Islamists Masquerading as Civil Libertarians. The Mayor’s New Friends
According to a BBC report, Islamophobic incidents have increased in London by about 70% in the past year. The range of incidents stretches from name calling, to cyber bullying to physical assaults and it seems that Muslim women are the focus of most of it.
In such circumstances it is entirely appropriate for the Mayor of a multi-faith borough like Newham to highlight the issue, to take steps to support individuals and create a climate in which they feel safe.
However, her choice of partners in this collaboration is the subject of some concern, both to liberally minded Muslims and those of other faiths.
Her partners of choice are Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) a well-funded and very slick Islamist group, quite unlike the pamphleteers who peddled their doctrinaire nonsense from behind a pasting-table on the High St. They wear suits and their publications are polished and professional. But there is widespread concern is that their apparent commitment to human rights is simply a cover for an Islamist and sectarian agenda.
Their work has raised concerns about their close association with extremists in the past. The Jewish Chronicle reported “Muslim Engagement and Development, or as it is better known, Mend, has sparked concern both in the Jewish community and in the wider world, over accusations that it has previously hosted extremist Islamist speakers.
“The Board of Deputies criticised the organisation while giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Antisemitism last year.
“ ‘The approach taken by Mend risks increasing hostility and suspicion between the Jewish and Muslim communities, rather than building trust and empathy,’ the Board told MPs.”
“We remain greatly disturbed by statements attributed to Mend, such as one by its CEO Sufiyan Ismail, in which he claimed that ‘in 300 years the Israeli lobby has not lost a vote in Parliament’. Given that the state of Israel has only existed since 1948, the ‘Israeli lobby’ in this quote can only be a synonym for British Jews, of which Ismail celebrates that ‘they were battered, absolutely battered’.”
The concerns about anti-Semitism include this tweet from MEND in Manchester. “Truce in Gaza? Don’t you believe it! The Jews are shopping around for cheap bombs”. Not the Israelis, but ‘the Jews’, its remarkable how some of these anti-Zionists let their guard down.
Just a question for any of our Labour councillors and indeed anyone in the Labour Party. Does this sound familiar to you?
If anything, their concerns are minor compared to those of the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank straddling the political centre ground.
They note the antipathy shown by MEND towards Muslims of a more liberal interpretation; the promotion of speakers with anti-Semitic views; downplaying Islamist terrorism; closeness to extremist groups and opposition to Prevent, the government’s initiative to combat radicalisation and terrorism.
They note that the language of MEND is modern and progressive, but quoting a Times leader they note the presence of a cottage industry opposing Prevent in which Islamists are masquerading as civil libertarians.
The Quilliam Foundation is a think tank of liberally minded Muslims who have offered the following thoughts on MEND. “Extremism is defined by the government as the ‘vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs, this includes calls for the death of members of the armed forces’. A prominent example of such an individual is the hate preacher Haitham al-Haddad, who has said that cases of domestic abuse should not be investigated; that peaceful co-existence between people of different religions ‘is wrong’; that female genital mutilation is ‘Sunnah,’ or Islamically correct; and ‘any system of law other than Sharia, he argues, ‘is invalid.’
“Clearly Haddad should be considered an extremist and has been named as such. His abhorrent views fly in the face of our gender equal, multi-cultural, multi-faith democratic society. Despite this he regularly appears alongside large charitable organisations such as MEND, who have described themselves as a human rights charity with a keen emphasis on tackling Islamophobia.”
We don’t know if Mayor Fiaz was paying off a political debt, whether she shares the sectarian agenda of MEND or whether she couldn’t be bothered to look into the background of her new partners. Whatever the reason we urge her to stop.
Well done to the council for its willingness to oppose Islamophobia. Please continue to do so. But if you want a broad campaign which actually reaches out to all communities, rather than panders to the extremists in one, then find some better partners to work with.