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Londonistan is a pejorative sobriquet in use by parts of the media referring to the British capital of London and the British Government's tolerance of the presence of various Islamic groups in London and other major cities of Britain as long as they carry out their controversial agendas, ideologies or terror campaigns outside Britain. The word is a portmanteau of the British capital and the Persian suffix -stan, meaning "land" (used by several countries in South and Central Asia).〔Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan〕 The term has been used in a number of publications, including ''The New York Times'', ''Vanity Fair'', ''The Weekly Standard,'' and in the 2006 book ''Londonistan: How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within.'' ==Origin of the term== According to Omar Nasiri The mid- to late 1990s were the years when Britain's capital earned the sobriquet of "Londonistan," a title provided by French officials infuriated at the growing presence of Islamist radicals in London and the failure of British authorities to do anything about it. () Raids in France and Belgium had produced phone and fax numbers linked to the United Kingdom, and names of suspects were passed on. Some French officials believe that if more had been done by Britain at the time, the network behind the summer of 1995 bombings might have been broken up and the attacks prevented. The bombings and attempted bombings, mostly in Paris, in summer and autumn of 1995 by Armed Islamic Group (GIA), killed eight and injured more than 100. The French observed that a number of Muslim radicals from London had connections to these bombings.〔 Around that year, in 1995, the French intelligence had coined the term "Londonistan" for the city of London.〔 The perception of "Londonistan" is powered by the strong foothold of Islamic radical fundamentalism in the region. It is believed that the "Londonistan" environment radicalizes British Muslim youth (involving the strife in identity politics, such as the perception of racism and decadence in British culture) and that it is ineffective in combating the Islamic radical entities. According to critics, Britain's "deep tradition of civil liberties and protection of political activists" led to the country becoming "a crossroads for would-be terrorists" for a decade after the mid 1990s. The Islamists used London "as a home base" to "raise money, recruit members and draw inspiration from the militant messages."〔 The British government's perceived unwillingness to prosecute or extradite terrorist suspects provoked tensions with countries in which attacks occurred. Allegations of a British policy of appeasement of Islamists were made and denied by members of the British government who debated the issue.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Londonistan (term)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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