.... The blurring of the distinction between bigotry against Muslims and criticisms of Islam is dangerous. On the one hand, it enables many to condemn legitimate criticisms of Islam or of attitudes within Muslim communities as “Islamophobic”.
On the other, it permits those who promote hatred to dismiss condemnation of that hatred as stemming from an illegitimate desire to avoid criticism of Islam. Conflating criticism and bigotry makes it more difficult to engage in a rational discussion about where and how to draw the line between the two.
The Rotherham and Tower Hamlets cases, and the debate around them, reveal the polarised ways in which Muslims are discussed in Britain. It is a discussion too often trapped between hostility towards Muslims and a fear of creating such hostility or of offending Muslims.
Neither side is able to talk about Muslims as a normal part of British life, with the usual range of achievements and inadequacies, but only as ciphers for other issues. More than simply bigotry, this failure to find an adequate language through which to discuss Muslims and Islam bedevils public debate. [The Guardian] Read more
