This idea that the country if being taken over or is some way being overrun by minorities to deflect from the ills of bad management and corruption is the oldest trick in the book. It is still used by politicians across the world.
This week it was time to roll out the old ‘Muslims are taking over the country’ tripe, again.
I mean, look at Sadiq Khan. A London mayor who presides over one of the most multi-cultural cities on the planet. He is as British as they come but somehow it is not really good enough. It is never good enough for some folk.
This has do with his name and his background and nothing else.
To prepare the battleground ahead of the election it appears somebody sent a memo out to roll out the familiar nonsense about Muslims. First, you had Suella Braverman permitted to write in a broadsheet newspaper that the country was ‘being over run by Islamists’.
As soon as someone uses that made up word ‘Islamist’ we know what follows.
Lee Anderson soon followed suit accusing Sadiq Khan as having been infiltrated by the ‘Islamists’.
In fact, despite Anderson being suspended the same paper decided to run a front page the next day telling readers that taking action against the Tory Party might alienate a whole set of voters. Then another newspaper decided to go full throttle and call for his instatement.
It was time for that internal memo again as the Prime Minister and senior ministers were rolled out to condemn the comments. This time we were to call the actions ‘wrong’ and ‘unacceptable’ but not Islamophobic.
Like the bombing of Gaza, a whole load of politicians are tying themselves up in knots trying not to state the obvious.
In between all this we had another politician telling us that there were Muslim ‘no-go’ zones. Strange isn’t it. I always find people who talk about these ’no-go’ zones tend to have never have a shred of evidence nor have ever attempted to go to those so-called ‘barred’ areas.
We are normally presented with is a picture of a veiled woman or some chap sat outside an Asian grocers.
The problematic thing here is, that this was not some secret recording nor some historic tweet. It was deemed acceptable to have such comments posted on national news sites or channels. We then have folk lining up trying to say it is ‘okay’ to think like this.
The idea that the Mayor of London was in cahoots with a bunch of extremists because, well he is Muslim and therefore must be linked to them in some way was ridiculous.
What I find extremely disturbing that we are having this ‘battle’ over what is deemed more offensive – Islamophobia or antisemitism. The winner gets to gloat over the other.
The intention from the onset here is quite simple. The idea is that to remove the fine line between ‘good Muslim’, ‘bad Muslim’ and ‘our type of Muslim’ to make them everyone appear to be a little ‘suspicious’.
You have discredit anyone who disagrees with your foreign policy decisions. To create a sense of paranoia amongst people. The name, the religion and one’s colour means you cannot be truly British as your loyalty lies will always lie elsewhere.
If they are calling out Sadiq Khan…then what chance the rest of us?
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