Is it a mirage? No, it's an actual article in the British press telling the truth about the madness that has descended upon our society. In the Times, Anthony Browne writes bravely and with justified moral outrage to describe the astonishing alliance that has sprung up between the left and the purveyors of vicious anti-Jewish and anti-gay prejudice. On Monday, London Mayor Ken Livingstone is to open a conference on the Islamic veil, at which the guest of honour will be Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Dr al-Qaradawi just happens to be a spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the extremist Islamist group which has spawned much of the jihadi terror ideology currently overwhelming the Islamic world and which has been banned in many Arab countries. But of course in dear old, sleepy, dhimmified, prejudiced and supremely ignorant Britain, a Muslim Brotherhood leader is not only allowed to visit but is given pride of place on a public platform. As Browne tells us:

'According to BBC Monitoring, Dr al-Qaradawi said last year: “Oh God, destroy the usurper Jews, the vile crusaders and infidels.” He said the killing of the American telecoms engineer Nick Berg by Islamic militants in Iraq, had to be seen “in the right context”, although he has condemned decapitations and the twin towers attacks and suicide bombings outside Israel. You can get more idea of his views on www.islamonline.net, whose contents are overseen by an editorial co-operative led by Dr al-Qaradawi. Islamonline declares that homosexuality is a “sexual perversion”, for which the penalty should be death. The only question is whether gays should be killed by being thrown off a high cliff, or flogged to death. Gay rights groups and Jewish groups, as well as London ratepayers, have a right to know why Mr Livingstone is choosing to share a platform with him.'

Dr al-Qaradawi is a guest of the Muslim Association of Britain, whose spokesman, Azzam Tamimi, was denounced in Parliament by Labour MP Louise Ellman for 'preaching hatred against Jews'. It gets worse. Fiona Mactaggart, the grotesquely named 'Race and Community Cohesion Minister', is sending a video of support to the event. Ms Mactaggart shared a platform last month with Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Sudais, who has called for the killing of Jews (see my earlier post).

The continued acquiescence of British government ministers to the activities in Britain of dangerous people who are banned from other countries is beyond belief. The alliance between the left and the forces of Muslim genocidal and anti-gay bigotry is terrifying. It is also shielded by a conspiracy of silence within the media, which Browne's courageous article does much to puncture.

Posted by melanie at July 6, 2004