“This week, Channel 4 broadcast a very controversial documentary, Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, which appeared to have a clear agenda to demonise Muslims and incite fear of and hatred against them. Preachers’ statements were taken completely out of context … that a mainstream figure like Lord Nazir Ahmad was even castigated as having extremist tendencies indicated the immense bias which ran throughout the documentary.
“Moreover, by singling out Muslims for demonisation for holding beliefs shared by many other religious communities, the programme’s inherent Islamophobia was all too clear to see. Certain Muslim beliefs which were negatively portrayed as the doctrine of extremists are actually shared by Judaism and Christianity.”
Fahad Ansari at Open Minds, 19 January 2007
“Gordon Brown today signalled that his first task as Prime Minister would be to get Muslims to rally around a ‘Churchillian’ pride in Britain. Admitting that he expected to take over from Tony Blair this year, the Chancellor said that he wanted to promote a ‘modern patriotism’ as an alternative to Islamic extremism. Mr. Brown said: ‘I believe we can do more to separate some Muslims from the dark forces that they can be susceptible to.’
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot says Muslims lack a tolerance “gene”, in an interview with the Brazilian daily Correio Braziliense.
A Bradford MP has vowed to ignore any allegations of racism and Islamophobia as she takes her campaign to put an end to “evil” forced marriages to Home Secretary John Reid. Keighley MP Ann Cryer tabled an early day motion demanding the Government take action to end the “rape and false imprisonment” of women and girls, and make forced marriage a criminal offence.