Jihad and the West Black Flag over Babylon Chapter Two Podcast Four

Welcome to an excerpt from Jihad and the West, Black Flag over Babylon by Mark Silinsky, with a foreword by Sebastian Gorka. It was published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington and Indianapolis. This reading is presented by Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to national security.   Profile Four: The Ever-Angry Mr. Bukhari Wants His Shoe Back               Asghar Bukhari is a leading voice for angry Muslims in Britain. A founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK, he discusses world events on European television and radio. He has appeared on Sky News, Russia Today, the BBC, the VIP, the James O’Brien Show, and many other media outlets to discuss the Islamic State. He has a supportive audience. Some viewers see his analysis of Islamic–Western relations as conspiratorial and incoherent; others see it as insightful. When he speaks on television talk shows, bearded men and hijab-clad women in the audience clap, smile, and nod in agreement.               He defined the Caliphate as a “Sunni uprising.” Its members are not terrorists, and according to Bukhari, they do not pose a significant threat to Britain. “ISIS is not the problem.” Rather, Western elites are intent on forging a new “Sykes-Picot” version of the Middle East. “Muslims are the most oppressed people on earth. We have been denied our freedom, our equality, any justice, and even the right to tell the world our own story.” The public intellectual Douglas Murray accused him of living in “intellectual fever swamps.”               Whatever the case, Bukhari is convinced he is being stalked by Zionist agents. He cites a recent break-in at his home by Zionists as an example. A Jew stole one of his shoes. According to Bukhari, the goal was not financial gain but intimidation. “They left one shoe behind, to let me know someone had been there.” He concedes that this sounds implausible but adds, “Why are you so shocked that a Zionist would try to intimidate or steal something from me? Man, they stole Palestine! Are you crazy?” Some bloggers clowned back. On the blog Israellycool, Aussie Dave wrote, “If Zionists harvest organs, will he next claim we stole his brain? Who stole his meds?” Another blogger, Bullfrogger, snickered, “I believe that I have been targeted by Muslim spies. I awoke this morning and my goat and her two favorite outfits are missing.”               But not everyone is chuckling, and some fear that figures like the snarling Bukhari may portend Britain’s future. In 2006, Bukhari bemoaned the failing leadership among British Muslims, whom he described as “well intentioned . . . but out of touch.” They were a crusty old lot. He demanded that Britain’s Muslims “hand over the reins to a new generation of leaders more in tune with today’s young Muslims.” A decade later, Bukhari may be part of that new leadership.   Summary               Muslims and non-Muslims in the West wrestle to accommodate each other while holding on to their traditions and values. At the same time, a widespread mutual distrust just below society’s surface is burbling. Muslims decry Islamophobia in the West, but many Westerners feel besieged by Muslim immigrants. When Sadiq Khan was elected mayor of London, some people tweeted their fear and fatalism under the hashtag “Londonhasfallen.”               By mid-2016, the head of Britain’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission, who had popularized the term “Islamophobia,” regretted ever using this word. In self-effacing candor uncommon among senior public officials, Trevor Phillips publicly admitted that he had been well intentioned but naïve about the blistering Muslim integration into British society: “I thought Muslims would blend into Britain . . . I should have known better.”   Other Westerners have gone further, claiming to suffer from “Islamonausea,” which is queasiness and fatigue at insatiable Muslim demands on democratic values and a growing fatalism that the conquering tide of Islam is now irreversible. They do not want to live in a “global village” or share in its burdens. Many are fatigued by what they see as empty gestures by preening politicians and of Sharia elbowing itself into common culture and law. One pundit wrote, “Je suis sick of it.” This and more is the subject of chapter 3, to which we invite you to listen..   This concludes a reading from Jihad and the West, Black Flag over Babylon, by Mark Silinsky, with a foreword by Sebastian Gorka. If you enjoyed this, please consider subscribing and pressing the “like button.” Jihad and the West is available for purchase online and in select bookstores worldwide. Dr. Silinsky’s latest book, “Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel and the World will be available for purchase in spring 2026.  Nothing in this reading or any other reading in Jihad and the West represents the official position of any person or agency of the United States government. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening.