The new normal
Nick Cohen is appalled by the way some on the left go after liberal Muslims and ex-Muslims who campaign against Islamism.
I have enjoyed the Guardian for decades. But too many of its contributors have lost their wits and abandoned their principles over radical Islam. They show no signs of finding either soon. As a matter of course, they publish a defence of the silencing of Maryam Namazie, an ex-Muslim feminist, or a piece denouncing Maajid Nawaz, the Muslim leader of the anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation.
In academia, speakers at Bath University, surely the most malign[ed] higher education institution in Britain, call ex-Muslims “native informants”, as if the decision of free men and women to decide for themselves what they should believe is the equivalent of collaborating with a colonial oppressor. For the religious right and the political and academic left, a liberal Muslim is their trussed-up version of the enemy, the alien, the “other”.
None of the above is astonishing. It’s been going on so long that we accept it as the “new normal”.
It’s not astonishing but it is reprehensible.
Dealing with liberal and ex-Muslims would require nuance, would’t it? Nuance takes time and words and ink. Can’t have that. One can’t have one’s anti-colonial explanations if you’ve got non-colonial critics messing things up. Guess it all depends on just who you’re determined to drive your bus over. Which path is purer?
they publish a defence of the silencing of Maryam Namazie, an ex-Muslim feminist, or a piece denouncing Maajid Nawaz
I read the links. The Nawaz piece is not a denouncement, much less a denouncement of Nawaz for being an ex-Muslim. The Namazie piece argues that she rejects liberal Muslims, and whether or not it is correct, it is also not kowtowing to radical Islam to want more acknowledgement of liberal versions. David Shariatmadari is himself a secular person of Muslim background.
The “native informant” thing looks terrible (though I wonder she is referring not to ex-Muslims per se but ex-fundis of the Nawaz/Ed Husain type), it is inappropriate exaggeration — but so is accusing David Shariatmadari of opposing liberal Muslims.
People can legimately disagree with how to balance opposing religious authority with making allies with liberal religious people, opposing Muslim beliefs and supporting Muslim targeted by prejudice, supporting free speech and opposing particular viewpoints. These are difficult lines to draw. It does no good to confuse the people who support jihadis with people who share values but make tradeoffs differently.