The Times published a letter on 08 August 2024, from several individuals criticizing IHRC’s letter to the Home Secretary about protecting minority communities from violence by far-right groups. This is our Chair’s response to that letter:
Sir,
A letter from Lord Pannick KC, Baroness Altmann and others printed 8 August, in reference to our letter to the Home Secretary and police chiefs, claims that the contention that far-right elements have received Zionist funding is antisemitic. Information about such funding is widely available. We refer Lord Pannick et al, for their ease of reference, to The Times of Israel article ‘Why are US ‘pro-Israel’ groups boosting a far-right, anti-Muslim UK extremist?’ within which many sources are cited. We expect that he and the other signatories, after wiping egg of their faces, will send us an apology and retraction to be printed on your pages.
In future perhaps they could redirect their ire (and with it some serious self-reflection) to those actually stoking hatred rather than to those of us trying to combat it.
Massoud Shadjareh
Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission
This is the letter our Chair was responding to:
Sir,
In their letter to The Times (Aug 7) Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Sayed Razawi, Chief Imam of the Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society, and other faith leaders point out that an appropriate response to the outbreak of hatred, violence and vandalism is to work on building “a cohesive and harmonious society for all”. The Islamic Human Rights Commission has adopted a different approach. Its letter dated August 6 to the home secretary and police chiefs asserts (with, of course, no factual foundation) that“far-right elements” have been “enabled by their Zionist financiers abroad”. Such primitive, dangerous and disgraceful antisemitism needs to be called out and condemned.
Lord Pannick KC; Baroness Altmann; Lord Austin of Dudley; Lord Balfe; Lord Banner; Lord Carlile of Berriew; Lord Collins of Mapesbury; Baroness Deech KC; Lord Farmer; Lord Finkelstein; Baroness Finn; Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee; Baroness Foster of Oxton; Baroness Fox; Lord Frost; Lord Gascoigne; Lord Gold; Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park; Lord Goodman of Wycombe; Lord Grabiner KC; Lord Harrington of Watford; Lord Haskel; Lord Howard of Lympne KC; Lord Kestenbaum; Lord Leigh of Hurley; Lord Livingston of Parkhead; Lord Mendelsohn; Baroness Meyer; Lord Mitchell; Lord Moore of Etchingham; Lord Moynihan of Chelsea; Lord O’Shaughnessy; Baroness Noakes; Lord Palmer of Childs Hill; Lord Polak; Lord Pickles; Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale; Lord Roberts of Belgravia; Lord Shamash; Lord Sharpe of Epsom; Lord Shinkwin; Lord Taylor of Holbeach; Lord Wasserman; Lord Watson of Wyre Forest; Lord Wolfson of Tredegar KC; Lord Young of Norwood Green
