UNITED NATIONS, Jan 14: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday made an impassioned call to counter rising Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism, warning that complacency in the face of intolerance amounts to complicity.

Addressing an inaugural meeting of Robert Burns Memorial Lecture, Mr Annan criticized those who remain silent in the face of bigotry, saying 'such passivity must not be allowed to masquerade as tolerance.'

Mr Annan noted that Islamaphobia 'a new word for an old phenomenon' is one of the most disturbing manifestations of bigotry today. Since 9/11 'many Muslims, particularly in the West, have found themselves the objects of suspicion, harassment and discrimination,' he said, adding that too many people see Islam 'as a monolith, and as intrinsically opposed to the West.'

Contrasting this view, he pointed out that Western and Islamic people have a long history of commerce, of inter-mingling and inter-marrying, and of influencing and enriching each other's art, literature, science and much else.

'Despite a discourse of centuries, caricature remains widespread, and the gulf of ignorance is dangerously deep,' he warned. 'It would be unconscionable to add any further to the resentment and sense of injustice felt by members of one of the world's great religions, cultures and civilizations.'

Mr. Annan also pointed to anti-Semitism as 'another dangerous hatred' that blights the world. He called attention to the scars left by the history of persecution against the Jews, adding that a recent upsurge of attacks shows this hatred to be 'virulent still.'