Statement in support of CEMB sent to Pride Community Advisory Board.

I sent this in support of CEMB in light of the formal complaint made against them over their placards in this years Pride. 

Dear Community Advisory Board

I am an 2nd gen SE Asian immigrant, a cultural Muslim and LGBT ally. I marched with my company in Pride this year, are part of our Pride team and have been a long time proponent of LGBT rights for many decades. 

I am writing in support of the CEMB team who marched near us in this years Pride, as in an article in the Evening Standard of 14th July 2017, the clerics have stated they would be complaining about the CEMB presence and their placards and make accusations of Islamophobia.

LGBT are a persecuted minority within Islam and Ex-Muslims are a persecuted minority within Islam. Ex-Muslim LGBT are a subset who are persecuted in two ways, as apostates, and as LGBT. In the UK they are a persecuted minority within the Muslim community. In Muslim countries they fall within the classic defintion of an oppressed and persecuted minority. Muslims hold power, privilege and prejudice, they form the majority, in this context, they are the oppressors. Homophobia in Islamic society is systematic and institutionalised, LGBT are oppressed by the law, by the state, by the authorities, at community level and at a family level. Similar applies to apostates. Both face death, violence and punishment in Muslim countries under law or culture, in the West they face violence, shunning and exile from family and communities. 

I maintain an internet safety guide and advice for ex-Muslims and LGBT Muslims espousing levels of anonymity far beyond what anyone needs in the West because abroad we are being murdered for being who we are and the social media companies and ISPs work with the state and authorities to disclose our identities. Even in the UK we are not safe, and have to maintain anonymity and secrecy.

Ex-Muslim LGBT and Ex-Muslims cannot be Islamophobic. We hold no power, no privilege. The danger is real, not an "irrational phobia" implied by the Islamophobia label.  I fully agree that in any other context, one where the bearers held privilege over Muslims the signs would be offensive, but as the minority the CEMB LGBT have the right to shock, to cause outrage, to engage discussion and promote their experiences and oppression.

This is an attempt to erase our experiences and silence our voice. I strongly object to our oppressors claiming victimhood and continuing our oppression by attempting to exclude our voice from future Pride parades. 

Thank you for your time in listening.

<name>

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExMuslimSafety/
http://socjusculture.blogspot.co.uk

Reply to Pink News article on Ex-Muslims

This post is a reply to the Pink News article of 7th July, titled "‘Ex-Muslim’ group bats away Islamophobia claims ahead of Pride in London march which made some serious accusations that being an "ex-Muslim" is provocative and Islamophobic, and discussed some of the controversy caused by their attending Pride London 2017. The group also described the attacks they have been facing for marching.

LGBT are a persecuted minority under Islam and Ex-Muslims are a persecuted minority under Islam. Ex-Muslim LGBT are a subset who are persecuted in two ways, as apostates, and as LGBT.

Muslims hold power, privilege and prejudice, they form the majority, they are the oppressors. Homophobia is systematic and institutionalised, LGBT are oppressed by the law, by the state, by the authorities, at community level and at a family level. Similar applies to apostates. Both face death, violence and punishment in Muslim countries under law or culture, in the West they face violence, shunning and exile.

I maintain an internet safety guide and advice for ex-Muslims and LGBT Muslims espousing levels of anonymity far beyond what anyone needs in the West because we are being murdered for being who we are and the social media companies and ISPs work with the state and authorities to disclose our identities. I can only assume Mayer Nissim is able to write for Pink News openly under their own name.

Ex-Muslim LGBT cannot be Islamophobic. The danger is real, not an "irrational phobia". The article, its tone and its attitude skirts the line of adding to their oppression by delegitimatising our oppression, and erasing our experiences. Not a good show from PinkNews.

Corbyn: Judge him by the friends he keeps.

I've known the name Jeremy Corbyn for a long time, but as my interest in the politics has never been too strong, he remained little more a name and a vague understanding he was pretty much like one of those right on Labour teachers that prowled the corridors of my comprehensive in the eighties,  the type who owned a Citroen 2CV with a CND sticker on the back and always wore a red tie.

Dominating party political news at the moment is Jeremy Corbyns rising popularity in the leadership elections. His position is somewhat to the left of everyone else, even going so far as encouraging the more boisterous members of the social media's right wing punditry to joining Labour en masse to vote for him, as he's regarded as guaranteeing Tory victory.

My interest here lies in a faction of the far-left, those heavily tied up in pro-Palestine, anti-Israel, anti-racism, anti-Islamophobia causes. One of these, the "Stop The War Coalition" is a coalition of various groups at the heart of this. Founded on noble ideals and contributing to the anti-war protests around Iraq, Corbyn is a founder member and currently a board member. Stop The War grew from the anti Iraq war protests but is now focused on Palestine, Israel and other Muslim causes.  I watch these guys in the awareness that their opposition to Western interests has lead them to ally with various Islamist factions, including some quite extreme, and well I don't like those guys as they are somewhat enthusiastic about obeying some of the more extreme commands regarding apostasy. The type of command that puts me in an orange jumpsuit before being uploaded to Liveleak. So, some of these left factions apply identity politics to the point where they defend their underprivileged Muslim allies in all matters, including shunning of apostates and blasphemers. All sorts of loaded phrases are used, and one that I found of particular issue was the term "native informant"

I first came across the term native informants in relation to this. 

Native informants is a phrase used to describe ex-Muslims, but not as merely those who reject and campaign against their former religion, but as collaborators and traitors.  The image shown? That from a talk by Deepa Kumar (shown), Max Blumenthal (remember this name) and Lindsey German, Convenor of Stop the War Coalition. It insinuates that ex-Muslims are working with Zionists and White Supremacists to attack Islam and have even styled as "New McCarthyites, a loaded phrase, and somewhat ironic seeing how they to exist to cleanse society of what they regard to be wrong. CAGE were also prominent at that conference (Bath University - IPR - Understanding Conflict) and you may know CAGE from their vocal support of ISIS beheader, Jihadi John. The conference was also organised by one of the University of Bath lecuturers, David Miller.

Many ex-Muslims, Ayran Ali Hirsi, Maryam Namazie or even moderate anti-extremists like Maajid Nawaz are attacked by these factions due to speaking out against extremist Islam. These attacks often come from supporters or even directly from the organisations and are couched in the same language of the identity politics warriors around the world. Racist. Islamophobe. Bigot. Oppressor. This is somewhat ironic as it is highly notable that the principle authors of the attacks against the two non-white, feminist, ex-Muslim women I mentioned are often middle or upper class white and non-Muslim. This will become a theme in this blog.

Max Blumenthal came to my attention due to his rabid verbal assaults on Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who I admire. He isnt just any old Blumenthal, this is the son of Hilary Clintons advisor Sidney Blumenthal, and is Washington elite. He is known for a brand of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist writing that is near indistinguishable from anti-Semitic views held by his opposites on the right.

Max spoke at an anti-Israel event at Westminster sponsored by Corbyn, also present at that event was a chap called James Thring, who is linked to David Irving and Lady Michèle Renouf, allegedly the intellectual arm of Holocaust Denial.

Outside of Corbyn's welfare and economic policies (which as a socialist I dont have too much of an issue with) his involvement in other causes is much more troubling, and its those causes and their supporters I am very much opposed to.

An opposition leader who actively works with Shia propaganda vehicles, who stands alongside extremist Islamist factions, who would support foreign interests over our own, and who actively works with activists for whom anti-Semitism is a hairline gap from their anti-Zionism is one for who it's right to be concerned.