The extremism I saw destroy Iran is taking root in Britain

What message did this send? That disruption works. That intimidation works. That if you protest loudly enough, policy will bend.

This is how we have arrived at a moment where MPs are elected not for representing local communities, but for exploiting a foreign conflict. Type “Gaza MP UK” into Google, and up pops Ayoub Khan, an elected MP in Birmingham, Perry Barr, described in exactly those terms. This is not multiculturalism. This is a corruption of democratic representation – where instead of addressing the needs of British constituencies, politicians treat them as platforms for overseas causes.

We should not be afraid to say openly what many British Muslims already discuss privately, that the Palestinian issue is being hijacked by extremists to advance an agenda that has nothing to do with peace, coexistence, or British values.

Since the barbaric October 7 attack by Hamas, innocent lives have been lost on both sides. Every civilian death, Israeli or Palestinian, is a tragedy. But what is unfolding in Britain is the political exploitation of this human catastrophe, twisting in the process the democratic values on which this country was built.

Extremists who have spent years spreading radical Islamist ideology, bending truth through selective narratives, and manipulating emotions have seized this moment to drive their agenda deeper into British society. They howl about Palestinian suffering when Israel defends itself, yet were silent when Hamas executed Palestinian children, tortured dissidents, or used civilians as human shields. This selective outrage tells us everything. This is not solidarity with Palestinians. It is ideological opportunism.

Meanwhile, British Jews face the worst wave of hatred in living memory. A terror attack in Manchester claimed two congregants on Yom Kippur. Synagogues and schools are fortifying their defences. Israeli football fans are prevented from attending fixtures in our country. Protestors chant slogans openly calling for Israel’s destruction – words that should never be heard on British streets.

I am a Muslim woman. My faith teaches peace, dignity and justice. Precisely because of that faith – and because of my experience – I stand with the Jewish community and with Israel.

As this atmosphere intensifies, politicians ride this wave of anger straight into Parliament, treating a foreign conflict as a domestic election strategy. This is not a humanitarian concern. This is not justice. This is the exploitation of suffering thousands of miles away for political gain at home. And with every step the silent majority retreats, extremists take two steps forward.

I speak not only as a councillor in Coventry but as an Iranian-British Muslim woman who has lived through the rise of extremism once before. Iran is one of the richest, most sophisticated, and most ancient civilisations on earth. In the space of just 47 years, less than a lifetime, it has been turned into a place of slaughter, repression, and fear, claiming the grim distinctions of the world’s largest state-sponsor of terrorism and antisemitism and the highest execution rate per capita. The world watched it unfold; I lived through its beginnings.

Extremism did not arrive overnight. It crept in slowly, through slogans, through identity politics, through the normalisation of hatred. It began with antisemitism. It began with blaming the Jews for every national problem. It began with mobs shouting in the streets while the moderate majority stayed silent.

My father, a proud Green Beret trained in the Royal Navy, brought us back to Britain for safety. He believed this country was a sanctuary – a place where democracy and law stood firm. Yet today, the same extreme ideas that destroyed Iran are taking root here: the demonisation of Jews, the glorification of political violence, the pressure to submit to radical orthodoxies, and the silencing of dissent.

As someone who has seen what happens when extremism takes hold, I say this plainly: the danger is not approaching – it has arrived. If we fail to act, it will spread faster than we imagine.

I recognise the pattern. I watched it destroy my country of birth. When antisemitism rises, a society is already sick. Jews are always the first target but never the last. What begins with them eventually consumes everyone.

The warning here is not about individuals but about our national character. Radicals speak loudly; moderates whisper. Democracy pays the price.

Britain is still a free nation, but freedom survives only when defended. This is the moment for the silent majority to find its voice – to speak up for British values, coexistence, the rule of law and basic decency. To reject imported hatred before it becomes embedded hatred.

If we want our children to inherit the Britain we love, we must stand up now – before extremists finish rewriting it in their image.