Mass protests have taken place in London and many other cities across the country urging the government not to conduct airstrikes in Syria. ‘Don’t Bomb Syria’ signs were plentiful, as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the British capital to make their voices heard, in a rally organized by the Stop the War coalition. The demonstration in London started outside Prime Minister David Cameron’s residence at 10 Downing Street. The rally was against a planned vote in Parliament about whether to support a motion for the UK to starting bombing Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants in Syria. (Source: RT)

Comment:

The rallies in both the UK and Spain on 28/11/2015 show a growing number of people in the West are realizing that more bombs are not the solution to the on-going conflict in Syria. A list of UK musicians, politicians, academics and artists wrote a letter to David Cameron urging him not to bomb Syria, saying a bombing campaign would not help in the fight against terrorism, but would rather aggravate the situation. Despite these actions, many of the protestors acknowledge that the UK Prime Minister is going to get a commons vote in favor of bombing as he is campaigning hard with opposition party members to support his side. In the aftermath of the Paris attacks a strong public opinion has been created for both sides, those who want to take out ISIS and those who know that foreign policy has created insecurity in the streets of Europe.

This is democracy in action – the elected are meant to represent the masses but can actually do as they please. Just like when Tony Blair went ahead with action in Iraq 2003 with a clear lack of intelligence, as we now know. The people protesting are allowed to raise their voices and they will also be upholding a key tenant of freedom of speech in doing so. Yet the strong arguments they present can also be ignored and this too is part of the democratic process.

In the Syrian conflict, all resolutions so far are based on the secular capitalist model and will only serve the interests of the capitalists, where human lives can be sacrificed for the sake of material benefits. Exercising the right to protest and speak out is limited when those responsible for running the State decisions have no real accountability. The voices of protestors and activists can be drowned out for the sake of long-term strategic and material benefits.

It is a ripe time for those who can see the flaws of the actions of the PM David Cameron to be shown the real alternative of a far superior system, the Khilafah. In the Khilafah system legislation is not left to man and therefore solutions do not lead to more problems. All actions are linked to accountability to Allah (swt) and the people grant authority to the Khaleefah to rule by Islam, not to be swayed by other powers to assist them for their political objectives. Citizens of the Khilafah state not only possess a right to speak out, but have a duty to engage in this action, of amr bil maroof wa nahi an il munkar (enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong). If, despite this, the Khaleefah steps outside his limits, also set by the Shariah, he will be dismissed and we will witness real accountability and justice.

Nazia Rehman – Pakistan