Do British libraries encourage Islamic extremism?

Many of you will have of course seen last night's Newsnight that featured a report by the Centre for Social Cohesion that argues that British libraries are hotbeds of Islamic radicalisation.

Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, told the BBC that the Tower Hamlet's books collection "is a collection that is warped towards one particular extreme interpretation of Islam."

What the BBC did not say is that Murray is an unashamed neocon who, while condemning libraries that stock books by authors who have been convicted of incitement to murder, had no problem supporting the illegal war on Iraq which has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. By the same argument, Murray's books should not be stocked by libraries and he should not be given air time on the BBC - after all, although he has not been convicted by a court, he continues to defend the murder of innocents in Iraq.

The BBC also omitted to mention Murray's less than warm views towards the Muslim community - in his book about neoconservatism, Murray writes about Muslim schools, "The attitude towards Muslim schools should be exceptional....if any Muslim academies are allowed to exist, they should be funded entirely privately, with no taxpayer assistance and should be subject to uniquely strict regulation and inspection. If such conditions are considered unbearable, then Muslims will have to try their luck in other countries".

In a lecture to commemorate the death of Pim Fortuyn, Murray said, "All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop...Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board: Europe must look like a less attractive proposition. We in Europe owe—after all—no special dues to Islam. We owe them no religious holidays, special rights or privileges. From long before we were first attacked it should have been made plain that people who come into Europe are here under our rules and not theirs. There is not an inch of ground to give on this one. Where a mosque has become a centre of hate it should be closed and pulled down. If that means that some Muslims don't have a mosque to go to, then they'll just have to realise that they aren't owed one."

It was no surprise to me that Newsnight once again dragged out the ex-Jamaat Islamist, ex-HT, ex-ISB, Ed Husain to comment on the story - he made some silly point about Muslim extremists not listening to music and not allowing mixing between men and women.

Of course, I have little doubt that Husain hopes that libraries across the country will be pulling this 'extremist' literature from the shelves and placing large orders with Penguin Books for the much discredited "The Islamist". Incidentally, Murray is happy to promote Husain's book on the frontpage of the Centre for Social Cohesion website.

It was also little surprise to see Haras Rafiq of the widely discredited (even amongst traditional Sufis) Sufi Muslim Council. For those of you who are interested, the Centre for Social Cohesion has an interesting article about the Sufi Muslim Council and its links to neoconservatism.

Sue