UK police force promotes “Islamophobia Awareness Month” with Islamic State hand signal
The signal of the index finger held up is, of course, used in myriad contexts, but it has become associated with a declaration of the oneness of Allah and allegiance to the Islamic State. And now we learn that a company linked to Islamic jihadists gave the witless Bedfordshire Police the logo it was using for “Islamophobia Awareness Week.” Coincidence? Unlikely.
Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) must have known: this signal has been known to be a sign of allegiance to the Islamic State for almost as long as there has been an Islamic State. It has been described as the group’s “ubiquitous hand signal.” It strains credulity to think that a Muslim in November 2016 who is upset about “Islamophobia” doesn’t know its significance as a sign of support for the Islamic State.
“Police force deletes its Twitter posts promoting Islamophobia Awareness Month after using a logo similar to a hand gesture popular with ISIS jihadis,” by Sam Tonkin, Mailonline, November 16, 2016:
A police force has deleted Twitter posts about Islamophobia Awareness Month after users pointed out its logo was similar to a hand gesture popular with ISIS jihadis.
Bedfordshire Police defended its use of the logo by saying it was done ‘in good faith’ in support of a campaign led by Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend).
The force has since confirmed to MailOnline that the logo was produced by Mend, a not-for-profit company accused in the past of having links to extremists.
Bedfordshire Police tweeted its support for the annual campaign yesterday afternoon but removed the offending social media posts today after a public outcry.
However, Mend has since called on the force to reconsider its decision, adding: ‘We would not consider removing symbols such as the crucifix or St George’s cross from use in national campaigns simply because they are frequently abused by far right and Neo Nazi movements.’
The logo features a hand with the index finger pointing upwards, a favoured gesture of followers of ISIS in propaganda photographs.
But Mend say the finger is a common symbol for the letter ‘I’ which represents Islamophobia.
Despite this explanation, hundreds of Twitter and Facebook users pointed out the ISIS connection to Bedfordshire Police, with one accusing the force of ‘naivety’….
