Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, will speak out against Islamophobia in Britain at a time when the Prime Minister seems set to escalate UK intervention in Afghanistan. Ms Hudson will join an influential list of speakers from many faiths and political persuasions at this evening’s Rally to Defend Religious Freedom, organised by the British Muslim Initiative.

The rally will take place on Monday 20th November 2006 at Westminster Central Hall, Westminster, London, SW1H 9NH, from 6pm to 9.30pm. It is supported by many organisations including the Muslim Council of Britain, Mayor of London, Pax Christi, Stop the War Coalition, National Assembly Against Racism and the 1990 Trust.

Ms Hudson said, “It is a remarkable coincidence that government ministers are stoking a totally artificial wave of anti-Muslim hysteria at a time when the occupation of Iraq is understood to have been a criminal disaster in which over 600,000 Iraqis have died, and when the Prime Minister seems determined to increase British military involvement in Afghanistan.”

She continued, “This anti-Muslim hysteria is a diversion from the real issue of war and occupation, which angers not only Muslims but hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. It seems designed to deter British Muslims from political participation, and from exercising their democratic rights in their own country. British Muslims have every right to join with the peace movement in demanding an end to this failed war.”

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