Why Harry’s Place Deserves Our Support

~by Robin Simcox

[TO JOIN THE BLOGBURST CLICK HERE]

Events are currently unfolding in Britain which will almost certainly not penetrate any international newsreels (or any in the UK for that matter), but the importance of which transcends the geographical boundaries of the British Isles. It concerns an organisation known as the British Muslim Initiative (BMI).

The BMI have been accused of being a front group for terrorist organisation Hamas. BMI President Mohammad Sawalha was formerly the head of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), the British wing of the Muslim Brotherhood (of whom Hamas are the Palestinian wing). He has been accused by the BBC in 2006 of being a key political and military strategist for Hamas, and one of BMI’s senior members, Azzam Tamimi, has declared his wish to become a suicide bomber in Palestine.

On 29th June, a rally celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday was held in London’s Trafalgar Square. In response, Sawalha gave an interview in Arabic to the al-Jazeera news channel. This interview was translated by the UK blog Harry’s Place, which describes itself as “an open forum for the democratic, secular, anti-fascist, liberal, anti-totalitarian left”. Their translation of al-Jazeera’s initial transcript showed Sawahla commenting that “We, the Arab and Islamic community, gather here today to express our resentment at the celebrations by the Jewish community and the evil/noxious Jew in Britain”.

Harry’s Place dutifully reported its findings, which is where the controversy begins.

Al-Jazeera physically changed its report, with the word “?????? ” (translated as a variant of “evil”) replaced with “?????? ” (“lobby”). Harry’s Place then received a letter from BMI saying they had “inexplicably grossly mistranslated [Sawalha’s] reference to the Jewish ‘Lobby’” and that unless an immediate apology was issued, they would pursue the matter legally. An al-Jazeera reporter explained that he had made a mistake in his initial report, and Sawalha had, indeed, referred to the “Jewish Lobby”. Al-Jazeera, then, had made the error; Harry’s Place were simply reporting the translation as it originally appeared.

However the BMI reacted to these events by issuing a press release which described Harry’s Place as “racist”, “underhand”, “plainly lying” and “pure evil”. Furthermore, it was today revealed that BMI’s lawyers have said that unless the article is withdrawn from the website and a full apology issued, Harry’s Place will be sued for defamation. Sawalha is apparently “shocked and disturbed” that he could be accused of being anti-Semitic; perhaps surprising in the context of his comments to al-Jazeera.

Harry’s Place have refused to apologise for an al-Jazeera mistake and today responded on their blog in the following way:

Mr Sawalha has been the prime mover in a number of Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood associated projects…Hamas is an organisation which recently took power in Gaza by means of a violent coup, in which they consolidated their power by systematically murdering their Palestinian political opponents. It operates by deliberately targetting innocent Israel civilians in terrorist attacks: a tactic which it has used to stymie any prospect of a negotiated settlement between Israel and Palestine.

Hamas is both racist and genocidal. Its foundational document, the Hamas Covenant is little more than a racist diatribe against Jews. It claims that Jews have used their money to control the world media. It claims that Jews engineered revolutions, in particular “the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there”.  Jews are also said to control “imperialistic countries”. Jews are also claimed to have instigated the First World War, in order to destroy the Caliphate, and the Second World War, in order to make money from arms dealing. Indeed, “[t]here is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it”. Jews are said to operate by forming “secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions”,

This is the Covenant to which a member of Hamas signs up when they join. To have joined such an organisation means that you are a racist.

A member of Hamas has no reputation to defend.

…If Mr Sawalha persists in attempting to silence us with this desperate legal suit, we will need your help.

We won’t be able to stand up to them alone.

The importance of the issue transcends the size of the victim and is relevant to those who would champion the forces of liberalism. Harry’s Place is a blog which has championed democracy, freedom and has proved itself invaluable in stimulating debate on all sides of the political spectrum. It cannot be allowed to be intimidated by a force as reactionary and antithetical to liberal values as the BMI. I would urge all readers of this journal to show your support for Harry’s Place against those that would try and threaten them.

[editor's addition...relevant posts at Harry's Place:

1. We're Being Sued by Hamas UK

2. Douglas Murray Withdraws from IslamExpo

Thanks to Robin for drawing this to our attention!]

Technorati Tags: al-jazeera, BMI, douglas murray, harry's place, Henry Jackson Society, Islam, neoconservatives, uk, UK blogs

Bookmark It

Hide Sites