fetish and phobia: time to be shocked a bit more

There appears to have been a cult of Islam, a fetishisation of the religion by non-members, for some time. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the first occurrence of the word "Islamophobia" in 1926 in the Journal of Thelological Studies, indicating the author regards it as preventing fair comment on Islam. The second quote, from the International Journal of Middle East Studies, is similar: "a non-Muslim…is compelled, under penalty of being accused of Islamophobia, to admire the Koran in its totality."

Little wonder, then, that even constructive criticism of practices undertaken by Muslims is handled with kid gloves. Witness BBC Radio 4’s long-term Born in Bradford project, in which health-workers investigate why Bradford’s Pakistani community, who comprise 20% of its population and have 50% of its babies, bear children with genetic disorders. It’s not rocket science – as any student of the Habsburgs' decline knows – but one doctor told of resistance at the highest levels to offending Pakistanis by campaigning on the dangers of marrying relatives as close as first cousins.

Therefore I admire Charles Moore, Telegraph commentator and former editor, for his candour in berating the British establishment and populace for being shocked "not quite enough" at Lee Rigby’s murder. His honesty is courageous and astounding:

If we attack the EDL for being racist, fascist and pro-violence, we can do so with impunity, although we are not being strictly accurate. If we make similar remarks about Islamist organisations, we will be accused of being racist ourselves.

He writes of us having an "air of menace", but that’s mild compared to the Mail and the Sun, whose comment sometimes might be cut-and-pasted from ours, but whose reportage labels us thugs.

So I’d like to throw him a friendly challenge: do his honesty and courage extend to publishing interviews with EDL members?

Gerry Dorrian
300 words

Resources

Woolwich outrage: we are too weak to face up to the extremism in our midst - Charles Moore, Telegraph

Born in Bradford page on bbc.co.uk

Born in Bradford NHS page

Born in Bradford page at Bradford University

The Habsburg Lip - msu.edu