Muslims falling prey to hate in West: Pundit

Press TV has interviewed Massoud Shadjareh, the head of the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), in London, to discuss the recent anti-Muslim remarks by the US Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: First of all, let’s start off with Donald Trump’s recent comments. He is known for causing controversy and there are very few who do take his words seriously; however, that few that are taking his words seriously are creating an environment that is not very conducive for Muslims in the West right now.

Shadjareh: I think the issue here is [that] you know he is actually calculating this type of statement will give him popularity and the reality is that this is what is happening. He is extremely popular in the United States in comparison to other candidates and the reality is that what he is saying is not much different to what many people think because there has been a creation of environment of hate within the Western societies. I mean there is this environment which is actually feeding this type of statement and this type of statement is actually feeding on the environment of hate and you are seeing that is increasing on a daily basis.

And the rhetoric that is coming from the politicians against Trump is really not adequate enough. The reality is that the policy that other politicians who want to be seen as mainstream is actually also promoting this idea that it is Muslims who are needed to be answerable for what Daesh is doing rather than the fact Daesh was created by the West and their policies and that is really the heart of the matter. It is not just outrageous spokesperson like Trump, but it is the mainstream which is promoting the same ideology and same principles but in much better language and that is what is causing the problem.    

Press TV: Are you saying that when, for example, Barack Obama says that Islam and Muslims need to be protected and have nothing to do with terrorism, these are just words and his policy speak otherwise?

Shadjareh: Well, it is. Because you know when you look at the same time, they sort of passed a legislation that people from certain countries will not be able to go automatically into the United States and those countries are Iran, Sudan; you know countries who really have got no connection [with Daesh]. If you are going to really deal with the intelligence of people who are going and joining Daesh, you really need to go for Tunisia; you need to go for Saudi Arabia; you need to go for Turkey. But the reality is that they are playing on the fears and on the phobias rather than real issues and that strengthens the idea, a false idea, that this is something to do with this type of extremism and that type of extremism.

You know I think what we are seeing even in Britain so forth, the legislation that are being passed all the time, the rhetoric that comes from politicians, it actually all geared towards Muslims to be the cause and the problem. And even the way that Trump has been sort of attacked by other politicians is not adequate enough; I mean really if he [had] said the same thing regarding the Jewish community, would we have had a debate on this issue or actually dealt with this? 

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