Islamist terrorism
sir – Once again Nice and its citizens have become the victims of savage terrorism – eloquently termed by the city’s mayor “Islamo-fascism”.
It is time for Britain to stand beside France and other democracies and call out the hateful nonsense coming from the likes of Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistan’s Imran Khan.
The idea that France encourages anti-islamic propaganda is fanciful.
We must recognise – and our leaders must be able to state aloud – the fact that murderous attacks on innocents in Manchester and London, in Paris and Nice have been perpetrated in the name of Islam.
It’s no time to hide behind British politeness. We must stand up for our values and allies, and fight this evil. Chris Savins
Eastbourne, East Sussex
sir – Rakib Ehsan (“The vilification of Macron by Muslim countries is disturbing”, telegraph.co.uk) is wrong to defend Emmanuel Macron’s “bold stance against Islamic separatism”.
The crackdown Mr Macron has ordered – closing mosques, searching individuals’ homes and shutting down associations in an attempt to make “fear change sides” – has ramped up tension and inflamed moderate Muslims around the world.
Religious tolerance is a cardinal indicator of a civilised society, as I know as a Christian and ethnic Armenian who grew up in Baghdad, where I never experienced persecution, and as a member of the Labour Party, from which I resigned over its failure to tackle anti-semitism.
Europeans have spent centuries telling others how to live, or interpret, their religion. President Macron stigmatises an entire faith based on the actions of a few violent extremists. It can have only one result – to fuel rage. Professor Lord Darzi of Denham Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation
Imperial College, London