The recent Sharia outbursts by the Archbishop of Canterbury were successfully lampooned by the impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner - showing the Archbishop dressed as a jihadi urging his flock onto war. Just as the Glasgow attacks were turned into a joke by cartoonists who pictured injured civilians calling for doctors - only to see doctors running towards them sporting jihadi headbands.
Humour has a vital part to play in belittling the horrors of the struggle against militant Islam - after all, when it comes down to it, who are we up against here? At worst, a bunch of brainwashed rabble who genuinely believe that if they blow up innocent westerners they will be going to heaven - now if that is not a recipe for comedy, what is? And what about the female suicide bombers (those who know what they are doing)? When I ask my female friends how they’d feel being surrounded by seventy two male virgins they shudder with horror at the thought of it.
Britain is at the heart of global comedy production and has been for some time. The Little Britains, Mr Beans and Borats follow in the footsteps of Monty Python, Cook & Moore and Charlie Chaplin. Britain seems the obvious place to create a comedy series that lays into the Al Qaedas and JI’s of this world, undressing them (and us of fear) as it pokes fun at the bare-faced ugliness of Zawahiri or Abu Hamza whilst voice-overing finger-poking Mohammad Sidique Khan with a Harry Hill commentary. Nothing better than some well-directed humour to puncture egos - take a look at what Spitting Image did in the eighties and nineties or That was the week that was did in the 1960’s.
The appeasement brigade will argue that there’s no point playing with scorpions - that they’ll only be driven into further attacks. But the appeasers, by nature, miss the point - the attacks will come anyway. The extreme Islamists are merely filling their tanks.
In any case, the comedy should be written to amuse us not them. It should be written to make us chuckle and rethink the falling towers. Designed to make us see the enemy for what it is - a caricature, not dissimilar to the Monty Python football team who lost so badly in a fair match that they played against Long John Silvers in a biased one, celebrating pathetically as each goal went in. Comedy should expose these losers - denude them, so that we realise that, like playground bullies, they are cowards and we’re the thoughtless ones fuelling them with our fear.
We in the West underestimate our ability to use comedy as a weapon in our struggle against militant Islam. Comedy can help with our morale, help our troops’ morale, give this struggle a sense of where the reasoning lies and destroy the delusions of our enemy with mere words. It’s a shame it is not used more. Comedy production houses and comedians should show the world that they have true cojones like Omid Djalili and do their part to help us win.
Dominic Whiteman is spokesperson for the London-based VIGIL anti-terrorist organization - an international network of terror trackers, including former intelligence officers, military personnel and experts ranging from linguistic to banking experts. He edits the Westminster Journal.
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