Muslim groups accuse the Daily Mail of inciting hatred after Richard Littlejohn 'Jolly Jihadi' column
A column by Daily Mail writer Richard Littlejohn titled ‘Jolly Jihadi’s Outing to Legoland’ has prompted Muslim groups to pen an open letter to editor Paul Dacre accusing Littlejohn of inciting hatred.
Controversial: Richard Littlejohn
In his Tuesday column, Littlejohn told how “radical Muslim cleric” Haitham al-Haddad had hired Legoland out for a “Family Fun Day” and went on to write up a mock itinerary of the day.
“Rear coach packed with explosives stops in Parliament Square,” Littlejohn wrote. “As Big Ben strikes ten, driver will blow himself up, en route to Paradise, where 72 virgins await.”
He added: “Practical demonstration on how to make an execution block out of Lego, for use when making internet videos showing beheading of infidels and apostates. Younger children will be taught how to build an Osama bin Laden doll out of Lego.”
Muslim groups, including the Muslim Council of Britain, have now responded with an open letter asking Dacre to retract the article and issue an apology.
“Mr Littlejohn may think he is humorous, satirical in fact,” the letter stated. “But there is nothing funny about inciting hatred. The language he deploys is exactly the same as those used by racists and the far-right.
“One needs only to peruse the comments below his article online to see the hatred against Muslims Mr Littlejohn has generated.”
It added: “As a cross section of Britain’s Muslim community, along with many of our fellow Britons, we state clearly and loudly that Mr Littlejohn’s article is the worst form of bigotry. This goes beyond causing offence. Your newspaper has published incitement to hate Muslims.”
Littlejohn has courted controversy before with his opinionated columns. In March last year, transgender schoolteacher Lucy Meadows – who had undergone a sex change shortly before – took her own life after national press coverage of her story. Littlejohn’s column about Meadows was pulled by the Daily Mail after complaints, and a coroner later slammed the media’s ‘character assassination’ of her before her death.