The attack at the Manchester Arena was a terrible event. It was a crime. It was committed by people who do not deserve our respect in any way, shape, or form.
And yes, it was a terror attack, because it was designed to create fear - all the more so, perhaps, because there were many children present at that particular concert. All the more so, perhaps, because an attack at a music event, particularly, causes the musician/s playing to blame themselves - people died because they came to see them, after all.
But we should not "stand with" Manchester, or any other target of terrorism.
The problem with the rush to react, across social media, with 'we're standing with...' banners, and sentiments of moral outrage, and racial hatred, is that it exempts us from taking a good, long look at what causes Terrorism, beyond the racist rhetoric of "Muslim scum" - as many Muslims have said, those who commit terrorist atrocities are not Muslims. Muslims, as we saw after the Manchester Arena incident, are often among the first to help, even when they're not directly involved: they're the taxi drivers turning off their meters to get people away. They're the restaurants offering free meals. The hotels offering free accommodation.
Yes, non-Muslims are helpers, too - but, as we've seen from many other incidents over the years, most recently, and most close to home for the UK, in the murder of MP Jo Cox, non-Muslims are terrorists, too.
But we don't get outraged about that.
Because we haven't identified what we stand against, and so we often don't see the things we should be outraged about.
When we don't know what we're fighting against, we become an easy target. When we choose the symptom, rather than the cause, as the focus of our hatred, we've already lost the war.
I do not stand with Manchester.
I stand against hatred and intolerance - the hatred and intolerance that is promoted by Wahhabism, the radical, militant version of Islam exported from Saudi Arabia, and the hatred and intolerance of the racist reactions to any terrorist attack committed by those with non-white skin.
I stand against demonisation - the demonisation of democracy and free thought, and the demonisation of people who have done nothing wrong other than have darker skin than some would like, and been raised, or chosen, to follow a religion that is not Christianity.
I stand against the silencing of people who make observations that have a ring of unpleasant truth - that a terrorist attack such as that at Manchester, at this particular time, was an opportune event for a Prime Minister under pressure in the run up to a General Election that she only called to boost her support.
And I stand against the refusal to engage with those who are not wealthy. Saudi Arabia is pandered to, courted, and indulged, despite the undesirable version of Islam it promotes, because its leaders are rich.
Young British Muslims are ignored and rejected by the British government, primarily because they are from impoverished, inner-city, working-class backgrounds.
When you are young, and particularly when you are male, being accepted, valued, and listened to are important. If the only people offering that are promoting extremism and intolerance? Yes, you're probably going to end up agreeing with their principles, rather than those of the country that doesn't even notice your existence, because you can't "give it" anything - "anything", in this case, being money. Or oil.
I stand against Britain's obsession with courting those with wealth, and its rejection of the young and the poor.
Terrorism isn't just bombs and vitriol.
Terrorism is telling people they don't matter because they don't have financial influence.
Terrorism is using the media to whip up hatred and disrespect of and against groups of people you, as the government, have decided are undesirable - the poor, the unemployed, the disabled.
Terrorism is reacting to unpleasant observations not with simple disagreement, but with demands for retractions and apologies.
Terrorism is taking away funding for, and thereby access to, the arts, and the creative expression and sense of unity and purpose they offer.
I do not stand with Manchester, or anywhere else that has been and will be attacked, threatened, challenged, and wounded. I stand against terrorism, in all its forms. And so must all of us, if we are to have any hope of avoiding another Manchester.
