Monthly Archives: November 2006

Observer stitches up MPACUK

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“One of Britain’s most prominent speakers on Muslim issues is today exposed as a supporter of David Irving, the controversial historian who for years denied the Holocaust took place. Asghar Bukhari, a founder member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC), which describes itself as Britain’s largest Muslim civil rights group, sent money to Irving and urged Islamic websites to ask visitors to make donations to his fighting fund.”

Jamie Doward in the Observer, 19 November 2006

Except that, if you read the article, you find that all this took place back in 2000. Bukhari says that at that time he didn’t realise who Irving was and now describes his actions as “gravely mistaken”. So, in other words, he clearly isn’t “a supporter of David Irving”.

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Blair bid to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir ‘opposed’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fresh attempts by Tony Blair to ban a radical Muslim group are facing opposition from the police and Home Office officials, the BBC has learned. It is understood no direct links have been found between Hizb ut-Tahrir and a support for violence. Home Office officials are also understood to be concerned a successful legal challenge to a ban would be highly damaging.

Number Ten has been the driving force behind a fresh look at banning Hizb ut-Tahrir, or HT. The Home Office has been actively considering proscribing the organisation to coincide with Mr Blair’s current visit to Pakistan, which has a ban in place. But it is understood that neither the police nor the security services have been able to find direct links between the group and violence.

Senior police officers do not think a ban would be helpful, the BBC understands. But both Mr Blair and Home Secretary John Reid are understood to be in favour.

BBC News, 19 November 2006

‘National Museum of Wales goes Islamic’, Nazis complain

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Do the ordinary people of Wales really deserve their hard earned taxes to be squandered in grant aid to cultural bodies such as the ‘National Museum of Wales’; to be used by an apparently small out of touch elite, to promote what is seen by many as a politically motivated campaign of Islamic propaganda?”

The fascists of the BNP (“Cymru’s fastest growing and unashamably pro-Christian political party”) take exception to the staging of two exhibitions on Muslim culture at the National Museum of Wales.

BNP regional voices, 18 November 2006

Of course, we all know the distinctive contribution the BNP makes to Christian culture in Wales. Only two months ago one of their activists was convicted of racially aggravated disorderly conduct after screaming “Paki whore” and “Sieg heil” at a traditionally-clothed Asian woman in Swansea in June this year.

For God’s sake, stop baiting the faithful

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The Dutch want to ban the burqa. It’s as good as a declaration of war on the 800,000 Muslims living in the Netherlands – and this is yet another conflict that Britain should not get embroiled in. Yet there are plenty of signs that this country is going Dutch. Britain’s believers have recently had to fight for the right to wear symbols of their faith, whether that be a burqa or a crucifix….

“Is it any wonder that Muslims principally, but other believers too, are getting a persecution complex? And is there any way we can prevent the inevitable backlash? Liberty and the British Muslim Initiative believe there is. Together with representatives of the main faiths, they are calling for supporters of religious tolerance to rally in Westminster Hall tomorrow night. Ken Livingstone will speak at the event, as will the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, and veteran peace campaigner Bruce Kent.

“I, too, am speaking at the rally; like the other participants, I fear the Dutch example. Like them, I believe that if instead of acting as the oppressor, the mocker and the bully, Britain would present itself as a land of tolerance where all faiths are treated with respect and all believers allowed to practise their faith, the most disenfranchised and disenchanted extremists will find themselves wishing to copy, rather than kill, Britons.”

Cristina Odone in the Observer, 19 November 2006

College activists fear race reaction

Posted on by Bob Pitt

College activists fear race reaction

By Louise Nousratpour

Morning Star, 18 November 2006

EDUCATION campaigners warned of a potentially “racist and Islamophobic” backlash against new government guidelines on how to combat extremism on university and college campuses yesterday.

The Department for Education is to release guidance advising universities and colleges on how to respond if staff suspect that “extremist” literature is being circulated on campus or if they are worried about radical speakers visiting their institutions.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell insisted that Muslims were not being singled out, in the same breath as he declared that the threat from Islamic radicals must be faced head-on. “Violent extremism in the name of Islam is a real, credible and sustained threat to the UK,” he claimed. “There is evidence of serious, but not widespread, Islamist extremist activity in higher education institutions.”

Trade unions and student groups said that, while the guidance is an “improvement” on previous leaked drafts, it does not solve all the problems and falls short of suggesting practical steps to build cohesive relations on campus.

University and College Union (UCU) joint general secretary Paul Mackney stressed that universities and colleges must combine the guidance with a “robust strategy for defeating racism and Islamophobia.” He warned: “Radicalism must not be conflated with terrorism. Institutions must maintain a moderating environment where discussion flourishes, where people learn about different cultures and where ideas can be explored, challenged and debated.”

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Peoples Assembly tackles new racism aimed at Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stop The War Coalition today convened a peoples assembly in Central London to help tackle the new racism in the United Kingdom which targets the Muslim community. The aim of the assembly is to bring people together to discuss the relationship between Islamophobia and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to organise a campaign in response to war and racism.

Opening the assembly, the Chairman of Stop The War Coalition Andres Murray, described Islamophobia as the last resort of the warmongers to make up for their failure. “George Bush said he was getting ready for one last push. We too are ready for one last push to get the get the troops out of Iraq”. Stop The War Coalition widened its aims to opposition to the racist backlash against Muslims and the defense of civil liberties.

Mathaba.net, 18 November 2006

See also Stop the War Coalition website.

Defend religious freedom

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is one of our most precious democratic rights (Report, November 14). It took hundreds of years, including civil wars, to establish the right of every individual to freely pursue their beliefs, subject only to to the necessary and proportionate protection of the rights and the freedoms of others. It must be defended against every challenge.

Britain today faces a systematic campaign by sections of the media and some politicians, fanned by the extreme right, to undermine this right by sowing hatred against Muslims. This has culminated in attacks, fire bombings and assaults on women. This campaign constitutes an attack on civil and religious liberties, including an attempt to suppress the right of persons of all faiths to dress in accordance with their religious convictions. It must be strongly opposed – as indeed should any attack on the rights of Christians, Jews, Sikhs or any other religious group.

All democrats, of all faiths and none, should come together to defend these basic principles of freedom of thought, conscience, religion and culture, and join the rally in Westminster on November 20.

Ken Livingstone, Jon Cruddas MP (Lab), Andrew Stunnel MP (Lib Dem), Dr Abdul Bari MCB, Shami Chakrabati Liberty, Anas Altikriti British Muslim Initiative, Jeremy Dear NUJ , Dr Edie Friedman Jewish Council for Racial Equality, and three others

Letter in the Guardian, 18 November 2006

Tory MP shows ignorance of Islamism, wins support of Mad Mel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Melanie Phillips applauds the contribution of Paul Goodman, Tory MP for Wycombe, to the debate on the Queen’s Speech. It is easy to see why, because Goodman accepts the equation of “Islamism” with “Islamist extremism” and even “Islamist terrorism” which is common currency among Islamophobes like Mad Mel and Martin Bright, whose Policy Research pamphlet When Progressives Treat With Reactionaries Goodman recommends in his speech.

Goodman states: “Islamism divides not on the basis of class or of race, but on the basis of religion. To this politician, it has three significant features. First, it separates the inhabitants of the dar-al-Islam – the house of Islam – and the dar-al-Harb – the house of war – and, according to Islamist ideology, those two houses are necessarily in conflict. Secondly, it proclaims to Muslims that their political loyalty lies not with the country that they live in, but with the umma – that is, the worldwide community of Muslims. Thirdly, it aims to bring the dar-al-Islam under sharia law.”

Perhaps Goodman should check out some rather more informed and balanced studies of Islamism – for example, The Future of Political Islam by Graham E. Fuller, who writes:

“In my view an Islamist is one who believes that Islam as a body of faith has something important to say about how politics and society should be ordered in the contemporary Muslim World and who seeks to implement this idea in some fashion. The term ‘political Islam’ should be neutral in character, neither pejorative nor judgmental in itself; only upon further definition of the specific views, means and goals of an Islamist movement in each case can we be critical of the process. I prefer this definition because it is broad enough to capture the full spectum of Islamist expression that runs the gamut from radical to moderate, violent to peaceful, democratic to authoritarian, traditionalist to modernist.”

UCU: radicalism must not be confused with terrorism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paul MackneyThe University and College Union (UCU) has said campus relations must improve if the government is to successfully combat the spread of extremism at universities.

Speaking as the government publishes advice to lecturers on tackling radicalism, UCU joint general secretary Paul Mackney said universities and colleges needed “a robust strategy for defeating racism and Islamophobia”.

“But radicalism must not be conflated with terrorism,” he added. “Institutions must maintain a moderating environment where discussion flourishes, where people learn about different cultures and where ideas can be explored, challenged and debated.”

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