Skip to content or view screen version

Peter Tatchell the anti Muslim campaigner

Stelios Ioannou | 12.10.2007 16:33 | Anti-racism | Indymedia | Palestine | London | World

Peter Tatchell is a racist anti Islam journalist

Peter Tatchell the anti Muslim campaigner has been up to his old tricks again.
This week he attended a Pro Palestinian rally in central London and managed to disrupt it again and divert attention from the message.
Al Quds pro-Palestinian march and rally in took place in Trafalgar Square in London last Sunday, 7 October 2007. The Al Quds demonstration was supported by the left-wing Respect Party, 1990 Trust, Muslim Association of Britain, Islamic Human Rights Commission, Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Federation of Student Islamic Societies.
The post-march Trafalgar Square rally was addressed by the Respect Party MP, George Galloway, and the former Daily Express journalist, Yvonne Ridley.

The Al Quds protest was in support of justice for the Palestinian people.
However Peter Tatchell's unwelcome and provocative attendance managed to disrupt the event. As most people know Tatchell has long been an anti Muslim and anti Palestinian campaigner who is also a person who wrote and spoke in support of the war in Iraq and has recently been campaigning for an attack to take place in Iran.
I suggest we write to Peter Tatchell to inform him to stay away from any Stop The War and other such events. I also suggest we write to the Guardian and the New Statesman to get Tatchell removed from his job which he has used to spew his pro war vitriol and anti Muslim rhetoric and anti Palestinian bile.


Tatchell acting as a deliberate provocateur at a Palestinian rally.
Let’s read a few quotes from Tatchell himself writing in his column in the New Statesman. Lesbian and Gay organisations had called for a boycott of Israel which had organised an event to be staged in Jerusalem . "We ask you to join us in a boycott of travel to World Pride Jerusalem 2006 as part of the international boycott of Israel and the campaign to divest from Israel ."
However Tatchell wrote in his website www.petertatchell.net
The call for a boycott of World Pride in Jerusalem may seem an appropriate response to Israel 's illegal occupation of Palestinian land in defiance of successive UN resolutions calling for withdrawal.  http://www.boycottworldpride.org/index.html
On careful reflection OutRage! believes a boycott would be a big mistake. While supporting justice for the Palestinian people, we oppose calls for a boycott of World Pride, which is being held in Jerusalem from 6-12 August 2006.

Regarding the war in Iraq Peter Tatchell said
 http://www.newstatesman.com/200302170013

Peter Tatchell stood in front of Tony Blair and held a banner which read wrote:
"Arm the Kurds! Topple Saddam"
He took this action BEFORE the invasion of Iraq proving to Mr Blair that he had the support of the former Labour candidate.

“I am marching against war on Iraq but with feelings of ambivalence. The Stop the War campaign ignores Saddam's human rights abuses: detention without trial, torture, execution and the ethnic cleansing of Kurds and Shias”

While rejecting war, it offers no counter-strategy for overthrowing the "Butcher of Baghdad".

We should help train and arm a Free Iraq army inside the safe havens of the northern and southern no-fly zones, as we supported the Free French forces and the French resistance during the Second World War. From these safe havens, the Iraqi opposition could launch military operations against Saddam Hussein, creating liberated areas around the major towns, leading to an eventual assault on Baghdad . The Kurds in the north already have large armies. The Shias and Marsh Arabs in the south want to take on Saddam. All they need is training and weapons. Pincer movements from the north and south could encircle Baghdad within six months.”

Hardly the words of a peace campaigner:
 http://www.newstatesman.com/200303240002
These are Peter Tatchell's actual words AGAINST the impending war in Iraq . Now excuse me for pointing out the obvious but this is exactly the kind of DOUBLESPEAK we have seen in 1984. While on the face of it appearing to be anti war he is nevertheless justifying and encouraging it by undermining the Stop the War movement.
Please check the links these are all Tatchell's own words.
Like his article on 911 and Iran . Doublespeak.

Read Tatchell’s own recent words about Iran :
The case for regime change is overwhelming
A democratic, progressive Iran would pose no threat to anyone.
Iran is a dangerous, terrorist, fundamentalist, anti-Semitic dictatorship, which is striving to develop nuclear weapons and which poses a serious threat to international peace and security.
If Iran was no longer a fanatical religious tyranny, the case for war would evaporate.
Jihadis and suicide bombers.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking: Ahmedinajad is the ELECTED President of a country that has neither invaded nor occupied anybody else's country, nor engaged in mass murder, let alone genocide, a country that has sought its legal rights to peaceful nuclear technology and has complied with the IAEA.

In contrast, the US has invaded two countries, transforming them into blood-soaked rubble, with the survivors enjoying neither legal nor human rights, and provides financial and political support for the Israeli genocide and war crimes against a third people, the Palestinians (not to mention the vicious Israeli bombing of Lebanon last summer). Neither the US nor its "ally" Israel, are members of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nor do they allow inspections of their massive arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, which they wantonly use to commit some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity in human history.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with a group of Jewish rabbis who gave him a silver grail as a sign of friendship. The rabbis carried a placard which read, "I am Jewish not a Zionist."

A senior rabbi of the group said that they considered the visit to New York of President Ahmadinejad as an exceptional opportunity and would never forget it. He referred to the Iranian president as a person who made a distinction between Jews and Zionists.

"You understand us and make a distinction between the violent behaviour of Zionists and the religious beliefs of Jews," said the senior rabbi who called President Ahmadinejad "a pious man who is seeking to restore peace in the world and has humanitarian plans." Appreciating the rabbis for their gift, President Ahmadinejad said he was happy to visit them.

Read what Ken Livingstone has to say about Tatchell:
“Clearly, Tatchell, whom I strongly defended against homophobia when he was selected as the Labour candidate in Bermondsey, has lost his political bearings and constructed a fantasy world in which the main threat we face, worse than the far right, is Islamic fundamentalist hordes.

It is not surprising that this approach takes him into a de facto alliance with the American neo-cons and Israeli intelligence services who want to present themselves as defending western "civilisation" against more "backward" civilisations in the Middle East and elsewhere.”
Ken Livingstone’s actual words

 reader@guardian.co.uk

 comments@newstatesman.co.uk

 tatchell.news@googlemail.com

Peter Tatchell is a bitter Islamophobic journalist. Who although having been a former Labour candidate is now running as a Green Party candidate for the Oxford West constituency.
Obviously nobody should ever consider voting Labour EVER because anyone who votes Labour has the blood of a million dead Muslims on their hands. But I think nobody can vote for the Green party either as long as Tatchell remains their candidate and it goes without saying that nobody should but the Guardian or the New Statesman until Tatchell is relieved of his position. Once he is sacked his ability to ferment Islamophobic and pro war rhetoric will be diminished

Stelios Ioannou
- Homepage: http://www.nineeleven.co.uk

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

Tatchell is niether Islamophobic, pro-war or racist

13.10.2007 18:07

Smearing bullshit!

Tatchell is niether a racist, Islamophobic, pro-war or a racist. The reason people like you label him Islamophobic and racist is because he refuses to ignore human rights abuses carried out in Muslim countries and because you believe to highlight such abuses in those countries is somehow aligning onesself with the US neo cons.

Tatchell was one of the loudest voices opposing the US led invasion of Iraq but he favoured outsting Sadam so he was labled as pro war and neo con by many of the anti-war lobby.

I opposed the war but believed Iraq but believed Saddam to be a brutal dictator...does that make me pro war and racist???

Tatchell gets smeared as racist and Islamophobic because he doesn't hold the view that because Muslims are victims of racism and Islamophobia to criticise anything they say and do amounts to racism and Islamophobia.
He will stand shoulder to shoulder against Muslims in the face of racist intolerant bullshit but he won't turn a blind eye when some Muslims come out with racist and intolerant bullshit themselves.

Many on the left wrongly believe that in order to show solidarity with oppressed minorities against racism oppresion and war you must equivicate if some within those minorities act in a racism manner which oppresses others. This is deeply misguided.

Like it or not Iran has a nasty repressive regime. But speeking out against it doesn't mean you are a pro war neo con loon who wants to bomb the country to kingdom come. Backing trade union movements within the country would be far better.

You say you want Tatchell sacked...so he cant say anything you disagree with!


Dan Factor
mail e-mail: danfactor@lycos.com


Ttchell is a racist

18.10.2007 06:26


As a gay Muslim, I am sick and tired of middle class, middle aged white men like Tatchell telling people like me what we should do and how we should react while they're going around kicking Muslims in the teeth. Peter I have to completely disagree with you. You say you do not want to stoke anti-Islamic feeling but when you hear increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric in the gay press you have to ask yourself how Outrage has contributed to it. In my opinion and given all of the press releases sent out by Outrage I have to say as a Muslim your press releases stink of anti-Islamic insinuation that the media (including the gay media) reeks of these days. This sickening wave of Islamaphobia started by Tatchell and dressed up as gay rights. I think its a crude way of fighting and makes our job harder.

Hassan Eloutmani


Hassan

18.10.2007 15:37

Hassan Eloutmani, Tatchell isn't anti-Muslim but anti-homophobic Muslims. The same way he isn't anti-Christian but anti-homophobic Christian.

He will stand side by side with Muslims against racism and war but if those Muslims start hurling homophobic abuse at him he won't just ignore it and won't think to respond to that abuse is "racism"

Hassan you say you are a gay Muslim. Surely you must know that many other Muslims will dissparove of your lifestyle. There may even be some who would say you are goind to Hell (the same as some Christians would say to gay Christians), how would you respond to that?
Would you just ignore it because you feel to defend yourself against such attacks would be siding with "racists" such as Tatchell?


Dan Factor
mail e-mail: danfactor@lycos.com


Smear campaign against Peter Tatchell

26.10.2007 12:02

Smear campaign against Peter Tatchell

We understand that a significant number of people have been emailed a series of unfounded and defamatory allegations against the human rights campaigner and Green Party parliamentary candidate for Oxford East, Peter Tatchell.

They include entirely false allegations that Peter Tatchell is anti-Muslim, supported the Iraq war, opposes the rights of the Palestinian people and advocates a military strike on Iran.

These wild, untrue allegations against Peter were emailed last week by Karl Khan / Stelios Ioannou. They are being made by a person who is a member of the Respect Party. They are part of a sectarian campaign to gain political advantage by smearing Peter Tatchell and the Green Party.

The charge of Islamophobia is particularly reprehensible, since half the prisoners and asylum seekers that Peter is helping – gay and straight – are Muslim. Peter has campaigned against fundamentalists in all religions, never against people of faith in general. He has supported, at considerable risk to his own safety, many Muslims who have been victims of violent attack by fundamentalists, both in Britain and aboard.

The suggestion that Peter is anti-Palestinian is equally absurd. He was a founding member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in 1982. He has campaigned for nearly 40 years against Israel’s illegal occupation and for an independent Palestinian state.

He has consistently opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and US preparations for war on Iran.

If you are in any doubt, we would advise you to go to Peter Tatchell's website:

www.petertatchell.net

Please read Tatchell in his own words. Thousands of his articles, speeches and news releases are archived there. None support the Iraq war or an attack on Iran. None back George Bush or the neo cons. None are racist or Islamophobic. None support Zionism or imperialism, as Karl Khan / Stelios Ioannou claims.

You can also read the archive of Tatchell's Guardian articles here:

 http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/peter_tatchell/

Again, none of these articles support any of the outrageous defamatory allegations made by Karl / Stelios.

You can also read a biography of Tatchell here, which shows that Tatchell is the exact opposite of Karl / Stelios's misrepresentations:

 http://www.petertatchell.net/biography/biography2007.htm

Read this and judge for yourself. You will see that Karl / Stelios is resorting to dirty political tricks to gain political advantage and to discredit a person who has worked for human liberation – for all people everywhere – for 40 years.

Finally, please view Peter’s weekly TV interview show, Talking with Tatchell. You can view the archived programmes on demand.

Here is a link to his recent programme, exposing western plans to grab Iraq’s oil:

 http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=21823ee38fceff045714a5dccc4775d7

On the right-hand side of the screen you can scroll up and down to view on demand the entire archive of Peter’s TV programmes.

Best wishes and solidarity!

Friends of Peter Tatchell

Amelia G


Karl Khan / Stelios - bizarre, ill-founded claims

26.10.2007 12:32

If Peter Tatchell is pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian, as Karl Khan / Stelios claims, why are the Zionists denouncing Tatchell?

See the attack on Tatchell and others in The Jerusalem Post, made by the pro-Israel hawk, Alan Dershowitz':

 http://blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=7&blog_id=59&blog_post_id=1605


According to Dershowitz:

"Peter Tatchell who is a member of the gay rights group called Out Rage! and of the extreme left-wing of the green party. He too is virulently anti-Israel and favors boycotts of the "the oppressive Israel state."

Karl Khan / Stelios is obviously talking nonsense with his increasingly bizarre, ill-founded claims that Tatchell is anti-Palestinian.

Maggers


Stelious labels Tatchell pro-neo con because...

27.10.2007 14:25

he refuses to believe that opposing imperalism means being a paid up fan club member of the government of every country that America has in it's sights.

Being imposed to the Iraq war means being pro-Saddam. In Stelious eyes if you arn't Saddam's number one fan you are pro-Bush pro-war

Bullshit!

Iran is a fucked up country with a fucked up government. Dropping bombs on the heads of Iranians won't help them but niether will refusing to speek out against them in case you are seen as Islamophobic.

Dan Factor
mail e-mail: danfactor@lycos.com


The other side

06.11.2007 02:44

You've read Tatchell account and the JPost account of the Al-Quds Day demo, now read the other side:

1. Full account including all speeches in mp3 (Galloway, etc) and 40 minute video

 http://www.inminds.co.uk/qudsday2007.php

2. A report on the counter-demo organized by Tatchell, the neo-cons at Harry's Place, Workers Liberty, zionists, etc:

 http://www.inminds.co.uk/article.php?id=10214

Its a real eye opener.

observer