Liberal Islamophobia
November 29, 2007
Imagine a headline in the British liberal press declaring ‘Judaism and the modern world don’t mix’. Inconceivable? Most definitely. The paper will be invite well deserved opprobrium and will be duly charged with anti-Semitism. This of course did not happen. Instead we have a headline in the liberal Independent declaring, ‘Islam and the modern world don’t mix‘. Now that is a pretty serious claim, and one surely wouldn’t expect to see it in a reputed daily unless the evidence were overwhelming. In this case, however, the evidence comprises of a sole incident in Sudan, which, incidentally, has been condemned by most Muslims. This did not deter the columnist, Joan Smith, from her sweeping generalization. This can of course be seen either as the eccentric opinion of a deranged blabbermouth published in the interest of the kind of sensationalism that without fail boosts paper sales. Or maybe there is something more going on here?
Joan Smith, for those who don’t know, is the partner of notorious Israel-fister and Islamophobe Denis MacShane who for some years has been active in the defamation campaign against Muslims. MacShane is also the purveyor of the ‘New Antisemitism’ thesis, and an active member of the UK wing of the Israel lobby, the Labour Friends of Israel. For more on this clown, check out my earlier post.
More on LFI here. Most interesting!
These so-called liberals are embodiments of what’s been called “talking left, walking right”. Gabriel Ash did a fine analysis of Nemesis Necessity for those whose politics falls in the substantial overlap of Neoliberalism and Neoconservatism.
So what is Islamophobic in the article?
A bit of confusion between culture and religion yes.But Islamophobia
Why is it inconceivable to say “Judaism and the modern world don’t mix”? In a world where racism is unacceptable, such a statement is simply an expression of the truth. Since Jewish racism is embodied in Christian theology, the Christians superceding the Jews as God’s chosen people in the minds of America’s millions of rabid fundamentalists, one could also assert that “Christianity and the modern world don’t mix.”
Certainly Islamophobia was due another ramping-up at this point of nadir in New Labour fortunes.
Corporate media will be happy to oblige running with Home Secretary Jackie Smith’s newest attempt to boost Brown in the polls using the threat of a terrorist “dirty bomb” this Christmas.
We can be pretty sure that British Intelligence will soon find another rent-a-mob bunch of dupes to stage another fake attack if needed to perk up the government’s flagging PR war on Islam.
The Sudan nonsense is prelude to a more concerted psy-war campaign to come.
Incidentally,the furore over the alleged intolerance of the demonstrators in Oxford this week presages New Labour’s intention to bring in PR at the next election.
This measure,which of course will be spun by McCohen-Shane and his cronies and corporate hacks as a generous move by New Labour to assist in the reinvigoration of the democratic process will allow them to minimize the extent of their likely defeat at the next election and to disorient the right by allowing the BNP to win parliamentary representation.
A BNP presence at Westminster will put pressure on centre-right parties like Cameron’s to come to a pact with the extreme right,which New Labour would hope would be politically suicidal.
This PR tactic famously worked for Mitterrand in France and New Labour will have learnt from it.
Being as they’re broke and are currently aside from accepting illegal donations trying to raise money by taxing pigeon lofts there’s no telling how low they’ll stoop to maintain some sort of proximity to power.