Channel 4 has given a platform to a series of Islamist extremists, including an Al Muhajiroun activist and Yvonne Ridley. There is, of course, no way that they would give a free hand to neo Nazi groups such as the British National Party.
So, why do they do it?
Yes, certainly, there is a limited freedom of expression aspect to this. However, all the extremists featured in this series are hardly without access to platforms of their own. Yvonne Ridley presents her own TV show. Al Muhajiroun have an extensive internet presence. There is no freedom of speech argument which obliges a company to turn over its facilities to vicious racists.
Here’s the sad truth. Channel 4 are using Islamist extremists as entertainment. And yes, I admit it, Ridley and Al Muhaj are amusing.
This week, many of us signed Hope Not Hate’s open letter to the Editor of the Daily Star, asking them for more responsible on stories involving Muslims. A favoured technique of Muslim haters is to push extremist groups like Al Muhajiroun, as the archetype of British Muslim opinion. This is precisely what groups like the British National Party do.
Tell me, how is promoting hateful extremist Islamist politics, for entertainment, any different from that?
Quilliam has today published an open letter to the UK’s Channel 4 after the TV station scheduled two first-person films presented by leading figures of the banned Islamist groups al-Muhajiroun/Islam4UK to air on its ‘4thought.tv’ strand. The presentation of both programmes makes no reference to the extremist backgrounds of their subjects and presents them as being representative of British Muslims. The programme’s format additionally does not allow their extremists views to be challenged or put into context. Quilliam’s letter to Channel 4 explains how and why such programming can have negative effects on Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The presenter of the first film, broadcast on 24 November, was ‘Abu Nusaybah’, who has been closely associated with al-Muhajiroun for a number of years (see here and here). He used his programme to call for ‘shari’ah law’ to be imposed in the UK and for thieves to have their hands cut off. The presenter of the second film, to air on 5 December, is Anjem Choudary, the de-facto leader of both groups, who is scheduled to use his programme to argue that Muslims in the UK are being ‘persecuted’. Prior to this, the last Muslim presenter on the 4thought.tv strand, on 9 November, was Yvonne Ridley, a presenter on Press TV, the Iranian propaganda channel. During this period, no other Muslims were featured on the 4thought.tv strand.
Talal Rajab, a spokesman for Quilliam who also authored Quilliam’s recent report on the Islam Channel, said:
“The invitation of these two extremist speakers by Channel 4 is deeply problematic. By presenting extremist views as representative of mainstream Islam, it not only reinforces negative stereotypes of Islam to non-Muslims, but it serves to legitimise these intolerant opinions within Muslim circles.
“Given the profoundly negative impact that al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK have had on the social cohesion of the UK, it is highly inappropriate for a mainstream public broadcaster to be providing such a popular platform for their fanatical views.
“Moreover, al-Muhajiroun was banned by the British government because of its links to individuals who had committed acts of Islamist-inspired terrorism. We therefore urge Channel 4 to reconsider airing Anjem Choudary’s film on Sunday, and to aspire to feature a more representative and moderate portrayal of Islam in all future programming.”
Quilliam’s letter to Channel 4 is available to download as a PDF here.
