september 2004

"The Left's love affair with the Muslim Association hides a frightening agenda"
By Anthony Browne©August 11, 2004 The Times

and M.A.B. Responds To Vile Attack

The Times, Aug.11th2004:
WHAT SORT of mind could believe that the Holocaust, the industrialised murder of six million civilians, was an act of God to punish Jews? And what sort of people would promote him? Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian scholar, wrote in his essay Our struggle with the Jews that Jews have been punished for their “unprecedented abominations”, but “then the Jews again returned to evildoing and consequently Allah sent against them others of His servants, until the modern period. Then Allah sent Hitler to rule over them.”

Qutb, born in 1906, dedicated his life to making the world a fundamentalist Islamic state, and is seen as the spiritual inspiration of al-Qaeda. He is also promoted by the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), our most active Islamic political group. The MAB has on its website a glowing account of Qutb’s life, concluding that he died smiling “showing his conviction of the beautiful life to come in paradise — a life he definitely and rightfully deserved”.

The MAB says that it is opposed to anti-Semitism, but this is as convincing as the British National Party’s saying it is opposed to racism. The MAB published an article calling Jews “vampires”, claiming that it was written by Benjamin Franklin; in fact it was a forgery. The MAB’s high-profile spokesman, Azzam Tamimi, a Palestinian academic, wrote: “If they want to be as human as anybody else, Jews must wake up before it is too late.”

On its website, MAB has equated Israel with Nazi Germany. The Internet Watch Foundation (a partnership between the Government and service providers) has referred the website — along with that of the BNP — to the Home Office for containing allegedly criminally racist material.

The MAB was founded in 1997 by Kamal el-Helbawy, then the London-based spokesman in Europe for the Muslim Brotherhood, a pro-terrorism group that has been largely responsible for the rise of militant Islam in recent decades, and claims to have taken part in most pro-Islamic conflicts including Afghanistan and Kashmir. The brotherhood’s objective is: “Mastering the World with Islam”, and its motto concludes: “Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” Anas al-Tikriti, a past president of the MAB, is the son of Osama al-Tikriti, the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Iraq.

It has branches in 70 countries, often under different names. In Palestine it is Hamas, which pioneered the use of suicide bombers, and whose aim is to destroy Israel. Hamas is banned as a terrorist organisation in both the UK and the US, but Dr Tamimi has said he not only supports it, but has also advised it on its public relations strategy.

The MAB was more than just founded by the Muslim Brotherhood’s European spokesman, according to the Labour MP Louise Ellman, who told Parliament last year: “The Muslim Association of Britain itself is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Ahmed Sheikh, MAB’s president, says they are “not ashamed” to admit that they share some of the teachings of the Muslim Brotherhood, but insists: “We have no link with any international organisation outside this country.”

.It was the MAB that invited the controversial cleric Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader, to London last month. Dr al-Qaradawi is editor-in-chief of Islamonline.net, which insists that it is the duty of Muslims to “achieve supremacy on earth and put their enemies to rout” and “the means for doing so is taking up arms in addition to preparation, financing and planning strategies”.

The MAB says it wants to help Muslims to integrate in the West, but it doesn’t believe in liberal democracy. Dr Tamimi wrote this month in a Lebanese newspaper that it is “a futile effort to try and reformulate Islam in order to espouse liberalism; this would simply be the end of Islam as a divine revelation”. Dr Tamimi, who shocked a Cambridge University debate by saying that many Arab women ask for domestic violence, insisted that the punishment for thieves must be amputation because the Koran “tells us in the clearest possible terms faqtau aydiyahuma (cut off their hands)”.

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The Muslim Association of Britain, (MAB)Responds To Vile Attack


Following Anthony Browne’s tirade against Islam and Muslims, in which he singled out the Muslim Association of Britain, it was decided that enough is enough.

MAB had constantly observed a line in which it refused to descend to the levels of those who fabricated lies, misquoted statements and presented half-truths, in a concerted effort to compromise not only MAB, but the entire Muslim community in Britain.

The recent attack launched by the right-wing pro-Zionist lobby in the UK, attacking Islam and Muslims, and vilifying not only its main organisations, but also its leading scholars and most respected figures, evolved into a campaign to pick on particular organisations in an attempt to break-up and disseminate the community.

In his article published on Wednesday in The Times, Anthony Browne accused MAB of a catalogue of offences, mostly false, inaccurate and fabricated. It was decided that MAB should publish a comprehensive rebuttal stating its stand on a number of crucial issues.

MAB’s formal request to the Times editor that it is allowed the right to full reply, is yet to receive a satisfactory response, and thus this document was seen as essential, lest the likes of Browne think that we, or British Muslims, have anything to hide, to fear or to be ashamed of.

This is who we are, what we believe in, what we stand for and what we want. If Browne and his pro-Zionist friends were true about their wish to reveal the truth, they would quote us directly and use our own words. The sources that they have been using in recent weeks, including the Zionist Mosaad-founded MEMRI (Middle East Research Institute), will only offer them lies, mistranslations and biased analysis.

 MAB In Its Own Words:1) The Muslim Association of Britain is an independent British Muslim organisation. The administrative structure and hierarchy of MAB is well-known and available to the public. MAB, as most responsible and dynamic organizations, never ceases to learn from and to utilize the expertise and experience of other organizations and establishments who work in a similar and comparable field to MAB.

MAB was founded in 1997 by a number of individuals who are British citizens and mostly from Arab and Asian origin. Being an open organization, the MAB has never ceased to welcome those with a range of experience and skills that it can utilize for its benefit and endeavors in the UK. MAB is proud of the diversity its membership profile displays in terms of origins, cultures, traditions, schools of thought, ages, skills, educations and specialties. Amongst its members are those whom, back in their original countries, were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and they were found to be of a level of awareness, understanding, skill and ability, that would serve MAB and what it aims for. One of these founding members, and not “the founder” as Browne claims, is Dr. Kamal Al-Helbawi, who is a well known researcher in strategic and Islamic studies and who worked in Pakistan during the eighties as advisor in the Institute of Policy Studies and editor of International  Studies weekly magazine. He was elected as the first president of MAB in 1997 for two years in free elections, which Anthony Browne seems to think are not applicable for Muslims.

1)The events of the past, the diversity in MAB membership  has, as proven by three years, been instrumental in the proficiency, professionalism and ability displayed by MAB in all the campaigns that it has run, including its dynamic role within the anti-war movement and leading Muslims to positive and constructive political participation.

2)MAB enjoys good relation with every mainstream Islamic orgnisation in the UK and abroad among them is Muslim Brotherhood which is well respected not only by the common people on the street throughout the Arab and Muslim countries but also by politicians, intellectuals and opinion-makers in most Arab countries. Prominent within their ideology is the urging of dialogue with others, the rejection of terrorism and respecting those whom differ in views or opinions. As any organization that exists, especially for such a considerable amount of time and through such troublesome events, a plurality of opinions and initiatives may exist.

MAB reserves the right to be proud of the humane notions and principles of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has proven to be an inspiration to Muslims, Arab and otherwise for many decades.We also reserve the right to disagree with or divert from the opinion and line of the Muslim Brotherhood, or any other organization, Muslim or otherwise on any issue at hand.

3) We reiterate what our spokesman and ex-president Anas Altikriti wrote in the Guardian recently "There exist two trends within "active" or "political" Islam. One, widely acknowledged to represent mainstream Muslims, urges and embraces open dialogue with the rest of humanity on an equal basis and sees the prosperity of our world as a shared responsibility of those who inhabit it, based on justice. There is no alternative but to initiate a serious dialogue with this trend if relations between the West and Islam are to move in the right direction”. It is widely acknowledged that the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the leading forces of this trend.The importance of dialogue with “Political Islam” is not uniquely felt by MAB but increasingly by those who know well the Muslim world .One of those called for this recently is Alastair Crooke, who spent six years in the Middle East as security adviser to the EU High Representative Javier Solana and who was also a former British intelligence officer. According to the BBC he is now setting up a campaign group to encourage greater understanding in the West of what he calls "political Islam" .One of his main concerns is that the campaign to encourage more democracy in the Middle East fails to take account of the fact that many opposition groups are Islamist and for that reason viewed with suspicion in the West and by secular Arab governments. He told BBC "Many of the groups that represent the other views and are campaigning for elections and for reforms are being isolated and marginalised and removed from the political equation. This could lead to a very dangerous situation in the region as a whole." It seems Anthony Browne is either totally ignorant of the facts of the Muslim world or may be interested in promoting the “clash of civilizations”.

4)  Anas Altikriti is the former president of MAB and one of its founding members. His father, Dr. Osama Altikriti, a Consultant Radiologist is indeed the head of the Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood, having joined their ranks as a 15 year-old in Iraq. Known as a staunch opponent of the previous regime of Saddam Hussein due to the Ba’thists’ brutal elimination of all non-Ba’thi trends in Iraq, he arrived to live and work in the UK in 1970. Since the occupation of Iraq by US and British troops in April 2003, Dr. Altikriti returned to Iraq for the first time since he left it, and has been working ever since in the rebuilding of his country and his people. Browne’s accusation of Dr. Altikriti ,during an interview with BBC World  radio last Sunday, that he somehow encouraged or supported insurgent attacks against occupation troops is another of his lies. If anything, Dr. Altikriti, who is also a prominent figure of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), was and remains a staunch supporter of participation in the political structure. Therefore, he assisted and supported the IIP’s participation in the Interim Governing Council appointed and supervised by the US envoy Paul Bremmer. He continues to support the IIP’s in the current administration of Iyad Allawi, in which the IIP is represented in the cabinet by the Minister of Industry. To accuse Dr. Altikriti of assisting the insurgents or the resistance movement is laughable and Anthony Browne would be well-advised to be more thorough in his research.

The mentioning of Dr. Osama Altikriti is interesting, in that MAB has all along maintained a clear opposition to not only the war on Iraq, but to Iraqis taking part in any US-supervised governing portrayals and methods. Anas Altikriti, has continuously spoken on behalf of MAB on these issues, yet is on perfect terms with both his father and his father’s colleagues. This goes further to prove that within the mainstream Islamic circles, their exists an array of views, stands and opinions, yet all this takes place in an atmosphere of mutual appreciation and respect and does not disrupt MAB’s cooperation with all to progress towards achieving her goals and objectives. Maybe Browne and his colleagues should take a leaf out of MAB’s book and learn from its example, rather than waging a campaign in order to conform people to their line of thinking and to seeing things through their narrow perspectives.

5) If Browne or anyone else wished to know who we are and what we stand for, then they ought to come to us and listen to us directly, rather than visit dubious, biased and agenda motivated internet websites. We are a group of British Muslims whose objective is to see the Muslims of this country live both as Muslims and law-abiding citizens. In Britain we live by the law and according to the law because we believe it is our duty and our religion orders us to fulfill our covenants. Those of us who are citizens, the citizenship is their covenant, and those who are residents, the permit they have is their covenant. It is a matter of faith for us.

6) Despite what Browne says and many others like him may think, there is no denying that Qutb was one of the most prominent Muslim thinkers and intellects of his time. His writings were diverse and touched on various aspects of life, including art, aesthetics and literature. His commentary on the Holy Quran is amongst the most wide-spread in the entire world and has been translated into dozens of languages. Despite the high stature Qutb occupies in the hearts and minds of hundreds of Millions Muslims world-wide, no one will argue that his statements, stands, views or opinions are a forgone conclusion and cannot be disputed. In Islam, no one enjoys such a status but the Holy Prophet Mohammed. Therefore, many scholars and latter day thinkers and intellects disagreed with Qutb on a variety of issues. High amongst those is the Eminent Sheikh Qaradawi who recently appeared on Al-Jazeera and spoke on a number of issues on which he disagreed with Qutb, including his (i.e. Qutb) viewing the Arab-Israeli conflict as being a religious conflict. Sheikh Qaradawi always maintains that he sees this conflict being one of oppressor against oppressed and has little to do with either party’s faith. Also amongst those who disagree with Qutb are Dr. Azzam Tamimi who criticized Qutb’s stand on democracy in his book “Rachid Ghannouchi a Democrat Within Islamism” published by Oxford University Press.

Anthony Browne chose to quote Qutb’s little known ‘Our Struggle with the Jews’, which is a 50 year-old essay written during the height of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. MAB has, since the early hours of Wednesday, been trying to find a copy of the said book to no avail. It is possible that Browne has once more chosen to steal a line from his Zionist ex-Mosaad friends from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), who are well known for their mis-translations, biased analysis and skewed interpretations. It may even be a testimony of Sayyid Qutb’s fortitude, that Browne could only find this little-known, barely mentioned 50- year-old text which was written at a time when Qutb’s nation (Egypt and the Arab world) were at war with the Zionist Jews who came to occupy Palestinian lands.

7)  It is clear that this concerted and evil effort from the pro-Zionist lobby to vilify Islam and Muslims began when Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi came to London in early July on a visit hosted by the Muslim Association of Britain. Since then this lobby and their mislead friends in the media and politics, have seen fit to join the bandwagon on the basis of accusations, allegations, and statements which, once again, have been grossly mistranslated, misquoted and skewed to meet the aims and objectives of MEMRI and their sponsors. The fact that this campaign and its supporters failed, in fact failed miserably, in tarnishing the image and reputation of Sheikh Al-Qaradawi by their vile conduct, seems to have left them fuming and hell-bent on upping their campaign of vilification to include the entire faith of Islam and it followers, but particularly the Sheikh’s hosts; The Muslim Association of Britain.

Sheikh Al-Qaradawi is not a cleric, for there are no clerics in Islam. He is however, the most renowned and authoritative scholar in the Muslim world today. Muslims hold him in the highest possible regard for his extensive knowledge, his wisdom, his open-mindedness, his appreciation of the changes in context, time and location when issuing rulings that affect the lives of Muslims, and more importantly, because he was among the very first among the ranks of contemporary Muslims scholars to call for the rejection of extremism and terrorism and for an open and constructive debate with people of other faiths and ideologies.

Anthony Browne, and for the umpteenth time, quotes a few lines by some contributors to the Islam-on-Line website and attributes them to Sheikh Al-Qaradawi. Browne’s claim of Sheikh Qaradawi as Editor-in-Chief of Islam-on-Line is another lie and fabrication, since its inception Mr Tawfiq Ghanem, and not Sheikh Qaradawi, is been serving as Editor-in-chief and its General Manger. For someone who claims to be a responsible journalist, the least one can say about Browne is that his journalistic maxims seem very shoddy indeed.

Whilst naturally one would ask the question as to why it is that Browne chooses to search Islam-on-Line, cherry picking at statements and phrases within its massive archive and library rather than quote the Sheikh directly and from his own statements, books and articles, one also wonders as to whether Browne would consider every word written in every edition of the Times reflects the stand, opinion and viewpoint of its Editor? For Browne to even contemplate that every single word published on Islam-on-Line represents Al-Qaradawi and his views, or any other single individual or organization, is at best very naïve.

During his visit Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi responded to all allegations and accusations leveled against him clearly and in detail, and in doing so, those who truly chose to listen to him and discard the prejudices created by the right-wing press, were impressed with him and his views. Many informed MAB that not actually did they respect the Sheikh's stands on the various ‘controversial’ issues, they actually agreed with him on most if not all. This seems to have angered Browne, Ellman and co.

8) Dr Azzam Tamimi is a highly respected British Muslim academic from Palestinian origin, who often speaks on behalf of the Muslim Association of Britain. He is director of a London-based research centre and addresses a variety of issues which relate to Islamic political thought. Dr. Tamimi is not only a renowned academic but also a prominent member of the Anti-War movement and a great orator, as he is known to have spoken in all of the rallies and demonstrations which were organised by MAB, Stop The War Coalition and CND over the past couple of years. For this and for his articles, forthright views and unequivocal principles, the Zionist lobby often singles him out for attack and vilification, in a failed attempt to discredit him and his views. Browne’s accusations fall under the same pretext.

One wonders why it is that Browne failed to refer to the entire article, in the Lebanese newspaper, in which he attacked Dr. Tamimi. It is worth mentioning that the said article was actually a review of a book published in United States. This book talks about the challenge of liberal democracy to Islam. Dr. Tamimi’s critique was of the suggestion that democracy can only work in the Muslim lands if Islam is substituted with liberalism. Dr. Tamimi’s argument here, as it has always been, is that liberalism is not a prerequisite of democracy and that procedural democracy can be incorporated into Islam to produce a model of ‘Islamic democracy’. He warns in his review that the attempt to impose liberalism on the Muslims in the Muslim lands will never produce democracy. However, it seems that Browne is not interested in stating that Azzam Tamimi actually promotes democracy, as that would deem his entire tirade useless and irrelevant.

Dr.Azzam Tamimi wrote and published many articles promoting democracy and supporting its compatibility with Islam. In one of his papers presented at Koyoto University, Japan on 17 of July 1999, he concluded:"At one time, it was the question of compatibility between democracy and Islam that haunted the Islamists and concerned their opponents. However, the dispute over compatibility was quickly settled. At least within mainstream political Islam, issues related to Islam and Democracy have adequately been addressed and dealt with. The most serious challenge facing the Islamic movement ... is having to live up to the value of democracy, which entails tolerance, free choice, transparency and accountability. As Islamic movements struggle for a share in power, and as they pledge to accept the rules of the democratic game, they must respect and observe democratic procedure not only at the national level but more importantly within their own organizations”.

As for the Cambridge debate referred to also involving Dr. Azzam Tamimi, one cannot help but laugh at the absurdity of Browne’s argument. The author of the report on that debate who threw his piece into the internet for Browne and Ellman to feed on was most dishonest and most biased. Dr. Azzam, continues to argue that the beating of wives (an act which plagues Western societies, one might add), is discouraged by Islam and not encouraged as Browne would like to put it. Why Dr. Azzam noted in this debate however, is that due to regressive cultural, rather than religious, attitudes, such a practice is often demanded by authoritative female members of the family such as the mother or the mother in law. Therefore, Dr. Tamimi’s conclusion in the referred to debate, was that it is not a problem of men alone but a problem of both men and women.  Dr. Tamimi’s argument was to oppose the attempts of some feminists to see these issues as part of the historic and inevitable hostility between man and woman.

9) In Islam, women are held in the highest regard, and MAB has gone far in promoting female leading figures in all its activities, whether they be political, social or otherwise. In fact, there are active female members in all levels of leadership of MAB including the Executive.   It is worth noting that the Chair of the Green Party, which no one would accuse of being anti-women’s rights, commented recently on a conference co-organised by MAB to which he was invited, saying that despite the fact this his party constantly calls for women to be given more prominence and despite accusations leveled against Muslims that they act in anti-women fashion, he is always amazed by the fact that it is at Muslim functions where the woman is seen not only as forming the majority part of the audience, but also a prominent speaker and organizer. Browne’s statement that Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi ‘insists women must be forced to wear the hijab’ is a blatant lie and one which shows his true colours. Sheikh Al-Qaradawi believes that women have the right to cover their heads if they choose to fullfil what Islam asks them to do. To claim that he calls for forcing women to wear Hijab is simply a lie. He told the Protection of Hijab conference at City Hall on 12^{th of} July this year” Although it (Hijab) is not a pillar of the religion, it is a requirement, it is a duty and it is required of every Muslim woman … If a woman wants to cover her head, she is free that is part of her choice.  We do not object to a woman who wears a mini skirt or a sleeveless dress.  Why should we object to a woman wearing a scarf?”

Our struggle here in Europe today is not to impose Islam but to have the freedom to live according to its teachings without infringing on the rights of others.

10)Browne’s thinly veiled commitment and allegiance to the British Zionist movement does his argument no good whatsoever. MAB’s position on the Jewish community is well-known and well-documented. Muslims do not have an argument with the Jews or anyone else for that matter, on the premise of their faith. If anything, MAB continues to promote Jewish figures from Britain and around the world who speak the truth and disassociate themselves from the crimes committed by the Zionists in Israel. Dr. Azzam Tamimi’s stand in this regard is widely publicized, and he is often seen sharing platforms with Jewish intellects and figureheads whom he and they describe themselves as friends and brothers, discussing a variety of issues. The following quotation is from one of his article which Browne failed to mention .He wrote “The Muslims’ perception of the Jews remained unchanged during the first 13 centuries of Islam. They saw them as People of the Book who, together with the Christians, shared with the Muslims common values of faith and conduct that entitled them to citizen rights in the Islamic state. After all it was this Zionist project that embroiled Judaism in its intrigues so as to bestow religious legitimacy on itself and to gain the support of the world’s Jewry...Muslims may contribute effectively to bringing about a just resolution to the conflict in Palestine by sparing no effort in order to expose the inhumanity and racist nature of the Zionist entity in Palestine. Some of this effort must be directed toward the Jewish communities in the Diaspora to convince them, through debate and dialogue, to end their support for Israel and to dissociate from the Zionist project. The Jews of the world need to hear from the Muslims   …“the conflict in the Middle East is not between the Muslims and the Jews or between Islam and Judaism for Islam does recognize Judaism as a legitimate religion and accords its adherents with respect and protection. (….)Muslims need first to correct some of the erroneous conceptions that have spread among them. This should involve a revision and elimination of false concepts that make no distinction between Jews and Zionists.(…) Labelling and name-calling of Jews, such as the widely used phrase in some Arabic literature describing Jews as descendents of pigs and apes, is racist, inhumane and, therefore, un-Islamic. Muslims are advised to refrain from resorting to fabricated documents such as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and rise above employing conspiracy theory in explaining or analyzing past and present events.” (article  published in the Institute of Islamic Political Thought website, November 2002).

Zionism is a movement which was until recently condemned by the International Community and the United Nations as a racist ideology, and has within its ranks, Christians, Muslims as well as Jews. This is what we condemn unreservedly and continue to denounce. Anti-Semitism is a label used today to defame and tarnish all those who dare speak out against Zionism and against Israel. Dr. Tamimi’s call, mis-quoted (once again) by Browne, was for the “Israelis and Jews that support Israel to wake up”. Dr. Tamimi has repeatedly said, and in this many Jews agree with him, that Jews supporting Israel are misled and misinformed and need to be enlightened about the true nature of the Zionist project which is anti-Jewish in essence. Our difference and argument with others is on the basis of their actions, deeds and practice and never on the basis of race, creed or religion.

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi made an illustrated statement on the relations between Muslims and the Jews his recent visit to London, saying that “We don’t have hostility with Israelis because they are Jews.  There is nothing wrong between us and the Jews.  Judaism for us…is a divine religion with a divine book that has its respected status in our religion. Moses is mentioned so many times in the Koran and some scholars of the interpretation of the Quran have gone as far as saying it is as though the Quran is for the children of Israel because of the amount of times Moses and the children of Israel are mentioned in the therein.  The Jews lived with the Muslims for centuries and even when they were persecuted in Europe they found no safe refuge except in the land of Islam where they lived protected, honoured and many of them prospered. *I recall from the time when I was young many of the prominent names in trade and commerce in Egypt were those of Jews. The problem started when the Zionists occupied Palestine and when they started persecuting the Palestinians and destroying Palestinian homes in various massacres. That is the problem. The problem is not a religious one, I do admit that some Muslims do think that it is a religious problem but I have always been explaining to them that they are wrong in what they think. We are not fighting the Jews, we do not want to fight the Jews, we do not want to have hostility with the Jews. We only have a problem with those who attack us, oppress us and those who are now building this wall, confiscating the land and inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinians. Even when they said, let’s have peace, we said ok, let’s sit down and have peace but we want real peace, we want genuine peace not the peace of the Zionists. As the Rabbi, who is with us said, these Zionists are not real Jews, they are not sincere Jews."(Press Conference to launch European Council on Fatwa and Research on Wednesday 7th July, City Hall)..

11)The article claimed to be written by Benjamin Franklin, in which Jews were described as vampires and seen as a scourge on America, was not published by MAB, as Browne alleges 

12)Browne continues to demonstrate a remarkable level of ignorance and arrogance in the type of so called ‘evidence’ he uses to legitimize his attack on MAB. He accused MAB to compare Isreal with Nazi Germany. Had he done a basic research, Browne would have found that it was actually Israel Shahak who wrote comparing the state of Israel to Nazi Germany in his book ‘Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel’, and many more Jews followed Shahak in seeing Israel as the last remaining fort of Apartheid in the world today. Many wrote of the practices of the Israeli government against the Palestinians and compared them not only to those of Apartheid South Africa, but also of Nazi Germany. It be worth Browne reading about the Israeli Minister of Justice whom upon seeing an image of a Palestinian woman crouching on all fours, searching for her medicines in the ruins of her house he said she reminded him of his grandmother who died in Auschwitz. Anthony Browne would be better served reporting the truth rather than peddling lies and fabrications.

13) MAB upholds the right of every oppressed, occupied or dispossessed people including the Palestinian people, whom suffer all three afflictions, to struggle and fight for their freedom and for their liberation. This right is offered to them and to all people in a similar situation by the United Nations and all Human Rights conventions.

Recent history teaches us not to rush into describing those who struggle for the liberation of their people, as terrorists or extremists. Margaret Thatcher’s assessment of Nelson Mandela as a terrorist who would never be allowed into Britain, was proved miserably off-target, and Mandela today is rightly recognized as one of our modern history greats

14) In comparing MAB to the BNP, Browne seems to have overlooked the fact that it is he and his statements that play perfectly in the hands of the BNP. Take his statement in recent article in the Spectator in which he seems to promote that Muslims ought to be persecuted as the Jews were a century ago: “In the last century some Christians justified the persecution and mass murder of Jews by claiming that Jews wanted to take over the world. But these fascist fantasies were based on deliberate lies, such as the notorious fake book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Now, many in the Muslim world are open about their desire for Islam to conquer the West.” Only the BNP would dare write such dangerous drivel. Browne also wrote last year in The Spectator under the title ‘The secret threat to British lives’: “By promoting mass immigration from the Third World, New Labour has been importing killer diseases, and it is trying to hide what is happening from the public.”He also wrote of small Third World Colonies taking over some North of England towns and cities. Surely, statements that would make any BNP bigot proud.

15)wishes for MAB was deprived of a platform to speak It is clear that Anthony Browne and communicate with the public. That way, he and his friends’ false accusations would be allowed to stand uncontested. Also, if MAB were allowed to address its stands and positions, his stature as an anti-Islam and racist journalist would be allowed to pass as acceptable. It is clear that Browne’s democracy stops short of incorporating those whom he dislikes. It is also clear from his much used term: ‘free market of religions and faiths’ which he claims to promote, is an open market which he and his pro-Zionist friends get to choose the players and ban whom ever displeases them. Browne and his ilk see fit to award the label of moderate to whom they only see fit, and all others to be left with the label: Extremist. Whilst one wonders how Browne dares deem himself fit to act in such a bigoted manner, one cannot help but also enquire as to Browne’s criteria for a moderate Muslim. If we at MAB are extremists because we oppose the war on Iraq, support the rights of the Palestinians, encourage Muslims to integrate and actively participate in the political process, defend the right of our girls to cover their heads in public and join our brothers and comrades from other political and religious groups in cooperating for the benefit of our society, then who on earth does he see as deserving of the title: ‘moderate’? It seems Browne only sees a moderate as someone who assimilates completely and retains nothing of his or her true identity but a name and a complexion. Who is a moderate?

MAB’s stand on extremism is well-known and confirmed in all its statements and publications. Extremism is rejected in Islam and MAB has constantly played a positive role in which it called Muslims to act in moderation, appreciating Islam’s essential message of humanity and mercy to all mankind. MAB constantly called for open dialogue to be conducted with all elements of society, whether it be with the various faith communities or otherwise. MAB also condemned without reservation the terrorist attacks that occurred on 9-11, in Madrid, Istanbul, Bali, Casablanca and elsewhere, and labeled them as criminal acts which Islam rejects and disowns. MAB was part of a delegation that visited the Spanish Ambassador following the bombings in Madrid, to offer the condolences of the Muslim community in Britain and express its solidarity with the people of Spain. Obviously, these "small matters" seem irrelevant in the eyes of Anthony Browne and his Islamophobe friends.
The Muslim Association of Britain
Jamad Al Thani 27, 1425 Hijri ; 13^th of August, 2004

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