Unhappy with Boris Johnson’s victory, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK unleashes what they must think is a devastating attack on his ability to govern - showing pictures of him with Jews. Scandalous!
Presumably, this photo of “Red” Ken Livingstone posing with Islamist Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the “spiritual leader” of the Muslim Brotherhood, is more to their liking.
For more on Red Ken’s friends, read this:
Most comments on the debate note that Yaqoob, who supports the introduction of Sharia law, excused the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 by claiming they were provoked by American (and British) actions in the Muslim world. She said of this: “Do you expect us not to fight back?” Gandalf stated that she compared the Coalition forces to Crusaders and claimed the US invaded Iraq only in the pursuit of oil. As Gandalf writes: “Dr Pipes corrected her on this point and she did not reply to his statement. This ladies (sic) attitude was venomous and hateful and I am certain that I was not the only one that picked up on that.”
Salma Chadha notes that: “If Mayor Livingstone did not elect to call his invited guest Dr. Pipes a racist or an Islamophobe himself, his debate partner, Councillor Salma Yaqoob of Birmingham, had no trouble doing so, even if this meant distorting the American scholar’s remarks and extensive written record. For example, Councillor Yaqoob identified Dr. Pipes as a presidential advisor and proponent of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, assertions that as Dr. Pipes pointed out, have no basis in fact.”
Ms. Chadha described Yaqoob’s demeanor as “shrill, demagogic”. Hoffman states: “Predictably she attacked Pipes for evading ‘the history of Western colonialism in the Middle East’ and ‘the attempt of the US neocons to remold the Middle East in their own image’.”
Ami, writing on Harry’s Place notes that in the “question and answer” session, Ken Livingstone “got the biggest groan of the day, when he answered a question about supporting moderate Muslims by saying he supported the progressive Qaradawi, the strongest force for modernization in Islam today. He said: I don’t agree with him on homosexuality, but he is the future! Up till then, his main address had been very judicious and politic: you could agree with parts, disagree with much, but still entertain his arguments. Now he descended into the loony Ken persisting in defending the indefensible. This elicited forceful responses from Pipes and others about what Qaradawi stands for.”
