September 12
2006
MCB leader says all Muslims are potential terrorists
» Posted on September 12, 2006 02:31 PM » Category: Defending the west

The Sunday Telegraph had an interview which has not been picked up as much as it should have been.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, the new(ish) secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain had this to say about 'Islamophobia':

But some police officers and sections of the media are demonising Muslims, treating them as if they're all terrorists — and that encourages other people to do the same. If that demonisation continues, then Britain will have to deal with two million Muslim terrorists — 700,000 of them in London. If you attack a whole community, it becomes despondent and aggressive.

Read that again. Even the BNP has not gone so far as Mr Bari in saying that all - not some, but all - Muslims are potential terrorists.

It is difficult to imagine a more obvious example of incitement to religious hatred than the claim that every Muslim in the country is potentially a terrorist. Even the worrying polls 'only' show that 16 per cent of Muslims believe the 7/7 bombers' cause was just. The only conclusion one can draw from Bari's remarks, however, is that we should view every Muslim with suspicion - a shocking contribution to community relations and, one would have thought, a baseless allegation.

Surely he must be prosecuted immediately for this flagrant incitement to religious hatred, if we are not to conclude that there is one rule for Muslim leaders and one rule for the rest of us.


MessageSpace
Comments

Bari: VIP guest at the TUC conference. By their friends shall ye know them.

Stated by: Prodicus on September 12, 2006 5:33 PM

Preacher of hate, Dr Azzam Tamimi, speaking at the ExpoIslamia convention in Manchester, told an 8000 strong crowd of radical Muslims that “standing up for your principles was the greatest act of martyrdom. Martyrs are those who stand up and stand up in defiance of George Bush and Tony Blair.”
Daily Mail

It seems that Labour's Muslim block vote is far more important than locking up the preachers of hate.

Stated by: The UK Daily Pundit on September 12, 2006 5:55 PM

Misquotation?

I emailed the MCB to ask for an explanation. they replied:

"Thank you for your email. Following statement was made by Dr. Abdul Bari on this issue, which is also available on MCB's website.

"*Sunday Telegraph's unfair distortion*
Monday 11 September 2006Front page story has misrepresented an interview
with MCB Secretary General. The Muslim Council of Britain is shocked and
dismayed to see how the Sunday Telegraph has today in its front page
headline story ('Muslim Leader warns of 2 million British terrorists')
misrepresented an interview with its Secretary-General, Dr Muhammad
Abdul Bari.

"I was interviewed on Thursday by the Sunday Telegraph's David Harrison.
I am quoted in his story today as allegedly saying that if the
demonisation of British Muslims in the media continues then 'Britain
will have to deal with 2 million Muslim terrorists, 700,000 in London.'
These are categorically not my words. What I had in fact said was that
'sections of the British media should not treat as terrorists the two
million British Muslims, of whom 700,000 reside in London.' Indeed, the
Sunday Telegraph's unfair distortion of my views only serves to
underline the manner in which the views of Muslims are so often
misrepresented by sections of our UK media,' said Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari."

Stated by: Alleagra on September 14, 2006 8:30 PM

The Plot Thickens ...

Dr Bari wrote to the Sunday Telegraph along the lines stated in Alleagra's post. See here.

The Telegraph journalist who interviewed him, David Harrison, replied: "I have consulted my notes, and stand by the story as written."

Mr Pollard, may I humbly suggest that you should keep a close eye on this story.

Stated by: Lopakhin on September 17, 2006 9:54 AM

Erm, URL changed - see here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/09/17/nosplit/dt1701.xml

Stated by: Lopakhin on September 23, 2006 1:27 PM
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