At Last, A Government Minister Stands Up To The Islamist Manipulators

Foreign Office minister Kim Howells told an Islamic conference in London this week that blaming the West for the problems in the Muslim world was “an act of self-denial”. Mr Howells told a meeting of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) that although he accepted that Muslims — and some non-Muslims — were offended by the publication of the Mohammed cartoons, the press in some Islamic countries had to take some blame for the ensuing bloodshed.

The 57 members of the Saudi-based Organisation of the OIC had already issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it was committed to press freedom, but that journalists should be deterred “from premeditatedly vilifying and defaming religion.” This call for censorship was, ironically, issued to mark World Press Freedom Day.

The OIC said the publication of the Mohammed cartoons provided “absolute evidence of the consequences of non-abidance with these regulations.” It said the caricatures had insulted “a faith embraced and revered by over one-fifth of the world population, and a religion that advocates peace, tolerance and moral virtues.”

The OIC said the conference in London was the first ever major international conference aimed at countering “Islamophobia,” which brought together politicians, diplomats, scholars, media representatives and others from Western and Islamic countries. It was opened by OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. He claimed that Muslims and their religion had been increasingly stereotyped, defamed, marginalised, discriminated against and targeted for “hate crimes” in the West since 9/11 and subsequent terrorist attacks in Madrid and London.

Ihsanoglu said: “In addition to the perceived biased Middle East policies of the U.S. and European countries, the rising trend of Islamophobia is giving a boost to the anti-Western sentiments in the Islamic world. The terrifying stereotyping we suffer from in the first decade of the 21st century ... is a phenomenon that reminds us of the horrible experiences of the anti-Semitism of the 1930s.” It was unfortunate that in some circles in the West, Islam was considered a “dangerous ideology,” he said.

Of the Mohammed cartoons, Ihsanoglu said the OIC had been trying to explain that “nobody is actually challenging the freedom of expression and press and that the real issue is disrespect” for religious symbols and values. He said the OIC had expected backing for its stance from European governments, but “to our dismay” those governments had instead supported Denmark.

In his address, Kim Howells criticised some Islamic media for their handling of the issue, saying “the existence of anti-Western and anti-Jewish media and material in the Muslim world, some of it in state owned press, undermined as hypocritical the moral indignation that was expressed.” Howells said it was right that the issue of Islamophobia was addressed, but Islamic governments and organisations should also address problems that give Islam a negative image.

He cited support for Taliban-type legal and social systems, “recent statements coming out of Tehran,” practices that segregate and subjugate women, and conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a CIA plot and polio vaccines being contaminated with viruses.” And reports of raped women being punished and stoned, restrictions on other religions, including death sentences pronounced on Christian converts, poor human rights records and authoritarian, undemocratic environments all have a negative impact which we cannot ignore.”

Howells also challenged views in the Islamic world that he said were wrong, such as the perception that “our foreign policy is deliberately anti-Muslim.” “The reasons for action in Afghanistan and Iraq had nothing to do with the faith of Islam but with the political and security issues that these countries posed.” He said the Islamic world had the right to criticise policies pursued by Britain, the U.S. or the European Union, “but continuing to blame the West for all the ills of the Muslim world is an act of self-denial.”

See also: Bush smothering free expression in USA