Banning ‘Islamophobia’ would harm Muslims the most

The riots that followed last month’s Southport stabbings have justifiably shocked the UK. But as with all crises, where some wish for the return of peace and order, others see the opportunity to push an ideological agenda. One such group of opportunists are those who want to legislate against the manufactured crime of ‘Islamophobia’.

In the wake of the unrest, last week the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) renewed its call for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia to become law. This definition would categorise Islamophobia as being ‘rooted in racism… [and] a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness’. Adopting this vague definition would set the UK down a path of turning virtually any criticism of Islam or Islamism into ‘hate speech’.

Whitehall has had a policy of ‘zero engagement’ with the MCB since 2009, after one of its leaders allegedly supported violence against Israel. As such, the Labour government is unlikely to be meeting with the organisation anytime soon. But Labour is reportedly considering adopting the MCB’s favoured definition anyway.

The push for a new definition is coming from plenty of other sources, too. This week, an article appeared in Politico by Mobashra Tazamal, associate director of the Bridge Initiative, a Gulf-funded group at Georgetown University that specialises in smearing critics of Islamism. In her piece, Tazamal casts the riots as the inevitable result of a decades-long effort to demonise Muslims.

The Bridge Initiative has form for ignoring the Islamist elephant in the room. Its website is filled with ‘factsheets’ about people it deems to be responsible for the promotion of ‘Islamophobia’. Strikingly, it makes no mention of Islamists and jihadists, even though it is their actions that have done the most to tarnish the image of law-abiding Muslims. Anyone truly interested in the welfare of Muslims would prioritise, not ignore, this problem.

Astonishingly, Tazamal’s only mention of Islamist extremism in her Politico article is the London bombings of 7 July 2005, which are apparently only noteworthy because ‘as a result… four million British Muslims were held collectively responsible’. So eager is Tazamal to misrepresent the British response to the attacks, and to cast Britain as irrationally Islamophobic, that the 52 dead and almost 800 injured in those attacks are not even mentioned in passing.

It is this type of gaslighting that has done the most to divide communities. The Southport riots were partly the result of deliberate disinformation claiming that the perpetrator was a Muslim. The violent reaction to this false rumour is presented as evidence of an inherent, knee-jerk hatred of Muslims in British society. But if this hatred really is so prevalent, then where were the riots after the 7 July bombings? Or the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017? Or when Islamists slashed and stabbed their way through Borough Market a few weeks later?

After two decades of Islamist threats and atrocities on our streets, we have become accustomed to checking ourselves for ‘Islamophobia’ before the bodies have even been counted. Islamists and their allies on the left continually shove ordinary Muslims into the frame after every Islamist attack. Their aim, as ever, is not to defend Muslims, but to use them as a shield to defend Islamism.

This dishonest and callous tactic has sown untold distrust. And now, at a time when people across the country feel a sense of lawlessness has taken hold on British streets, the government continues to fuel the fire by appearing to apply the law selectively and clamp down on free speech. No doubt, given the violent riots, extra protection for Muslims and mosques in certain areas is warranted. But new restrictions on mere criticism of Islam and Islamism will encourage many people’s suspicion that the law treats some groups preferentially. This will not do Muslims any favours in the long run.

Those pushing to criminalise Islamophobia would do well to remember that it would come at the expense of ordinary Muslims. This dangerous agenda won’t protect anyone – it will only deepen divisions.

Alaa al-Ameri is the pen name of a British-Libyan writer.