Well over fifteen months ago we commented here on an edition of BBC Radio 4’s “Beyond Belief” dealing with the subject of contemporary antisemitism which included a guest described by the presenter as “a social and political commentator” who, during the broadcast, promoted Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi as a source of “nuanced understanding”.
It is encouraging to see that others are finally catching on to Mohammed (‘Mo’) Ansar too and Nick Cohen’s recent piece on the subject is worth a read.
“Until recently programme makers were happy to oblige. Broadcasters made him the voice of British Islam, even though no electorate had voted for him, and no organisation had appointed him its spokesperson. Ansar was not an Islamic scholar. He had not published a book or led a movement. He was a planning manager at Lloyds-TSB in Winchester until 2006, and has had no visible means of support except appearance fees and state benefits for years.”
Read the rest of Nick Cohen’s article here.
Will BBC producers in future pay more attention to the subject of who they invite to appear on their various shows with such remarkable regularity? That remains to be seen, but if the case of Abdel Bari Atwan is anything to go by, it may perhaps be prudent to take Mo Ansar’s current media wane with some salt.