In February, the government established an independent working groupto advise on a definition of Islamophobia. Much secrecy surrounded this initiative. No one really knew how the working group was formed, or how it would conduct its consultation exercise, or whom they would approach for such consultation. Depending on who you spoke to, the reason for doing this now is to justify the APPG (Muslim) definition that the Labour Party had already adopted (but a definition that has widely been derided for being corrupt in its content and purpose), or, it was to seek another definition that would be more palatable that could then become government policy and part of the legislative process.
The Working group consists of:
The Right Honourable Dominic Grieve KC, Barrister - Chair of the group
Professor Javed Khan OBE, Managing Director of EQUI
Baroness Shaista Gohir OBE, CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK
Akeela Ahmed MBE, Co-Chair of British Muslim Network
Asha Affi, Independent Consultant
The fear surrounding APPG (Muslim) definition is genuine since it basically muzzles everyone from even expressing their concern about anything Islamic, or Muslims. Basically, it would become the defacto blasphemy law specifically to protect one faith from any challenge or criticism anddestroy the very concept of ‘Freedom of Speech’.
The repulsion to what the government was seen to be doing has become more pronounced. Especially after the fiasco of how it handled the Pakistani grooming gang’s statutory inquiry. The great British public are visibly switched on and have declared, enough is enough. The Labour Party is getting thrashed in the polls. The credibility of the Prime Minister is now the lowest it has been for any PM to date. The pressure to at least make it look like a proper consultation has grown and recently the working group opened the consultation to a wider audience. You can, should you feel so inclined, make your own contribution to this important debate by going to (deadline 20th July): https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=EGg0v32c3kOociSi7zmVqI6tIfR9NoRNi6VcrK9V665UQTdRVzRMM0I4UTA0R0ZCNzBJQ0s4TVNYMS4u
A bit of advice, you don’t necessarily have to give your ethnicity (which no doubt they will use to track what each group thinks and potentially use it in ways that undermine etc). It seeks a response to whether it should be called ‘Islamophobia’, ‘anti-Muslim hatred’, ‘anti-Muslim racism’, ‘anti-Muslim prejudice’ or 'Muslimophobia'. Don’t fall for the trap, if there is to be a definition then it should be called Anti-Muslim Hatred. This aligns with Antisemitism and Anti-Hindu Hatred – terms that actually mean something tangible, without discriminating against any other faith.
A phobia is defined as something that is an irrational fear. However, almost every person I have spoken to (and they come from all backgrounds and all faiths) have clearly expressed to me that they do have a RATIONAL FEAR of Islam. i.e. Their fear of Islam is real, it’s tangible, it’s something that impacts daily in how they live their lives and how they see the world around them. Therefore, to use the term, ‘Islamophobia’, meaning an irrational fear is missing the mark by a long shot.
Why do good honest Brits have such a rational fear of Islam? After all, at the grassroots most of us are friends with Muslims, we interact with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and we even have thingsthat are of common interest between us. Yet, there is still a very clear and pronounced fear of Islam.
I suspect the academics will use all sorts of distorted reasoning to rationalise their hypothesis and come up with 101 different reasons to ignore this legitimate fear.
Over the past three decades we have seen terrorism in the name of Islam. We have witnessed thousands of Islamic terrorist groups spring up right across the world. Every single day somewhere in the world there is a terrorist attack committed by an Islamic group in the name of Islam.Just a few examples tell a clear story:
9/11 Attacks (2001):The attacks on the United States, carried out by Al-Qaeda, had a profound global impact and led to significant shifts in counter-terrorism efforts.
Madrid Train Bombings (2004):A series of coordinated bombings on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, resulted in numerous casualties and injuries.
London Underground Bombings (2005):Suicide bombings on the London Underground and a bus resulted in a significant number of deaths and injuries.
ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria):ISIS emerged as a major terrorist threat, establishing a self-proclaimed caliphate and conducting attacks in Iraq, Syria, and beyond.
Attacks in France:France has experienced multiple attacks attributed to Islamist extremists, including those in Paris in 2015 and Nice in 2016.
Attacks in the UK:The UK has also seen several attacks, including the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, and other incidents in London and elsewhere.
Attacks in India:2000 Church bombings of South India, Kurnool train crash, 2000 terrorist attack on Red Fort, 2001 Attack on Indian parliament, 2025 Pahalgam attack, 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre, 1993 (+ 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2011) Mumbai attacks. To name just a few.
I can probably write a 1000 pages detailing many of the terrorist attacks by Islamists. However, the examples show us clearly that there is a real reason why many people do have a rational fear of Islam.
Many nations have now started to proscribe terrorist organisations. These can be far left, far right, Marxist, and of course Islamists. I did some checking and guess what, in the UK we have proscribed 75 organisations/groups. And what is shockingthat 80% of these are Islamic.
When an ordinary citizen is faced with such unwarranted attacks on their streets, witnessing the same attacks right across the world, and theysee that the vast number of terrorist groups are also Islamic – then is it any wonder they end up having a real fear, a rational fear, of Islam?
The wokes, the PC Brigade, the lunatics on the left, and those who come out on hate marches against Israel, might want to ignore reality. They are the boisterous (with apparently all the time on their hands)who take to our streets, our airways, infiltrate political parties, infiltrate our institutions, and appease to terrorism. However, the silent majority of sane people will at some stage say, enough is enough. I suspect the tolerance of the British is now stretched to its very limit. Government should be minded and take note before it’s too late.
