Martin Bright

Winning the argument

Whenever I worry that my instinct for pluralism and debate is drawing me to listen to siren voices, I am reminded of the idiocy of the authoritarian alternative. This week I had the honour of being singled out by the Islamist fellow-travellers of iEngage after I dared to write that such a sectarian organisation should never have been considered to act as the secretariat for the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia.

The full letter from the head of iEngage, Mohammed Asif, is available on the organisation’s website.

This is the meat of the gripe:

“It is the machinations of journalists like Martin Bright who have through their disreputable work sought to advance the “good (apolitical) Muslim”/”bad (politically active) Muslim” dichotomy that has created a situation in which Muslims who challenge and demur from the sham discourse on “Islamism” are derisively treated and cast beyond the pale.”

Beyond the barely comprehensible jargon, I think what he is saying is that he’s really angry that I rumbled him.

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