Dozens of people affected by terror attacks sign open letter criticising ‘anti-Muslim hate’ in Britain
More than 50 people affected by terror attacks have signed a letter denouncing what they called anti-Muslim hate.
The signatories include Rebecca Rigby, whose husband Lee was killed by two extremists outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, in May 2013; Justine Merton-Scott, a survivor of the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015; and Michelle Hussain, a survivor of the Manchester
Arena bombing in May 2017. Magen Inon, whose parents were killed during the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel, Claudia Vince, who survived the 2019 London Bridge attack, and Charlotte Dixon-Sutcliffe, whose partner David was killed in the Brussels Metro bombing in 2016, have also added their names.
In the letter, they said it was “irresponsible” for some politicians in the UK to equate extremists with “the vast majority of British Muslims who deplore such violence”.
“This is not only wrong in itself, it makes the job of the Islamist extremists easier and plays into the hands of terrorists,” the letter said.
““We also know where anti-Muslim hate can lead. While Islamist-inspired extremism is our country’s most pressing terror threat, it is not our only one – and responding to it by feeding far-right extremism, dividing our communities and exaggerating the risk will feed a cycle of extremism that will put more people at risk. It is the height of irresponsibility.”
Earlier this month, British
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on the UK to take a stand against extremism.
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is preparing to publish a new official definition of extremism, as well as a list of groups that will be cut off from government funding.
Mr Gove told the Sunday Telegraph yesterday that Iranbacked groups are encouraging extremism in Britain. “It is undoubtedly the case that there are individuals who are either linked to or who admire the Iranian regime, and who are extremist in the UK,” he said.