Not terrorism but "a demonstration"

Only in academia:

The London bombings were not acts of terrorism but "a demonstration", according to a senior academic.

Prof. Ron Geaves has sparked controversy by claiming that the attacks on Tube trains and a bus that killed 52 innocent people in July were part of a long history of protests by British Muslims.

He also said that to refer to the attacks as terrorism risked "demonising" those involved.

His comments were made as he prepared to give a lecture at the University of Chester to dignitaries and members of the Muslim community in the North West.

As part of his research, Prof Geaves has looked at the history of demonstrations by British Muslims. His work charts the changing nature of Muslim communities from the demonstrations against the author Salman Rushdie to the anti-war protests after the invasion of Iraq.

"I have included, rather controversially, the events in London as primarily an extreme form of demonstration and assess what these events actually mean in terms of their significance in the Muslim community," Prof Geaves said last week.

"Terrorism is a political word which always seems to be used to demonise people."

Prof Geaves, whose lecture was entitled "Twenty years of fieldwork: reflections on 'reflexivity' in the study of British Muslims", said: "The title refers to the personal transformation that has taken place over the last two decades in which I have moved from a position of academic neutrality to one of active engagement with the Muslim community."

Noooo, really? 'Ya think?