It’s all about us – Guardian letter
Today’s Guardian carries this letter from the usual suspects:
We strongly deplore the recent conferring of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie (Letters, June 21). We see this as a deliberate provocation and insult to the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. The “honouring” of Rushdie at a time when the British government claims to be trying to build bridges with the Muslim community can only be seen as duplicitous. We regard this as a conscious effort not only to offend Muslim sensibilities but also to sow seeds of division. In honouring Rushdie, the prime minister has demonstrated how little regard he has for Islam.
Ali al-Hadithi Federation Of Student Islamic Societies, Bashir Mann Muslim Council of Scotland, Dr Abdul Wahid Hizb ut-Tahrir, Dr Ahmad ar-Rawi Muslim Association of Britain, Dr Mamoun Mobayad Northern Ireland Muslim Family Association, Dr Muhammad Abdul-Bari Muslim Council of Britain, Massoud Shadjareh Islamic Human Rights Commission, Maulana Faiz Siddiqui Muslim Action Committee, Muhammad Sawalha British Muslim Initiative, Saleem Qidwai Muslim Council of Wales, Sheikh Abdulhossein Moezi Islamic Centre of England, Sheikh Shafiq-ur-Rahman United Kingdom Islamic Mission
There is also a particularly witless contribution from serial letter-writer Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob who thinks Rushdie shouldn’t have got a knighthood because he “did not contribute any constructive work to interfaith dialogue” – as if that’s a requirement for receiving an honour.
Shocked how many organisations are happy to align themselves with Hizb ut-Tahrir; an organisation banned throughout the Middle East because of its political agenda, and bonkers interpretation of the Qur’an.
Usual suspects and usual gender, too. Man, man, man, man, man, man, oh look, another man, man, man, man, man, man.
Today’s Guardian, by contrast, runs a letter from someone rightly wondering why the usual suspects have no words of condemnation for their peace-loving co-religionists kidnapping a journalist and tying him up with explosives all over his body.