Monthly Archives: April 2005

It’s all French to Livingstone

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Letter in Morning Star, 2 April 2005

I know that Yasmin Qureshi came to Paris on behalf of her boss, the Mayor of London (Morning Star, March 23), but I don’t know why she bothered to cross the Channel.

Convinced, like Mayor Livingstone, that the one-hundred-year-old ban on the wearing of religious clothing or symbols in state schools is a bad thing, she only talked, as far as one can deduce from her article, with those who share the same point of view.

But the law insisting on strict secularity in schools and public agencies has the support of the large majority of French people.

And before this is dismissed as an indication of racism amongst the French, it should be understood that the law is supported by a majority of French Muslims, many of whom, particularly women, are the most fervent supporters of secular education.

It seems clear that Ms Qureshi didn’t find it worth her while to talk to anyone from the French Socialist Party, the trade unions, anti-racist organisations, to teachers, representatives of parent-teacher organisations, or from French women’s organisations, in particular Ni Putes Ni Soumises, all of which overwhelmingly back the law.

If she had, she probably wouldn’t have agreed with them, but she would at least have understood the reasoning of French progressives, and have been able to explain in her article the cultural and historical differences which lead French anti-racists and feminists to regard the stance of those like Ken Livingstone as ignorant and reactionary.

Her visit would also have been more useful to mutual understanding if she had talked not only to those close to Tariq Ramadan, hardly representative of French Muslims, but to the Rector of the Paris Mosque, or from the French Council of Muslims, who, though unhappy with the law, advised students to comply with it.

If so, readers might in future be spared the shrill, confused, but smug article by her boss (Morning Star, March 19) which verges on xenophobia in its regard of the French.

The London approach is neither the only nor necessarily the best way to encourage and celebrate multiculturalism.

Peter Duffy
Choisy le Roi, France

Robert Spencer on Tariq Ramadan’s appeal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Given that Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch has considerately announced that he is prepared to “encourage any Muslim individual or group who is willing to work publicly for the reform of the Islamic doctrines, theological tenets and laws”, you would think he’d welcome Tariq Ramadan’s appeal for a moratorium on hudud punishments, wouldn’t you? Well, only if you were naive enough to take Spencer’s statement seriously.

Dhimmi Watch, 2 April 2005

Muslim grave vandals spared jail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Three boys who desecrated dozens of Muslim graves have each been given 12-month rehabilitation orders. The trio, aged 14, 16, and 17, carried out the attacks in a cemetery in Charlton, south-east London, on 17 March last year. They were found guilty of conspiracy to commit religiously aggravated criminal damage at an earlier hearing.

A judge at Inner London Crown Court ordered them to wear electronic tags and be under curfew for three months. Judge Lindsay Burn at Inner London Crown Court said: “You agreed to go together into that cemetery and deliberately damage graves.

“The jury were convinced, and I am satisfied, that at least one of your motivations was hostility to the religious beliefs of those buried in that section of the cemetery, namely those of the Muslim faith. That in itself is extremely serious conduct.”

He told them their behaviour had caused great distress to the relatives of the deceased, and the public. Some of the graves vandalised belonged to children.

BBC News, 1 April 2005

Muslims fear Labour will again drop anti-religious hatred law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslims leaders Friday expressed fears that Prime Minister, Tony Blair, will renege on his pledge to outlaw the incitement of religious hatred by sacrificing the clause to rush through the rest of the Serious Organised Crime Agency Bill ahead of the general election.

The Prime Minister had assured the Muslim community in an exclusive interview with Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed J Versi, last month, that he would not drop the incitement to religious part of the Bill as the Government had done in December 2001, when they dropped incitement section (which was part of the anti-terror legislation) after opposition from the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

Chair of the Muslim Council of Britain Media Committee, Inayat Bunglawala, warned that there could be serious implications for Labour at the election if the new law was dropped for a second time for the sake of political expediency.

“Many Muslims find it inexplicable that the Government can quite easily pass laws that has a negative impact on the Muslim community but drop a vital piece of legislation to put faith groups on a par with race groups,” Bunglawala told The Muslim News.

“Muslim voters would feel deeply disappointed after receiving several assurances to put the incitement of religious hatred on the statute books,” he said, warning it would be a “regrettable move” by Labour, who had used its support for the legislation to distinguish the Party from the opposition voiced by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

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Fear and hatred of Muslims on increase in young generation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Children as young as 13 are displaying signs of Islamophobia and are voicing their support for the British National Party, researchers have found.

Young teenagers are increasingly saying they have negative views towards Muslims and do not want Islamic culture expressed in the classroom. The study of 1,500 students aged 13 to 24 was presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society in Manchester yesterday.

Researchers asked students from 14 secondary schools and one further education college in York for their views on Islam since 11 September 2001. Three of the schools were from the independent sector and the others came from a wide geographical and socio-economic area.

Nathalie Noret, the lead researcher, from York St John’s College, said: “The younger pupils were more likely to exhibit extreme views and Islamophobia than older students, and there were no differences between schools.” She added that Islamophobia was a “double whammy” as it discriminated against people not just on the basis of religion but also the colour of their skin.

Overall, 43 per cent of the participants said their attitudes towards Muslims had got worse or much worse since the attacks. A quarter said they had worsened still further since the invasion of Iraq.

Ten per cent of girls and 23 per cent of the boys said they would object to female Muslim school pupils wearing a hijab in the classroom.

When asked about the British National Party, almost 10 per cent said they either agreed or agreed strongly with the views of its far-right politicians, with 15 per cent saying they were neutral.

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