LONDON (EJP)---One of Britain’s most controversial Muslim leaders has declared that there is "an enormous amount" that Muslims could learn from the way Jews have integrated into the UK.

He also has demanded an end to Islamic anti-Semitism, in what is being viewed as a remarkable move towards reconciliation between the two communities.

Inayat Bunglawala made his claims in an exclusive interview with the European Jewish Press (EJP) on Tuesday after becoming the first Muslim Council of Britain representative ever to address a major Jewish movement, when he spoke to the Jewish Community Centre for London (JCC) in the suburb of Hampstead on Monday night.

It marks an extraordinary turnaround for a man whose controversial rhetoric has left him accused of anti-Semitism in the past. His new attitude has been described by British Jewish community leaders as "ground-breaking".

Bunglawala’s past comments have included allegations that the British media is Jewish or Zionist-controlled. He also wrote to the BBC claiming the corporation had allowed "highly placed supporters of Israel" to "make capital out of the July 7 atrocities in London".

However in an interview with EJP, Bunglawala revealed that the MCB was in talks with the JCC about developing a grass-roots network of contacts between Jews and Muslims all over Britain to help end stereotype and discrimination between the two faiths.

Holocaust Memorial Day

He reiterated previous statements that the MCB may go back on its controversial position of failing to recognise Holocaust Memorial Day, which has led to fury from the Jewish community.

"In my view, it is high time that Muslims and Jews spoke about matters that they have in common," he said.

"Both are minority and faith communities, and both are suffering prejudice from the far right."

Claiming that the Muslim community had much to learn from the way Jews have integrated into Britain, he added: "There is an enormous amount that British Muslims can learn from the Jewish community, which has been here far far longer than most British Muslims. This includes how to integrate effectively, how to excel in terms of education, how to participate in the wider community.

"We are in discussion with the London Jewish Forum in terms of how to take this forward on the grass roots level around the country, and promote discussion between Jews and Muslims.

"We know that there have been some problem issues surrounding the Middle East which have divided us.

"But we do not want the Israel and Palestinian issue to be used as an excuse for us to fail."

Muslim anti-Semitism

In what represents perhaps the most remarkable turnaround in his previously uncompromising views, Bunglawala reiterated comments he made to the Jewish Chronicle last Friday that Muslims had to face up to anti-Semitism within their ranks.

"We have to be honest, and I think there has been a real danger - because passions are so heated around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - of genuine disputes over Israeli policies sliding to an easy, or casual, form of anti-Semitism," he said.

"Muslims as well as others ought to be cautious about that.
"It would be absurd if, after being on the receiving end of prejudice ourselves, we ended up being prejudiced ourselves."

Adding that the position of the MCB not to recognise the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day was under review, Bunglawala said: "We understand that our current position has caused some concern amongst the Jewish community in the UK, even some distress.

"We recognise that, and are discussing the situation internally to see if there is some scope to review this decision."

Moderate

The move by Bunglawala towards reconciliation is likely to be partly motivated by a desire to be seen in the moderate camp of the British Muslim community, and shed the MCB’s previous image of being too extreme.

The MCB has recently fallen out of favour with government ministers in the UK, who regard it as doing too little to combat Islamic radicalism within Britain. Ministers are currently working on a way of getting a greater amount of ethnic minority funding straight to communities themselves, and bypassing big organisations which they fear are doing too little to combat extremism.

However, Bunglawala claimed that the government’s cold position towards the MCB was motivated almost exclusively around the group’s claims that Tony Blair’s foreign policy had led to more radicalisation among British Muslims - a position bitterly contested by the Prime Minister.

"We know that the government is unhappy that the MCB has made it clear that we believe that the increase in radicalisation that we have seen in this country coming from Muslim youth can’t be disassociated from foreign policy," he told the EJP.

"The MCB won’t change its minds to please the government on this issue."
Bunglawala’s apparently conciliatory tone is all the more extraordinary when his past comments are examined.

These include the allegation that the British media is Jewish-controlled when, in 1992, he told a Muslim youth magazine: "The chairman of Carlton Communications is Michael Green of the Tribe of Judah. He has joined an elite club whose members include fellow Jews Michael Grade [then the chief executive of Channel 4 and now BBC chairman] and Alan Yentob [BBC2 controller and friend of Salman Rushdie]."

He has also previously accused the UK of being run by "Zionist" forces while as recently as summer 2005, in a letter to the BBC, he accused the corporation of allowing "highly placed supporters of Israel in the British media to make capital out of the July 7 atrocities in London".

Jewish leaders hail

Jewish community leaders, however, hailed the moves towards reconciliation on Monday night, when Mr Bunglawala shared a platform with Adrian Cohen, chairman of the London Jewish Forum, as well as the Independent journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Guardian columnist Jonathan Freeland.

"Following a ground-breaking meeting of the Jewish Community Centre for London (JCC), Jewish and Muslim leaders in London have agreed to meet again soon to identify ways to build grassroot ties between the two communities and consider a number of specific issues for on-going cooperation," Ben Rich, a JCC spokesman told the EJP.

"The meeting highlighted a number of shared interests across the two communities such as animal welfare and faith education, as well as the fight against racism in all its forms."