Labour Antisemitism, Conservative Islamophobia and LibDem Maajid Nawaz

This, from Maajid Nawaz,

"My dear media pundits:

On Labour antisemitism, I understand that you’re generalists, who have to be abreast of everything, and therefore can’t be on top of everything, but I’ve been engaged in these issues of political extremism all my adult life, literally from opposing sides, so at least (please) do me the favour of reading a thread I write before repeating the clichè back to me that “all racism is bad, and the Tories are racist too” (as if I - a Muslim survivor of violent racist attacks, and the War on Terror era - hadn’t thought of that angle).

I’m not saying you have to agree with everything I say, I’d be worried if you did, but on this (clearly my fortè) please (for my sanity) read my view in any given thread first and then disagree (preferably without repeating an objection that I’ve already addressed in the thread), or better yet ask me instead of telling me about a topic I’ve spent the last 25 years and 2 additional Islamic languages learning. 

Honestly, before responding please pause to consider if it’s slightly patronising in any way at all for you to respond with tried & tested clichès about Tory ‘Islamophobia’ when the issues are disgustingly incomparable. 

Aside from that annoying misnomer ‘Islamophobia’ (which really reinforces a ‘death for blasphemy’ taboo in my parents’ country Pakistan and here in the UK) the comparison of Tory anti-Muslim bigotry would only be appropriate if Boris Johnson had called the Neo-Nazi Christchurch killer his “friend” and had taken money, personally, from a state that funded that killer (as Corbyn did with Hamas while taking up to £20K from Iran).

So, until the day Boris Johnson flirts with actual Muslim-killing terrorists it’s disgusting to draw such analogies, because they are deeply insensitive to our Jewish friends. 

What’s also disgustingly insensitive is to compare any policy of the Israeli state with a terror group.

Again, the appropriate comparison with Hamas & Hezbollah is to the Christchurch anti-Muslim neo-Nazi killer, not Netanyahu (despite my fierce disagreements with his policies). Netanyahu is a state leader, not a genocidal anti-Muslim terrorist. 

Only political amateurs and/or morally bereft obfuscators equivocate  and confuse statecraft (agree or disagree with it) with genocidal terrorism that eg: targets babies. So please, do try to assume I’m not as stupid as you may think I am (no matter how hard that may be) and consider that I may have already thought of what you’re about to say regarding the very real presence of Tory ‘Islamophobia’. I dunno, just maybe, during the 4 years I spent studying & debating these issues as a political prisoner in Egypt when surely I had time to rethink many of the political assumptions you now may hold and advocate (that I used to fiercely advocate too), maybe that time allowed me to arrive at a slightly unique perspective? Maybe? 

Thank you and forgive me, this isn’t meant to sound like a whinge. It’s just so morally wrong to equate Corbyn’s moral & institutional support for terrorism with ‘mere’ Tory bigotry or crudeness. And before anyone says it, no, I don’t vote Tory. I’m voting Liberal Democrats.

Thank you."

He goes on to add, "I’m really sorry for this, but you won’t believe the amount of ‘splaining I have to put up with."

Me too, Maajid meri jaan. Me too.