Dmitry Isupov

1. Islamophobia is not racist. As with Christianity, Islam is not a race 2. Islamophobia is a nonsense term that should be expunged from our vocabulary Introduced to Britain by Trevor Phillips & the Runnymede Trust in the 1990s, the term is an insidious threat to free speech as it conflates criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims To quote the late lamented Christopher Hitchens: Islamophobia is ‘a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.’ Rather than bowing to the Metropolitan elite, the Conservatives should have seized on the #LeeAnderson row as an opportunity to scrap the word Islamophobia and replace it with the far more appropriate "anti-Muslim hatred". Anti-Muslim hatred is as abhorrent as anti-Semitism. But it is a cornerstone of free speech to be able to criticize or attack any religion or ideology, including Islam and Islamic beliefs, practices and culture -- indeed, Mohammed himself. This freedom has never been more important than it is now but it has never been at greater risk. When Labour forms the next government it will desperately seek to appease its disaffected Muslim base (which is angered over Labour's stance on Gaza). It will do this in part through its proposed "blasphemy law" banning criticism of Islam by incorporating the APPG's chilling definition of Islamophobia into legislation. This will be either through its proposed Race Equality Bill or as standalone legislation. Either way, we should all be very concerned at this attack on free speech as it will potentially criminialise any criticism of Islam or "Muslimness". What is "Muslimness"? Well, for example, under the APPG definition, simply to criticise the Muslim practice of polygamy might be deemed Islamophobic if someone -- anyone --perceives it that way. It might even affect how one describes Muslim grooming gangs. Under Labour, free speech will be tested as never before.