[Dean's World] Mary Madigan: The Perils of Islamophobia

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Mary Madigan:
The Perils of Islamophobia
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1149695154.shtml


   Peter Tatchell is a British human rights activist who became somewhat
   famous for his attempts to perform a citizen's arrest on Zimbabwe's
   [1]President Robert Mugabe.

   Lately Tatchell has been focusing on the homophobia within the
   Islamist political system. He described Sharia law as [2]"a clerical
   form of fascism". On his website, he [3]publicized the execution, by
   Iraqi police, of a 14 year old boy (who was accused of being gay and
   "corrupting the community"). According to the article, this murder was
   inspired by the Shia spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
   who had issued a death fatwa against lesbians and gays.

   According to Tatchell, [4]that fatwa is still in effect.

   For his efforts, Tatchell has been denounced by a site called
   [5]Islamophobia Watch, which claims to be "documenting the war against
   Islam". They call Tatchell an Islamophobe and a racist.

   [6]Writer Johann Hari believes that Tatchell, like other activists and
   politicians who have been accused of being Islamophobes, is being
   condemned for failing to "draw a distinction between the people who
   will lash and stone gays after winning at the ballot box, and the
   people who will lash and stone gays after seizing power in a coup".

   [7]Hari says:

     Do you believe a "leading cleric" who advocates stoning gay people
     to death should be denounced? Do you believe sharia law â which
     requires gay people to be lashed or stoned â is always and forever
     unacceptable? Then, according to an energetic and aggressive group
     of white straight boys who surreally consider themselves to be on
     the left, you are an "Islamophobe" and "objectively pro-Nazi".

     People who believe in opposing hatred of gay people everywhere â in
     Teheran as much as Tunbridge Wells, in Kingston, Jamaica as much as
     Kingston-Upon-Thames â are being subjected to a bizarre
     counter-campaign. As so often, Peter Tatchell is facing the most
     abusive backlash on our behalf. Tatchell believes all people are
     equal, regardless of their pigmentation. He does not see a
     difference between the white far-right preacher Jerry Falwell
     calling gay people diseased, and the Muslim leader Sir Iqbal
     Sacranie doing the same. He does not see the difference between gay
     teenagers being lynched to death in Jamaica and murderous
     gay-bashings on Clapham Common. He reacts to them in exactly the
     same way â by fighting to stop them.

     For this, he is being accused of racism...

     ..The website complains Tatchell uses "the term 'Islamism'â¦
     without distinguishing between its reformist and violent wings."
     Yes, itâs true - Tatchell fails to draw a distinction between the
     people who will lash and stone gays after winning at the ballot
     box, and the people who will lash and stone gays after seizing
     power in a coup. This is bigotry?..

     ...Indeed, in their shrill condemnations of anybody who criticises
     Islam, they have actually fundamentally misunderstood Islam itself.
     Like all religions, it is based on a dense, contradictory and often
     ludicrous Holy Book that is being constantly reinterpreted. At the
     moment, there is a fierce battle within Islam between
     fundamentalists with a viciously reactionary agenda, and liberals
     with a more moderate agenda. If Muslim women and Muslim gays are
     going to have any kind of decent life, the liberals need to receive
     solidarity and support â but slap-dash charges of Islamophobia
     intimidate people who could offer it. They make people afraid to
     help the Muslim critics of fundamentalism, encouraging people to
     see Islam as a homogenous block defined by its most reactionary
     elements...

   The effort to define the religion of Islam as a homogenous block
   defined by its most reactionary political elements is not unique to
   the Islamophobia Watch site. It's also practiced by our government and
   media's deferential treatment of "charitable" [8]activist groups like
   [9]Muslim American Society and the British government's efforts to
   court groups like [10]Muslim Association of Britain.

   Of these futile governmental efforts to avoid the Islamophobia label,
   one [11]British Muslim wrote:

     The problem with organizations such as the Muslim Association of
     Britain, the Muslim Parliament and the Muslim Council of Britain is
     that they portray themselves as one-stop representatives of Muslims
     on all religious, political and racial matters. This is enhanced by
     the fact that the Government and other political entities wish to
     "consult" with ethnic and religious communities.

     I choose to define my community as the people with whom I interact
     and choose to be represented by the political party for which I
     vote. Why should I, in community terms, have more in common with a
     Muslim from Bradford than with a Jew from Tonttenham or a Christian
     from Ramsgate?

     One need only walk down a main street in this part of London to see
     that there are many Muslims who do not necessarily define
     themselves primarily by their religion. We do not all subscribe to
     the same way of being a Muslim, neither do we push our religious
     beliefs into the civic and political sphere.

   The fact that a British Muslim has a better understanding of liberal
   values than most Western Islamophobic-phobic politicians is
   irrefutable proof that Islam and democracy can co-exist.

   What do we gain from pursuing the [12]"forward strategy of freedom"
   while ignoring the liberal values that our country was founded on?
   What do we gain from dragging religious beliefs into the civic and
   polical sphere? What do we gain from supporting the "peaceful"
   Islamists who will lash and stone gays after winning at the ballot
   box?

   We don't gain anything, but we can lose a lot.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Tatchell
   2. http://www.newstatesman.com/200605290009
   3. http://www.petertatchell.net/international/ahmed.htm
   4. http://www.newstatesman.com/200605290009
   5. http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/
   6. http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/06/05/aggressive_white_straight_boys.php
   7. http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=897
   8. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0409190261sep19,1,3910166.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
   9. http://www.masnet.org/
  10. http://www.mabonline.info/english/
  11. http://www.whataretheysaying.org/archives/001087.html
  12. http://www.strategypage.com/onpoint/articles/20066713351.asp