Commentary on MCB

Ruth Gledhill, Times Online, Government could cut ties with Muslim Council of Britain over Hamas, 23 Mar 09 "As we report, the Government is threatening to sever its links with the Muslim Council of Britain because its deputy leader, Dr Daud Abdullah, is alleged to be a supporter of Hamas and was one of 90 signatories to a document last month backing Hamas and calling for 'jihad' against any, including presumably our own Royal Navy, who attempts to stop smuggling of arms into Gaza. Harry's Place has an excellent analysis of and background to this story. 'The exposure of one faux-moderate as an extremist creates a domino effect. You just watch for the statements of outrage, and of support for the poor maligned nutter, and you uncover their constituency,' writes David T."

'Liberal Muslims'

Nick Cohen, Observer, 'Comment is Free', It's little wonder liberal Muslims feel betrayed, 15 Mar 09 opinion piece:

"No political movement can hope to win arguments if it turns the best and bravest into its foes. For the most courageous British Muslims, the Labour government and wider liberal society already seem slippery and hypocritical. Soon, they will be irredeemably tainted.

"Take Ansar Ullah, a Bengali leftist from the old school. Like many secularists of his generation, his life has been dominated by the struggle against Jamaat-e-Islami. The party's name is rarely mentioned in our public life, although its supporters in the Muslim Council of Britain and the Islamic Foundation are on the radio almost daily. The Bengali equivalents of British Observer readers know it all too well. They regard Jamaat as we regard the BNP: the sworn and potentially deadly enemy of all their best principles."