash against the wider Muslim population, with political ramifications that will further widen the unnecessary rift that exists between Western and Islamic civilisations. This has already been seen in attacks on mosques and other buildings with even a remote relation to such cultures, and this is an extremely negative reaction that does nothing to build bridges between cultures and communities.
As has been seen, the Muslim Council of Britain has clearly condemned yesterday's brutal attack, as clear a message as any that the Muslim community is a peaceful one and simply wishes to be allowed to carry out it's way of life without disturbance. What certain members of society fail to realise is that radical and extremist Muslims are a different group to Muslims in general, and they in no way hold responsibility for this attack, and condemn it most strongly. What they should also realise, is that British society has it's own fair share of white extremists - this does not mean all white ethnic groups can be labelled in the same way, and the same applies to black ethnic communities, with a Muslim connection or otherwise.
The unfortunate result of all this is that the image of Islam and Islamic civilisations is reinforced as being representative of a dangerous and intolerant societal model. Whatever the truth is, a war of all against all serves no-one, and to hold one single social group responsible for a single act is at best, misinformed, and at worst, highly uneducated. What the communities of Britain (of all creeds and colours) need to do now is unite in a show of disapproval towards terrorism and those who would commit such cowardly acts.
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