Two recent letters from OutRage! to The Guardian – unpublished.
Letters to the editor
The Guardian
Has the Muslim Council of Britian had a change of heart? Sir Iqbal Sacranie writes that Holocaust Memorial Day is too exclusive (‘Holocaust Memorial day is too exclusive’, September 20, 2005).
Those of us with longer memories can’t forget that the MCB’s complaint in 2001
was that it was too inclusive. They objected to the fact that gay victims of the Nazi death camps were remembered.
In a January 2001 press release, the MCB said it had “reservations” about the inclusion of “the so-called gay genocide”.
Brett Lock
OutRage!
P.O. Box 17816, London. SW14 8WT
MCB Press Release: http://www.mcb.org.uk/news260101.html
Letters to the Editor
The Guardian
The UK leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jalaluddin Patel, asks: “Has there ever been an instance on campus where our members have broken the law, incited violence or engaged in subversive’extremist’ activities?” (Letters, 20 September).
The answer is: yes. During the 1990s, Hizb ut-Tahrir distributed on university campuses, and elsewhere, a leaflet inciting the murder of homosexuals. They subjected me to repeated death threats because I spoke out in defence of gay Muslims who were being abused by members of their organisation.
Since this thuggery was exposed, Hizb ut-Tahrir has sought to project a less extreme public image. But I have no doubt that many of its members continue to hold violently homophobic views.
Hizb ut-Tahrir endorses the barbarism of Sharia law, which stipulates the death penalty for gay and lesbian Muslims, apostates, unchaste women and others.
Peter Tatchell
OutRage! P.O. Box 17816, London. SW14 8WT