Thousands of British Muslims flocked into Trafalgar Square yesterday to express their anger at the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist.
But they also voiced their rejection of the wave of violent protest that has swept the Muslim world during the past two weeks over the cartoons, first published in a small Danish newspaper.
“This is the Muslim community,” said the rally chairman, Anas Altikriti, of the Muslim Association of Britain. “Not a handful of people claiming vile things like those last Friday.” He was referring to protesters who took to the streets of London with placards embracing al-Qaeda and calling for the beheading of non-believers.
Five thousand men, women and children gathered in the square to listen to an array of speakers. Many shouted “Allah Akbar” (God is great) as people from many faiths addressed the crowd.
The organisers had carefully chosen calm, co-ordinated banners that were lifted in the air to create a sea of white and blue. The messages simply read: “United against Islamophobia, united against incitement, mercy to mankind and Muhammad, symbol of freedom and honour.”
The same issue of the paper features a letter pointing out that “Islamophobia is the new anti-semitism“, though this is more than offset by an article from the appalling Andrew Anthony entitled “The end of freedom?“. Anthony completely ignores the issue of anti-Muslim bigotry as a manifestation of racism, criticises British newspapers for their responsible decision not to re-publish the offensive cartoons, opposes yesterday’s Trafalgar Square demonstration, takes a swipe at multiculturalism, and offers yet another ignorant attack on the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Predictably, it’s backed up with the usual favourable references to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Kenan Malik.