Imran Shah is a political blogger. You can follow him on Twitter @ImranShah884
Imran Shah says that the lessons from the recent local elections are clear – Muslims need to step up, get politically-organised and demand and fight for equality or they will suffer the consequences.
Corbyn had a bad election night. Well that’s what you would have thought if you watched the BBC election coverage. Every ten minutes the words “bad night” and “Labour” were conflated. Every single guest had to answer why “Labour wasn’t doing so well?”
Yes, Labour did come second in Scotland and did not see any particular gain in seats, but Labour’s overall vote share went up compared to the disastrous general election in 2015. In addition, Labour managed to get more councillors elected under Corbyn’s first year of leadership than under Tony Blair’s or the Tories did under Cameron’s. And in terms of leadership approval, he is making more strides in popularity than Blair did in his first eight months.
This positive outlook is only compounded by Labour’s Parliamentary performance in opposition. Flagship policy after Tory flagship policy has seen U-turns where before Corbyn’s leadership they were steamrolling bills through Parliament. So with so many Parliamentary victories and so many reasons to be optimistic, why is there still so much rebellion within the Labour party?
Zionists
The most vocal rebels are not just Blairites but Zionists who would rather destroy the Labour Party than rally behind Corbyn. In fact, the huge row over anti-Semitism overshadowed the election. And it was meant to.
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A Norman Finklestein post shared by Naz Shah MP many years ago seems almost too convenient a “leak” to create a row about anti-Semitism. Even more so to hound and make Ken Livingstone an example of “anti-Semitism” after he stated a truth about Hitler that even Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about only last year.
It is simply criminal, by any political party’s standard, for Labour MPs to cook up a reason to attack one another in the run-up to an election. Yet that is exactly what happened. Anyone who says it wasn’t a stitch-up just isn’t paying attention. The public will not vote for a divided party, no matter how effective an opposition they are. Even more so when the media amplifies the misinformation.
Zionists know this all too well.
Here we have representatives of a political ideology that put the interests of the party they adhere to, and even the interests of their country, below the interests of Israel. Entryism at its finest… and yet something that has eluded the likes of the journalist Andrew Gilligan for years now.
And yet I can’t help wonder what he would think of the election of Sadiq Khan. Gilligan, appointed as cycling Czar of London by Boris Johnson, must find lots of interest and material in going after Khan. Then again, some of his stances would have been Gilligan’s cup of tea – whether it was the focus on Muslim radicalisation or issues of niqab and hijab in London’s streets.
Sadiq Khan election
There’s no doubt that Sadiq Khan used narratives of Islamophobia to defend himself against what turned out to be an Islamophobic witch-hunt by the Tory party. It may have been an effective political position, but when it comes to prejudice, it’s no longer acceptable to dismiss this as “dirty politics”. Such rhetoric shapes how society treats Muslims.
To the dismay of those who campaigned and voted for him, within seven days of winning the election Khan has hit out at Corbyn three separate times, thus normalising the rhetoric that Zionists are pushing against Corbyn. He even had the gall to say that he would stand with Cameron in staying in the EU despite the fact Corbyn has the same stance and despite the fact that Cameron was on the front line of demonising him and Muslims during the London Mayoral campaign.
Isn’t this the hallmark of an Uncle Tom? A big question mark rests on Khan’s head for many.
Worrying signs
And yet there is a darker, uglier side to the election that no one wants to look at.
Britain First and the BNP received 31,372 and 13,325 votes respectively during the London election. The number of votes for the BNP in 2012’s London Mayoral election was 28,751. Has the number of converted racist extremists gone up? UKIP also increased their number of votes from 43,274 to 94,373.
As more and more of London’s population are swayed by Islamophobic narratives, all Muslims have gained is an example of what a possible “good Muslim” could look like. As a result, it is hard to see Khan’s win as a real moral victory or to say we have gained anything at all. We should never conflate representation with emancipation.
With the gain of local council seats and Welsh Assembly seats by UKIP, the tide of Islamophobia shows no sign of relenting. Every election that passes, right-wing extremists gain power whilst the left gain almost nothing.
UKIP came second in over 70 seats in the 2015 general election. We have four more years until the next election; an election that will define at least the next 30 years for Muslims.
However, it may be that we will not have to wait until then. A good number of Tory-held seats are under investigation of election fraud; it may that the very slim majority that the Tories have will disappear completely and a new government may form.
Either way, the message to Muslims is clear – step up, get politically organised and demand and fight for your equality or you and your children will suffer the consequences.
