CLARE SHORT AND HIZB
I should have posted this before. Coming courtesy of Harry's Placer Migsuk, a tale of when Clare Short invited the nice chaps from Hizb ut-Tahrir into the House of Commons:HuT avoided, prevaricated and soundbited their way out of some difficult issues, such as anti-Semitism. Lord Avebury did manage to force them to admit their ‘false choice’ over Israel – that is, Israel being given the choice whether it would join the Caliphate before force was used. Clare Short didn’t bat an eyelid at the threat to a sovereign state, instead continuing to use her position as Chair to allow the HuTistas to explain their position in ever-increasing length (thus reducing the time for MPs and Peers’ questions).By the sounds of it, the MPs needed all the help they could get, with the HuT representatives being somewhat economical with the truth:
As HuT proselytized in the comfort of the Palace of Westminster – their liberties secured - I became increasingly irate. After passing Ian Austin MP a copy of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Constitution with a pen-starred Article 184 (‘[with] belligerent states, like Israel, a state of war must be taken’), Clare Short barked, ‘Young man, I think the MPs can manage without your help.’ Soon afterwards I was warned I would be asked to leave; MPs looked at Short like she had left leave of her senses.
The fanciful claims, mistruths and avoidance of Waheed and Harwood included:From HuT's report on the meeting:
1.They had no knowledge whatsoever of Peter Tatchell’s allegations of violence and so would make a full written reply on their website.
2.That they would treat women as equals under the Caliphate. When an MP asked about Sharia Law, Waheed admitted that Sharia would be imposed under the Caliphate. Clare Short spouted some nonsense about this being the cultural norm in the Middle-East: backward medievalism for the Arabs, but no Page 3 for those après Enlightenment.
3.They said the Koran was very clear about the treatment of homosexuals and left it at that. This was received angrily by the audience.
4.When asked which countries they were banned in they managed to list a number of autocratic regimes (Libya, Saddam’s Iraq, Uzbekistan) but no European nations. MPs pressed HuT on this – they conceded they were banned in Germany.
5.That the notion their website had published anti-Semitic comments was ‘nonsense’. I shouted, ‘this is a lie!’ As no-one in the audience was allowed to ask questions, this lie was left undisputed.
Many questions covering controversial issues were put and were dealt with, debunking myth from reality. Dr Waheed assured the audience that outstanding issues would be responded to publicly on the website.5 days and counting...
posted by Dan @ 5:21 pm
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