Yearly Archives: 2010

Father and son convicted over racist tirade against Muslim taxi driver

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A racist dad and his son called an Asian cab driver a terrorist in a foul-mouthed drunken tirade before walking off without paying the fare.

Thomas John Walsh, 59, and his son Andrew Thomas Walsh, 28, both of Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, also asked cabbie Kamel Choudary if he was a member of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Then when asked to pay the £20 fare Thomas refused and Andrew Walsh called the driver a “P*** b******” before they both walked off.

The judge ordered Thomas Walsh to go on an “Against Human Dignity” programme to learn not to be a racist after the attack on Mr Choudary, who now has panic attacks and fears going to work.

Mr Choudary, who works for Kingsway Taxis in Burnage, had picked up the pair in Didsbury after a night out in December last year, Chester Crown Court heard on Tuesday (July 13).

Prosecuting, Martin McRobb, said: “Mr Choudary picked them up from the Royal Oak pub in Didsbury at midnight. Then a conversation began between the defendants about the September 11 attacks.

“Thomas was in the front passenger seat and became angry and abusive launching a foul-mouthed tirade at Mr Choudary and started making comments about Muslims and Pakistanis and said it was clear there was a link between all Muslims and terrorism.

“Mr Choudary tried to disengage them and said he was Bangladeshi but it didn’t work. Then when they stopped at Altrincham Road they refused to pay the fare and Andrew called him a P*** b****** and they both walked off.”

Thomas who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress by using words and making off without payment was sentenced to a 12 month community order with the requirement that he undertakes an Against Human Dignity programme and an alcohol activity programme. Andrew, who pleaded guilty to the same harassment offence, was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Manchester Evening News, 14 July 2010

Posted in UK

Wilders launches ‘international alliance’ against Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders extremistAn anti-Islam lawmaker in the Netherlands is forming an international alliance to spread his message across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries, among other goals.

Geert Wilders told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday he will launch the movement late this year, initially in five countries: the U.S., Canada, Britain, France and Germany. “The message, ‘stop Islam, defend freedom,’ is a message that’s not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world,” Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.

Among the group’s aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic Sharia law. Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.

“The fight for freedom and (against) Islamization as I see it is a worldwide phenomenon and problem to be solved,” he said.

Wilders declined to name any of the other founders of the organization he is calling the Geert Wilders International Freedom Alliance. He said he would hold speeches in the five countries where the alliance will first launch in coming months to drum up support.

Associated Press, 15 July 2010

See also “Dutch politician says UK should be part of a ‘freedom alliance’ of countries pitted against Islam”, Daily Mail, 15 July 2010

French parliament votes to ban veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly. It must now be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.

Many of the opposition Socialists, who originally wanted the ban limited only to public buildings, abstained from voting after coming under pressure from feminist supporters of the bill.

After the vote, Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said it was a victory for democracy and for French values. “Values of freedom against all the oppressions which try to humiliate individuals; values of equality between men and women, against those who push for inequality and injustice.”

“Democracy thrives when it is open-faced,” Ms Alliot-Marie told the National Assembly when she presented the bill last week.

The Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, warned in March that the law could be found unconstitutional. If the bill passes the Senate in September, it will be sent immediately to France’s Constitutional Council watchdog for a ruling. Another challenge is possible at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where decisions are binding.

BBC News, 14 July 2010

See also “France vote to ban full-face veils condemned by Amnesty”,Amnesty press release, 13 July 2010

Opponents and supporters of ‘Ground Zero mosque’ clash at hearing

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A demonstrator holds a sign during a Landmarks Commission's hearing on the proposed Cordoba Mosque to be built near the site of the former World Trade Center in New YorkA city hearing yesterday on the historical significance of the downtown Manhattan site of a proposed mosque quickly turned into a raucous – and at times ugly – debate about whether an Islamic center should be located so close to Ground Zero.

About 150 people crowded into the Hunter College Auditorium in Manhattan for the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing, held to see if the 152-year-old building at 45-47 Park Place in lower Manhattan had the cultural or architectural consequence worthy of being landmarked.

Those who opposed the construction of the 13-story mosque and community center, called the Cordoba House, accused their opponents of being unpatriotic and insensitive to the thousands who died on 9/11. But attendees who want to see the $100 million project completed accused their challengers of being racist and encouraging conflict with Muslims.

One protester, shouting, “Down with this McCarthyistic witch hunt against Muslims,” was escorted out after interrupting speakers against the mosque.

Joseph Reichling of Ridgewood, Queens, said, “Our forefathers are turning in their graves. Have we forgotten what happened on 9/11? We must never forget 9/11.” Andrea Quinn echoed his sentiments. “The plan to build a 13-story mosque on that site is ludicrous,” said Quinn of Queens. “Not to preserve this building is to allow for a citadel of Islamic supremacy to be built in its place.”

Zead Ramadan – who said his wife was a first responder on 9/11 – testified for the mosque. “We are picking and choosing which houses of worship can open at which streets and we are opening a can of worms,” he said, adding, “It’s called Islamophobia.”

Rozanne Delgado said, “I’m ashamed of the racism. There’s lots of hatred here.”

New York Post, 14 July 2010

Express repeats call for veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France Votes to Ban BurkhaDemands to ban the burkha in Britain were growing last night after France voted to outlaw the wearing of Islamic full-face veils in public.

The Government was urged to follow Paris’s example and stand up against the face and body coverings which have been condemned for creating a divided Britain.

In France, where the burkha has been described as a “walking coffin”, the new law means women will be fined or jailed for hiding their faces in public. And men who force their wives to wear a full Islamic veil will face tougher fines and up to a year behind bars.

Spain and the Netherlands are considering similar legislation and there are calls for Britain to follow suit as the veils become an increasingly common sight on our streets.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone, who has launched a Private Member’s Bill to ban “facial coverings”, said: “It is unnatural for someone to cover their face and it not a religious requirement. We are never going to have a fully integrated society if an increasing proportion of the population cover their faces.”

A ban on burkhas is supported by 99 per cent of Britons, a Daily Express poll found last month.

Daily Express, 15 July 2010

See also “Brits say banning the burkha is not anti-Muslim”, Daily Star, 14 July 2010

US airline worker sues former employer

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Pakistani-American airline engineer from Brooklyn is suing his firm for allegedly allowing co-workers to taunt him by calling him “bomb-maker.”

Jamil Akhtar, 51, said he complained to his bosses at NorthAmerican Airlines that other employees derided him with derogatory names like “Packy,” insulted his Muslim religion and threatened him.

His suit, filed yesterday in Brooklyn state Supreme Court, charges that when he complained to superiors, he was threatened with the loss of his FAA license.

Akhtar said he took a two-week leave of absence in 2007 and when he returned, a supervisor smiled and said, “What are you doing here? You’re fired.”

The engineer quit in 2007. He is suing for back pay and other damages.

New York Post, 10 July 2010

New Jersey: Muslim woman sues hospital over religious discrimination

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rona Mohammedi went to Somerset Medical Center the night of Feb. 11 with severe chest pains. After hearing she would need an electrocardiogram, she asked for a female to conduct the test.

A Muslim, Mohammedi wears traditional garb, including the hijab, or head scarf. The Basking Ridge woman believes it is her religious duty to maintain modesty before strange men, and an EKG calls for wires to be applied to the chest, shoulders and wrists.

Instead of heeding her request, officials let her languish in the emergency room for five hours until 3:10 a.m., when her husband sought a transfer. She is suing the hospital for discrimination and violating the Patient Bill of Rights.

The complaint filed May 14 in Superior Court in Somerville raises the question of how far hospitals must go for religious accommodations. The rights listed in state statutes say patients can expect treatment without discrimination, and respectful care consistent with sound medical practices.

Mohammedi’s lawyer, Tariq Hussain, said the hospital failed those basic tenets. “According to the patients’ bill of rights that exist in New Jersey, hospitals are required to make reasonable accommodations for patients for various reasons,” he said. “Patients should not be denied service or discriminated against based on religion.”

NJ.com, 11 July 2010

Australian Muslims condemn media misrepresentation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Australian-Muslim families have good relations with other Australians, and feel safe and happy here. But they are furious with the media for depicting Muslims as terrorists and criminals, a report for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship reveals.

“The families felt strongly the media was gunning for Muslims; it was a huge concern for them,” said Ilan Katz, the director of the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW, and a co-author of the study. The research is part of a wider project commissioned by the department to understand the concerns and needs of Muslim Australians.

Sydney Morning Herald, 12 July 2010

French parliament set to vote on veil ban Tuesday

Posted on by Bob Pitt

French passportAs France’s parliament debates whether to ban burqa-like Muslim veils, one lawmaker compares them to muzzles, or “walking coffins.” Another proclaims that women who wear them must be liberated, even against their will.

Amid little resistance, France’s lower house of parliament will likely approve a ban on face-covering veils Tuesday, and the Senate will probably follow suit in September.

Polls show voters overwhelmingly support a ban. In parliament, criticism was mostly timid, and relatively few dissenters spoke out about civil liberties or fears of fanning anti-Islam sentiment in a country where there are an estimated 5 million Muslims, and where mainstream society has struggled to integrate generations of immigrants.

One obstacle, however, may still stand in the way of a ban: the courts. Law scholars say the ban could be shot down by France’s constitutional watchdog or the European Court of Human Rights. That could dampen efforts under way in other European countries toward banning the veils.

Legislator Berengere Poletti, of Sarkozy’s conservative party, argued that women in such garb “wear a sign of alienation on their faces” and “must be liberated,” even if they say the apparel is their own choice.

Communist Andre Gerin, who also supports a ban, said that “talking about liberty to defend the wearing of the full veil is totally cynical – for me, the full veil is a walking coffin, a muzzle.”

Socialist Jean Glavany, one of the few lawmakers to offer stinging criticism of a ban, said dwelling on questions of French identity and whether burqas are welcome in France “is nothing more than the fear of those who are different, who come from abroad, who aren’t like us, who don’t share our values.” He was also one of several lawmakers to question the bill’s “judicial fragility.”

Associated Press, 12 July 2010

See also “French National Assembly debates burqa ban”, WSWS, 12 July 2010 and “French entrepreneur offers to pay veil fines”,Reuters, 12 July 2010