Yearly Archives: 2008

Wal-Mart saves US children from conversion to Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

WAL-MART SAYS YES TO PARENTS – REMOVES “ISLAM IS THE LIGHT” DOLL:
Parents campaign focuses on Target, Kmart and Toys R Us

Wal-Mart managers are removing the Mattel doll that says “Islam is the Light” from store shelves, according to reports from parents and the media across the U.S. and Canada, as well as Wal-Mart employees. Many Wal-Mart managers have removed the controversial doll in the last two weeks, and others are removing it as soon as parents ask.

The Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability (MAMA) campaign to remove the doll began in late November on “Black” Friday, the year’s biggest shopping day. The national MAMA campaign started as a response to parent concerns about the Mattel/Fisher Price “Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll.” The majority of “Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo” dolls on store shelves have an audio soundtrack that says “Islam is the Light,” with no label or warning to parents on the doll’s packaging that it advocates Islam to their young children, a practice known as “Dawa.”

MAMA has advised parents in the U.S. and Canada to ask retailers either to remove the doll from the shelves or to attach a label stating “NOTICE: This doll says ‘Islam is the light’, an invitation to your child to join Islam.” MAMA is concerned that an invitation to Islam is a material risk to young girls, because of the discriminatory Islamic law known as Shariah, and wants parents informed about the doll’s statement before they purchase the doll.

“Parents are reporting that most Wal-Marts have already removed the doll, or immediately remove it when asked,” said Denise Lee, founder of Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability. “And TV and newspaper stories are reporting the same policy changes. MAMA applauds Wal-Mart for taking the lead here in responding to parents’ concerns, especially over the Christmas season.”

MAMA website, 19 December 2008

Exclusive: over 60 per cent of Britain’s Muslim schools have extremist links

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Damian_Thompson“Britain’s Muslim schools have been sharply criticised in a controversial draft report commissioned by a leading think tank which suggests that over 60 per cent of them are linked to potentially dangerous Islamic fundamentalists.

“An early version of the report, entitled When Worlds Collide, alleges that of the 133 Muslim primary and secondary schools it surveyed, 82 (61.6 per cent) have connections or direct affiliations to fundamentalists. The 133 schools are in the private sector but supposedly subject to Ofsted inspection. The report also claims that some of these schools teach ‘repugnant’ beliefs about the wickedness of Western society and Jews.

“The claims in the report, written by Denis MacEoin in response to a commission from Civitas, will provoke ritual cries of ‘Islamophobia’ from the Muslim Council of Britain and fellow travellers such as Koran [sic] Armstrong.”

Yes, it’s yet another thoughtful contribution to interfaith dialogue from Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson.

It tells you all you need to know about MacEoin’s political agenda that he has chosen a blog run by a reactionary bigot like Thompson as the vehicle for promoting his forthcoming report.

But why should MacEoin leak the draft report before it is published? Thompson provides the answer:

“Civitas, however, is not prepared to endorse MacEoin’s 61.6 per cent figure, which will not appear in the published version of When Worlds Collide. A spokesman for Civitas explains: ‘We want to concentrate on claims that are absolutely robust, rather than complicated material, some of it in Arabic, that might unjustly damage someone’s reputation’.”

In other words, even an Islamophobic right-wing think-tank like Civitas regards MacEoin’s central claim, which forms the basis for Thompson’s “exclusive”, as indefensible.

But then, you might have thought that any self-respecting think-tank would steer well clear of MacEoin, given the problems over The Hijacking of British Islam, the notorious and now discredited report he put together for Policy Exchange.

Update:  Predictably, the British National Party are eagerly publicising MacEoin’s report, which of course provides a “respectable” cover for their own hate-filled propaganda against Muslim communities in the UK.

Young thugs attack Southend mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Essex Jamme Masjid vandalismA Muslim leader fears for the safety of his family, after attacks on a mosque and his flat next door.

The gang of teenagers have repeatedly targeted the Essex Jamme Masjid mosque, in Chelmsford Avenue, Southend, which was converted from a church earlier this year.

Imam Mahmudul Hasan said he had been left shocked and scared after teenagers also smashed the front door windows at his home.

Essex Echo, 17 December 2008

EU parliament prevents screening of Wilders’ Fitna

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The EU parliament prevented the showing on Wednesday of an anti-Islamic film made by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders, bringing cries of censorship from the British eurodeputy who organised the screening.

“The banning of this film is a direct attack on free speech,” said British MEP Gerard Batten, who had organised the event, though officials pointed out that parliamentary leaders had banned the film from being shown in their Strasbourg building back in March.

“A parliament that constantly talks of freedom, democracy and tolerance has shown once again that these are empty words when it does not agree with what is being said,” added Batten, a member of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP).

Wilders, who was in the parliament building hoping to see the film in a screening room, said he intended to present it during European parliamentary elections next June. “We are in discussion with other parties,” he said, without giving details.

AFP, 17 December 2008

Although, of course, we do know from Wilders’ interview with Haaretz that one of the parties he is in discussion with is Vlaams Belang.

Muslim waitress: I was sacked for refusing to wear revealing dress

Posted on by Bob Pitt

5128243W009 FataLemes02.JPGA Muslim cocktail waitress has claimed she was sacked for refusing to wear a “sexually revealing” red dress for work.

Fata Lemes said she was pestered for sex by customers at Mayfair’s Rocket bar and restaurant. Miss Lemes, 33, alleged bosses ran Rocket “like a sex club” and allowed clients to think waitresses “could be treated as prostitutes”. The strawberry blonde told a tribunal that on only her second shift two guests told her they were looking for a blonde “for one or more nights”.

Continue reading →

US Muslims jailed for failing to remove hijab in court

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lisa ValentineA Douglasville woman was jailed Tuesday after a judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her hijab, the head covering worn by Muslim women.

Lisa Valentine, also known by her Islamic name, Miedah, 40, was arrested at the Douglasville Municipal Court for violating a court policy of no headgear, said Chris Womack, deputy chief of operations for the Douglasville police. Judge Keith Rollins ordered her held in jail for 10 days, but she was released Tuesday evening. The reason for the early release wasn’t immediately clear. “It was very humiliating, degrading,” Valentine said from her home Tuesday evening. “I wear my hijab faithfully and for no reason I was asked to take it off. It was unreal.”

Other Muslim women said the same judge has ordered them to remove their hijabs. Sabreen Abdul Rahman, 55, said she was asked to take off her scarf when she went to the municipal court last week with her son. “I can’t. I’m Muslim,” she mouthed silently to the bailiff, who then removed her from the courtroom, Rahman said. “This is a religious right,” she said. Halimah Abdullah, 43, said she spent 24 hours in jail in November 2007 after Rollins held her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her head covering. Rollins could not be reached for comment.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 17 December 2008

See also CAIR press release, 16 December 2008

Update:  See Selene Kaye’s post on the ACLU blog, “A call to action for women of all beliefs“.

‘We have to win war against Islam’, Wilders tells Jerusalem conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders in IsraelDutch Parliamentarian Geert screened his controversial film Fitna in Jerusalem on Sunday, calling on Europe to restrict immigration “from backward Islamic countries” and describing Islam as a totalitarian ideology “full of hate, violence and submission.”

“Europe is in the process of ‘Islamization.’ We need to fight it,” Wilders said. “We have to win the war against Islam. If we don’t … we will lose our cultural identity, our rule of law, our liberties and our freedom.”

Continue reading →