Cartoonists are under intense pressure to be more “patriotic”, and those who refuse to comply are getting death threats and their work dropped. Can you imagine this level of prejudice in Britain except on the pages of one or two hooligan columnists? Even the lady not for turning, Julie Burchill, has said she will not be writing the sort of anti-Muslim tirades that she used to write with relish.What I fear is that British Muslims eager to make themselves as influential as British Jews are picking up bad lessons with the good. It would be a shame if the media could not reprove any Muslim individual or institution or country because they would be accused of Islamaphobia. This only leads to a paralysis of debate and moral judgement. It is what the Chief Rabbi and the Jewish Board of Deputies and the Israeli lobbyists have managed to do with deadly effectiveness.

I am still getting letters from brawny Zionists wishing me hell on earth for saying, many moons ago, I would boycott Israeli goods because of Sharon’s policies.We must not follow suit. We must allow people to investigate human rights abuses, criminal behaviour, dodgy religious messages and bad governance within the Muslim world in Europe and beyond. We can be grown up enough to be able to take criticisms that are based on evidence while demanding the right not to be misjudged and misrepresented. Just look at the brave Jewish dissidents today – people such as Professor Jacqueline Rose, whose critical film on US support for Israel was shown on Channel 4 on Saturday – to see how to strike that difficult balance.If British Muslims can move out from behind their paranoia the future could be extraordinary. For the first time ever, black- and Asian-led programmes have arrived.

The Kumars at No 42, White Teeth and Bollywood extravaganzas are not minority-interest consolation prizes Big money and big audiences back them. Black, Asian and devout Muslim critics, columnists, comedians and artists are coming up fast and in the mainstream None of them will surrender the right to say what they think or find. Will the Muslim leadership also accuse them of endemic Islamaphobia? And if they do, do they deserve anything but derision?y.alibhai-brown independent.co.uk
More from Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. It was inevitable that the Soham murders would reopen the death penalty debate. It was also inevitable that the debating would be conducted with far more heat than light No issue is more polarising than the penalty of death. Hangers and abolitionists are equally reluctant to acknowledge any merits in the opposing case. Trying to clarify them is not only an interesting exercise; it could throw light on the entire criminal justice debate.The naivety prize must go to those who believe that there would be a direct link between the reintroduction of the death penalty and the deterrence of murder This is nonsense, for two reasons.