Terrorist attacks and multiculturalism in Great Britain : commentary of "The vindication of Enoch Powell" by George Jonas (2005)

Résumé du document

Multiculturalism has always been one of the characteristics of the United Kingdom. For ages, multiculturalism, immigration, aliens, have been crucial topics, source of debates and interrogations in this country. As foreigners have more or less been accepted, there was some legislation or some events, which tried to influence on their integration. Each of us know what happened on September 11th 2001 in the USA, when the Twin Towers were destroyed by the crash of two planes, a crime claimed by Muslim members of the terrorist association Al Qaeda, led by Osama Bin Laden. 4 years later, the drama took place a second time: in the London's subway, a bomb exploded, where over 50 people died.

Extraits

[...] But just as dosage makes the difference between medicine and poison, there's a difference between assimilable and unassimilable numbers. Also between immigrants who come to fit 25-in and those who come to stand apart; immigrants who come to settle and those who come to conquer. It isn't where the immigrants are from but where they're going: Are they here to escape the Third World or to recreate it? Last week, the question was whether Britain's policies fostered the first kind of immigrant or the second. [...]

[...] In the beginning of his article, George Jonas quotes some extracts from the speech of Enoch Powell (l.11 immediate present at the expense of the future”). He also makes a very striking syllogism: (l.23) “just a dosage makes the difference between medicine and poison” as “assimilable and unassimilable”, or those who or those who “stand apart”, and immigrant who will or “conquer”. He uses these terms in order to create a strong reaction in the reader's mind; and he also tries to scare him with such vocabulary. [...]

[...] It's undeniable, terrorism have impact on multiculturalism, and on two much more specific aspects of the society: it has an important political effect, and also an influence on public opinion, that is to say a social impact, and these 3 documents will give us the evidence of it. The political reaction to terrorism is maybe the most easy to bring to light. It is quite difficult to say if it is the political reaction, or if it is the social one, in the most of the case, the first, but it's obvious that one influence the other. [...]

[...] Indeed the sentences reported are those of people asked, and they use terms as “violence”, . and it proves that this issue of terrorism appeals to strong and instinctive, not to say primitive, emotions. In the picture of the third document, there is a pun at the top Indian religion) instead of and it obvious that is a parody of a “shop at home”(“only 14.99 or 2 for a kitsch TV program. So they also use humour to be more efficient. [...]

[...] In his article, George Jonas deals with the fact that even if Enoch Powel was blamed for what he said in his “river of blood” speech, nowadays we become aware that he was right. George Jonas makes references to the party of Enoch Powell, and at the same time to the one of the National Post, the conservative political centre (l.3). He makes a rapprochement between youth, drug, Karl Marx and the Left (l.13) which shows us his effective political opinion, and his vision of left-hand parties. He uses clichés to ridicule left hand party (l.18 his Mao jacket”). [...]