She is right to raise the issue - I share much of Judy’s unease at the involvement of the Freedom Association. And I too am concerned to avoid taking part in a xenophobic or provocative event. But I am also worried that, in giving voice to concerns about people’s underlying motivations, our suspicions may warrant us to find grave fault with little justification.
In her post, Judy describes Peter Risdon, one of the event’s instigators, as “a hard line English right wing nationalist, with a blanket anti-Muslim stance”. To underline this impression (gleaned from reading his blog), she makes a couple of contentions.
Firstly, that “he quotes extensively from Al-Ghurabaa, as if they were typical of Muslim opinion.”
It is clear that Peter doesn’t believe Islam to be a Good Thing (but he does distinguish between the faith and its followers) and he is implacably opposed to Islamic fundamentalism. He certainly focuses on the outpourings of Al-Ghurabaa – condemning their ranting and raving is central to the purpose of his blog – but I couldn’t find any basis for Judy’s assertion that these are presented “as if they were typical of Muslim opinion”. Quite the opposite in fact: he focuses on them because they are extremists, not because he believes they represent majority Muslim opinion.
Secondly, Judy notes: “He also quotes very extensively from what he acknowledges are the emphatically racist views of the young Winston Churchill of the 1890s on the subject of Islam, and the supposed mentality and potential of Arabs and Africans.”
Yes, in one post, he did quote the young Winston. That post was in response to quotations from Churchill by Al-Ghurabaa and Thabo Mbeki - Peter responded in kind, and was highly critical of Churchill's views on race. Context isn’t everything but it seems important here.
It is particularly important since Judy seems to me to be implying that Peter Risdon is not only a racist, he is also devious and dishonest:
Disingenuously, he states that he deplores the racism from which he quotes at such great length, whilst praising what he sees as Churchill's insights into the nature of Islam”Implicit accusations of this sort, supported by selective references, may serve some purpose, but they don't really clarify the issues. I don’t know Peter Risdon except through his involvement in this campaign. It may be that in other contexts he has made his views apparent on a whole range of subjects. But from reading his blog, I don’t get the idea that he’s a racist - or even, for that matter, "a hardline right wing English nationalist".
Of course, that may just be indicative of some deficiency on my part. In which case, I imagine I’ll be trampled in the rush to judgement.
