Letters
MPAC and Muslim extremism
27 November 2006
Dear Sir
The revelation that Asghar Bukhari, a founder member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, gave funds to David Irving in 2000 should come as little surprise. MPAC styles itself as a moderate Muslim civil rights group but hides behind a set of repellent views that can only radicalize fellow Muslims. Ignoring the multi religious make up of Israel, they condemn Zionism on their website as ‘a racist political ideology that…endorses ethnic cleaning and an ethnically pure state.’ Elsewhere on their site, MPAC abusively refer to Zionism as ‘Zio-Nazism’. They repeat the canard that Jews are responsible for ‘the false smear of anti-Semitism’ whenever Israel is attacked in the mainstream press. The reality is of course the opposite. The real smear is against Jews who are being falsely accused of charging others with anti semitism any time Israel is criticized in the press. This smear is calculated to silence Jews who object, not to the balanced criticism of Israel, which is legitimate, but to its vilification and denigration, which is not.
MPAC’s response to the Irving revelation is revealing. It is, they say, ‘another Islamophobic attack aimed at undermining and harming the brave individuals who support the Palestinian cause…’ Exposing Bukhari’s heartfelt support for the world’s most prominent Holocaust denier has now become a racist and anti Islamic act! All this proves is that ‘Islamophobia’ is a politicized fiction, a tool used by extremists to denigrate their opponents and stifle debate, rather than a means of (rightly) condemning hostility to all Muslims. Islamophobia is not therefore the new anti Semitism.
The ‘Irving episode’ reflects a deeper truth about Islamic extremism, namely that it amounts to more than a handful of fringe fanatics who seek to bring their cult of death to our streets. If complaining about Bukhari is racist, then he too will be seen as a victim of non Muslim (presumably Jewish) discrimination. It is impossible to know how far this sinister victim mentality has taken root within Britain’s Muslim community but it should concern us all.
Yours sincerely
Jeremy Havardi
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