Monthly Archives: February 2009

‘Another Muslim ghetto takes shape’ – another paranoid rant by Damian Thompson

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The resignation of a Sheffield head teacher after she tried to scrap all-Muslim assemblies is a sign of things to come….

“Julia Robinson, head teacher of Meersbrook Primary School, wanted to end the divisive Islamic assembles for Muslim pupils, who make up about a quarter of her 240 pupils. Staff and many parents backed her; Muslim parents accused her of being – you’ve guessed it – ‘racist’.

“Those Christians who think that it’s better to have separate Christian and Muslim assemblies rather than the ‘inclusive’ services Mrs Robinson planned are missing the point. They think ‘faith’ is good, irrespective of what faith it is. Myopic idiots….

“Muslim ghettos are being constructed across the North of England, and among their building blocks are school-sanctioned meetings for children from ethnic minorities designed to turn them into strictly observant Muslims – whether they like it or not. The Muslim indoctrination of primary school children is designed to produce young adults who reject and despise the tolerant, liberal society in which they live.”

Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson at Holy Smoke, 10 February 2009

The Daily Telegraph chimes in with “Muslim parents should accept the law of the land”.

Regarding the “inclusive” assemblies, if you check the Daily Mail report, when you get beyond the scaremongering “I was forced out for trying to axe Muslim-only assemblies, claims headmistress” headline you find the following:

“Fiyza Awan, 19, a Muslim whose younger sister is a pupil, said problems began when hymns were introduced to the all-pupil assemblies. ‘When Mrs Robinson took over she said she wanted one assembly for all the students,’ she said. ‘We didn’t have a problem with that but wanted a secular assembly where no hymns were sung and topics involving all the children could be discussed. But after a while hymns were introduced again and we objected. We told Mrs Robinson we wanted our children withdrawn and to have a separate assembly again. We felt we were being marginalised. We didn’t put any pressure on her, we want continuity at the school, it was her decision to leave’.”

See also ENGAGE, 10 February 2009

Mad Mel exposes ‘the sinister and dangerous implications’ of Islamic banking

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Bank of Britain“Worried that Britain is going bankrupt? Cheer up – we’re about to be bought up by the Islamic world. A report by International Financial Services London reveals that Britain’s Islamic banking sector is now bigger than that of Pakistan. The study says that the UK has by far the largest number of banks for Muslims of any western country….

“What has to be understood is that sharia finance is simply a modern jihadi strategy to help Islamise Britain’s institutions and society. It was devised in the mid-20th century by the ideologues who promoted the radical Islamism that threatens us today. They advocated sharia finance as element of a separate, self-sustained Islamic order with its own Islamic ideology, Islamic politics and Islamic economics that taken together would guarantee an Islamic way of life and ultimately the Islamic state as the first step toward establishing Muslim rule worldwide.

“As Britain’s government and banks congratulate themselves on the stunning growth of sharia banking in the UK, do any of them have the slightest understanding of what they are doing?”

Melanie Phillips in the Daily Mail, 10 February 2009

Griffin denounces proposed C of E ban on BNP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“It is ridiculous that the Church of England is concerned with persecuting Christian BNP members while church buildings are being turned into mosques as Britain is colonised by Islam,” said BNP leader Nick Griffin in his reaction to the CoE decision to bar clergy from joining the party.

“Up and down the country, CoE churches are being turned into mosques,” he said. “Instead of concerning themselves with their empty pews, the leftist clergymen worry about a party which is dedicated to preventing the displacement of Christianity by Islam in this country.”

BNP news article, 10 February 2009

Update:  Tough luck, Nick. The Guardian reports: “The governing body of the Church of England, the General Synod, voted overwhelmingly to follow the lead of the police and bar ordained priests, trainees and lay staff from becoming members of racist political parties, specifically including the BNP.”

Australian wildfires could fuel ‘forest jihad’ terrorists, experts say

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Australian+bushfire

Firefighters and homeowners aren’t the only ones keenly watching Australia’s massive wildfires, responsible for killing at least 173 people in the southern part of the continent. Terrorism experts suspect Muslim extremists are watching closely, too – and taking note of the devastation.

While Australian authorities have revealed no evidence linking the wildfires to extremists, terrorism experts say the large death toll, the huge swath of destruction and the massive financial blow to the country are proving to Islamic terrorists that arson can be a highly effective – and simple – tool of holy war.

“Could [militants] do this? Yes,” said Steve Emerson, executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism. Perhaps more troubling, Emerson said, is that there is very little authorities can do to prevent terrorists from setting deadly wildfires. “It would be absolutely impossible to protect against,” he said. “Airport parameters are hard enough to protect. Imagine trying to protect something 100,000 times as big.”

If extremists did have had a hand in the wildfires, Emerson said, it would be “very disturbing”. “It would indicate a new area of jihadist attacks, that is, attacking natural resources,” he said. “And given the devastation of these fires, it certainly could instill new terror ideas in other areas like the food supply chain or in the environmental realm.”

Fox News, 9 February 2009

Yes, that would be the same Steve Emerson who told CBS News in 1995 that the Oklahoma City bombing showed “a Middle Eastern trait” because it “was done with the intent to inflict as many casualties as possible”.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, the fascists of the BNP pose the question: “Australian death fire: was it jihad?”

Update:  The Daily Mail has reproduced the Fox News article almost word for word, complete with Emerson’s idiotic remarks.

More revelations about Hassan Butt

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Hassan Butt is a member of a group you are going to be hearing a lot more from: Muslims who come out of jihadism and find an almost patriotic belief in the best values of Britain. They cajole and they warn. They help steer British Muslims away from violence while teaching wider society that radical Islam is not a rational reaction to Western provocation, but a totalitarian ideology with a life of its own.

“‘How we used to laugh in celebration whenever people on TV proclaimed that the sole cause for Islamic acts of terror like 9/11, the Madrid bombings and 7/7 was Western foreign policy,’ Butt recalled in an outburst that stuck in my mind. ‘By blaming the government for our actions, those who pushed the “Blair’s bombs” line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamist theology.’ … Needless to add, he has been stabbed by his (and our) sworn enemies and lives with the knowledge that there are people out there who want him dead.”

Nick Cohen in the Observer, 23 March 2008

A British man who fooled the media into believing he was an al-Qaida insider has admitted in court that he made up the claims. Hassan Butt received significant media attention for his claims to have helped send scores of Britons to terrorist training camps overseas and to have met Mohammad Sidique Khan, the ringleader of the 7 July 2005 attacks on London.

However at a trial of another man accused of terrorist offences, Butt said he had told journalists stories “the media wanted to hear”, admitting that he was “a professional liar”. He also admitted faking his own injuries to make it appear that he had been attacked by extremist Muslims.

Guardian, 9 February 2009

See also ENGAGE, 9 February 2009

‘Muslim courts are here already’ shock

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Sharia law is operating in secret in many British towns and cities, the Daily Express can reveal. Muslim communities are being ruled with a rod of iron in clear defiance of the British legal system. Panels of Islamic scholars sit in mosques, converted living rooms and even a former pub to issue fatwas, or rulings.

“The revelation that they have decided thousands of cases over the last 25 years comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury provoked condemnation by calling for an ‘accommodation’ with the Islamic legal code. Dr Rowan Williams said parts of civil law could be dealt with under the sharia system – but some communities have already gone much further. The Daily Express has uncovered a catalogue of evidence that sharia courts are acting independently of British law.”

Daily Express, 9 February 2008

And over at the Daily Mail Amanda Platell writes: ” So has old Wispy Beard finally lost his marbles? Adopt Sharia law that so vilely oppresses women, subverting, in the process, hundreds of years of British justice? Yes, it’s nonsense. And dangerous nonsense, too. But by highlighting this issue, Dr Rowan Williams may have done us all a service by jolting us into realising just how far Britain has already gone towards integrating Sharia law. Did you realise, before his speech on Thursday, that Sharia courts already exist in this country to decide issues as fundamental to our society as divorce? … I certainly didn’t. So, ironically, perhaps Dr Williams should be applauded for highlighting this creeping Islamisation of parts of Britain.”

Update:  At the Independent on Sunday, Joan Smith weighs in with “British women are already suffering from Islamic law“.

Another MEMRI-inspired witch-hunt of Qaradawi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi and Neturei KartaThe television network al-Jazeera has been criticised by MPs for broadcasting the sermons of a Muslim cleric in which he celebrates the Holocaust and prays for the killing of all Jews.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the House of Commons Media Select Committee, urged al-Jazeera yesterday to apologise for broadcasting the messages of Yusuf al-Qaradawi and to ban the cleric, one of the network’s top hosts, from appearing on screen. “I would hope that anybody who watches it or is aware of it may change their attitude towards al-Jazeera,” he told The Times. “I would’ve thought it is very damaging. Al-Jazeera should apologise.”

Andrew Dismore, the Labour MP for Hendon, condemned al-Jazeera for associating itself with Sheikh al-Qaradawi – who hosts one of its most popular segments, Shariah and Life – saying the network should not use live coverage as a means of justifying the broadcast of the sheik’s comments. “If they put on somebody who has known racist views they should not be surprised what comes out at the other end,” he said.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said: “These sermons represent hatred in its purest form and epitomise the worst of Islamist anti-Semitism.” The complaints relate to a sermon and a lecture by Sheikh al-Qaradawi in which he described the Holocaust as a “divine punishment” and prayed to Allah to kill Jews “down to the very last one”.

Times, 7 February 2009

And what is the source for this latest attack on Qaradawi? Yes, you probably guessed, it’s another cut-and-paste job by the Middle East Media Research Institute. For Qaradawi’s actual views on the Jewish community, see for example here and here.

Update:  Needless to say, MEMRI’s attack on Qaradawi has been endorsed by Harry’s Place, a self-proclaimed “left-wing” blog with a close affinity for extreme right-wing Zionists. However, not all of Harry’s Place readers buy this. We reproduce the following post from the comments section:

I don’t think the issue is as clear-cut as you say, because Qaradawi has made many moderate, pluralistic statements that show a tremendous desire for peaceful coexistence of the three Abrahamic faiths.

For example, he has opposed the idea of Muslim supremacy over other religions:

“The Koran states that [religious] disagreement exists because God [himself] wills it … that people will have different religions. After all, if God had wanted everyone to have the same religion and the same path, he would have created Man differently … the [believing Muslim] does not try to pass judgment upon those who disagree [with his religion] in this world. God is the one who will pass judgment on the day of resurrection…”

He highlights the universalist and progressive message of Mohammed that all are equal in the eyes of God:

Islam honors Man as such, regardless of gender, religion, color, language, geographic region, or status … [People] said to God’s Messenger: ‘This is the funeral of a Jew. That coffin belongs to a Jew, not a Muslim.’ He answered: ‘Is this not a soul [too]? Is the Jew not a human soul?’

Perhaps what infuriates some Western opinion about Qaradawi is that he pins the blame for modern anti-Semitism where it belongs – on Europe’s long history of intolerance:

“We did not invent this hostility [towards the Jews]. Jews lived among Muslims for centuries, even when Europe persecuted them and expelled them… They found a safe haven in Muslim territory and Muslim homelands. This is because Islam considers the Jews to be People of the Book … This is how the Koran views the Jews, and this is how they lived in the countries of the Muslims. They have the protection [dhimma] of Allah, His Messenger, and of all the Muslims.”

Relationships between Muslims and Jews have been poisoned by Zionism and the criminal occupation of Muslim lands:

“The battle between us and the Jews began when they occupied the land of Palestine, expelled its residents, and perpetrated all their deeds. They are the ones who started the hostility, not us… There is a difference between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political movement with aspirations and goals.”

Qaradawi does something that Western Islamophobes often claim is never done amongst Islamic scholars – he historically contextualizes the controversial parts of the Koran which it is claimed make Islam a violent religion:

“This verse [Koran 5:82] talks about an historical position. Islam accepted the Jews with open arms and welcomed [the Muslims’] relations with them, since they are People of the Book … Here [in the verse], Islam is talking about those that did this [i.e. who violated the pact with Muhammad]. However, Islam welcomes those who believe in the [Jewish] religion. Moreover, the Jews are probably the closest to Muslims in terms of faith and law, even more than Christians.”

Qaradawi argues that minorities would have nothing to fear in a Muslim-majority state:

“Respect for the dictations of [other] religions and faiths is one of the most fundamental things for us. We don’t get involved in their affairs… Islam is at the top of the tolerance scale; it allows one to do what is forbidden to Muslims, if it is permitted [in one’s owns religion], such as eating pork and drinking wine… Protecting the ahl al-dhimma is a duty incumbent upon the Muslims. They must protect them before they protect Muslims. Muslim clerics have said that harming a dhimmi is worse than harming a Muslim. Slandering a dhimmi is worse than slandering a Muslim, since he is considered to be under the Muslims’ charge.”

Now, I understand that you may not like the man. Certainly he has said some pretty objectionable things about the Holocaust. But you must recognise him as a moderating influence with many good and progressive things to say about the possibility of peaceful coexistence between the West and the Muslim world. That is why he was invited to London by the far-seeing Ken Livingstone, and why we must listen to him today, with politeness and genuine good will, understanding that sometimes the kernel of truth that he states can be temporarily obscured, alas, by the shell of bitterness and resentment at the hideous oppression of his people by Israel and the West.

Norway: hijab permitted with police uniform

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Norwegian policeThe Police Directorate has decided that it will be permitted to wear hijab with the Norwegian police uniform.

Police Director Ingelin Killengreen says the move is part of a desire to secure broad recruitment. Killengren points to the fact that among new immigrants there is a large number of women who for religious reasons wear hijab.

“By refusing to allow these to wear their headdress, we would in reality exclude in particular these groups from serving in the police force,” the Police Director says.

“The police depend on trust to create security and prevent and fight crime. It is therefore important that all parts of our society should feel equal in their relations with the police,” she says.

The head of the Policemen’s Union. Arne Johannessen, is surprised and disappointed by the decision: “We have police force which is supposed to symbolize neutrality while in uniform,” Johanessen says.

Norway Post, 5 February 2009

See also the AFP report which quotes Per-Willy Amundsen of the laughably misnamed Progress Party (formerly bankrolled by the South African apartheid regime) ranting on about the Islamisation of Norway.

California Muslim denied service at bank over hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amal HersiA woman who wore an Islamic head scarf to a local bank said she was turned away and singled out, and is a victim of discrimination. Amal Hersi and her family moved to the U.S. from Somalia in search of freedom. Hersi said she’s had the freedom she’s wanted, up until last Saturday. “I felt like a criminal. I felt humiliated. I fell ashamed,” said Hersi.

Hersi said she was waiting in line at the Navy Federal Credit Union in Mission Valley when she said she was stopped by an employee. “So she goes, ‘Ma’am, could you follow me?’ And at that point I was like what did I do wrong?” said Hersi. Hersi said the reason was because she wore a traditional Muslim scarf.

Even after telling the employee she wore the scarf for religious reasons, she was asked to remove it. She compares herself to any other person wearing a garment, like a Jewish man wearing a Yarmulke or a Catholic nun wearing a habit.

Many banks have policies like this in order to deter bank robbers, a representative from the Navy Federal Credit Union said. “In the interest of security and safety for our members and employees, hats, hoods and sunglasses must be removed when entering the branch office,” Navy Federal Credit Union said in a statement.

10News.com, 2 February 2009