Middle East Forum : New Definition ‘Worse than Feared,’ MP Warns.MA new definition of “Islamophobia,” slated for publication in the U.K. this week, has triggered widespread alarm among free speech campaigners.
A leaked version of the definition revealed that the government had rebranded “Islamophobia,” a phrase used to silence criticism of Muslims, Islam, and Islamism, as “anti-Muslim hostility.”
Tim Dieppe
Leading secular and religious free speech advocates and parliamentarians warned that the alternative terminology of “anti-Muslim hostility” could still serve as a de facto blasphemy law, stifling legitimate criticism of Islam, and rendering such discussions as an arrestable offense in the minds of law enforcement officials intimidated by Muslim extremists in the U.K.
Sources indicate that Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary who is responsible for publishing the definition, postponed its publication to next week following the Islamist massacre of 15 Jews celebrating Hanukkah on December 14 at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
The working group tasked with wording the definition, which, according to the government, is “supposed to reflect a wide range of perspectives and priorities of British Muslims,” has dropped the controversial term “Islamophobia,” according to leaked drafts of the definition.
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