A website has defended a message urging British Muslims to contact prominent British Jews to protest at the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The post was made during a discussion on Ummah, an Islamic internet forum. A member suggested that people who featured a list of influential Jews - including David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary - should be reminded of the plight of the Palestinian people.Among other prominent Jews featured on the list were Lord Levy, the pop music producer Mark Ronson, the lawyer Anthony Julius, and the businessman and television personality Alan Sugar.
A link to the list, which was first published by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, was posted by a member of the forum using the name Saladin1970. He wrote: "It would be beneficial to start compiling a list so that we can write polite letters reminding them of the injustices of Israel and to stop supporting Israel."
After some discussion, another member, using the name Abuislam, asked: "Have we got list of top Jews and supporters yet we can target? Can someone start posting names and addresses."
Saladin1970 later replied: "The best thing to do is not to contact them directly", adding that Muslim groups should boycott those named and connected businesses.
A spokesman for the website denied claims made in a newspaper report that the post represented a "Hate hit list" and that it encouraged readers to attack those named. He claimed that an examination of the website's records showed that the username Abuislam was registered to a freelance journalist, whose real name was known to them and who had "decided to pose as a Muslim to make Muslims look bad".
| Abraham. Posing as a Muslim. Like, "Hymie" wasn't available. Jeez. |
"Clearly, most people will realise that this thread is about a peaceful form of campaigning against the state of Israel by writing 'polite' letters to well-known and wealthy supporters of the state asking them to withdraw that support and encouraging Muslims not to do business nor work with them until they do."
He told The Daily Telegraph that any messages endorsing attacks against Jews "would be immediately removed" from the site, on which a large number of Islamist, anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist messages were found to be on display on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier a report by the Community Security Trust, which gives safety advice to British Jews, said there had been an increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents since the start of the conflict.