Yusuf Smith reproduces a letter he has sent to David Robey, the managing editor of BBC London, about the Vanessa Feltz show last Monday, in which she recycled a story from the Daily Star about a swimming pool in London having sessions for Muslims. He accuses the BBC of engaging in “irresponsible pseudo-journalism”.
Yearly Archives: 2006
‘Ministers compared to Nazis over Islam stigma’
Following on from the Sunday Times attack on Osama Saeed, we have yet another attempt to misrepresent a leading figure in the Muslim community as claiming that Muslims in the UK today are in the same position as Jews in Nazi Germany. This time it’s Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, who is accused by the Torygraph of comparing government ministers to Nazis.
Sunday Telegraph, 18 December 2006
In fact, on the basis of the Torygraph’s own report, Dr Bari did nothing of the sort. In almost identical terms to those used by Osama Saeed, he warned of the possible consequences of a systematic campaign of vilification amed at a minority community, asking: “What is the degree of xenophobia that tipped Germany in the 1930s towards a murderous ethnic and cultural racism?”
Predictably, Jon Benjamin of the Board of Deputies backs the Torygraph’s attack on Dr Bari. He is quoted as saying: “To try to recast modern Britain as equivalent to Nazi Germany is equally offensive and disingenuous, but also dangerous in that it will fuel alienation and anger, particularly at a time when conciliation is vital.”
Yes, well Benjamin would know all about building good relations between communities wouldn’t he? This is the man who was reported as describing the Mayor of London as “a lackey of the Muslim agenda in this country“.
See also Western Resistance, 17 December 2006
Khadija Ravat pulls out of ‘alternative Christmas message’
The Daily Telegraph reports that Khadija Ravat, who was due to deliver Channel 4’s “alternative Christmas message” has pulled out of the programme. A spokesman for Channel 4, however, is quoted as saying that they are trying to find another Muslim woman to replace her.
A “source close to the programme makers” is quoted as saying that Khadija had been “pressurised by senior members of the community who felt it was not her place to talk about Islam”. More likely, it was pointed out that Channel 4’s provocative stunt could only play into the hands of anti-Muslim bigots intent on portraying Islam as an alien ideology.
Melbourne protesters march against racism
An estimated 1,500 anti-racism protesters marched through the Melbourne CBD on Friday night.
The rally attracted protesters from the Socialist Alliance, the Greens Party and the Civil Rights Defence group. It stopped traffic as it weaved its way through the city to the Liberal Party state offices in Exhibition Street.
Organiser Kim Bullimore says the riots in Sydney have shown that political leaders lack the will to combat racism. “What we need is some leadership … actually take a stand,” she said. “I’m here today because I think that Muslim and Arab people should be welcome in our country,” one protester said.
Another said: “These riots have happened in Sydney due to tension that’s been building up for a long time. We don’t believe in a divided Australia.”
Florida web host asked to drop ‘kill all Muslim kids’ site
The Tampa, Fla., office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa) is calling on an Internet web hosting company in that state to drop a hate site that supports calls to “kill all Muslim kids”.
Under the headline, “Love Your Kids? Fear For Their Future? Kill All Muslim Kids!!!!”, the website’s owner, who lives in the Tampa area, wrote: “Makes sense to me. After all, if Muslims are raising their little crumb-snatching, curtain climbing, ankle biting rug rats to strap on bombs in order to kill us, it is logically correct to assume that in order to stop that from happening we need to kill all Muslim kids. Starting now.”
Other entries on the site contain obscene and hate-filled attacks on Islam and Muslims, as well as support for violent actions. One entry states: “It’s bad enough some [expletive deleted] in Minnesota elect a Muslim to Congress but the people in Michigan might have done them one better… Start sticking [sic] up on guns and ammo. The war will start soon.”
In a letter to Boca Raton-based Hostgator.com LLC, CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Ahmed Bedier wrote: “While we respect an individual’s right to freedom of speech, we oppose hate-filled speech that calls for violence against innocent people. . .It’s clear that [the website is] in violation of your company’s ‘Terms of Service’ agreement which states: ‘…Any material that, in our judgment, is obscene or threatening is prohibited and will be removed from our servers with or without notice.’ The agreement also clearly defines ‘hate sites’ under ‘Examples of unacceptable material.'”
Bedier asked Hostgator to stop hosting the site. He noted that CAIR had raised concerns about the anti-Muslim site at a local forum on hate crimes in November.
Christian right in Australia given green light to incite hatred against Islam
Two Christian pastors found to have vilified Muslims stood on the steps of the Court of Appeal yesterday after the ruling was overturned and vowed to keep telling “the truth” about Islam.
Pastor Daniel Scot, who conducted the 2002 seminar on jihad that led to the case under Victoria’s religious hatred laws, said: “Some Muslims have got the idea they have to hide the truth, and that’s very sad.” Insisting that he would continue his seminars on the Koran and Hadiths (Islam’s sacred texts), he said: “People should know it from the primary sources, and not be misled by politically correct teachers who don’t know the reality of Islam and want to glorify it with false pretensions and assumptions.”
Uniting Church justice spokesman Mark Zirnsak said he hoped the judgement would not be seen as a green light for groups to incite racial or religious hatred, believing that the law had been watered down. “There are groups who may be emboldened to test what they can get away with. People might be assaulted or insulted or mistreated because of their race or religion – that’s been our key concern.”
Mad Mel hails “a step forward down under“.
Cases of detained Muslims tarnish Canadian Mounties’ image
Canada’s top law enforcement agency has been shaken by the aftershocks of its role in the abduction of a Canadian Muslim in 2002, when U.S. agents transported the man from New York for interrogation under torture in Syria.
Last week, the head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police resigned, even though he had already apologized publicly to the victim, Maher Arar. On Tuesday, the government announced new inquiries into the cases of three other Canadian Muslims who had been imprisoned in Syria, and a judicial commission recommended broad new oversight of the RCMP’s intelligence arm.
The spotlight on the RCMP resulted from a two-year judicial inquiry into the case of Arar, now 36, who was stopped while changing flights at an airport in New York City in 2002. The Canadian citizen was bound, blindfolded and spirited to his native Syria by U.S. agents for questioning about terrorism.
Arar was kept for 10 months, much of it in a coffin-like dungeon, and tortured before being released without charges to return to Canada. In September, the extensive inquiry concluded that Arar was an innocent computer programmer who was named as an “Islamic extremist” because of fabrications and incompetence by an overzealous Mountie intelligence operation.
Nun accused of religious harassment
A nun was convicted of religious harassment after ranting against “terrorist” Muslims in the middle of London’s busy Oxford Street. Sister Ruth Augustus, 66, was fined £200 after she shouted at two women in full robes and veils “you’re probably terrorists, get back to your own country”. City of Westminster Magistrates Court heard how trouble flared when Augustus, a missionary who has worked with prostitutes in the developing world, was handing out prayer leaflets outside Debenhams department store on Easter Tuesday.
WPC Natasha Walker said she heard a ‘commotion’ outside the shop and went to investigate. The officer said: “I heard someone shouting ‘terrorists, terrorists’ more than once. It’s busy on Oxford Street, so she must have been shouting really loud. I turned round and noticed there were a group of people standing outside Debenhams. Sister Augustus was shouting ‘terrorists’ repeatedly and other things about Muslims. I asked her to stop, but she refused. She said ‘I will not stop, I’m a nun’.”
BNP mosque leaflet full of ‘lies’
A Bromley councillor has condemned “out and out lies” in a leaflet from the British National Party attacking plans to “build a mosque” in the borough. Colin Willetts said residents in St Paul’s Cray had been concerned over the literature and feared it could spark divisions in the community. “They are out and out lies,” said Mr Willetts, who represents Cray Valley West ward. “I have had to reassure residents that, if there were an application to build a mosque, obviously I would let them know. The leaflet gives the impression they are going to build something when, in actual fact, there has been no planning application.”
The BNP’s Cray Valley Matters special edition leaflet, containing the headline “Tories set to give go-ahead for mosque in St Paul’s Cray”, was delivered to residents and alleges the council had given permission for a mosque in Sevenoaks Road. The leaflet includes a picture of a building with a golden dome superimposed on its roof above a caption saying “how Cray Valley might look with a mosque”. It also provides “facts you should know about radical Islam”, claiming followers aim to “take over as the dominant religious force in the UK” and blaming Labour and Conservatives for “courting the Muslim vote”.
Fascists attack Jon Cruddas
The BNP’s front organisation Civil Liberty launches an attack on Dagenham Labour MP Jon Cruddas:
“Jon Cruddas MP recently spoke at the Islamophobia rally and also at the CRE’s Race Convention, both in London. He called for an amnesty for illegal entrants and bogus asylum-seekers. He has also supported a special house building programme for illegal migrants….
“Incredibly, Mr Cruddas is a candidate for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party once John Prescott steps down. Other candidates include Harriett Harman, former legal officer of Liberty, our sister [sic] ‘human rights’ group, and wife of the Labour party treasurer, Jack Dromey.”
Civl Liberty news report, 14 December 2006
Watch Jon Cruddas’s speech to the 20 November anti-Islamophobia rally here.