Pages

Sunday, April 06, 2014

UK Muslim Helpline Reaches Out To Jews and Gays In Bid For Mutual Tolerance

This is interesting.  The founder of a British anti-Islamophobia hotline has enlisted the help of a gay activist and a Jew to battle intolerance.

The Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) helpline, whose aim is to help victims and measure the level of anti-Muslim attacks in Britain, has invited the famous gay activist Peter Tatchell to become its patron, the Sunday Express reported.

The daily also revealed that Tell MAMA’s founder, Fiyaz Mughal, will make yet another controversial announcement next week when he officially recruits Richard Benson, a former president of the Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish organization that battles anti-Semitism, to be the group’s joint chairman.

Mughal, who started the group in 2012, said that by linking up with key figures from these two communities, a message of tolerance will be proliferated.

“We’re clear. If you are homophobic or anti-Semitic, you can’t campaign against anti-Muslim prejudice,” he told the Sunday Express.

He added: “The two things just do not go together. If you’re an intolerant figure against someone else, you can’t then cry wolf when something happens to you... We’ll stand against intolerance in all communities.”

Mughal seems sincere, and claims to be the voice of the silent majority.  He has already angered some in the Muslim community when he chastised Mohammad Naseem, head of the Birmingham Central Mosque, for saying gays were like gamblers, pedophiles or compulsive murderers, and when living in Muslim countries should “respect the law and control their desire.”  Naseem's comment inspired Mughal to reach out to Tatchell and Benson.

Already ostracized by some, he should probably watch his back from now on.

More here.

No comments: