Dear friend
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain would like to make public its support for Tom Holland’s Channel 4 documentary 'Islam: The Untold Story' (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/islam-the-untold-story/4od). We are indignant to learn that due to threats made on Holland, Channel 4 has cancelled a repeat screening of the historical inquiry into the origins of Islam similar to the kind of inquiry that has been applied to other religions and histories in Britain for many years.
The threats and concerted
attempt to stigmatise the documentary and its producers by attacking its
credibility and even legitimacy as a field of inquiry is nothing less than an attempt
to impose a blasphemy taboo by stealth and coercion against programming that
scrutinises Islam.
Caving in to the coercive
pressure of Islamists will have catastrophic effects on free inquiry and
expression where it pertains to Islam. It would not only further silence
academic, historical and theological scrutiny of Islam but would also have the
chilling effect of exerting added pressure on Muslims and ex-Muslims who wish
to dissent from and question Islam.
CEMB spokesperson Maryam
Namazie says:
“Here’s my question to
Channel 4: what about the threats on our lives for being apostates, ex-Muslims,
atheists, freethinkers, secularists, 21st century human beings?
“What part of our thoughts,
lives, and bodies do you recommend we cancel to appease the Islamists?
“If only there was such an
‘easy’ ‘solution’ for those who are languishing under Islam’s rules.
“You may accept censorship
and cowardly silence in the face of Islamist threats and intimidation but we
cannot afford to do so. And we never will.”
The CEMB urges you to view
the documentary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm8xKh8eQqU or http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=578_1347455615&comments=1)
and write to Channel 4 and Ofcom (contact information below) calling for a
repeat screening.
We look forward
to your support.
NOTES:
1. If
you’d like to donate to our work, please send a cheque made payable to CEMB to
BM Box 1919, London WC1N 3XX, UK or give via Worldpay or Paypal: http://ex-muslim.org.uk/donate/.
2. If you’d like to join a
new coffee morning for ex-Muslim women, please email the CEMB at exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com.
3. See Maryam Namazie’s
speech at the 5th anniversary celebration of the CEMB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQrBA9Gyeg&feature=player_embedded.
4. Join the active CEMB
forum: http://www.councilofexmuslims.com/
5. Addresses for Channel 4
and Ofcom:
Lord Burns, Channel 4
Chairperson, Channel 4 Television Corporation, 124 Horseferry Road, London
SW1P 2TX
Avi Grewal,
Programme Coordinator, Arts & Religion, agrewal@channel4.co.uk
Mark Raphael,
Emma Cooper, Lina Prestwood, Anna Miralis, Commissioning Editors,
Documentaries, KHall@channel4.co.uk
Ed Richards, Chief Executive
of Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1
9HA, ofcomnews@ofcom.org.uk
6. For further information
contact:
Maryam Namazie
Spokesperson
Council of Ex-Muslims of
Britain
BM Box 1919
London WC1N 3XX
telephone: +44(0)7719166731
e-mail: ex-muslimcouncil@googlemail.com
website: www.ex-muslim.org.uk
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