I’ve seen many problematic things from people self-representing “the Left” these past few years, but this is incomparable. Even if it turns out ultimately that this wasn’t the reason for his barring (and it may well have been), its horrific.
(To be clear, when I use the term “the left” this isn’t to blame everyone for the actions of a minority, just as that wouldn’t be fair in other contexts. However in this case I find it important to point out what the person self-attributes their motives to as it is simply an extreme manifestation of what many on the self-denominated (and false) “anti-imperialist left” have been propagating regarding the Arab Spring these past few years.)
A FB commentator put it well: ‘It’s “anti-imperialist” to snitchjacket/be a cop caller now?’
(Funnily enough, the author of this blog also once had the police called on him by members of the “anti-imperialist” UK Stop the War Coalition, for speaking out of turn during an event. So this is perhaps not a sort of isolated incident from this variety of identity-centred, air-blowing “anti-imperialists”. As noted before, those who will go on lengthy polemics about Western “orchestration” of liberation movements will find no qualms of claiming welfare benefits or domestically campaigning for greater public spending by the “imperialist state”. It is all about identity politics and domestic posture).
Such actions should amount to (and be considered as) little other than a declaration of war from those who’ve done it to everyone fighting Islamophobia and prejudice.
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