‘Islamophobia’ is a shield for jihadis

Last weekend the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, described the massacre in Christchurch as the result ‘of failing to root out Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment from our society’. His intention is to crack down on Islamophobia and give it a formal definition. He is right about anti-Muslim sentiment. But he is dangerously, terrifyingly wrong about Islamophobia.

It has become common to hear the New Zealand atrocity described using this word, but it is loaded with sinister implications that the vast majority of well-intentioned people will simply not understand. And the reality is that it plays straight into the hands of the jihadis.

The Christchurch attack was not an act of Islamophobia. It wasn’t a religion that was gunned down in Christ-church, but the followers of that faith. The mass murderer hated Muslims, and wanted to kill as many people like me as possible. He acted from virulent, lethal, anti-Muslim xenophobia — not from Islamophobia.