The “leftists” at Islamophobia Watch are plugging the Islamic Human Rights Commission’s “Fourth Islamophobia Awards,” which will be presented during a gala evening December 9 in London.
Superlative performances from Tawasih group Nur-ul-Mustafa, a hilarious comedy set and a very special surprise performance…
Yvonne Ridley and George Galloway singing “I Got You, Babe”?
The highlight of the evening will be the awards themselves, on which it is now possible to vote (by categories for different parts of the world). Although I’m sure nominees like King Mohammed VI of Morocco (“For his ‘so called reforms’ aimed at removing Islam from the the Moroccan people”), Bruce Willis (“For his staunch support of the Iraq War and renlentless barrage of propganda in the guise of ‘hollywood movies'”) and John Ware (“For the Panorama programme ‘Faith, Hate and Charity‘”) are fully deserving of awards, one name was notable for its absence.
Fortunately the IHRC provides a means to nominate additional candidates for the award. So this is what I submitted:
On 13 July 2004, the IHRC website posted an urgent alert:
“The Sudanese government must cease its campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Western province of Darfur immediately. The Sudanese government has armed and supported the Arab ‘Janjaweed’ which has committed numerous attacks on the African Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups. The Sudanese government has been complicit in actions of the Janjaweed militias, including massacres of women and children, burning of towns and villages, and the forcible displacement of over a million civilians.”
As far as I know, the massacres and displacements of the Muslims in Darfur have continued unabated. Therefore I nominate Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir– the man responsible for the deaths and suffering of more Muslims than anyone else in the world in recent years– for an “Islamophobia Award.”
For a few months in 2004, the IHRC website provided frequent updates about the situation in Darfur . After that– strangely or otherwise– nothing. Perhaps they forgot how urgent it was and just need a gentle reminder.
I guess we’ll see.
