Monthly Archives: March 2008

Attacks on Obama highlight racism and Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Obama has devoted a lot of time to defending himself against these charges that question his religious beliefs and his patriotism. The gist of this has been – I am not now and never have been a Muslim. I am a Christian and a patriot. And, other candidates have apologized for anyone in their campaign who might have intimated that Barak was a Muslim, or have denied being responsible for such statements. The problem with this defense is that it seems to many American Muslims that what we are not hearing is an apology for the bigotry.”

Sheila Musaji in The American Muslim, 2 March 2008

Tariq Ramadan – ‘dangerous radical’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tariq_Ramadan“Fourest has rendered an invaluable service. She demonstrates with great skill that Ramadan is a dangerous radical who, far from modernizing Islam, is in fact attempting to Islamize modernity.”

Ibn Warraq reviews Caroline Fourest’s book Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan.

City Journal, 29 February 2008

Note that this English language edition of Fourest’s Frère Tariq is published in the UK by the right-wing think-tank the Social Affairs Unit and features an introduction by Labour MP Denis MacShane.

See also The Australian for the controversy over Tariq Ramadan’s current visit to Australia.

Update: The Australian has commissioned Mad Melanie Phillips to deliver a characteristic rant under the headline “Master of Islamist doublespeak“, which warns the people of Australia that Professor Ramadan is “probably the most dangerous Islamist in the Western world”!

See also “MP warns scholar on racist messages“.

‘Target Harry – British fanatics threaten him’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Inayat_Bunglawala“Sneering Muslim fanatics labelled Prince Harry a target for assassins last night after his heroics against the Taliban.

“Harry’s perilous Army mission in Afghanistan was dismissed by British extremists as a mere publicity stunt. But they also claimed that by participating in an ‘illegal war’, the brave young Prince had made himself fair game for a terrorist attack.

“Tory MPs last night condemned the outpourings by three influential Islamic radicals as ‘highly irresponsible’. Andrew Rosindell, who represents Romford in Essex, said: ‘This is an appalling thing for them to say’.”

Daily Express, 1 March 2008

Who are these three “sneering Muslim fanatics”, I hear you ask. They’re Anjem Choudary, Omar Bakri … and Inayat Bunglawala! Along with a statement by Choudary, it’s a truncated quote from Inayat – “I am sure many Afghans opposed to the British presence will see him as a high-value target” – that provides the basis for the scaremongering headline.

The actual quotation, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, reads: “If he is still there I am sure many Afghans opposed to the British presence in Afghanistan will see him as a high-value target. We wish both him and his colleagues in the Army are brought back from Afghanistan out of harm’s way. The presence of foreign troops appears to be counter-productive, galvanising opposition.”

If I were Inayat, I’d sue.

It’s no slur to be called a Muslim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ObamaTurbanNaomi Klein on Barack Obama’s response to the “Muslim smear” campaign:

“What is disturbing about the campaign’s response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire ‘Muslim smear’: that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama’s supporters often say they are being ‘Swift-boated’ (a pejorative term derived from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against the 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry), casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.

“Substitute another faith or ethnicity, and you’d expect a very different response. Consider a report from the archives of the Nation. Thirteen years ago Daniel Singer, the magazine’s late Europe correspondent, went to Poland to cover a presidential election. He reported that the race had descended into an ugly debate over whether one of the candidates, Aleksander Kwasniewski, was a closet Jew. The press claimed his mother was buried in a Jewish cemetery (she was still alive), and a popular TV show aired a skit featuring the Christian candidate dressed as a Hassidic Jew. ‘What perturbed me,’ Singer said, ‘was that Kwasniewski’s lawyers threatened to sue for slander rather than press for an indictment under the law condemning racist propaganda’.

“We should expect no less of the Obama campaign. When asked during the Ohio debate about Louis Farrakhan’s support for his candidacy, Obama did not hesitate to call Farrakhan’s antisemitic comments ‘unacceptable and reprehensible’. When the turban photo flap came up in the same debate, he used the occasion to say nothing at all.”

Guardian, 1 March 2008