By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
Under the move, groups labeled “extremist” will be barred from contact with government officials and unable to receive government funding.
Cage International, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), and Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND) were among the several prominent UK Muslim groups named by Government Minister Michael Gove in Parliament on Thursday during his new extremism definition announcement.
The “updated and more precise definition of extremism will be used by government departments and officials alongside a set of engagement principles, to ensure they are not inadvertently providing a platform, funding or legitimacy to groups or individuals who attempt to advance extremist ideologies that negate our fundamental rights and freedoms and overturn the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy,” an official government statement said.
Under the move, groups labeled “extremist” will be barred from contact with government officials and unable to receive government funding.
Joint Statement: Michael Gove’s Extremism Announcement is an Authoritarian Threat to Society that We will Resist https://t.co/XZEFI2IvNy
— pomozme ukrajine (@pomozmeukrajine) March 14, 2024
Cage International, in a joint statement with other organizations such as Palestine Action, said Gove’s announcement “is a continuation of the decades-long strategy aimed at inciting and exploiting fears against Muslims to build an authoritarian and repressive infrastructure that suppresses any dissent that is not licensed by Whitehall.”
The organizations’ demands included that the Government “be held to account for aiding and abetting the Genocide in Gaza and weaponizing ‘extremism’ to shield itself.”
“Collectively we will explore all avenues, including legal, to challenge the Government’s deep dive into authoritarianism,” the statement said.
It was signed by Black Live Matters UK, Workers for a Free Palestine, London Student Action for Palestine, and Palestine Youth Movement, amongst others.
Michael Gove knew he had no grounds to ban or sanction any of the peaceful Muslim groups mentioned in Parliament yesterday so his intention was simply to intimidate and isolate these groups and scare Muslims into not supporting them.
But we must do the opposite and we must do it…
— Roshan M Salih (@RmSalih) March 15, 2024
‘Guise of Countering Extremism’
The MAB deemed the announcement “an egregious assault on civil liberties and a blatant effort to stifle dissenting voices under the guise of countering extremism.”
It said on X: “If Gove is confident in his views about the Muslim Association of Britain and other organizations, alleging extremist views and a threat to UK society, we challenge him to state them outside parliament.”
“However, due to the fear of legal challenges, we know he lacks the courage to do so,” the organization said.
In a press release, MEND slammed the new definition as “a blatant attack on civil liberties and free speech.”
“It is a highly politicized and undemocratic polemic aimed at trying to exclude and ostracize peaceful and law-abiding Muslim organizations that have been critical of the government from having a voice,” the statement added.
Sir Sigmund Sternberg created many Zionist groups which worked with, indeed were funded to the tune of millions of pounds by, the British government – under the guise of counter-extremism or interfaith work.
Michael Gove is now in charge of that budget!
@PDeclassified pic.twitter.com/WJwSWtVkzx
— David Miller (@Tracking_Power) March 15, 2024
Islamophobic Views
MEND CEO Azhar Qayum challenged Gove “to repeat his claims outside of parliament and without the protection of parliamentary privilege if he believes he can provide the evidence to back up his view that MEND has called for the establishment of an ‘Islamic state governed by sharia law’.”
The organization said, “Gove himself has a long track record of Islamophobic views and associations.”
“In a General Election year, it is clear that Gove and the Conservative party are pursuing culture wars, politicizing extremism for electoral gain to pander to a far right electorate,” the statement added.
It said, “Defining extremism requires a calm, measured and cross-party approach and should not be used as a political football to target marginalized groups.”
Under the new definition, extremism is “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance” that “aims to (1) negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others or (2) undermine, overturn, or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights, or (3) intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
