Dear Sir,

Mark Steyn's perspective on the Middle East debacle (Sunday Telegraph, 14th April 2002) abounds with contradictions. Instead of calling for an end to the illegal and brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, Steyn invites us to feel sorry for the "Jews" and instead to blame "Muslims", the irony being heightened by his continual references to the persecution of Jews during World War II.

As the rise of the BNP in this country continues unabated, thanks to its openly anti-Muslim agenda nurtured into popularity by the likes of Steyn, we should remember that their members who descended onto Bradford in 2001 had the same intentions as Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts in Brick Lane in the 1930s.

The lesson of Nazi Germany, and upon which we have built the whole structure of international law and order since, is that discrimination of any kind is the enemy of all of us. With this in mind let us not forget that in Europe the last minority to be held in concentration camps and be victims of genocide were the Muslims of Bosnia. More importantly let us not forget that the Serbian State programme of genocide against the Muslims was assisted by the view that Bosnia was a civil war, a view vindicated by The Hague, and that the perpetrators of this view are the same as those bemoaning the rise of anti-Semitism and encouraging the hatred of Muslims.

Yours faithfully,

Mr Inayat Bunglawala
Secretary,
Media Committee,
The Muslim Councl of Britain