The Observer view: silence is complicity in Islamophobia

Some may argue that the analogy doesn’t hold. It does. Whenever a community is dehumanised by racists it is dehumanised in the same way, with sweeping accusations of violence and menace with no regard for truth or the basic tenet of a just society that no one should be persecuted on the basis of their religion or race.

Yet there have been no arrests. The speakers went home pleased with the turnout and their reception. The press by and large gave them a pass. Politicians, including the prime minister, failed to condemn them remotely adequately. This, too, is abhorrent.

It is right to pursue and prosecute Islamist terrorists, whether they are al-Qaida hijackers or Isis murderers, but that does not legitimise Islamophobia any more than finding fault with Israel’s policies legitimises anti-semitism.

The Unite the Kingdom demonstration was a national disgrace. Everyone who took part, even if simply by showing up and listening, was a bystander to hate; this was hate speech, not free speech. They were helping to spread fear among fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim. Not seeing it that way is no excuse. That Elon Musk was beamed in to grab the headlines does not unsay what was said before.

Much has been written about how President Trump has changed acceptable public discourse in America. It is rapidly changing in Britain, too. As long as people look the other way, the country will normalise incitements to violence and racial hatred, intimidation of people on the grounds of religious belief, calls to deport people on the basis of their background regardless of their rights. This is an assault on the values and laws of this country. A Labour government that appears terrified of the far right because it has insufficient faith in everyone else is letting it happen.

Photograph by Ben Montgomery/Getty Images