Actually his name is Harry Cummins, but his articles in the Telegraph appeared under the name of Will. Jenny McCartney’s statement at the end of the article is interesting. What facts exactly did Cummins ignore? Why is it “hate speech” to point out that certain tenets of Islam are giving rise to terrorism? Even some Muslims acknowledge that. To speak of “the black heart of Islam” is to speak about Islam’s need for reform; it is not synonymous with “the black heart of Muslims.”
From The Guardian, with thanks to Nicolei:
A British Council official who assumed a pseudonym to write Sunday Telegraph articles attacking “the black heart of Islam” has been sacked.
The government-funded body, which recently commissioned a handbook on Islam “to prevent ignorant comments about Muslims being made in [the] national press”, said yesterday it had dismissed Harry Cummins, a senior press officer, after an internal investigation.
The author’s identity was unknown to all but the Sunday Telegraph’s executives until it was revealed by the Guardian’s diarist, Marina Hyde, four weeks ago, prompting a flood of complaints to the council from Muslim groups.
In his four articles, bylined Will Cummins, he compared Muslims to Nazis and argued that Muslim voters have a “global jihadi agenda”. One of his articles stated: “All Muslims, like all dogs, share certain characteristics.” Another argued: “It is the black heart of Islam, not its black face, to which millions object.”…
Are we expected to believe that Omar Bakri and his followers do not have a “global jihadi agenda”? Now who is letting his wishful thinking get in the way of the facts?
Nor was anyone available for comment at the Sunday Telegraph. But the articles have been publicly criticised by another writer on the paper. Columnist Jenny McCartney said of Mr Cummins: “He is not a man to let the facts get in the way of his vigorous pursuit of a bad argument. Inaccuracies and distortions abound.”