Intolerance of Muslims 'compares to Nazi Germany'
By Stephanie Kennedy

Muslims in Britain are warning that intolerance in the United Kingdom is reaching dangerous levels and they are drawing parallels with Nazi Germany.

The Muslim Council of Britain says perceptions of Islam are so negative there is now a danger people's minds will be poisoned against Muslims as they were against the Jews in Germany in the 1930s.

Last week the head of MI5 revealed that Britain's security organizations are tracking 2,000 people living in the UK who pose a security threat, and that teenagers aged 15 are being groomed to be suicide bombers.
 

A day later, the Brown Government unveiled details of its tough new anti-terrorism laws, which double the period of detention without charge to 56 days, allows for questioning suspects after they have been charged and a ban on foreign travel for convicted terrorists.

While it is never openly stated, there is little doubt that the majority of the possible terrorists in the UK are Muslims.

Now, the Muslim Council of Britain has accused the Government of stoking tensions, arguing the amount of debate relating to Muslims is disproportionate.

Citing Nazi Germany in the 1930s as an example of how people's minds could be poisoned against a community, the Muslim Council says the air is thick with suspicion and unease about Muslims.

Inayat Bunglawala is the assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council.

"What you had in the 1930s was all sorts of popular fictions were spread about the Jewish community, that they were in control of money in Germany, they were responsible for all the ills that were occurring to Germany," he said.

"I mean, they were made into the folk devils, and I think there is a danger that the word 'Muslim' in the UK is becoming synonymous with bad news.

"I think just as in the 1930s, the Jewish community in Germany was collectively vilified and we saw what happened. I think we need to be careful."

Professor Anthony Glees has written extensively on intelligence issues in the UK and he dismisses the Muslim Council comparison to Nazi Germany.

"That not only demonstrates complete ignorance of the history of the Third Reich, but it totally falsifies the position in the United Kingdom," he said.

"Muslims are as much victims of these jihadists as anybody else."

Sir Paul Lever is a former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and he also disagrees with the Muslim Council's views.

"We mustn't demonize the whole Muslim community - it is a very, very tiny minority who are involved [in terrorist activity]," he said.

"We do need to keep it in proportion, we do need to take care in our public discourse that we don't demonize all Muslims, but equally, we mustn't get into the state where we are so fearful of offending people that we are unwilling to talk about what are, sadly, very, very worrying facts."

The British Government insists the new anti-terrorism laws are not aimed at a particular race, religion, or group.