Islamophobia Watch

Another rant by Nick Cohen, who accuses the government of being "prepared to sacrifice Britain's liberties and run the risk of religious riots for the sake of grabbing the votes of fundamentalists" – by which he evidently means the Muslim Council of Britain. What an obnoxious man he is.

New Statesman, 31 January 2005

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"The French intolerance is one that will not accept a non-society of discrete, uncomprehending ethnic or religious communities. Instead, they want to create a cross-cultural fraternité. It is this intolerance that we need more of in Britain today."

Stuart Jeffries in the Guardian, 31 January 2005

In an effort to confront rising Islamophobia worldwide, Cairo is to host a conference on the humanity of Islam and how to clear distorted images of the religion.

Islam Online, 28 January 2005

"In the chapter dealing with her trip to Israel, it is hard to say which is most prominent: the outright misinformation, the double standards, the twisted logic or the regurgitation of the Zionist propaganda."

Linda Belanger on Irshad Manji's book The Trouble With Islam.

canpalnet, 29 January 2005

Muslims say they feel disproportionately targeted

Muslims feel so victimised by police use of anti-terror powers that the independent police watchdog is to examine all complaints regarding arrests under the legislation.

Rosie Cowan in The Guardian

Taysir Alluni could never have suspected that the 9/11 attacks and the war against Afghanistan in its hunt for al-Qaida and Taliban leaders would dramatically change his life.

Journalist Taysir Alluni remains in a Spanish prison, Aljazeera reports

When it comes to defining family values, conservative Christians and Muslims are united against liberal secularists, writes Brian Whitaker.

Guardian, 25 January 2005

For a critical comment, see here

"A STRANGE alliance has arisen: from conservative members of the Muslim Association of Britain, the SWP, to London’s Mayor, all are in an uproar about 'Islamophobia'. Ken Livingstone has taken it upon himself to criticise the French move to ban wearing ostentatious religious symbols in schools. He has also given lessons on religious freedom by defending a cleric, al-Qaradawi, who supports female genital mutilation. This bloc draws support from the mainstream of the Anglican Church and Prince Charles to, with rare exceptions, the bien-pensant pages of the Guardian."

Andrew Coates in What Next? No.29

Global conflict has inflamed the problems of British Muslims

The rightwing press is in the grip of a moral panic, constantly serving up new theories to shore up the now familiar thesis that the west and Islam are locked in a clash of civilisations. Admittedly events in the world don't help. Palestinian suicide bombing, the school siege at Beslan and beheadings in Iraq all fuel the image of an Islamism that shows no mercy.

British Muslims have got caught up in this and it is affecting their lives, here in this country. For they stand accused – explicitly by the British National party, tacitly by more respectable others – of being a fifth column, a homegrown wing of a global movement bent on terrorising the west.

Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian

How can it be right to stir up hatred against people simply because they belong to a particular religious group, or because they don't share your religious beliefs? How can it be right that this remains unchallenged, particularly when it can lead to violence? Some of the most vocal criticisms against our proposal come from the left – the very people you might have thought would be the most ardent supporters. They deride it as an attack on free speech ..."

Fiona MacTaggart argues that religious hatred laws are needed.

Guardian, 21 January 2005