Owen Jones, co-chair of the Socialist Youth Network, argues for the left to put fighting Islamophobia at the centre of its activities.


We will not be silent

Labour Left Briefing, December 2006

Islamophobia is the anti-Semitism of our age. As anti-Semitism once paraded itself in the rhetoric of anti-capitalism, today Islamophobia clothes itself in the rhetoric of secularism. The 19th century German socialist August Bebel once referred to anti-Semitism as “the socialism of fools”: today it could be equally be said that Islamophobia is the “secularism of fools”. Much to their amusement, Islamophobia is no longer the preserve of the BNP (who, after all, now almost exclusively target their hatred against the Muslim community). Islamophobia is the political mainstream.

Worryingly, even some on the left have been reluctant to defend the Muslim minority against the onslaught begun by Jack Straw on the grounds that the veil is a clear form of female oppression. This entirely misses the point. Jack Straw did not denounce the niqab on the grounds that it oppresses women: he attacked it as a “sign of separation and difference”. Of course the left must support the emancipation of women from all forms of subjugation – including from the veil. However, such a profound cultural shift can only be achieved through the struggle of Muslim women themselves. The anti-Muslim hysteria triggered by Straw’s comments will surely only drive thousands of Muslims into the arms of Islamic fundamentalism. Indeed, there are reports of niqab sales trebling since Straw’s disastrous intervention.

Above all, it is necessary to understand the nature of Islamophobia. There was a shocking audacity to Straw’s description of the veil as a barrier to good community relations because of his prominent role in the murderous invasion and occupation of Iraq (little else has done more to antagonise, alienate and radicalise British Muslims). However, the “war on terror” is fundamental to understanding the basis of Islamophobia. Western armies occupy Iraq and Afghanistan; western militarism currently encircles Iran; and western power backs Israel in its war against the Palestinian and Lebanese people. In other words, the West is at war in Muslim lands and against Muslim peoples.

Historically, racism has accompanied and justified western imperialist interventions. For example, the “Scramble for Africa” of the late 19th century was accompanied by the Social Darwinist dehumanisation of African people as backward and uncivilised. Anthropologists such as Madison Grant and Alex Carrel published pseudo-scientific racist tracts claiming the innate “inferiority” of black people. While simultaneously purporting to be bringing civilisation to Africa, the European powers slaughtered tens of millions in their quest for cheap access to natural resources.

Similarly, Islamophobia has been used to portray the Muslim people as innately violent and brutal at a time when western armies are responsible for the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the search for oil this time, under the cover of “democratisation”. History will damn the dark irony of commentators such as Leo McKinstry of the Daily Express who described Muslim attitudes as “repulsive, barbaric, prejudiced or superstitious” or for not showing “any willingness to embrace the tolerant values of western democracy” in the same week that Lancet revealed over 650,000 civilians had perished because of the western invasion of Iraq.

Muslims are being demonised by the British ruling class in a manner that no ethnic minority has had to suffer for at least a generation. As attacks mount on this impoverished community – a community already deeply alienated by a murderous and unjust foreign policy – it is clear that Islamic fundamentalism will only grow further in strength. However, Islamophobia may be on the ascent but it is not unstoppable. The left must act now to defend the Muslim community from this rising tide of Islamophobia. To fail to do so would be a betrayal of our finest traditions.

The ‘Eurabia’ myth

“A rash of pop prophets tell us that Muslims in Europe are reproducing so fast and European societies are so weak and listless that, before you know it, the continent will become ‘Eurabia’….

“Well, maybe not. The notion that continental Europeans, who are world-champion haters, will let the impoverished Muslim immigrants they confine to ghettos take over their societies and extend the caliphate from the Amalfi Coast to Amsterdam has it exactly wrong. The endangered species isn’t the ‘peace loving’ European …  but the continent’s Muslims immigrants – and their multi-generation descendents – who were foolish enough to imagine that Europeans would share their toys. In fact, Muslims are hardly welcome to pick up the trash on Europe’s playgrounds….

“Far from enjoying the prospect of taking over Europe by having babies, Europe’s Muslims are living on borrowed time. When a third of French voters have demonstrated their willingness to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front – a party that makes the Ku Klux Klan seem like Human Rights Watch – all predictions of Europe going gently into that good night are surreal.”

Ralph Peters in the New York Post, 26 November 2006

Parties unite to condemn BNP

The four main parties in Wales have united to condemn the racist British National Party for its comments attacking the National Museum of Wales over the staging of two exhibitions on Islamic culture. The exhibitions explore the contribution of Muslims to world history, science and art.

On its website the BNP states, “You may think that this is rather strange, particularly as Wales has an enormous heritage of its own, not least in the field of early Christianity.” The website goes on to refer to planning permission granted for a large mosque in Cardiff and suggests Plaid Cymru should be renamed Plaid Islam because it has several Muslim councillors.

Labour’s Deputy Health Minister and Newport East AM John Griffiths said, “This is horrible stuff. The National Museum should be congratulated for opening the eyes of Wales to the huge contributions Muslims have made in so many fields. The BNP is trying to foster intolerance and must not be allowed to succeed.”

Plaid Cymru’s Helen Mary Jones said, “There is no place in a modern, multicultural Wales for this kind of rubbish. The National Museum has a duty to inform and educate … Confining information or representation to that of any one race, language, political belief, or religion is a very dangerous prospect.”

The Welsh Conservatives’ culture spokeswoman Lisa Francis said, “Exhibitions such as this play an important role in promoting understanding, tolerance and respect for religion and culture. It is something which should be celebrated and encouraged. People will rightly be appalled at the BNP’s latest attempt to spread its pernicious, divisive, offensive and dangerous propaganda.”

Welsh Liberal Democrat culture spokeswoman Eleanor Burnham said, “Wales has a proud tradition as an outward-looking nation which has been enriched by the contributions of people from other countries and traditions.”

A spokesman for the National Museum said, “We put on these two small high-quality exhibitions at National Museum Cardiff sites for a number of reasons. The material relates to communities of Muslim background who are an important part of Wales’ history and contemporary life. It meets a wish from visitors from other communities to know more about Muslim cultures.”

Wales Onlines, 24 November 2006

‘Don’t succumb to Islamophobia’ – Mecca2Medina

Mecca2Medina (2)The Islamic hip-hop and ragga group, Mecca2Medina, has urged black and other ethnic minorities not to succumb to what they described as the worrying trend of Islamophobia in the UK.

Abdul-Karim Talib and Rakin Fetuga told The Voice that prominent news items about British-raised Islamic extremists and media debates about whether women should wear the niqab (or face veil) have led to negative perceptions of the Muslim community.

They said prejudice has increased although only a minority of Muslims become extremists. They said blacks should be wary of jumping on these bandwagons because black people in the past have also been victims of stereotyping. “It is being blown out of proportion. The Muslim community feels as if it is under attack,” they said.

Mecca2Medina made their comments after their performance at the first staging of Eid in the Square.

The Voice, 24 November 2006

Muslims scared to go back to Cronulla beach

CronullaMany young Muslim Australians are still too terrified to return to Cronulla, almost one year on from the riots, a spokesman said yesterday.

Independent Centre for Research Australia president Fadi Rahman said: “When we speak with them behind closed doors they’re quite afraid to go to Cronulla on their own. They believe that what has happened should have taught everyone a good lesson but they honestly believe it has not changed anything and that there are still racist elements in the community. They are scared that [tensions] will escalate again.”

It is almost a year since rioters invaded train carriages to set upon youths of Middle Eastern appearance. Yesterday trains to Cronulla were again the scene of commotion – this time in the name of peace. Youth workers from western and southern suburbs chartered the “peace train” to take hundreds of young people from Bankstown to Cronulla. Line dancers, African drummers and indigenous performers snaked through the carriages to promote cultural diversity. A parade and music workshops were held at Dunningham Park beside Cronulla beach.

Sydney Morning Herald, 25 November 2006

‘Veil Wars’ reveal Europe’s intolerance

“Europe’s traditions of secular tolerance appear to be haunted by the Islamic veil. Every week seems to bring new headlines announcing moves to crack down on the wearing of what critics appear to deem this most alienating symbol of Muslim faith, whether in French public schools, British government buildings or out in public in the Netherlands.

“But is European tolerance more threatened by hijab head-scarf, or even the face-covering niqab … or by the hypocrisy and low-grade xenophobia of those telling Muslim women that this attack on their religious practice is really for their own good? Beneath all the reminders of secularist tradition and progressive discourse cited in Europe’s headscarf debate lies the mean, provincial ‘not in our country, you don’t’ attitude – even when many of the women at whom it’s addressed to were born and raised in ‘our country’.”

Bruce Crumley in Time Magazine, 24 November 2006

Intolerance in Europe

The Washington Post examines “the blatant bigotry of many mainstream political leaders, journalists and other elites against Islam and its followers” in Europe.

The article continues: “Sometimes the bigots portray their crude attacks on Muslim beliefs and culture as a defense of freedom of speech – as when a Danish newspaper last year chose to publish gratuitously offensive cartoons about the prophet Muhammad. Sometimes they claim to be promoting better communication, as when British parliamentarian Jack Straw recently asked Muslim women to remove their veils when visiting his office. Luckily for the enemies of cynicism and disingenuousness, there is also the Dutch government – which no longer bothers to disguise its ugly prejudice.”

Editorial in Washington Post, 25 November 2006

‘We’re leaving the country after racists abused and spat at me’

A white Muslim mother who was spat at and abused by drunken football fans in front of her children today told of her humiliation at the hands of the “racist cowards”. Mother-of-five Michelle Idrees, 27, from Luton, said she had been too scared to travel to London or use public transport since the ordeal.

British-born convert Mrs Idrees was called a “f***ing Muslim slag” and told her son, then aged four, would be the “next suicide bomber” by a family of Arsenal supporters on a busy train. She is now planning to leave Britain because she feels her children have no future in this country.

Mrs Idrees said: “It was terrifying. All my children were crying hysterically, but these men wouldn’t stop. It makes me sick to think things have got so bad for Muslims that three men can say such disgusting things and threaten to punch a mother in the face, in front of her children, and nobody on the train does anything.”

One of the men had called her a “Paki-loving whore” and told her to go back to her own country. “They were big, aggressive men. I wouldn’t have answered back but I had to protect my children. Britain’s changed so much since 9/11 and 7/7 that people think we’re all terrorists.”

Mrs Idrees, who was wearing a headscarf, had been to London last August to attend an Islamic commemorative service for victims of the London bombings. She was travelling home on a Thameslink train with four of her children Stephen, 12, Chelsea, 10, Sharnia, six, and Shazan, five, as well as a friend’s two children and a neighbour, when the half-hour tirade began. Mrs Idrees, who converted to Islam after meeting her second husband, told the men that real Muslims did not support terrorism.

“They called the police and told them I had bomb in my handbag. Then they called a black woman on the train a nigger. They’re just racist cowards.”

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Far-right Islamophobic party makes gains in Dutch elections

Once a country renowned for tolerance of minorities of all stripes, the Netherlands now risks being known for an ugly debate over its growing Muslim population. As preliminary results emerged from general elections on Wednesday November 22nd, it became clear that a previously insignificant far-right party, the Party For Freedom, may claim as many as nine seats in a parliament of 150. The party had campaigned for a halt to all immigration, and in particular was hostile towards Muslims, calling for a ban on the building of religious schools and mosques and for a ban on veils worn by Muslim women.

At its head is Geert Wilders, a man seen by some as the heir to Pim Fortuyn – a populist politician and outspoken critic of the 1m-strong Muslim population in the Netherlands, whose anti-immigrant party won 26 seats in parliament shortly after he was murdered in 2002. On Wednesday Mr Wilders told Dutch television that “we need more decency in this country, more education and less Islam”. He is unlikely to form any part of the new coalition government, which will be led by the moderate Christian Democratic Alliance. But he may yet influence policy.

Economist, 23 November 2006

‘Riot mosque gets the go-ahead’

Thus the headline to an article in today’s Daily Express, reporting on the latest developments concerning the Medina Dairy in Windsor. The article begins: “Plans for a mosque at the centre of race-hate clashes were given the go-ahead by John Prescott’s office yesterday. Residents of Windsor, where only 500 of the 30,000 population are Muslim, reacted with fury after a planning inspector overturned a local council ruling. They accused the government of political correctness and warned the decision could lead to more violence.”