Batten Down the Hatches

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

“When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather.” These words are as true today as in 1758, when my most illustrious namesake, Dr. Samuel Johnson, first wrote them. The fact that no two English skies are ever the same is the reason why the greatest cloudscape painter of all time was an Englishman, John Constable, as visitors to London can now see for themselves at the splendid new Tate Gallery exhibition.

Constable grasped how to transform the notorious unpredictability of the English climate into a sublime cosmic drama. Artists are more trustworthy than climatologists: Whether or not the English weather has changed since the 18th century, its changeability is unchanged.

In war and peace, as in painting, it is for our leaders to make the weather. If they fail to do so, the enemies of society will do so instead. Here in London, this unusually sultry June has been dominated by two imports from the Middle East: a hot wind from the Sahara desert and Islamist terrorism.

A fortnight ago, the police and MI5 (the equivalent of the FBI) mounted a massive raid on a house in northeast London. They were acting on intelligence that warned of an imminent chemical weapons attack to coincide with the first anniversary of the July 7 bombings.

In the course of the raid, two brothers were arrested: Abul Kahar and Abul Koyair, who was shot and wounded in the chest. Both have now been released without charge after the police failed to find any evidence of terrorist activity. The most likely explanation is that British intelligence was set up. Every Al Qaeda training manual explains how carefully planted disinformation confuses and demoralizes the security forces, undermining public confidence and alienating Muslims.

Led by the BBC, however, the media are portraying this minor incident as conclusive proof that Britain has become a police state. So the Metropolitan Police Commissioner is under pressure to resign.

At a press conference on Tuesday, the two Muslim suspects were flanked by “civil liberties heavyweights.” They included Gareth Pierce, a left-wing lawyer who also represents Guantanamo detainees and sundry other extremists, and Asad Rehman, a former sidekick to George Galloway (founder of the Respect Party) and self-appointed spokesman for every anti-Western, anti-war, anti-capitalist cause. Looking slightly out of place among the shaven-headed, bushy-bearded Islamists was Canon Ann Easter, a dean of the Church of England.

Canon Easter had turned her church into a television studio for the benefit of this leftist-Islamist media circus. Somehow, it does not surprise me that the local mosque had declined to do this. The Islamists disapprove of women priests, but they presumably see in Canon Easter what Lenin called a “useful idiot” who can reassure the infidels.

Unfortunately, Canon Easter is by no means untypical. England’s established church has a deplorable record of “internalizing the hatred of the West that defines the shared universe of radical Islamism and the revolutionary left,” as Melanie Phillips puts it in her book “Londonistan.” Peter Mullen, one of the few remaining conservatives among the Anglican clergy, reports that on September 11, 2001, a gathering of Anglican clergy reacted to the horrific spectacle with one sentiment: “I hope Bush doesn’t retaliate. The West has brought this judgment on itself.”

The Church of England has a schizophrenic attitude to religious minorities. It supports the Palestinian cause, even now that it is led by the genocidal fanatics of Hamas, and its anti-Zionism often shades into anti-Semitism, glossing over the history of Christian persecution of Jews. It also turns a blind eye to Muslim persecution of Christians; the only senior cleric to protest recently, the Bishop of Rochester, is a Pakistani-born convert from Islam.

As for Muslims: The church demands only that that they should accept its groveling apologies for everything from the Crusades to the removal of Saddam Hussein. The Supreme Governor of the Church of England is the monarch, and the Prince of Wales has given notice that he wants his coronation to be a “multi-faith” mishmash. Neither Prince Charles nor the Archbishop of Canterbury would dream of telling Muslims that they must adapt to Britain, not vice versa.

It was left to the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, to make the point, by drawing a subtle contrast between the Jewish and Muslim experience of minority status. Yesterday, British Jews celebrated the 350th anniversary of their return under Oliver Cromwell, and Rabbi Sacks recalled Jeremiah’s advice to the Jews during their Babylonian captivity: “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray to the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” The question is: Can Islam ever accept peace except on its own terms?

To return to my original metaphor: The political and religious leaders of Britain have failed to make the weather, so they must not be surprised when Islamic radicals seize their opportunity. There was, however, one straw in the Saharan wind this week: the success of Ehud Olmert’s first visit as prime minister. Pundits had predicted that Mr. Olmert’s meeting with Prime Minister Blair would be overshadowed by the so-called “beach massacre” in Gaza, on which the media have rushed to judgment despite Israel’s denial of responsibility.

In fact, Mr. Olmert and Mr. Blair evidently got on famously, and the Israeli prime minister was delighted by his British counterpart’s implicit endorsement of disengagement. Mr. Blair went further than President Bush by hinting that he supports the Sharon-Olmert policy of fixing unilateral borders if the Palestinians refuse to negotiate. “You can only negotiate with people who accept your existence and stop violence,” said Mr. Blair. “What you cannot have is the situation where nothing happens. It just means that the situation continues to deteriorate.”

Though Mr. Blair is finding it harder to make the weather at home, abroad he is still energetic in support of those who do. He blazed a trail a few weeks ago for Mr. Bush’s lightning trip to Iraq, where the allies are staking everything on the possibility that the new man in Baghdad, Nouri al-Maliki, will also prove himself to be a weather changer. The temporary dislocation of the insurgency in Iraq caused by the elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a unique opportunity for the Iraqi army to show its mettle.

One frank comment on the suicides at Guantanamo by deputy assistant secretary Colleen Graffy – “a good PR move” – evoked a synthetic rage here in Britain that ranged from left to right. Yesterday, the State Department was apologizing for the remark on the BBC. That was a mistake. Professor Graffy’s statement happened to be true – and truth is the West’s most powerful weapon in the war on terror. Those who make the weather must also batten down the hatches.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use