Of Antisemitism and Islamophobia

by Guest Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:49 pm

David Toube (FOTP) has written a thought-provoking article for the Jewish Chronicle warning that the rush to be seen to be “doing something” in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre might see the “fundamentally flawed” All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslim’s definition adopted in haste.

He explains that it seems that little real work has been done trying to understand ‘Islamophobia’ – or ‘anti-Muslim hatred, as liberal Muslim commentator Maajid Nawaaz argues it should be called instead, and more accurately. “It is one of the biggest misnomers to come about in recent years,” he says.

In his piece, Toube says:

The authors of the report have taken the structure and content of IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism as their starting point and, in many places, done little more than cross out ‘Jew’ and insert ‘Muslim’ in its place. Most forms of bigotry have some common characteristics but diverge significantly in their details and form.

I’d like to summarise his reasons – but it is worth reading his article in full anyway – and add some other reasons that occurred to me. But first, a précis of David’s list:

Firstly, the APPG replaces the term ‘radical’ with ‘racist/fascist” in describing groups which might want to harm Muslims. He feels this is limiting in its specificity since there is a growing section of the Assad/Putin-supporting Left who might also fit the bill.

Secondly, it fails to accept that there’s a sectarian dimension to the problem of threats of violence against Muslims of which ‘other Muslims’ are often the source. Indeed, the murder of an Ahmadi Muslim in Scotland was carried out by another Muslim who believed he was an apostate. Sunni-Shia rivalry also can be quite intense.

Thirdly – and this mirrors what I was saying a few days ago about the notorious ‘Islamophobia-Watch” blog – some invective is directed at liberal Muslims, by conservative and fundamentalist Muslims.

http://hurryupharry.org/2019/03/20/of-antisemitism-and-islamophobia/

https://www.thejc.com/comment/comment/we-need-an-effective-definition-of-islamophobia-1.481712

More to read on both links