Monthly Archives: September 2011

Two more in court over EDL attack on Plymouth kebab shop

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Michael Rafferty and Ricky BurleyTwo men have appeared before Plymouth magistrates accused of resisting police officers. Ricky Burley, aged 43, and 33-year-old Michael Rafferty appeared together charged with offences in Exeter Street on August 31.

Burley, of High Street, Stonehouse, denied threatening behaviour and resisting or obstructing a police officer. Rafferty, of Queen Street, Devonport, denied obstructing or resisting a second officer. Plymouth magistrates were told the incident happened outside the Wild Coyote pub, now called the East End bar.

They were released on bail on the same condition until their trial before magistrates on a date to be set in the next few months.

Continue reading →

Problem is not multiculturalism but Muslims, says German law professor

Posted on by Bob Pitt

RT interviews Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider:

RT: Multiculturalism has failed, say European leaders. But what are the actual consequences of that failure?

KAS: If by multiculturalism you mean people from southern Europe, Germany, northern Europe, Hungary, Poland, Russia, all European nations, living together, then no, it has not failed. There is no problem at all.

The problem is with the Muslims. It’s not the people who constitute the problem, but Islam. And Islam comes with Muslim people. They build active groups that promote Islam and advocate the establishment of Sharia law. And Sharia law, particular its criminal section, is absolutely impossible for European relationships. We have religious pluralism in Europe and not a single religion is dominant. But Islam is the religion that tolerates another religion as long as it has no power.

(Via Islam in Europe)

Poll: American views on Islam closely follow party affiliation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

PRRI

A comprehensive new report by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution reveals a deeply divided American public when it comes to Islam and the place of Muslims in the United States. The survey – “What it means to be American: Attitudes in an increasingly diverse America ten years after 9/11” – shows that “Americans are struggling to reconcile principles of religious liberty and the inclusion of new groups in America with specific discomfort and fears, particularly around American Muslims and Islam,” says Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI.

Some 47 percent of all Americans, according to the poll, believe that the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life. And the splits along ideological lines reveal a deeply divided public. Large majorities of Republicans (63 percent) and people who identify with the Tea Party (66 percent) say that Islamic values are in contrast with American values. At the same time, however, a majority of Democrats (55 percent) and independents (53 percent) disagree with that view.

Examiner.com, 8 September 2011

See also PRRI website

Download the report here

French police stop Facebook call to cut Muslims’ throats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Egorger les musulmans Facebook page

French police are trying to track down the instigator of a Facebook page that called on people to cut the throats of Muslims on the Eid Al-Adha holiday. The page has been closed down but its author is being sought for breaking anti-racist laws.

Spotted by the Collective against Islamophobia, the page, reproduced on the collective’s website, was headlined “Cut Muslims’ throats, not sheep’s”. It called on people all over the world to turn to Islamophobic murder on 6 November, the date of Eid Al-Adha which marks the end of the Haj, the piligrimage to Mecca which is one of the obligations of a good Muslim.

During the festivities Muslims sacrifice sheep in honour of Abraham, regarded as a prophet by Islam, Judaism and Christianity, to mark the biblical story of his willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and the Angel Gabriel’s offer of a sheep as a substitute. “At last we will be able to celebrate for a good reason,” the page declared.

The police have declared the page’s message “despicable words which are actionable under law”.

RFI, 9 December 2011

UKIP welcomes European anti-immigration parties to its conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ukip has been accused of pandering to xenophobia by inviting two prominent figures from European anti-immigration parties to address its annual conference today.

The star speaker will be Timo Soini, the leader of the True Finns, a previously fringe nationalist party which scored a surprise success by coming third in the Finnish general election. Ukip has been attracted by the fiercely Eurosceptic outlook of the party, which tapped into opposition to offering financial support for Mediterranean nations hit by the Eurozone crisis.

But the True Finns have also described immigrants as “parasites on taxpayers’ money” and suggested ethnically Finnish women should study less and spend more time having babies.

Mr Soini will be joined by the MEP Barry Madlener, of the Dutch Freedom Party. Its leader, Geert Wilders, has attacked Islam as a violent religion and compared the Koran to Mein Kampf.

Independent, 9 September 2011

Update:  UKIP reports that Madlener “gave a strong speech on the importance of retaining national identity and received a standing ovation for his inspirational words”.

Two in court over EDL attack on Plymouth kebab shop

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hayley Wells & Kelly WattersonTwo women have appeared in court accused of a racially-aggravated attack at a city kebab shop. Hayley Wells, aged 27, and Kelly Watterson, aged 29, faced Plymouth magistrates charged with racially-aggravated assault during an incident in Exeter St.

Plymouth magistrates were told there was a Kurdish family inside the Istanbul Kebab Shop at the time of the incident on the afternoon of Sunday August 31.

Wells, of Shell Close, Leigham, and Watterson, of St Peter’s Road, Manadon, both denied a joint charge of racially aggravated common assault against a woman in the kebab shop. Watterson also denied a further charge of affray.

Gareth Warden, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said members of a group were drinking in the Wild Coyote pub near the kebab shop. Mr Warden said a group shouted “vile abuse” at a woman in the shop. He added that Wells and Watterson are then alleged to have assaulted the woman. Mr Warden said: “Kelly Watterson is alleged to have then thrown a glass into the shop which shattered. A baby and a 14-year-old were in the shop at the time.”

Jane Wills, for the pair, said the allegations were “strongly contested”.

Magistrates ruled that the charge was so serious the pair must be tried at Plymouth Crown Court. They were released on bail on condition they do not go within 100 metres of the takeaway while papers are prepared for a judge. Watterson and Wells must return to face magistrates on November 1.

Plymouth Herald, 8 September 2011

Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamophobia Thought Crime of the Totalitarian FutureFrontPage Magazine reports that David Horowitz and Robert Spencer have a new book out:

In their new pamphlet, Islamophobia: Thought Crime of the Totalitarian Future, Horowitz and Spencer have created what amounts to a biography of this malign concept.

Their work shows how the term “Islamophobia” originated with the Muslim Brotherhood, is connected to violent protests over cartoons about Mohammed, the growing number of blasphemy laws in Europe, resolutions against this “form of racism” in the UN, and prosecutions of notable opponents of Islamic terror such as Oriana Fallaci and Geert Wilders.

They show, too, how what began as a political strategy by the Muslim Brotherhood has now spread to American higher education and has, like political correctness and other such mad experiments cultured in the campus laboratory, the potential to break out into the larger political culture.

We can only hope.

Terry Jones returns to Michigan to denounce Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Terry Jones, the controversial Florida pastor, returned to Michigan on a rainy Wednesday night for a 30-minute speech on the steps of the Capitol where he railed about radical Islam. The pastor’s speech was greeted by more police, media and protesters than supporters or curious onlookers.

About a dozen protesters started chanting “Say No to Hate” during Jones’ speech before police quieted them down. “Terry Jones is not welcome here,” said protester David Mitchell, 30, of Lansing, who held a banner with others saying: “They shall not pass.”

Jones, wearing jeans and a Harley Davidson black bomber jacket, decried Islam as a not a peaceful religion and oppressive to women. The Islamic law, Sharia, should not be tolerated, he said. “Islam is a religion that hates freedom of speech,” Jones said.

He was in Lansing to support a new organization, Operation Freedom’s Tree, founded by James Terpening. The political group denounces Islam as evil.

Jones supporter Eugene Connors, 40, of Lansing agrees. One sign he held said: “Stop Burning Christians.” “People don’t realize the threat Islam poses to everyone,” he said.

Detroit News, 7 September 2011

Catholic school may ban Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam court rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imane MahssanA Catholic secondary school in Volendam is within its right to ban pupils from wearing Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam appeal court said on Tuesday.

The court said independent schools, such as the Don Bosco College, can set standards to uphold their own values, as long as they apply the rules consistently. This is the case at the Volendam school, the court said.

In addition, the pupil was well aware the school was a Catholic institution when she applied and should have realised that adopting Islamic dress would not be allowed.

The school in the former fishing village introduced the ban several months after Imane Mahssan had requested permission to wear a headscarf and had begun doing so. She was then banned from attending lessons.

The girl’s father took the case to the Equal Opportunities Commission. It ruled in the girl’s favour, but the school decided to ignore the ruling, prompting the girl to go to court. It found in favour of the school, prompting the girl to take the case to appeal.

Dutch News, 6 September 2011

Justice Department upholds religious freedom in Virginia mosque construction dispute

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday (Sept. 6) announced a settlement with Henrico County, Va., over the county’s alleged violation of a federal anti-discrimination law when it refused to rezone property for a group of Muslims who wanted to build a mosque.

The Justice Department claimed the county’s actions violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), which prohibits religious discrimination in land use and zoning decisions. The settlement requires the county to allow the mosque to be built without improper interference or delay.

“Religious freedom is one of our most cherished rights, and that right includes the ability to assemble and build places of worship without facing discrimination,” said Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez.

The case arose in late 2008 when local Muslims were denied the ability to build the first mosque in the county, just north of Richmond. The Muslims filed suit, charging that the denial of the request was “arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.”

The Justice Department joined the case in March 2010 and found evidence that the request to build had been denied on the basis of hostility toward Muslims. The county had never turned down a rezoning application submitted by one of its 209 Christian churches, government attorneys said.

The settlement requires Henrico County to publicize its nondiscrimination policies and to provide training on RLUIPA to all county officials involved in land use matters.

“This agreement will ensure that religious freedom is upheld in Henrico County,” said Neil H. MacBride, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Religion News Service, 7 September 2011