Press TV draws our attention to last week’s edition of Yvonne Ridley’s Agenda discussion programme which was devoted to the question “Who is fueling the rise in Islamophobia?” Guests included Anas Altikriti and Bob Lambert.
Watch the programme here.
Yearly Archives: 2010
Immigration minister opposes ban on veil – Toby Young not happy
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph immigration minister Damian Green is quoted as saying:
“I stand personally on the feeling that telling people what they can and can’t wear, if they’re just walking down the street, is a rather un-British thing to do. We’re a tolerant and mutually respectful society.
“There are times, clearly, when you’ve got to be able to identify yourself, and people have got to be able to see your face, but I think it’s very unlikely and it would be undesirable for the British Parliament to try and pass a law dictating what people wore.
“I think very few women in France actually wear the burka. They [the French parliament] are doing it for demonstration effects.”
Elsewhere in the Telegraph, under the headline “By refusing to ban the burka, Damian Green is supporting the humiliation of millions of British women”, Toby Young informs his readers that “the burka is both a symbol and a source of the oppression of Muslim women”.
According to Young: “Few people can be in any doubt that Islam is a deeply misogynistic religion.” As for wearing the veil, according to Young “for most Muslim women it is not a free choice but something they’re forced to do by their fathers or brothers or husbands – and the consequences of disobeying can be a beating or worse”.
To which we can only respond: Few people can be in any doubt that Toby Young is a deeply ignorant bigot.
Spanish parliament to debate veil ban
Spanish lawmakers will debate barring burqas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that the body-covering garments are degrading to women, the leading opposition party said Sunday.
Top officials of the ruling Socialist Party have indicated they will support the proposal by the opposition Popular Party, making a ban likely unless the country’s highest court rules it unconstitutional.
A debate in Spain’s lower house has been set by the Popular Party for Tuesday or Wednesday, the party said. No vote will be scheduled until after the debate, and Spain’s Parliament usually goes on vacation for a month starting in late July or early August.
Head-covering veils would not be included in a ban as they form a part of traditional Spanish dress, with women often covering their heads with a garment called a mantilla, especially during church services in the south of the country.
Spain has about 1 million Muslims in the nation of 47 million, with most living in the northeastern region of Catalonia and the southern region Andalucia. However, burqas are rarely seen.
Associated Press, 18 July 2010
See also Press Association, 18 July 2010
‘Hate Sheikh’ speaks at Blackburn mosque
The imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah told the world not to be afraid of Islam and Muslims, adding that Islam represents a message of peace, goodness and tolerance. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais made the announcement while delivering his Friday sermon at the Tauheedul Islam Mosque in Blackburn, Lancashire, UK.
In his sermon, Al-Sudais said: “Islam came to protect the interests of humanity, prevent evils and build bridges with all communities. It offers a great message of mercy and tolerance.”
Banning veil undermines secular democracy
“The hysteria around the niqab is the inevitable outcome of the post-9/11 politics of fear that we have allowed ourselves be whipped into. We need to rediscover our confidence in the strength of democracy to accommodate differences, rather than let demagogues destroy it.”
Haroon Siddiqui writes in the Toronto Star, 18 July 2010
Palin calls on Muslims to ‘refudiate’ Ground Zero mosque
See Huffington Post, 18 July 2010
Palin’s stand has won her the enthusiastic support of mad Pamela Geller: “Gd, I love this woman! … She has spine, character, ethics, integrity, and above all, true grit. If she runs, I’ll be right behind her.”
Tory minister says women should have the right to wear veil – Tory press is outraged
See “Caroline Spelman: wearing burka can be ’empowering'” in the Daily Telegraph, “Burkas empower women: Top Tory woman insists freedom to wear Muslim veil is a right” in the Daily Mail and “Uproar after minister says: Let women wear a burkha if they want”, in the Daily Express.
Dudley: police continue to disperse EDL members
Police are still trying to disperse pocket groups of EDL members who are still in the town centre following today’s protests.
Trouble again flared following a seemingly calm protest of around 500 gathered English Defence League protesters, who converged on Stafford Street. At around 3.30pm, as the protest finished, some members flooded out of the car park and began a further stand off with police, as they began loading on to their coaches.
Despite EDL leaders promising today’s protest would be peaceful, a group of around a couple of hundred supporters tried to get down The Inhedge, as they tried to make their way into the town centre and the Unite Against Fascism counter protest.
Hollobone says he will ban veil-wearing constituents from surgeries
A Conservative MP says he will refuse to hold meetings with Muslim women wearing full Islamic dress at his constituency surgery unless they lift their face veil. Last night Muslim groups condemned Philip Hollobone and accused him of failing in his duty as an MP.
In an interview with The Independent, the Kettering MP said: “I would ask her to remove her veil. If she said: ‘No’, I would take the view that she could see my face, I could not see hers, I am not able to satisfy myself she is who she says she is. I would invite her to communicate with me in a different way, probably in the form of a letter.”
Mayor Bloomberg continues to defend ‘Ground Zero mosque’ plan
There’s no doubt that the site of a planned Islamic community center and prayer space is close to the World Trade Center site, as it is two short blocks from the site of the terror attacks. While some see the proximity as offensive, others like Mayor Michael Bloomberg see it as a virtue, symbolic of America’s commitment to religious freedom.
“I happen to think this is a very appropriate place for somebody who wants to build a mosque, because it tells the world that America, and New York City, which is what I’m responsible for, really believes in what we preach,” said Bloomberg on Friday.
The mayor’s comments were perhaps his most forceful on the controversy, which in this election year has quickly become a political football.
Opinions seem to split along political party lines. Republican candidate for governor Rick Lazio and Republican Congressman Peter King have demanded an investigation into the project’s funding, while Democrats like Andrew Cuomo have been supportive of the project.
Bloomberg, a political independent, brought up the topic unsolicited at a forum with Dartmouth College students.
During his weekly radio show, the mayor also sparred with a caller who asked, “How do you consider it un-American to question the appropriateness of a mosque at Ground Zero?” The mayor responded, “I don’t think it’s un-American. I just don’t think that the government should keep some people from praying the way they want to and let others pray.”