{"id":5409,"date":"2017-10-19T19:44:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T19:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/?p=5409"},"modified":"2017-12-14T10:10:17","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T10:10:17","slug":"noel-gallagher-names-the-problem-and-larry-david-gets-a-fatwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gspellchecker.com\/2017\/10\/noel-gallagher-names-the-problem-and-larry-david-gets-a-fatwa\/","title":{"rendered":"Noel Gallagher Names The Problem and Larry David Gets A Fatwa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>Ex-Oasis singer Noel Gallagher made some unusual public comments about terror and the establishment recently. Unusual only in the sense that they were true, which is a rarity when those with celebrity status talk about the disagreement we currently find ourselves in with jihadism.<\/p>\n

Noel comes from my home city of Manchester, the same Manchester where 22 concert goers, mostly young girls, were murdered by a suicide bomber on May 22 of this year. Musicians from around the world came together to play tribute gigs and offer much appreciated solidarity and support to the city after this unthinkable crime. As to be expected though, no one involved would actually name what it was we required solidarity in the face of.<\/p>\n

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However, in possibly the most rock and roll thing one can do these days, Noel Gallagher publicly spoke the words “Islamic” and “religious beliefs” in the context of terrorism. He told Rolling Stone Columbia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there’s bombers roaming free around the whole fucking city and the government and the one before them and the one after that will be powerless to stop it because of some hippy ideal about people’s religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then goes on to describe the Manchester bomber as a \u201cfucking Islamic goon\u201d. I almost feel guilty about opting for Blur over Oasis in the dark days of 90\u2019s Britpop now.<\/p>\n

<\/u><\/u><\/u><\/u>Noel is right about this of course \u2013 it is a religious issue and the perpetrators are \u2018Islamic\u2019 (goonish or otherwise). But he appears to stand alone where mainstream affirmation of these facts exist. Perhaps others with his stature fear violent reprisals for speaking too honestly, or would simply prefer not to be called a racist, or have their wallets hurt by boycotts.<\/p>\n

Another fellow Mancunian, Morrissey, formerly of The Smiths got into a bit of bother for merely alluding<\/a> to the problem after the Manchester bombings. \u201cManchester mayor Andy Burnham says the attack is the work of an “extremist”. An extreme what? An extreme rabbit?\u201d he asks in a Facebook statement.<\/p>\n

Rather than address this reasonable question, Morrissey was instead taken to task<\/a> for a single sentence: \u201cPoliticians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims.\u201d Even though it is clear that the explicit context of his comment was Islamic terrorism, people couldn\u2019t pass up the opportunity to bash him over the head with something completely unrelated. \u201cHave you forgotten Jo Cox?\u201d they asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I see this avoidance elsewhere in the entertainment industry. It’s too risky to go for the actual problem, so people throw themselves head first towards a secondary or unrelated problem instead. This is especially disappointing when it comes from influential political satirists such as Jon Stewart, Charlie Brooker and John Oliver.<\/p>\n

Brave comedians and satirists were once the champions of “telling it like it is” when others would not dare, and it pains me to see them rhetorically castrated by the emergence of Islamic terrorism. They simply just don\u2019t know what is safe to say \u2013 so don\u2019t say anything at all.<\/p>\n

<\/u><\/u>Whenever a large act of Islamic terror would occur (see \u2018often\u2019), the people we rely on to trounce fascist ideologues with blistering satirical take-downs took refuge in mocking the secondary issues instead \u2013 turning their sights singularly on the right-wing response to Islamic terrorism. \u201cDid you see what FOX news said? Aren\u2019t they idiots? Glad we all agree\u201d. Applause.<\/p>\n

<\/u><\/u>You\u2019d think the ceaseless acts of Islamic fundamentalism across the globe would be a gift horse for satirists. After all, these grown men believe in flying horses, child brides, a paradise that offers 72 virgins and get a bit testy if you give a certain 5th century prophet the crayon treatment. The jokes almost write themselves.<\/p>\n

I thought we\u2019d actually made some progress on this score when the BBC ran a comedy sketch called \u2018The Real Housewives of ISIS\u2019<\/a>. Concepts such as suicide bombings and jihadi brides were beautifully lampooned. No issue there then, surely? Wrong. It received endless accusations of Islamophobia and thousands of people signed a petition calling for it to be banned.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As I told East Coast Radio at the time, it\u2019s a very curious message to be sending people when you claim ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, yet protest that mocking ISIS is somehow \u2018Islamophobic\u2019.<\/p>\n