Last weekend the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, described the massacre in Christchurch as the result ‘of failing to root out Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment from our society’. His intention is to crack down on Islamophobia and give it a formal definition. He is right about anti-Muslim sentiment. But he is dangerously, terrifyingly wrong about Islamophobia.
.... Sadiq Khan wants the Tories to define Islamophobia as ‘a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness’. This definition would go down well in any autocratic Islamist regime, as it is so wide-ranging that it could apply to almost anyone or anything — even Khan has been accused of Islamophobia.
So the Mayor should be careful what he wishes for. If he gets his way, the jihadis would be delighted. It would be tragic if, in an attempt to protect Muslims, we ended up taking the jihadis’ bait. [The Spectator] Read more
