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Londonistan
The Oxford English Dictionary does not offer a definition of ‘Londonistan”.
Other dictionaries:
The Collins English Dictionary does offer a definition as “an informal name for London, as considered by some people as a base for radical Islamists.” [1]
How this term should be used
“Londonistan” should be avoided as a descriptive term, given its meaning and its usage by the far-right. If the term is used – even in passing, or to report on what someone else has said – it should be explained, with reference to its usage by the far-right and the incorrect assumptions about its usage.
‘Londonistan’ is a combination of the word “London” and the Persian suffix ‘stan”, the latter of which translates as ‘land’.
According to Christopher Caldwell, “The term “Londonistan” was first coined by French officials outraged at the British government’s inability — for the better part of a decade — to extradite the Algerian Rachid Ramda, who had been charged in France with financing a series of attacks on public transport in Paris in 1995.” [2]
The term “Londonistan” is used to propagate the idea that London has been overrun by Muslims, and has become like a Muslim country because of the number of Muslims living in it. [3] This is clearly false given London’s Muslim population is between 10-15 per cent only. [4] When it comes to the UK, Muslims represent only 6 per cent of the population.
The word gained notoriety when it featured as the title for the book by anti-Muslim commentator Melanie Phillips who claimed that Britain had become an epicenter of militant Islam. The term became popular among right wing and far right bloggers and social media personalities in the United States, India, UK, France and Israel. It has been used to propagate the falsehoods that London has become a majority Muslim city and that the capital of the UK is more dangerous than cities in countries ravaged by war and conflict such as Kabul and Baghdad.
It resurfaced most prominently in June 2019 when American President Donald Trump retweeted far-right commentator Katie Hopkins’s tweet referring to the British capital as “Khan’s Londonistan”, a reference to the London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s perceived failure to deal with terrorism.
Statistical Trends of Usage
In the period Jan 2015 and Dec 2020, the term “Londonistan” has appeared 134 times across all news outlets, 73 in the British press (20 of these mentions were in one news site, telegrapgh.co.uk). Of these, 30 were specifically referring to Katie Hopkins’ tweet using the term. [5]
Case studies
In an article entitled “A week of Jew-baiting and Israel-bashing in Londonistan” in the Conservative Woman on 22 June 2019, Melanie Phillips states:
Those pressing to outlaw Islamophobia in Britain even claim the term Londonistan is’ racist’. This term, invented by the French secret service in exasperation at Britain’s refusal in the 1990s to take Islamist extremism seriously, was the title of my own 2006 book on the capitulation of the British establishment to Islamisation — of which the campaign to silence debate as’ Islamophobic’ is a prime example. Meanwhile, the truth about Israel provokes derisive laughter — which becomes uproarious when a virulent antisemite trots out his antisemitism. Thus one week in Londonistan.
In this opinion editorial, the writer Melanie Phillips argues that the term “Londonistan” is not racist because it was invented by the French secret service. The logic here is faulty in that it implies that the prestige of the French Intelligence Services makes it immune from criticisms of racism. It would be like arguing that Donald Trump has never said anything racist just by virtue of the fact that he is the president of the United States.
The extremists who are commonly thought to have inspired the invention of the phrase, Londonistan, namely Abu Hamza and Rachid Ramda, did not come from countries whose names contain the “stan” suffix. Abu Hamza was an Egyptian while Rachid Ramda was an Algerian. Britain does, however, have a large population of those who identify as “Asian or Asian British: Pakistani” and this group represents one of – if not the – largest Muslim populations in the country. Therefore, the choice of the “stan” suffix is likely a mischievous reference to the large Pakistani population in Britain and a dog-whistle to criticise multiculturalism.
A clip featuring a caller (Alex in Pimlico) to the LBC breakfast show hosted by Nick Ferrari who speaks about “public order” with two references to the Capital as “Londonistan.” In the second mention the caller specifically labels the city as “this capital city of Londonistan” after mentioning “the Mayor” Sadiq Khan. Nick Ferrari did not challenge the caller on the use of the term. However, Nick Ferrari later stated in the programme that the term Londonistan is “not an acceptable phrase.”
