You think the DUP is bigoted, yet you are apologists for Islamism? – Geoff Heath-Taylor

They have been quick to decry the DUP as ‘anti-LGBT, anti-women extremists’, but many on the left continue to shut down any debates on Islamism despite the ideology’s questionable views on gay and women’s rights. Not to mention the fact their man-of-the-moment, Jeremy Corbyn, refers to Hamas (truly ‘anti-LGBT, anti-women extremists’) as his ‘friends’.

 

Judging by the celebrations on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram you would have thought that Labour had won a landslide majority. Perhaps an indication of the party’s low ambitions, the jubilant left seems to have forgotten that the Tories still hold 56 more seats than them in the Commons. Theresa May’s disastrous but possibly deserved election result has left many questions needing answers, but she was right to swiftly form a new government and offer a glimmer of strength and stability in the weak and wobbly gloom of a hung parliament. The fact that she now needs to lean on the DUP for assistance in securing “a successful Brexit deal that works for everyone” is not altogether a bad thing for ‘small-c’ conservatives – for many years the DUP has been a lone rock standing for socially conservative policies in a sea of ‘progressive’ politics and moral relativism. There are few differences between those on the right-wing of the Tories and those in the DUP, and therefore this new ‘coalition of chaos’ is unlikely to be that chaotic once everything has been agreed.

It is alarming, therefore, that the DUP is currently undergoing such a hounding from the Twitterati and the left-wing press. “Meet the homophobic, anti-abortion Northern Irish party teaming up with the Tories” reads a headline in NME. “Delusional Theresa May’s unholy alliance with the grasping Orangemen from Northern Ireland” rails the Mirror. Arlene Foster and her team of ten Westminster DUP MPs are being condemned with accusations of homophobia, bigotry and climate change denial. The logic that being opposed to abortion equates to being anti-women remains incomprehensible to those who believe in an unborn child’s right to life, but that’s beside the point; what we see here is a shameless example of the double-standards of those witch-hunters who bay for blood whenever they come across a view that is at odds with their own intolerant tolerant ideals.

This is manifested most clearly in the many tweets by Owen Jones, the socialist and Guardian commentator who on Friday night organised a protest outside Downing Street, calling the DUP “homophobe fundamentalist terrorist sympathisers”. What is so ironic is that Owen Jones could easily be describing Hamas, the Palestinian fundamentalist organisation that the hero of the hour, Jeremy Corbyn, refers to rather affectionately as his ‘friends’. These ‘friends’ of Corbyn are the de facto governing body of the Gaza Strip, a territory in which practicing homosexuality remains a capital offence. Whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah or the IRA, when it comes to examples of terrorist sympathising Corbyn wins hands down. Less than a year before becoming Labour leader Corbyn attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of one of the Palestinian terrorists involved in the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics. That Owen Jones has the audacity to disparage the DUP in such terms whilst turning a blind eye to the links that his party leader has to extremist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisations, typifies so clearly the topsy-turvy mind-set and double-standards held by the virtue-signalling voices of the left.

What is most striking about these voices is that they are the same ones that have for years shut down any criticism of the growing tide of Islamism; an ideology that has very little time for the interests of the LGBT and Feminist communities. From Douglas Murray to Margot Wallström, whenever members of these communities speak out they are shut down in the name of Islamophobia and inciting hatred. In a timely example of this, an event organised by ‘Gays Against Sharia’ and scheduled for June 12 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Orlando Massacre has been branded ‘Islamophobic’ and ‘divisive’ by the virtue signallers. Nearly three weeks have passed since the Manchester bombing, after which Andy Burnham was quick to denounce the bomber as not being a Muslim. This was said even though it was Salman Abedi’s Islamist ideology that drove him to kill twenty-two innocent civilians. The protection that the left continues to offer to Islamism was seen most clearly in one of the BBC General Election debates earlier this month, when a question was asked about security after Manchester. Paul Nuttall dared to point out that the problem was “Islamist extremism”, before being booed by the audience and condemned by the other panellists. Yet the other panellists – Tim Farron and Caroline Lucas – are now among the cacophony of voices criticising Theresa May for forming an alliance with the DUP.

To criticise the DUP for its socially conservative views whilst at the same time shutting down any debate about Islamism, an ideology with terrifying stances on gay and women’s rights, seems to take the hypocrisy of virtue signalling to new heights. But it is wholly unsurprising. After all, it is acceptable to attack Christianity and Christian values, just not Islamic ones. It is acceptable to shred Tim Farron on the television for his Christian views on homosexuality, but it would be totally unacceptable to do the same to Sadiq Khan. Not only that, but the suppression of any dialogue surrounding Muslim values by the nanny state is leading to the slow boil of anger and frustration that will inevitably bubble over unless it’s addressed. For intelligent discussion to take place, the left will need to give up their monopoly on the magic repression words that have for the past forty years shut down all debate. By crying ‘racist’, ‘bigot’, ‘homophobe’ or ‘Islamophobe’ as a means of closing the mouths of those with whom they disagree, the left is not only being inconsistent (as seen in their attacks on the DUP) but is putting our liberty and freedom of speech in grave peril.

In the rise of Islamism we see the great dilemma facing the establishment today; to defend the liberal values that they supposedly treasure and champion, it may be necessary for them to introduce illiberal legislation to curtail the spread of this ideology and encourage integration. The longer our politicians and press refuse to acknowledge this, the more people will die. Not only that, but under the guise of avoiding Islamophobia the anti-phobia champions who are condemning the DUP are inadvertently losing the ground they’ve already gained in the name of LGBT and women’s rights. By restricting free speech and open dialogue concerning this radical ideology, they are allowing it to fester and grow. And with this will come a growth in Islamist homophobia and anti-women bigotry, as well as further extremist attacks, that will make the DUP’s social conservatism look attractively liberal.

 

Nb. This article primarily refers to Islamism, not Islam