For this she is hated. Naz Shah, whom gullible Labour supporters accept as a repentant Islamist, says that Inspire is one of “the most loathed organisations amongst Muslim communities”, and should face questions from parliament about its role in supporting the government’s counter-extremism strategy. Obscurantist websites such as 5Pillars devote vast energy to attacking her. She has been vilified, threatened and, most ominously, given the death sentence-provoking label of “apostate”.
But, for her, the most telling moment came when she appeared on Woman’s Hour to hear a presenter ask her, “Are you a government stooge?” Supposed feminists, who cried to high heaven about the oppression of women with white skins, were neutral about the oppression of women with brown skins.
Would Woman’s Hour wonder if a feminist demanding that the government prosecute rapists was a state “stooge”? Would it imply that Christian or Jewish feminists fighting their own conservatives were stoolpigeons or traitors? As the Prevent programme also targets children who are being groomed by white fascist movements, would it go along with the British National Party or English Defence League if they described Prevent supporters as “stooges”? The question should not just be directed at the BBC. The far Left, which now includes the leadership of the Labour party, along with the National Union of Teachers, opposes stopping the Muslim far Right grooming children. Both scream blue murder when the white far Right is mentioned.
For all the recognition she has received, and Khan has been widely honoured, at the root of the difficulty this impeccable liberal faces is the belief in wider liberal society that it can stand aloof from the struggles within British Islam. It is undoubtedly true that on the spectrum that begins with religious conservatives and ends in Raqqa, there are many Muslims who believe that the only problems worth addressing are Islamophobia, British foreign policy and the onerous — to their minds — demands of a secular society.
Khan and her allies say you have a choice. Either you support the extremists and their apologists or you defend women’s rights and liberal values. She should be honoured, because she never allows mainstream society to pretend that the choice does not exist or that it can get away with ducking it.
But, for her, the most telling moment came when she appeared on Woman’s Hour to hear a presenter ask her, “Are you a government stooge?” Supposed feminists, who cried to high heaven about the oppression of women with white skins, were neutral about the oppression of women with brown skins.
Would Woman’s Hour wonder if a feminist demanding that the government prosecute rapists was a state “stooge”? Would it imply that Christian or Jewish feminists fighting their own conservatives were stoolpigeons or traitors? As the Prevent programme also targets children who are being groomed by white fascist movements, would it go along with the British National Party or English Defence League if they described Prevent supporters as “stooges”? The question should not just be directed at the BBC. The far Left, which now includes the leadership of the Labour party, along with the National Union of Teachers, opposes stopping the Muslim far Right grooming children. Both scream blue murder when the white far Right is mentioned.
For all the recognition she has received, and Khan has been widely honoured, at the root of the difficulty this impeccable liberal faces is the belief in wider liberal society that it can stand aloof from the struggles within British Islam. It is undoubtedly true that on the spectrum that begins with religious conservatives and ends in Raqqa, there are many Muslims who believe that the only problems worth addressing are Islamophobia, British foreign policy and the onerous — to their minds — demands of a secular society.
Khan and her allies say you have a choice. Either you support the extremists and their apologists or you defend women’s rights and liberal values. She should be honoured, because she never allows mainstream society to pretend that the choice does not exist or that it can get away with ducking it.
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