MPs are to write a report on identifying a “working definition of Islamophobia”, appealing to hard-line Islamist and far left, Soros-funded groups to contribute.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims launched their “appeal for evidence” Monday, describing “Islamophobia” as a form of “group based hatred or hostility” comparable to racism.
Their letter does not acknowledge there might be rational reasons to have reservations about rising levels of radical Islam and the growing influence of Islam in the West generally.
The call for submissions also also only mentions free speech concerns at the end, in passing, describing them as “questions possibly outside the scope of this report”.
They aim to develop a definition of Islamophobia that can be “widely accepted by Muslim communities, political parties, and the Government”, the document adds.
Baroness Warsi, the parliamentary group’s treasurer and one of its four elected officers, tweeted: “To effectively challenge #Islamophobia we must comprehensively define it.”
She also sent the appeal for evidence directly to the radical left wing “anti-fascist” group HOPE Not Hate — who just last week were forced to distance themselves from an anti-Semitic supporter — and the Islamist-linked Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) group, formerly known as iENGAGE, inviting them both to contribute.
The APPG on British Muslims was launched in 2010 but was forced to re-launch the following year after a Tory MP and Labour Peer quit when “Islamist sympathisers” iENGAGE, which had repeatedly defended extremists, were made the group’s secretariat and given parliamentary passes.
A report last year found MEND still promotes “extremism”, harbours anti-Semites, and gives a platform to Muslim grievance narratives and Islamist views, including promoting false claims of “Islamophobia”.
And, in the last two months, they have been slammed for “racist” attacks on a moderate a Muslim appointed to advise the government on integration and an outgoing Metropolitan Police chief compared them to a banned terror group.
Baroness Warsi also sent the appeal to the Muslim Council of Britain, which is accused of working with extremists. The government has also admitted they are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which campaigns for a global, Islamist, sharia state, and are banned as a terror group in some countries.
Tell Mama was likewise invited to give evidence in her tweet. They are an “anti-Islamophobia” group which lost government backing in 2013 after being accused of inflating and misrepresenting statistics.
UKIP London Assembly Members David Kurten was critical of the Baroness, telling Breitbart London: “MPs and Lords on the APPG should not be looking for feedback from groups which want to stop discussion or criticism of Islamic texts.
“In a free and healthy society, open discussion and debate are essential, and they should be actively seeking to allow freedom of speech, thought and conscience, rather than making rules and definitions which are likely to curtail the freedoms which have been hard won over centuries of British history.”
He attacked the very existence of such a thing as “Islamophobia,” continuing: “The word phobia means an irrational fear. It is not irrational to discuss, debate, criticize or express concerns about Islamic texts or customs.”
He added: “Islamophobia is already classed as a specific category of hate crime by police forces. The definition of hate crime is so broad that anyone who feels offended by anything anyone says or does can report them as a hate criminal.”
UK police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) frequently seek out, pursue, and prosecute claims of “Islamophobia” and anti-Muslim “hate crimes”, and the definition developed by the parliamentary group is likely to inform the law.
In June last year, Prime Minister Theresa May described “Islamophobia” as a form or “extremism” comparable to Islamist terrorism.
Recently, the APPG on British Muslims has made headlines for attacking a pro-Brexit group for an allegedly “offensive” anti-Muslim tweet and after publishing a report arguing that Muslims are not against Christmas celebrations.