Jewish Chronicle’s Muslim Hypocrisy

Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, has been proclaiming a new spirit of friendship, telling his followers he is “Proud to be the first editor of the [Jewish Chronicle] to write such a piece for such a newspaper [al-Ittihad] - and to publish [Hamad al Kaabi]”. The JC, and al-Ittihad, the oldest newspaper in the UAE, have published articles by the editors of both papers alongside one another, the JC in English, and al-Ittihad in Arabic.

This follows the peace deal last year between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain. “History is made as friends celebrate Purim” proclaims the JC front page. Hamad al-Kaabi tells the JC’s readers “History shows that most of the problems and crises that the world has faced, and humanity has suffered, were caused by a widening gap between different peoples and cultures. A loss of communication with each other, and the spread of terrifying stereotypes, provides fertile soil for conflicts and hostility”. And there is more.

“Hence, we look at the Abraham Accords as a reflection of the civilised outlooks we both champion”. Pollard, for his part, responds “The editors of Al-Ittihad and the 180-year-old Jewish Chronicle, two of the most iconic newspapers of their kind, have come together to demonstrate the beginning of our new friendship by writing for each other’s readers, and we have chosen the Jewish festival of Purim as the occasion … Even six months ago, who would ever have predicted such a thing?” It is, indeed, a momentous occasion.

However, and with Pollard and the JC there is all too often a however, while his editorial waxes lyrical about “two of the great Abrahamic faiths signalling their bonds and determination to work together”, the same issue of the JC shows that Pollard is not averse to publishing someone infamous for their Islamophobic bigotry.

Yes, while Stephen Pollard has been promoting friendship with Muslims with one hand, he has, with the other, published Doug Murray The K. The same one who said “Conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board … All immigration into Europe from Muslim countries must stop” and talked of “the opportunist infection of Islam … The liberal West is crumbling before the violence, intimidation and thuggery of Islam”.

Murray’s JC article, which is ostensibly written in defence of BBC presenter Emma Barnett, has a routine swipe at the Muslim Council of Britain, a favourite target for our free and fearless press: “For over a decade, the group has been deemed so radical that consecutive UK governments will have no dealings with it. In the 2010s, the then-Labour government cut off all dialogue with the MCB because of its links to extremism”.

Doug wants us to know that the signatories of a complaint about Ms Barnett include “Diane Abbott, Naz Shah (the Labour MP who has her own track-record of overt antisemitism [?]) and the embittered Tory peer Baroness Warsi [kick another Muslim: check!]”. He adds “Of course, these activists know what they are doing. They want to make sure that groups like the MCB have a free ride”. That spirit of friendship isn’t going too well, is it?

How long will it be before readers of al-Ittihad read Murray’s latest slice of Muslim bashing? One cannot see them perusing that without stopping and thinking about the JC.

Followers of the Abrahamic religions working together is good. Potential duplicity isn’t.

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