Beyond hate speech

For years Britain has given welcome and welfare to radical clerics who preach jihad and promote terror. But Tony Blair says "the rules of the games are changing" | Mindy Belz

London was unseasonably cold but predictably rainy on the evening of July 2. War of the Worlds drew moviegoers into wet streets but so did a meeting to plot world war at Oxford House in north London. Dozens of Muslims gathered to hear Sheikh Omar Brooks and others speak.

While his 3-year-old son played at his feet, Omar Brooks told the crowd: "As a Muslim, of course I am a terrorist." He explained the charm of suicide bombing missions, saying he did not wish to die "like an old woman" in bed. "I want to be blown into pieces . . . with my hands in one place and my feet in another."

Schoolchildren wearing T-shirts carrying the words "mujaheddin" and "warriors of Allah" listened. Omar Brooks instructed the mothers in the audience to make weapons. Holding a can of Fanta but motioning wildly with his arms, he told the group its duty was to "instill terror into the hearts of the kuffar," or non-Muslims.