From a Telegraph.co.uk article (with a hat tip to Charlie Flowers):The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) is one of the media's favourite Muslim organisations - radical and outspoken but not extremist, we're led to believe. One of its spokesmen, Asghar Bukhari, is a particular favourite of the BBC, whose Asian Network describes how he has "set up Media response workshops to educate and engage Muslims about dealing with the media."
So I was interested to see how Bukhari would "deal" with me when I rang him to ask about an interesting discovery by The Centre for Social Cohesion, in my opinion the most formidable of the think-tanks monitoring Islamic extremism, which has been rooting around Facebook discussions.
In one recent thread, Bukhari says: "Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are 'Mujahadeen' and are blessed by Allah. And any Muslim who fights and dies against Israel and dies is a martyr and will be granted paradise ... There is no greater oppressor on this earth than the Zionists, who murder little children for sport."
Well, Bukhari didn't evade the question. He confirmed that the Facebook discussion was authentic, and said: "I stand by that [his comments], and I think any Muslim in the world stands by that ... if you think I'm going to tap dance for you and say 'These Muslims are really bad and should sort their own house out', then I'm not going to."
Indeed, he added, if that was my view then I could "p--- off."
Hmm. Is that the technique that Bukhari recommends in his media workshops? He also said that he was prepared to repeat his Facebook comments to any TV station that wanted to interview him. But, you know, I'm not so sure that the references to paradise for anti-Israel "fighters" and the description of Zionists as casual child-killers were intended for public consumption. Which is why he lost his cool when I rang. Asghar, mate, let me give you a media tip: Facebook rants aren't private.
I think we should all stop using the term, "moderate Muslim." It is pointless and misleading, as the famous moderate, Asghar Bukhari demonstrates. We should come up with a name for Muslims who straightforwardly reject the violent, intolerant passages in the Qur'an and openly reject the supremacist ideology strewn throughout Islamic teachings. Read more: The Search for the Moderate Muslim.
