Commenting on the news that President Trump has retweeted discredited Britain First material, Dr Abdullah Sahin, Reader in Islamic Education in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU), said: "I am shocked to see someone who has been entrusted with the leadership of the free democratic world re-tweet these unsubstantiated materials that openly promote hate and prejudice against Islam and Muslims.

"White House officials are trying to defend the re-tweets with the rhetoric that they highlight the danger of Islamist extremism against the Western values and way of life. On the contrary, it plays straight into the hands of extremists and unfortunately offers a justification for the false narrative that the West is waging a war against Islam and Muslims.

"What is also concerning is the fact that there seems to be no awareness that one cannot fight with religious extremism with another form of extremism, bigotry and intolerance.

"I am deeply concerned that this reckless behavior gravely hinders all of our efforts to create awareness within our communities to fight against religious extremism and join efforts to promote the values of tolerance, peace and justice that we all desperately need today."

30 November 2017

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