Islam

Thursday

Martin Bright

Libel: The New Jihad

Let's make one thing crystal clear. When I refer to jihad in the headline of this piece, I mean it in the non-violent sense of "holy struggle", rather than the nastier "holy war" kind. This is an important distinction and I'm happy to make it straight away. You can't be too careful these days. I waded into serious "dar al-harb" (land of conflict - the Islamic scholars among you will understand) by taking issue with the individuals who signed a letter to the Observer calling on Nick Cohen to find another column to write. Their leader, Sunder Katwala of the Fabian Society, has always insisted that his intention was not to silence Nick.  But aren't there better things for the left to do?

Tuesday

Martin Bright

When Lefties Fall Out We Do It In Style

Stephen Glover had an interesting take on the row between NIck Cohen and Sunder Katwala, head honcho at the Fabian Society, in his Independent column this week. Just to recap, Nick accused Sunder of being part of the left-wing consensus which failed to recognise the seriousness of the threat of extremist Islam. Sunder then gathered a group of writers and activists together to sign a letter to the Observer suggesting that Nick "needs to find another column to write", a strangely ambiguous turn of phrase.

Wednesday

Martin Bright

The Left and Radical Islam

There is a part of me that hopes I never have to write another word about the troubled relationship between the British left and radical Islam. But I certainly wouldn't appreciate being told I could never write about it. This is what I find so mystifying about the campaign by Sunder Katwala, the Fabian Society's head honcho, to stop Nick Cohen criticising the left for its mealy-mouthed approach to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and its south Asian offshoot Jamaat-i-Islami. He says he finds Nick's critcism of the Fabians "politically regressive and personally offensive". So, as a result Sunder has gone on the warpath. I find this very odd. I really like Sunder and always found him a friendly and thoughtful colleague when we worked together at the Observer.