This thought-provoking article on the effects of the demonisation of extremists on both sides, by Asim Siddiqui on CiF, ought to be read in full. In particular, the two concluding paragraphs are outstanding and I am reposting them here:

Communities Secretary John Denham’s comparison with the 1930s fascist campaign against the Jews is welcome insofar as it sends a message of solidarity to those Muslims who feel besieged right now and reminds us how disadvantaged minorities can be scapegoated. However, far-right groups are exploiting a real, albeit small, campaign by Muslim extremists to murder and maim in the name of Islam – such as the recent conviction of the airline bomb plotters showed. There was no comparable Jewish terror campaign in 1930s Britain.

Inayat Bunglawala’s assessment of Friday’s EDL/SIOE demonstrations makes of it a game of two halves.

On the one hand, we see Bunglawala lend his support to the younger generation of Muslims, whom he refers to as the so-called “war on terror” generation. Urging them to strike out against the clearest manifestation of what he calls the “relentless vilification, denigration and attacks on their community and faith” – now represented by a collection of football firms calling themselves the English Defence League (EDL).

On the other hand, and this is very interesting, Bunglawala, an MCB honcho, takes a clear swipe at the MCB itself for adopting the more sensible stance against the anti-Muslim demonstrations of the EDL by advising young Muslims to avoid the counter-protests. Here is Bunglawala on the MCB’s “caution”: