Londonistan

According to Omar Nasiri:

The mid- to late 1990s were the years when Britain's capital earned the sobriquet of "Londonistan," a title provided by French officials infuriated at the growing presence of Islamist radicals in London and the failure of British authorities to do anything about it. [...] Raids in France and Belgium had produced phone and fax numbers linked to the United Kingdom, and names of suspects were passed on. Some French officials believe that if more had been done by Britain at the time, the network behind the summer of 1995 bombings might have been broken up and the attacks prevented.{{citation |title=Inside the jihad: my life with Al Qaeda : a spy's story |first=Omar |last=Nasiri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EdD29KmPy7IC&q=londonistan+french&pg=PP17|publisher=Basic Books |isbn= 978-0-465-02388-2 |date=20 November 2006 |page=16}}

The bombings and attempted bombings, mostly in the French capital of Paris, in the summer and autumn of 1995 by Armed Islamic Group (GIA), killed eight people and injured more than 100.{{citation |first=Kurt |last=Barling |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/09/08/kurtbarling_londonrisk_feature.shtml |title=What's the risk to London? |publisher=BBC London |date=8 September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701180134/https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/09/08/kurtbarling_londonrisk_feature.shtml |archive-date=1 July 2011}} The French observed that a number of Muslim radicals from London had connections to these bombings. Around 1995, French intelligence coined the term "Londonistan" for the city of London.

According to critics, the UK's "deep tradition of civil liberties and protection of political activists" led to the country becoming "a crossroads for would-be terrorists" for a decade after the mid-1990s. The Islamists used London "as a home base" to "raise money, recruit members and draw inspiration from the militant messages."{{citation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/10/international/europe/10qaeda.html?ei=5070&en=199f139274bedc6b&ex=1121918400&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all |title=For a Decade, London Thrived as a Busy Crossroads of Terror |work=New York Times |date= 10 July 2005 |accessdate=12 December 2009 |first=Elaine |last=Sciolino |author2=Don Van Natta Jr}} The UK Government's perceived unwillingness to prosecute or extradite terrorist suspects provoked tensions with countries in which terrorist attacks occurred. Allegations of a British policy of appeasement of Islamists were made and denied by members of the British Government who debated the issue.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/10/international/europe/10qaeda.html?ei=5090&en=03dee04dd2987f2b&ex=1278648000&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=all | work=The New York Times | title=For a Decade, London Thrived as a Busy Crossroads of Terror | date=10 July 2005}}

In March 2020, Jonathan Evans, Former Director General, MI5 gave an interview and commented on Londonistan: 'There are various conspiracy theories about the Londonistan period including the notion that Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) in some way gave a free pass to the terrorist sympathizers in the U.K. on the basis that they would not attack us. This is a complete fabrication. The problem was that we didn’t actually know what was going on because we were not looking. There was all sorts of stuff going on that we just were not aware of. It was not that we were deliberately turning a blind eye, just that we had not noticed'.{{Cite web|url = https://ctc.usma.edu/view-ct-foxhole-jonathan-evans-former-director-general-mi5/|title = A View from the CT Foxhole: Jonathan Evans, Former Director General, MI5|date = 24 March 2020|access-date = 23 May 2020|archive-date = 4 August 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220804072839/https://ctc.usma.edu/view-ct-foxhole-jonathan-evans-former-director-general-mi5/|url-status = dead}}

The term has been linked to the similar Islamophobic conspiracy theory of Eurabia.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTcHDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22londonistan%22+eurabia&pg=PA69|title=Freedom of Speech and Islam|page=69|first=Erich|last=Kolig|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=9781317132820}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvbbAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22londonistan%22+eurabia&pg=PT52|title=Migrant Politics and Mobilisation: Exclusion, Engagements, Incorporation|first1=Davide|last1=Pero|first2=John|last2=Solomos|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781317986515}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8u0GDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22londonistan%22+eurabia&pg=PA7|title=Global Islamophobia: Muslims and Moral Panic in the West|page=7|first=George|last=Morgan|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317127727}}

In September 2023, Conservative Party candidate for the 2024 London mayoral election Susan Hall was reported to have liked a tweet that described London's mayor Sadiq Khan as "our nipple height mayor of Londonistan".{{Cite news |last=Spirit |first=Lara |date=15 September 2023 |title=Susan Hall: Tory mayoral candidate liked tweet praising Enoch Powell |language=en |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/susan-hall-tory-mayoral-candidate-liked-tweet-praising-enoch-powell-zqsr6lvfk |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 September 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}

With the election of Sadiq Khan as Mayor of London, Richard Seymour wrote an essay in Al Jazeera headlined "Sadiq Khan's victory and free Londonistan", claiming that the term Londonistan was being "joyfully, ironically appropriated by those who are glad to see a racist campaign defeated. Welcome to the 21st century. Welcome to free Londonistan."{{cite news|last1=Seymour|first1=Richard|title=Sadiq Khan's victory and free Londonistan|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/05/sadiq-khan-victory-free-londonistan-160507174122069.html|date=8 May 2016|publisher=Al Jazeera|accessdate=14 June 2016}}

{{portal|London|Islam}}

• Islamism in the United Kingdom
• Muslim patrol incidents in London
• Islam in the United Kingdom
• Islam in London
• Demographics of London

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1359305/Why-France-lived-in-fear-of-Londonistan.html Sean O'Neill Why France lived in fear of 'Londonistan', Daily Telegraph] (13 October 2001)
• [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n02/upto01_.html London Review of Books’ In the Streets of Londonistan] (22 January 2004){{Dl|date=September 2024}}
• [http://www.newstatesman.com/node/144386 Why the French call us Londonistan], John Kampfner, New Statesman (9 December 2002) page 18 {{Dl|date=September 2024}}
• Jamestown Foundation: [http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=26312&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=179&no_cache=1 Stephen Ulph on Londonistan] (26 February 2004)
• Combating Terrorism Center: [http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-changing-scene-in-londonistan The Changing Scene in Londonistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228105304/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-changing-scene-in-londonistan |date=28 February 2013 }} (3 February 2010)

• [http://www.aawsat.com/leader.asp?section=3&article=318999&issueno=9764 at Ash-Sharq al-Awsat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304054521/http://www.aawsat.com/leader.asp?section=3&article=318999&issueno=9764 |date=4 March 2012 }}, 22 August 2005
• [http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/02/12/66329.html at Al-Arabiya], 17 October 2010

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Category:Eurabia

Category:Islam-related controversies in Europe

Category:Social history of London

Category:Islam in London