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The JC Letters Page, 8th February 2019

Hassan Joudi, Stan Labovitch, Revital Kochavi, Michael Zaidner, Jeff Riches Leila Cumber and Mike Fligg share their views with JC readers

February 12, 2019 13:11
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3 min read

Stop relying on the Brotherhood bogeyman 

In his heavily redacted government review, Sir John Jenkins claims that my organisation, the Muslim Council of Britain, is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. He repeats the claim in the Jewish Chronicle (Security will not be enough, February1), where he worries that the authorities might “reconsider the decisions by previous governments not to engage”.


My experience of the Muslim Council of Britain as a young volunteer for the last few years is very different. It is a broad-based, inclusive and cross-sectarian umbrella body representing Britain’s diverse Muslim communities. It campaigns for interfaith harmony (including the forthcoming Visit My Mosque Day on March 3), for the rights of women and for British Muslims to be equal and contributory participants to our society.


The Muslim Brotherhood bogeyman is used and abused by bigots and those eager to deny the right of Muslims to organise themselves on their own terms. Sadly, it is used also by those like Sir John who oppose the current proposed definition of Islamophobia.


We are told that our Jewish cousins should have the right to define antisemitism on their own terms. Why aren’t Muslims afforded the same opportunity in defining Islamophobia without being accused of following some phantom Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy?