A sane voice in the Muslim community
THE TIMES: The Giraffe Heroes Project is an American organisation that celebrates the lives of ordinary people who stick their necks out for the common good. As its president, Anne Medlock, writes: “In stories back to the dawn of time, the healing of the wasteland has come only when someone refuses to be passive and summons up the courage to ignore all the naysayers, go forth, and slay whatever dragon has scared everybody else into terrified passivity. We need those brave blazers of trails, those people who are true heroes.”

So let me nominate a new Giraffe Hero: Gina Khan. The dragon that has scared everybody else into terrified passivity is Muslim extremism. But Ms Khan, an ordinary Birmingham-born mother of two, has dared to speak out about the radicalism that has permeated her community. She refuses to be passive; she has summoned up the moral courage, at great risk to herself, to face down the jihadists who are giving Muslims a bad name.

You can read my interview with Ms Khan in today’s times2. With great frankness and fearlessness, she laments the capture of her area of Birmingham by jihadist radicals. She describes how mosques and madrassas have sprung up like mushrooms on almost every street corner, dedicated not to helping the community but to spreading the message of jihad; how preachers are indoctrinating the young to hate Christians and Jews; how her community is in denial about the radicals in its ranks; and how the mullahs collude in sanctioning forced marriages and polygamy.

“Open your eyes” is her message to nonMuslim Britain. “It’s all happening on your doorstep and Britain is still blind to the real threat that is embedded here now.” A courageous voice against the Muslim bullyboys by Mary Ann Sieghart

Mark Alexander