Pav Akhtar draws the lessons from last month’s failed attempt by EDL sympathisers to organise an East End Gay Pride march through Tower Hamlets.
Monthly Archives: April 2011
EDL supporter who defaced Muslim World League building found guilty of aggravated criminal damage
A carer who wrote “EDL” and drew a religious cross on the wall of a mosque has been found guilty of aggravated criminal damage.
Andrew Baldwin, from Fitzrovia, admitted daubing the three letters – representing the far right English Defence League group – and the cross on the wall of the Muslim World League (MWL) building in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, on December 10 and again on March 5. The 38-year-old, who is a full-time carer for his father, also admitted destroying a CCTV sign attached to the building on March 26. However, he denied a further charge that his actions were motivated by racial or religious hatred.
Giving evidence at Highbury Magistrates’ Court last Thursday, Baldwin said he was not an EDL member, but replied “yes” when asked by prosecutor Jonathan Efemini whether he supported the group. He said his graffiti had been aimed at “wrong’uns” rather than Muslims in general, adding: “Anyone going into that building to do their business and pray to their god, it’s not aimed at them. It’s aimed at the other types.”
Baldwin said he had wanted the message to be seen by “people who abuse our soldiers, burn poppies and commit terrorism on our train system”. In a police interview played to the court, Baldwin said he had ripped down the CCTV sign because he had been “having a bad day, I suppose”.
Defending, Dan O’Callaghan said Mr Baldwin had “never denied the basic fact of what happened” and had been “consistent in his representations that this was not religiously aggravated”. He added: “It was unwise and unpleasant to do it [graffiti] on the building he did it on, but what we say is the motive required under section 38 of the Crime and Disorder Act simply did not exist in this case.”
Judge Anthony Martin said Mr Baldwin’s evidence had been “inconsistent”, adding: “In our view that graffiti would offend a class of people rather than particular individuals.” He also said there was no evidence to suggest anyone who used the MWL building was involved in terrorism or the other acts cited by Baldwin.
In a statement read to the court at the start of the trial, Dr Ahmed Makhdoom, director of the MWL building, described the graffiti as “very disturbing”. He added: “I do not want this man [Mr Baldwin] to go to prison. I want him to understand what we do.”
Sentencing will take place on May 12.
BNP candidate posted threats of violence on Facebook page
A BNP candidate has been displaying highly offensive material that advocates violence against members of a Muslim organisation on her Facebook site. Politicians from mainstream parties have condemned Susan Harwood, a BNP candidate in Torfaen at next week’s National Assembly election.
The material, which uses abusive four-letter language about a group called Muslims Against Crusades, was featured on Ms Harwood’s Facebook site, but has since been removed. The Conservative candidate in Torfaen is Natasha Asghar, a Muslim.
Labour’s Lynne Neagle, who has represented the seat since the Assembly was formed and is seeking re-election, said: “This is outrageous behaviour by someone who pretends to be a respectable candidate in a democratic election. It’s one thing to oppose an organisation’s views, but her actions go far beyond legitimate criticism.
“It is totally unacceptable that BNP candidates continue to behave like this. People across Wales should know that a vote for the BNP is a vote for thugs and racists of the worst sort. If the BNP had a shred of decency, they would drop Susan Harwood as a candidate.”
Welsh Conservative candidate for North Wales and vice-president of the anti-fascist group Searchlight Cymru, Mark Isherwood said: “These appalling and offensive comments show the BNP in their true colours. People across Wales will deplore these racist and bigoted comments … and I am confident that the BNP will be defeated at the ballot box.”
Ian Titherington, director of elections for Plaid Cymru, said: “The BNP is struggling for candidates and scraping the barrel.”
Sarrazin controversy throws SPD into turmoil
Germany’s opposition Social Democrats were thrown into turmoil yesterday when a prominent Jewish party member resigned from the party in disgust over its refusal to expel the anti-Muslim author Thilo Sarrazin from its ranks.
Sergey Lagodinsky, founder of the Social Democrat (SPD) Jewish Working Group, joined hundreds of furious party members expressing their dismay at a decision taken before Easter not to expel Mr Sarrazin for his virulent criticism of Muslim immigration.
“As a Jewish person,” Mr Lagodinsky wrote in his letter of resignation to the party leadership, “I had seen a possibility to revive Germany’s long Jewish tradition together with other minority and majority groups in our country. That hope is now dashed.”
Several hundred SPD members signed an online petition yesterday, which insisted that Mr Sarrazin’s “racist attitudes” had no place in the party.
UKIP by-election candidate backs Geert Wilders, says Islam is ‘morally flawed and degenerate’
Abhijit Pandya, an Indian-origin candidate for the Leicester South byelection, has sparked fury by making critical remarks about Islam in his blog less than a week before the May 5 elections.
Pandya, 31, is the candidate for the UK Independence Party, which is opposed to Britain’s membership of the European Union.
On his blog, Pandya called Islam “morally flawed and degenerate” and said he backed Geert Wilders, a controversial Dutch politician who allegedly called Islam a retarded ideology.
BNP anti-mosque campaigners arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offence
The former leader of the city’s BNP was arrested while taking part in a protest against a new mosque. Kieren Trent was arrested in Victoria Street,Wolverton, during a demonstration held by the right-wing group on Sunday afternoon. A female who was at the protest was also arrested.
The demonstration took place following the decision by Milton Keynes Council’s planning committee to allow The Plough pub in Manor Road, Bletchley, to be converted into a mosque.
It is believed members of the BNP approached Councillor Mike Galloway, cabinet member for development and a member of the committee, because he had voted in favour of the plans.
Tennessee: Republican politician delivers anti-Islam rant as hundreds of Muslims protest at state capitol
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on state and national GOP leaders to repudiate a lengthy rhetorical attack on Islam and the Quran by a co-sponsor of a Tennessee bill that, in its original form, would have effectively outlawed basic Islamic principles (Sharia).
During a hearing today of the Tennessee House Judiciary Committee, State Rep. Rick Womick (R) claimed the proposed Material Support to Designated Entities Act is “not about religion,” then launched into a lengthy attack on Islam and its revealed text, ultimately comparing the faith to Nazism and white supremacy. Womick stated:
“[A Tennessee Muslim leader] says that the Quran does not support violence and that he denounces all violence. I believe him. But he is an exception, because those who truly hold the Quran for every word that it speaks cannot believe that…
“With Islam there is no freedom of religion allowed within or outside of Islam. There is no freedom of speech or thought, no freedom of artistic expression, no freedom of the press, no equality of peoples, because non-Muslims are never equal to Muslims. There is one set of laws for Muslim men and different laws for women and non-Muslims. Under Islam, women are to be beaten…
“It’s when you … demand that our Constitution take an exception to your beliefs, whether it be Sharia law or Nazism or white supremacy, it doesn’t make a difference.”
“Representative Womick’s hate rhetoric makes it clear that Islam and Muslims are the true targets of this bill,” said CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas, who has helped challenge similar anti-Islam bills in other states. “His rant is evidence of the hateful paranoia that will inevitably lead to this bill being used against peaceful American Muslims.”
“Mr. Womick’s extremist views are obviously based on distortions, misinformation and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims that must be repudiated by fellow Republicans,” said Abbas.
He said the original form of the legislation was reportedly written with the assistance of David Yerushalmi, head of the anti-Islam hate group Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE).
On its now password-protected website, SANE offered a policy proposal that would make “adherence to Islam” punishable by 20 years in prison, called for the immediate deportation of all non-citizen Muslims and urged Congress to declare war on the “Muslim Nation,” which SANE defined as “all Muslims.”
CAIR press release, 26 April 2011
See also ” Hundreds of Muslims Protest at State Capitol”, WSMV, 26 April 2011
Muslim community denounces document describing Montreal mosque as terror hub
MONTREAL — New WikiLeaks documents that describe a Montreal mosque as a terror hub are defamatory, says a local Muslim spokesman.
The newly leaked U.S. documents claim a Mauritanian terror suspect being held at Guantanamo Bay was the leader of a Montreal-based al-Qaida cell that planned terror attacks in the United States.
The secret documents, released by WikiLeaks on their website last weekend, also claim that members of al-Qaida were recruited and trained at Montreal’s Al Sunnah Al Nabawiah Mosque, where the terror suspect served briefly, possibly as an imam.
But the chairman of the Muslim Council of Montreal said the documents serve as an example of how the community’s institutions are unfairly targeted by authorities.
“Our allegations are certainly correct that we’ve been targeted and this is biased targeting,” Salam Elmenyawi said in an interview. “None of the information is based on evidence. It’s rather based on intelligence analysis and this analysis has certainly ignored any other facts that contradicted the conclusion.”
Elmenyawi said the documents defame the mosque and show a blatant bias against the Muslim community.
Update: See “WikiLeaks: Montreal mosque ‘is a top Al Qaeda recruiting zone'”, Daily Mail, 27 April 2011
Needless to say, the Mail fails to quote the views of the Muslim Council of Montreal.
The paper also takes the opportunity to publish a photo of the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park, with the caption “Finsbury Park Mosque in London was named by WikiLeaks as another Al Qaeda recruiting ground”. Yesterday’s Mail did the same, with another photo of the mosque captioned “‘Haven for extremists’: US intelligence experts describe Finsbury Park Mosque, in north London, above, as an ‘attack planning and propaganda production base'”.
Disgracefully, there is no mention in either article of the fact that this charge dates from the time when Abu Hamza al-Masri and his followers were in control and that the mosque has been under new management since 2005.
See NLCM press release.
‘Sarkozy using burqa ban to gain votes’
Press TV interviews Naima Bouteldja, who interviewed niqab-wearing French Muslim women for the recently published study Unveiling the Truth: Why 32 Women Wear the Full-Face Veil in France.
Counter-protest against EDL in Weymouth on Saturday
Dorset Police have announced they will be separating two protests being held on Saturday as concerns grow over anti-Muslim feelings in the town.
The English Defence League (EDL) is a right-wing group that is against Islamic extremism and “radical Islam’s encroachment into the lives of non-Muslims” as well as the introduction of Sharia law into Britain. They announced a march after BBC3 screened a film about a former Weymouth lad who converted to Islam and was radicalised.
A peaceful counter protest will be held at the same time, 1pm, organised by people behind the Facebook page, Keep The Racist EDL out of Dorset, who are rallying people to join them in opposition to the EDL “bringing its hatred and violence to a diverse, tolerant Dorset”.
Assembly points for both groups have been designated at either end of the Esplanade in Weymouth, with the EDL due to meet at the pier bandstand and counter-demonstrators opposite the Pavilion.
Lord Knight of Weymouth, former Dorset South MP Jim Knight, has penned a blog voicing his fears that the EDL are “a bigger threat than the BNP”.
He says: “At a time of high unemployment, housing shortage and cuts to the welfare state we are particularly vulnerable to the rise of far right fascism. The possibility of that particular poison reaching somewhere as peaceful as Weymouth makes me anxious. That is why I will join others in publicly expressing our opposition to the English Defence League in Weymouth.”