Experts warn of government ‘fear and paralysis’ over tackling Islamist antisemitism

Despite a growing understanding of the problem, there is a “crisis” of inaction and “fear” at a government level when it comes to tackling Islamist antisemitism, according to experts on extremism.

Speaking at an event at King’s College London, hosted by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, a panel of experts expressed concern over the rise of political movements that claim to speak for Islam as a whole, organise within Muslim communities, and embrace antisemitic and anti-democratic values.

Dr Charlotte Littlewood, fellow of the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, told the panel that antisemitism is being deliberately used as a political tool by Islamist movements, particularly those inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, to advance their long-term goal of reshaping Western societies, according to Islamist ideology.

“I think we’re in a terrible place. I can’t express that enough,” she said.

“I actually hate to say this. I’ve been working in government, alongside government, and outside government for 10 years. Of all the work that’s been done on Islamism and antisemitism, not a single one of our policy recommendations has been adopted. We’re at a point now where antisemitism, I think, has crossed a line that’s very difficult to walk back from.”

She said over the years, key Islamist thinkers and leaders had deliberately adopted left-wing and liberal language to make their message more appealing to non-Muslims and progressive Western audiences.

“We’re seeing it on student campuses, and in coalitions—even in the 1990s—between the Stop the War Coalition, the Socialist Workers Party, and the Muslim Association of Britain. Now what we see are young, ‘hip’ Islamists on media platforms like 5Pillars, with thousands of followers on YouTube, forming alliances with left-wing activists or even conspiracy theorists like David Miller.”

Littlewood argued that platforms like 5Pillars demonstrate how Islamist movements use antisemitism strategically to influence Western society, particularly by forging unusual alliances between the far-left and the far-right.

“It’s really interesting because they are purposely working with both the far-right and the far-left, using antisemitism as a way to engage with both,” she said.

This mindset has spread to university campuses, where some students now circulate memes quoting a hadith (a religious saying) that describes Muslims killing Jews at the end of days—a text extremists sometimes cite to justify violence.

“My PhD tutor actually confronted a student who was sharing this meme and was then disciplined by the university for asking the student to remove it. The student shouted ‘Long live the resistance!’ at him. That tutor no longer works for the university,” she told the audience.

Littlewood warned that the alliance between Islamists and far-left movements and successive governments’ failure to address it could ultimately pave the way for the success of far-right parties in the UK.

On government awareness, she said: “My experience has been that there is more understanding than you might think from the outside looking in.”

However, she described consistent reluctance from officials to confront the issue.

“I’ve been told multiple times to ‘box clever’ when dealing with Islamism. I’ve also been told, ‘Don’t talk about that right now—it’s the run-up to a local election,’ or, ‘We’re not going to work with that community; we’ll probably lose votes this time.’”

She recalled being asked not to work with a marginalised Muslim minority group that was being bullied by Islamists in the lead-up to a local election, out of fear it might cost a candidate votes.

“I think the most worrying thing I found in my PhD study is the extent to which Islamist ideas have been normalised within the wider public,” she said.

She added that a “fear around discussing Islam or criticising parts of it” had led to the internalisation of Islamist ideas on both the far-left and the far-right.

“There is such a high level of antisemitism a really dark reason why it’s overlooked is partly ignorance, but largely it’s politics and fear.”

Organisers of the event acknowledged that we live in a time of increasing bigotry and racism against Muslims.

They emphasised that they “strongly contest the accusation sometimes levelled against Muslims as a whole, that their religion or their culture is essentially and unchangeably hostile to Jews or to democratic values.”

They added: “We should oppose antisemitism and anti-democratic politics. To do that effectively, it’s necessary to understand the particular forms that antisemitism and anti-democratic politics take in Muslim communities.”

In response to a question from the audience about what Muslim communities are doing to tackle Islamist antisemitism, Littlewood said it was “very hard to answer.”

“There’s a slight problem with the question itself, in that there is no single umbrella organisation representing all Muslim communities. They’re diverse, with different beliefs and practices. While some leaders engage in antisemitism themselves, others are standing up against it.”

In response to a question about certain figures expressing sympathy for, or forming alliances with, far-right individuals such as Tommy Robinson because of their pro-Israel stance, she said: “It’s dangerous and completely undermines one’s moral authority to associate or work with these people.

“It seems easy, it’s attractive. He has lots of followers, a presentation style that’s successful, and good engagement. Often, swimming with that current means being given a platform and a following. But it’s so important, especially now, to hold on to what’s left of the centre ground. He could turn on the Jewish community on a sixpence.”

Panelist Dr Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, Senior Lecturer in Terrorism and Radicalisation, said there was less willingness to talk about Islamist antisemitism now than there had been in the 1990s.

“There is incredible resistance to talking about these issues. I don’t think the government doesn’t understand; it does, but there’s resistance to identifying a uniquely Islamist version of antisemitism. They always want to say antisemitism comes from various sources, including the extreme right, because of fears of being accused of Islamophobia. I don’t think any government will describe it that way.”

He added: “I think we’re now in a state of crisis more than before.”

Daniel Allington, Research Fellow and Deputy Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism, said: “Some of the most spectacularly unapologetic examples of antisemitism we’ve seen have come from imams, in sermons from mosques.

“I’m talking about theological examinations of how the Battle of Khaybar, where Muhammad killed members of a rival Jewish tribe, brings a lesson to the present,’ or hadiths that call for Jews to be killed. These things have been very explicit and well reported, yet not a single charge has been brought. I can’t compute that. I can’t imagine it happening in any other context.”

Fellow panellist Martin Bright, journalist and former Observer home affairs editor, said that when he was an editor in the 1990s, there was “very little understanding” of Islamism.

“I think understanding has increased since then. But there are still serious electoral calculations to be made by the government, and in those terms, Jews really don’t count. The government is very much in favour of not talking about these issues.”

He said the government’s failure to address the issue not only lets down the Jewish community but also neglects young Muslims affected by it.

“It’s young Muslims who are damaged by this ideology. They are the ones dying in suicide bombings. They are the ones being excluded from mainstream society as a result of it.”

He added: “I would have loved to think that, all these years later, this issue would be more openly debated within Muslim communities, but that hasn’t really happened.

“I’d like to see more discussions in mosques and among Muslim MPs, but that just hasn’t transpired.”

He said traditional reporting that held government to account did have results in the 1990s and 2000s.

“We moved towards a greater understanding of what the Muslim Council of Britain really stood for. They were once a one-stop shop for government, but that ended. We were accused of Islamophobia because of that reporting, but I think it was the right decision by the government, and they’ve never been invited back in, despite huge pressure. Sometimes traditional journalism works.”

He rejected a suggestion from an audience member that Israel’s conduct in Gaza had made antisemitism worse.

“My view is that none of the conditions that exist now existed when we were writing about these Islamist groups in the 1990s and 2000s, and antisemitism was still strong. I don’t think Jews should have to take responsibility for ending the antisemitism directed against them.”