Londonistan (term)

Londonistan (Arabic equivalent ليدنس or the transliteration لندنستان) is an a pejorative sobriquet referring to the British capital of London. The variation Londinistan is also in use. The term refers to the freedom in which Islamists operated in London. Originating in France, it is commonly used in the French press.ref|BBC2ref|BBC3

Origin

These terms originated in 1995 from French counter-terrorism agentsref|BBC, because of the number of exiled Islamist groups that established political headquarters in the city.

13,026 asylum seekers were being accommodated in London on 25 March 2005, according to statistics from the London Asylum Seekers Consortium.ref|2005_LASC

The word is a portmanteau of the British capital and the Persian suffix -stan, meaning land.

Examples of usage in the Arabic press

* [http://www.alarabiya.net/Articles/2005/07/10/14777.htm at Al-Arabiya] , 10 July 2005
* [http://www.asharqalawsat.com/details.asp?section=11&issue=10023&article=362048 at Ash-Sharq al-Awsat] , 8 May 2006

See also

*Islamism in London
*-stan
*Londonistan (book)
*Londonstani
*Eurabia
*Islam in the United Kingdom
*Bahrain Freedom Movement

References

# [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/09/08/kurtbarling_londonrisk_feature.shtml What's the risk to London?]
# [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4777684.stm European press review] , 6 March 2006
# [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4662905.stm European press review] , 8 July, 2005
# [http://www.inminds.co.uk/islamophobia-awards-2003.html Islamophobia Awards]
# "London Asylum Seekers Consortium", 2005. "http://www.alg.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=11960&cat=1035 Asylum seekers supported by London local authorities"

External links

* [http://www.news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/13/nmosq13.xml Sean O'Neill "Why France lived in fear of 'Londonistan"', Daily Telegraph]
* [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n02/upto01_.html London Review of Books’ "In the Streets of Londonistan"]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4617_131/ai_95764278 New Statesman’s "Why the French call us Londonistan"]
* [http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=23565 Stephen Ulph on "Londonistan" for Global Terrorism Analysis]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/10/international/europe/10qaeda.html?ei=5070&en=199f139274bedc6b&ex=1121918400&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all For a Decade, London Thrived as a Busy Crossroads of Terror] , "New York Times", July 10, 2005
*fr icon [http://www.lefigaro.fr/debats/20050718.FIG0247.html?075442 Les limites du cynisme britannique] (the limits of British cynicism), "Le Figaro", July 18, 2005
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1530267,00.html 'Londonistan' no longer rings true] , "The Guardian", July 17, 2005
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1593282,00.html Why Muslims reject British values] by A. Sivanandan, published in The Observer, October 16, 2005
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1704933,00.html Guilty: the cleric who preached murder as a religious duty] "The Guardian", February 8 2006
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006050831,00.html Hate Demo Over Cartoon] "The Sun"