SALMAN RUSHDIE CONDEMNS MUSLIM HATEMONGERING

The author famous for being persecuted by the onetime ayatollah of Iran for daring to speak out against Islam has spoken out again:

Accusations of 'Islamophobia' are being levelled at anyone who dares to speak out against the "hate-filled rhetoric" of Islamic fanaticism, Salman Rushdie has claimed in a speech condemning Isil and "this new age of religious mayhem".

It's also worth noting how accusations of "homophobia" are being leveled at Judeo-Christian practitioners in the USA coupled with lawfare, yet never at Muslims.

Rushdie voiced his fears that the language of "jihadi-cool" is seducing young British Muslims, many via Twitter and YouTube, into joining the "decapitating barbarianism" of Isil, the group also referred to as Islamic State or Isis.

In his PEN/Pinter Prize Lecture, the author said all religions have their extremists but "the overwhelming weight of the problem lies in the world of Islam".

Last week, Isil beheaded taxi driver and charity worker Alan Henning, the latest Western hostage to die at their hands.

The so-called "jihadi-cool" image romanticises Isil, using rap videos and social networking to recruit followers - posing with AK-47s and bragging about their "five star jihad" in videos showing fighters lounging around in luxury villas as they urged the destruction of the West.

Indeed, the latest spate of jihadism has seen a rise in graphic murders, and the one that took place in Oklahoma a few weeks ago is just one of them. (Speaking of which, it turns out the culprit, Alton Nolan, was suspended from his job and not fired, as previously reported.) Some of this could be partly fueled by exploitation of social media, as some call it, and that's why more serious effort needs to be taken to prevent jihadists from exploiting online video and other systems for their indoctrination campaigns.

Rushdie's done the right thing to speak out again. Exploitation of rap music for jihad is only making things worse, and is downright creepy.