Posted by
El Puntillero on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 4:17:49 AM
Slavery: Who Should Apologise?
Under immense pressure from black campaigners and so-called “community leaders” Tony Blair issued a statement of regret that Britain profited from the slave trade several centuries ago.
His expression of “deep sorrow” coincides with the bicentenary of Britain’s decision to abolish the vile trade in human beings.
While it is perfectly understandable for Blair to feel sorrow at historic wrongs, he has no authority to apologise on behalf of Britons who died centuries ago, and there is no one alive today who has the right to an apology from Britain. Blair should also remember he is not the head of state and should leave such acts to those authorised to make them.
Taking an historical perspective, why should the people of Britain apologise to Africans for the slave trade?
The Barbary Pirates abducted over a million people from Britain, Ireland and Iceland during the 16th to 18th century and sold them into slavery in what is now Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Whole communities were wiped out by these Muslim raiders from Africa. They even captured Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel in 1627 and used it as a base for several years.
To put these figures in perspective, the population of England and Wales was about 5,500,000 at the start of the 18th century.
Spain, Portugal and Mediterranean Europe in general suffered on an even greater scale from these African slavers. The Barbary Pirates remained a threat until 1816, when the Royal Navy – with help from the Dutch – destroyed their base at Algiers as part of their global campaign to end slavery.
I challenge anyone to obtain anything remotely approaching an apology from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria for what happened in the past. This is despite the fact Morocco has demanded an apology from Spain for expelling the Moors in 1492.
Come to think of it, try getting an apology from an Arab for absolutely anything. Period.
Further East, the Ottomans raided Europe for centuries and enslaved its people. In fact, Islam has been responsible for much of the slave trading in the world since the fall of the Roman Empire. Slavery exists today in many Muslim countries, and even in the 21st century Muslim raiders in Africa are capturing and enslaving non-Muslims. The genocide being committed in Darfur involves the enslavement of African survivors by their Muslim conquerors.
Osama Bin Laden used slave labour at his marijuana plantations in Sudan.
Slavery is a feature of Islam because it was encouraged by the cult’s founder. Muhammad was personally responsible for the enslavement of women and children of the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, after he had massacred the men of that tribe. The founder of the Islamic cult also received slaves as tribute from the Nubians which was his personal condition to a peace treaty.
How many Muslim women are de facto slaves as they have been forced into marriages and lack even basic human rights?
What Europeans and Americans did to Africans and Asians in the slave trade was wrong, as was the actions of other Africans who captured the slaves in the first place. The difference between Britain – and other western nations to a lesser extent – and everyone else who took part in the slave trade is that the British realised slavery was completely wrong and took the necessary action to eradicate slavery, despite resistance from Muslims which continues even in the 21st century.
Descendants of African slaves have been given control of most of the Caribbean Islands and have been given full citizenship in Britain, America and other former slaving countries. Taking into account the fate of white slaves in Africa, that is a just and honourable settlement to the descendants of those enslaved.
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