UK's Muslims under siege - minister

5:23am Friday 4th July 2008

A minister has warned that many British Muslims feel "like the Jews of Europe".

Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik, who is a minister in the Department for International Development, made it clear he was not comparing the situation experienced by Muslims to the plight of Jews during the Holocaust.

However, he suggested that targeting Muslims led to them feeling under siege.

This had the negative effects of segregating society and undermining efforts to deal with extremism and terrorism, he added.

Mr Malik, who revealed he had been the victim of religious hatred himself on a number of occasions, made the comments in an interview for a Channel 4 Dispatches programme.

He said: "I think most people would agree that if you ask Muslims today what do they feel like, they feel like the Jews of Europe.

"I don't mean to equate that with the Holocaust but in the way that it was legitimate almost - and still is in some parts - to target Jews, many Muslims would say that we feel the exact same way.

"Somehow there's a message out there that it's OK to target people as long as it's Muslims. And you don't have to worry about the facts, and people will turn a blind eye."

The documentary - which investigates whether the fear of terrorism has fuelled the rise of violence, intolerance and hatred against British Muslims - will be broadcast on Monday to coincide with the third anniversary of the July 7 London bombings.

Mr Malik's constituency in West Yorkshire was home to July 7 suicide bomber Mohammad Siddique Khan.

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