Further to the post re the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) adding Maajid Nawaz to the list of “anti Muslim extremists” here’s a round up of the lazy or malicious mis-readings by the SPLC and some counter arguments.
The SPLC though has dug in. They have read a couple of Guardian posts, one written by that creepy undercover cop Bob Lambert and know Nawaz must be an anti-Muslim extremist. They even think Nawaz attending a strip club on his stag night makes him an anti-Muslim extremist (that’s half the male British population on a watch list then). This of course is incredible to anyone who has read anything by Nawaz, or heard him speak or seen him on the telly. He’s a classic liberal, and those are rare enough beasts in these ready to be offended times. He’s also a brave guy who has put his head above the parapet, and has done something to make the public Muslim face a more acceptable one than Mo Ansar’s or Anjem Choudary’s.
The SPLC has ignored the outcry from those better informed on the difference say, between “Islamism” and “Muslims” and has met criticisms with a stock response.
Oh Southern Poverty Law Centre – sorry Center – how, how, how American of you. Just like those judgements of Charlie Hebdo that came from Americans who did not know the language or culture of France and were eager to share their self-righteous, arrogant ignorance. Marking out Nawaz as an “anti-Muslim extremist” shows a total tin ear to the British political and media scene and a crass refusal to read plain evidence.
This is reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy fingering Clement Attlee* as a Communist with the proof being a picture of him reviewing Spanish republican troops and later on praising the brigade in 1937. (Attlee had provoked this by disagreeing with American foreign policy).
*Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain 1945 – 1951, Deputy Prime Minister under Churchill 1940 – 1945, a founder of NATO, staunch American ally, Kipling-loving patriot, daffodil-growing English suburbanite. Anti-communist. And a decent man.
