The BBC has broadcast a programme that labels free speech advocate Anne Marie Waters a “radical”, comparing her to the Islamic hate preacher Haitham al Haddad, and implying they are two sides of the same coin. Ms. Waters’s profile increased recently when it was reported that she was planning to host a ‘Draw Mohammed’ cartoon competition in London.
The BBC series is called “Radicals,” and is currently airing on the Victoria Derbyshire show on the BBC News channel. The previous two episodes have focused on a Neo-Nazi radical and an ISIS recruit respectively.
The episode in question is entitled “I’ve been silenced for my views.” The fact that Anne Marie Waters has built a career campaigning against radicalism and extremist views is not mentioned in the programme, though they do mention that she is the director of the Shariah Watch organisation that campaigns against sharia law in the United Kingdom.
The BBC has edited the programme in such a way that Ms. Waters’s quotes appear to mirror Haddad’s. Both say they not radicals.
Haitham al Haddad is a British “scholar” of Palestinian origin, who has called Jews “apes and pigs,” praised Osama bin Laden, written articles arguing gays are a “scourge” and “criminal,” and given his support to female genital mutilation (FGM) as “proper.” He once spoke regularly in British universities and schools, but has recently had the majority of his events canceled.
Marie runs shariawatch.com, which was one of several organisations planning to put on the “Draw Mohammad” competition in London that was recently cancelled.
The security services believed the event would be attacked, leading to a “very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed – before, during, and after the event.”
“The two people I’ve met feel they’ve been silenced, censored and misunderstood,” the presenter tells us, “they’ve both had events repeatedly called off; they’ve both been accused of preaching hate.”
In a way, this might be true, but the critical difference is that Ms. Waters’s events have been called because people with similar views to Mr. Haddad have threatened them with violence. His events, however, have been canceled be they are generally considered hateful.
Ms. Waters, who will publis her full response on Breitbart London later today, said: “I find it extraordinary that I am considered a radical – although I suppose Mr. [George] Orwell did tell us that telling the truth is a radical act.”
She added: “Caitrin [the presenter] did tell me that she had spoken to Haitham al Haddad, among others. I don’t particularly care if she interviews him, but I do think it is a sign of our societal sickness that I, [someone] who opposes violence, misogyny and tyranny, is compared to a man who advocates just those things.
“Opposites are now equals. That is how disturbing relativism is.”
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