More than 50 victims of Islamist-inspired terror assaults, together with the Manchester Arena bombing and Bataclan capturing, have joined collectively to name for an finish to anti-Muslim hate.
In a joint letter, they warn that it’s the “height of irresponsibility” for unnamed politicians to equate “being Muslim with being an extremist” and say some have been “facilitating anti-Muslim hate or failing to challenge it”.
They added: “The single most important thing we can do is to isolate the extremists and the terrorists from the vast majority of British Muslims who deplore such violence.”
The 58 individuals who have signed the letter embody terror assault survivors and kin of people that have been killed by extremists.
They embody Justine Merton-Scott, a survivor of the assault on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015, and Michelle Hussain, who survived the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017.
Rebecca Rigby – the spouse of soldier Lee Rigby, who was killed by extremists in London in May 2013 – and Magen Inon, whose dad and mom had been killed in Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October 2023, additionally signed.
They say they’re “only too aware” of the specter of “Islamist extremism” however spotlight that it’s unsuitable to equate being Muslim with being an extremist.
“This is not only wrong in itself, it makes the job of the Islamist extremists easier and plays into the hands of terrorists,” the letter reads.
“While Islamist inspired extremism is our country’s most pressing terror threat, it is not our only one – and responding to it by feeding far right extremism, dividing our communities and exaggerating the risk will feed a cycle of extremism that will put more people at risk. It is the height of irresponsibility,” it added.
The letter comes as Communities Secretary Michael Gove is about to provide a brand new, official definition of extremism.
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Mr Gove right this moment mentioned the new definition will assist protesters determine whether or not to attend occasions and referred to as for pro-Palestinian marchers to query whether or not extremist teams are behind some protests.
“That doesn’t mean that people who have gone on them are extremist, quite the opposite,” he instructed the Sunday Telegraph.
“But it means that you can begin to question: do you really want to be lending credence to this organisation?”
Source: information.sky.com”