It seems that the laughably misnamed ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ did not like my last piece. Indeed the Khomeinist organisation has written to complain to my editor. Here is their letter:
Dear Sir, I note that Douglas Murray’s article published on your website yesterday has several points of concern. Most pressing is the fact that he suggests that the charity wing of IHRC organised the Islamophobia Awards. You are providing your readers will [sic] false information as this is not the case. I trust you will therefore make the correction immediately by removing all references to IHRC as a charity in the context of this article, which is all about the Islamophobia Awards. Additionally Murray implies that we are encouraging violence, which is a shameful accusation. This and other concerns will be raised in due course. Yours faithfully, Massoud Shadjareh Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission
Now I only publish this because it strikes me as a useful way to inform people of how groups like the IHRC behave. You see there are indeed two entities called the ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’. Is it perhaps the case that one is a Khomeinist organisation happily going about its business of mocking slain journalists while the other is an innocent charity wishing to have no dealings with such types?
Alas, no. There is indeed something called the IHRC Trust (which is a registered charity). There is also something called the IHRC Ltd company. But they are the same thing.
First of all, of course, they share the same name. Secondly they share the same address. The contact address for the IHRC Trust is given on the Charity Commission’s own website as:
202 PRESTON ROAD
WEMBLEY
HA9 8PA
This is exactly the same contact address as the one given for the IHRC Ltd which is chaired by Massoud Shadjareh (who is making the complaint that these two entities are separate).
Thirdly there is the fact that the Ltd company clearly and demonstrably raises funds for the Trust while the Trust then sends the funds back to the Ltd company in the form of a grant. So, for instance, we can see in the latest accounts under ‘Grants to IHRC Ltd’ the IHRC Trust lists the fact that during the year ended 30th June 2013 ‘IHRC (Charity) made monetary grants totalling up to £135,000 (144,500 – June 2012) to IHRC Ltd for various charitable projects undertaken on behalf of the Charity’.
Amusingly enough, at the bottom of his complaint to my editor, claiming that the IHRC Ltd company must not be confused with the IHRC Trust Mr Shadjareh’s email sign off includes an appeal for donations to…. the IHRC Trust. Massoud Shadjareh really must think that rather than being Britain’s oldest periodical The Spectator was in fact born yesterday.
Why do I bore readers with this tedious amount of detail? Really just to highlight that this is what organisations like the IHRC do. The group have just had a dinner where they have laughed at murdered journalists and smeared dead cartoonists. Not content with that they now try to shut down criticism of their organisation for doing this. They try it on with paper-thin waffle, complaining that it is outrageous that somebody could associate their left hand with their right hand. And we then all have to go round the merry dance of explaining to them what they perfectly well know already but were just hoping to get away with.
The IHRC are clearly nervous about their charitable status. I hope they have cause to be. They also seem to be nervous about any association with the awards that they run. Again I hope they have cause to be. The IHRC wants to have the right to laugh at and smear murdered journalists but then shut down anyone who criticises them. We certainly won’t let them get away with it.
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