Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, gives a boost to Bruce Bawer’s latest exercise in anti-Muslim bigotry:

“There is no more important issue facing the West than Islamism, Islamofascism or – to use yet another label – radical Islam. And there is no more necessary precondition to countering that threat than understanding it: where it springs from, how it is expressed and the ways in which it is spreading. But before we do any of that, we have to agree that the threat exists.

“For the United States, the danger so far has taken the form of terror, as 9/11 so clearly demonstrated. In Europe, terror is real too, but a more insidious problem has now taken hold: many liberals and others on the European left are making common cause with radical Islam and then brazenly and bizarrely denying both the existence of that alliance and in fact the existence of any Islamist threat whatever. Bruce Bawer’s ‘Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom’ is focused on this phenomenon.”

New York Times, 24 July 2009

It’s no surprise that the JC, never exactly known for its efforts to build bridges between the Jewish and Muslim communities, has taken a lurch in a particularly Islamophobic direction since Pollard took over as editor.

Writing on his Spectator blog, Martin Bright has threatened to sue ENGAGE over a piece they posted about his response to the MCB’s successful libel case against the BBC. (ENGAGE have understandably backed off in the face of Bright’s threats, and the piece now reads “Martin ‘The Great Koran Con Trick’ Bright criticises MCB libel win“.)

Bright objects to ENGAGE’s description of him as an “Islamophobe”. He writes:

“Under the disreputable headline ‘Veteran Islamophobe Martin Bright criticises MCB libel win’ an anonymous writer makes a seriesof unsubstantiated claims. I have already taken legal advice about this, although I wouldn’t have needed to do so to realise it is seriously defamatory. I object in the strongest terms to the way the insult ‘Islamophobe’ is thrown around so casually. It is essentially a charge of racism: the cheapest of shots and utterly without foundation….

“Should I take action against the Engage libel? As an anti-libel law campaigner it would provide an interesting moral conundrum. But it’s a serious defamation and my chances of success would be high.”

Oh yeah? Well, I can remember Bright telling a FOSIS conference at City Hall back in August 2005 that he had no problem being described as an Islamophobe – because, he said, there is a lot in Islam to be afraid of. He got himself booed, as you might expect. Around a hundred people were at the conference, so there is no lack of witnesses who can attest to this.

Here at Islamophobia Watch we have referred to Bright’s 2005 statement on numerous occasions, and on that basis we have described him as a “self-confessed Islamophobe“.

So if Bright would like to sue me – bring it on, I say. We might well consider a counter-claim against Bright himself over the piece in which he compared us to the notorious antisemite and Holocaust denier Michele Renouf.

Update:  For further comment on Bright’s double standards on defamation, see Sunny Hundal’s post “Is Martin Bright libelling Mehdi Hasan?” over at Pickled Politics.

Thus the headline to a piece by John Humphrys in the Daily Mail. In fact, Humphrys presents no evidence whatsoever that the Jamia Binoria madrassa he visited in Karachi, and whose hospitality he has abused, is brainwashing its pupils into becoming terrorists.

Last year a CNN investigation into Jamia Binoria quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying that the madrassa was “known to U.S. officials as a moderate institution, favored by Pakistani-Americans for its moderate and tolerant Islamic instruction”.

It is clear that Humphrys hasn’t bothered to carry out the most basic background research into a subject of which he knows nothing. This is a man who blithely informs his readers that there are “relatively few Wahhabis compared to the Sunnis and Shias”, evidently oblivious to the fact that Wahhabism is a variant of Sunni Islam.

Shocking news from the Sunday Express:

“The growing influence of the Golders Green Synagogue, whose education wing was built with Israeli money, on the Labour party is causing concern in Downing Street. Gordon Brown, Justice Secretary Jack Straw and new Communities Secretary John Denham have been briefed on Zionist groups based there. Party officials have held crisis talks about one group in particular, the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Senior party members fear it has infiltrated Labour and exerts too much power over MPs and councillors in areas with large Jewish populations. Politicians fear that the BoD can persuade rabbis to direct bloc votes at elections.”

Oh no, hang on, this how the article actually reads:

“The growing influence of the East London Mosque, whose education wing was built with Saudi money, on the Labour party is causing concern in Downing Street. Gordon Brown, Justice Secretary Jack Straw and new Communities Secretary John Denham have been briefed on Islamic groups based there. Party officials have held crisis talks about one group in particular, the Islamic Forum of Europe. Senior party members fear it has infiltrated Labour and exerts too much power over MPs and councillors in areas with large Muslim populations. Politicians fear that IFE can persuade imams to direct bloc votes at elections.”

Update:  See IFE media release here.

“One of the bravest things I have witnessed is the stand taken by ex-Cabinet Minister Hazel Blears against political Islam. As her adviser, I saw first-hand the pressures on her to sit round the table with groups whose political outlook was the diametric opposite of her beliefs in pluralist democracy, rights for minorities and equality for women. She consistently stood firm.

“For years, government ministers unquestioningly invited the leaders of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) to meetings to ‘represent’ the political, ethnic and religious diversity of Britain’s Muslims, as though such a thing were possible. First under Ruth Kelly, then Hazel Blears, the Government wised up to the nonsense that a small, unelected group of men, drawn from the conservative elements of Islamic politics, spoke for millions of Muslims in modern Britain….

“The hardliners in the MCB and other groups were challenged, not fêted. It culminated in a boycott of the MCB after one of its leaders attended a conference in Istanbul dominated by supporters of Hamas…..

“The way to tackle this strand of political Islam, which creates the environment for terrorists to brainwash and recruit potential bombers is not to debate with it, nor to invite it for tea at the Department for Communities or Number Ten. It is to expose it, disrupt it, and make it clear such views are repulsive and unacceptable. The new Secretary of State, John Denham, and the new Communities Minister, Shahid Malik, arrived at their desks this week. All eyes will be on them.”

Paul Richards in the Jewish Chronicle, 11 June 2009

Given Richards’ former role as Hazel Blears’ SpAd, this article provides a useful insight into the sort of ignorant, bigoted thinking behind DCLG’s decision to sever links with the MCB. At least we’ve now got rid of the truly appalling Blears, whose backstabbing antics in relation to her own party have hopefully destroyed any future revival of her political career. Things, as they say, can only get better.

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 12 June 2009