"Jim's link does not work"
It's the same as Keith's link above, which you or somebody else corrected.
"Fear of racism should no longer be the veil covering up hard truths."
It is cherry picking - it comes along with all the statements made at the time by the judiciary, by the police and by the social workers who commented on the situation at the time, which you people have studiously ignored - that no racial or social conclusions can or should be drawn from these events - over and over again. Jack Straw actually suggested these crimes as carried out by "some young Asian men who are "fizzing and popping with testosterone" but had no "outlet" within their own community" - these are crimes by young criminals, not the result of the culture of the community as a whole as you have persistently suggested.
You people have cherry picked 17 court cases over thirteen years which have led to the conviction of 53 Muslim men over thirteen years to prove some sort of cultural corruption in an entire ethnic community.
There has been a malicious ignoring here of the most important facts of this case by all you you -
1 The Muslim communities are the most law abiding in Britain today.
If the religion of two and a half million people was in any way the cause of these events, the streets of Britain would be running with blood - why aren't they?
2 Considering the years of bigotry, abuse and actual physical violence that the Muslim communities have had to put up with at the hands of not just BNP/NF/EDL thugs, but also from of large sections of the popular press, it is surprising that there is as little trouble as there is on our streets.
3 The North of England police forces, when accused of not acting on knowledge in their possession claimed they did not do so because it was mainly consentual sex which was difficult to do anything about as it happened everywhere - not in any way an excuse for what was happening, but certainly proof positive that this was in no way a "Muslim" thing, as you are claiming.
4. The press and the media have been seriously debating the question of what effect events abroad have had on this murder, some having reached the conclusions that they have - you people haven't bothered your arses even to consider it, but have rejected it out of hand because it doesn't suit your Islamophobic agenda.
"out of the 600 and odd posts over half seem to be geared to a particular personal argument"
This is not a "personal" argument - Keith's (and a few other's) racism has dominated this thread as it has other threads on British Muslims and on Israel - go and read his stomach turning "Homs Horror" thread.
This forum is regularly being used as a racist soapbox by one person.
Jim Carroll