More than a hundred British lawmakers have signed on to an open letter excoriating The Sun, a tabloid newspaper, for a recent article decrying what it called the “Muslim problem.”
The letter, which had the backing of 107 MPs from across the political spectrum, came on the heels of a joint declaration by the British Board of Jewish Deputies and local Muslim organizations stating that the use of such language "sets a dangerous precedent, and harks back to the use of the phrase ‘The Jewish Problem’ in the last century, to which the Nazis responded with ‘The Final Solution’ – the Holocaust.”
According to a spokesperson, the Board was “horrified” by the article and demanded a full retraction, adding that the Jewish organization also called for the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the country’s main press regulator, to condemn the controversial article.
"We will not tolerate indiscriminate attacks in the media on any faith community,” the spokesperson said.
Writing in The Sun, author Trevor Kavanagh questioned the validity of Middle Eastern immigration to Europe, calling migrants “so-called refugees” and asking what would be done after Britain’s exit from the European Union when it would “be back in charge of immigration.” “What will we do about the Muslim Problem then,” he asked."
"There is little doubt (especially with the capitalisation of the three words) that Kavanagh was intentionally comparing Muslims to the “The Jewish Problem”: a phrase used in the last century, to which the Nazis responded with the “Final Solution” - the Holocaust, as outlined by the Board of Deputies of British Jews in their compliant letter to Ipso,” the MPs wrote.
“It is shocking that in the 21st century a columnist is using such Nazi-like terminology about a minority community. We are sure that you are aware how media reporting about Islam and Muslims has created an atmosphere of hostility against Muslims and that hate crime against Muslims is on the rise. Muslims currently face threats from far right and neo-Nazi groups in the UK and your publication of this article can therefore only be seen as an attempt to further stoke up hatred and hostility against Muslims.”
This is the second time in the span of a month that the Board has condemned an inflammatory article. In late July, Board President Jonathan Arkush termed an op-ed in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times “disgraceful” due to its intimation that Jews are greedy. That article was defended by the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland which asserted that the author, who it described as using a "curmudgeonly, cranky, idiosyncratic style,” had "inadvertently stumbled into an anti-Semitic trope.”