Islamic Human Rights Commission

URGENT MEDIA ALERT:

18th December 2001

‘The hate that will not die’ by Linda Grant, The Guardian 18th December 2001.

This 4000 word article can be viewed at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4321814,00.html

Please protest to the Guardian on the following points:

1. The article is littered with inaccuracies, prejudice and Islamophobic sentiment that number too many to deal with in one small letter. Linda Grant decries anti-Semitism but has no qualms about depicting Muslims and Arabs as backward and prone to racist hatred.
2. The article tries to blur the distinction between Judaism and Zionism in an attempt to label all those who are anti-Zionist as anti-Semitic.
3. Anti-Semitism is un-Islamic.
4. Murder, torture, killings and occupation all committed in the name of Zionism are unacceptable and are against all concepts of justice. This is why many notable Jews – from the orthodox like Neturei Karta to the secular like Uri Davis – all oppose Zionism as oppressive and inherently unjust.
5. Currently the World Zionist Organisation opposes the Right of Return of dispossessed Palestinians whilst promoting the right of return of Jews to Israel on the basis that, “The vast majority of the Israeli people would in no way accept the right to return of Palestinian refugees to Israel proper. This would be a negation of the Jewish People’s right to self-determination and their right to a nation state.” In other words millions need to stay dispossessed and remain victims of racist aggression in order to ensure the racial nature of a state. This is apartheid and racism by any other name.
6. Whilst there are many such definitions of Zionism by Zionists themselves, there seem to be no definitions of the so-called ‘Islamism’ that Linda Grant refers to except it seems in the articles of persons like herself and Daniel Pipes, another notable Islamophobe, or Salman Rushdie. She is as guilty of misrepresentation, stereotyping and incitement to racial and religious hatred as any anti-Semite.

Please e-mail polite rebuttals to this article on:
reader@guardian.co.uk
letters@guardian.co.uk
g2@guardian.co.uk

Please forward copies of any responses to us.