AS the snow melts away from our city streets, it paves the way for our hearts to be warmed by the onset of Valentine's Day on Saturday – a harmless annual opportunity for people to show love and affection towards spouses and partners by exchanging cards and giving flowers.

But as always, there are many who just take life too seriously. Muslim cleric Anjem Chaudhry is one of those poor souls. His comments on his website have been widely reported in the media. He lambasted the celebration of Valentine's Day as "a futile and evil festival" and condemned anyone who joins in as opening the "door to the devil".

Anjem was once leader of the now banned group al-Muhajiroun. It never had more than 100 members nationwide, but still managed to get lots of media attention.

Anjem has a proud record of making seriously silly statements. In December, he said that Christmas was "the pathway to hellfire" and that "Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited". Bah humbug!

The apple never falls far from the tree. Anjem's mentor and group-founder is Omar Bakri, currently living in exile in Lebanon. Even from what could safely be deemed a safe distance, Mr Bakri is able to make daft edicts that make for headline news here in the UK; he recently riled against anyone who bought the Heroes single from the X Factor TV series.

What supposedly religious conservatives are doing watching X Factor, hanging on Simon Cowell's every word, is beyond me, but clearly they have too much time on their hands and take themselves far, far too seriously. Or perhaps the truth lies in the fact that by making such nonsensical, utterly pointless statements, they know they are guaranteed the media coverage they so desperately crave.

I have to confess, though, that it is a little disconcerting, and a worry, albeit remote, to know that Valentine's Day is becoming more and more popular. Is it because it is an opportunity for people who are otherwise too busy for the rest of the year to tell their nearest and dearest, "I love you"?

Are we too busy to show our affections on a daily basis that we are increasingly having to rely on a special day, to be set aside especially for that purpose, to remind us? Are we really too busy to tell the people we care for how deeply we care for them? Are we becoming too preoccupied with life to remember why we live, and who we live for?

But, for me, one of the most inspiring messages for Valentine's Day will surely be this one: the Bristol Muslim communities are helping to ensure that our great city is going to be represented on the nationwide effort to send a "Valentine4Palestine".

One truck from Bristol, packed with humanitarian aid, will now join a land convoy of more than 100 vehicles from around the UK taking aid to Gaza. They will leave on Saturday. And as I predicted last week, Bristol saw one of the biggest peace marches the city has ever seen to protest against the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza.

The message for the people of Gaza, contained in the "Valentine4Palestine", is simple: "We will never forget you."