Monthly Archives: September 2011

‘Peacefully protesting against the North East Infidels’ – EDL leader head-butted critic

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stephen Lennon in BlackburnThe leader the English Defence League launched a verbal attack on a member of the far-right group before head-butting his victim, a court has heard.

Stephen Lennon, founder of the EDL, “goaded” a crowd of followers during a rally by 2,000 supporters in Blackburn on April 2. The 28-year-old, from Luton, launched a tirade against Alan McKee, who was accused of putting messages on the internet about police informers and “grasses”. He called Mr McKee a “degenerate mug” before trouble broke out in the crowd amongst EDL members, Preston Magistrates’ Court heard.

Mr McKee, 33, was pulled from the crowd by stewards for his own safety and taken away by police officers. But he later confronted Lennon about his speech as the rally continued with other speakers. Lennon, who was surrounded by his own security guards and EDL stewards, then allegedly lunged or stepped forward and head-butted Mr McKee.

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Jewish Defence League and Canadian Hindu Advocacy object to employee guide to Ramadan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ontario government officials say the success of an employee guide to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has prompted other publications for workers who celebrate Diwali, Christmas and Easter.

A “Ramadan: the Muslim Month of Fasting” guide was issued to 67,000 Ontario government workers last July telling them to be “sensitive” to Muslim co-workers because they are fasting and praying from dusk to dawn. The document advises managers to provide a safe room for Muslims to pray and that they may require to make more trips to the bathroom to wash before they pray. They are required to pray five times a day.

Jason Wesley, of the Ministry of Government Services, said similar publications have been sent to workers “explaining the significance of the Jewish observances of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur”. Wesley said guides to mark the Hindu festival of Diwali and Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter are planned for release.

The guide has sparked concerns from non-Muslim government workers who claim they’re being discriminated against.

“There should be no religion whatsoever in public offices,” Meyer Weinstein of the Jewish Defence League said. “They (Ontario government) are turning the workplace into a three-ring circus.”

The JDL, Canadian Hindu Advocacy and several Christian groups are calling for an end to Muslim students praying in the cafeteria with an imam on some Fridays at Valley Park Middle School on Overlea Blvd.

“The Muslims are being given preferential treatment in schools and offices,” said Advocacy director Ron Banerjee. “The other religions were thrown in as window dressing for the Muslim prayers.”

Toronto Sun, 27 September 2011

Quite who these non-Muslim workers who feel they’ve been discriminated against might be is unclear. The source of this claim would appear to be Ron Bannerjee, who was quoted in an earlier report as saying that Hindu employees are “outraged” by the Ramadan guide. He added: “Other workers in the office will have to work twice as hard to pick up their slack. Muslim workers will require more time for their religion and other people will have to do their work.” The idea that Bannerjee is a reliable source on this issue is of course laughable.

EDL thugs jailed for attack on Redbridge Islamic Centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Redbridge Islamic Centre broken windowFour thugs who smashed up a Redbridge mosque before hurling a brick at the imam have been jailed for a total of 12-and-a-half years today.

The gang shattered the windows of Redbridge Islamic Centre, Eastern Avenue, before trying to storm their way inside while taunting worshippers with sickening chants.

Rocky Beale, 19, of Purleigh Avenue, Woodford Green and Eliot Jones, 19, of Keswick Gardens, Redbridge, pelted the centre with bricks, along with 18-year-old Matthew Stephenson, of Burrow Road, Hainault. Harry Deluca, 16, whose name can now be revealed after an order was lifted by the judge, also pelted the centre and repeatedly screamed “EDL” throughout the assault on March 24. All four denied violent disorder but were convicted by a jury last month after just 90 minutes of deliberation.

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Swiss MPs back SVP motion banning veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SVP racist posterSwiss MPs have approved a far-right move to impose a ban on the burqa or other face coverings in some public places, including on public transport.

With 101 votes against 77, the lower chamber of the house approved the motion, which was titled “masks off!”, on Wednesday. The draft bill will still have to be examined by the upper chamber.

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Sweden: two men charged over Breivik ‘tribute’ attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two men arrested in Västerås on suspicion of attempted murder expressed support for Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre in Norway prior to stabbing two men of non-Swedish origin.

Two men, aged 25 and 26, were charged in Västerås on Friday for attempted murder in connection with attacks on two men of south Asian origin at the end of July.

According to the Dagens Nyheter daily the police report details that one of the defendants sent the follow text message to the other shortly after Behring Brevik’s terror attack on July 22nd: “A Norwegian ‘Nazi’ has killed like, around 84! From the left who, like, cheered on Islam. HAHAHA!! WHITE POWER!”

The Local, 27 September 2011

Nazir-Ali on meeting the English Defence League

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The report about Blackburn EDL acclaiming a talk they attended by Michael Nazir-Ali, and posting a photo of themselves with him on their Facebook page, has been taken up by Riazat Butt at the Guardian. She contacted Nazir-Ali’s office and asked them:

“Was the bishop aware that EDL members were in the audience? Did he know he was posing with EDL members in the photograph? What does he have to say about posing with EDL members and the positive comments he got from EDL members?”

Also: “Does he regret being photographed with them? Would he have had his photograph taken with them if he had known they were members of the EDL? Is he concerned that his views have led EDL members to think he is ‘on their wavelength’?”

Nazir-Ali replied that he had no idea that the people he was photographed with were EDL: “These pictures were requested at a public meeting by individuals who were not known to me and have been published without my consent.” He also refers to a couple of articles he wrote attacking the BNP. But the question “Is he concerned that his views have led EDL members to think he is ‘on their wavelength’?” didn’t receive an answer.

‘Islamists without brakes’: Pipes on the Islamification of Turkey

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“When four out of five of the Turkish chiefs of staff abruptly resigned on July 29, 2011, they signaled the effective end of the republic founded in 1923 by Kemal Atatürk. A second republic headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Islamist colleagues of the AK Party (AKP) began that day. The military safely under their control, AKP ideologues now enjoy can pursue their ambitions to create an Islamic order.”

Daniel Pipes at National Review Online, 27 September 2011

Germany: authorities discuss surveillance of Islamophobic right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

German anti-mosque protestorOfficials from the BfV, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, will discuss the country’s increasingly vocal Islamophobe scene at a meeting on Thursday. There have been calls to put right-wing populist and anti-Muslim groups under increased surveillance.

Islamophobes in Germany could come under increased surveillance by the country’s domestic intelligence agency. There are concerns that the anti-Muslim scene is becoming increasingly dangerous, and some intelligence officials want it to be subject to greater scrutiny, despite stringent German privacy laws.

The subject will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday between the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Heinz Fromm, and the agency’s leaders in the 16 German states. Officials in Bavaria are considering putting right-wing populists under observation as a new form of extremism, while Hamburg has declared it is watching an internet discussion forum similar to anti-Islamic website “Politically Incorrect” (PI).

A spokesman from the North Rhine-Westphalia interior ministry told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper that PI was not currently under observation by intelligence agents, but that the blog was being read closely and that the opinions and comments published on it were “undemocratic.” The xenophobic comments were calculated to “incite young people”, the spokesman added.

Most states are reluctant, however, and the federal interior ministry has also not yet committed itself on the matter. In essence, the question is whether the hatred of Muslims is enough to endanger freedom of religion and international understanding – or whether it is a radical but legitimate expression of opinion by individual authors within the limits of the constitution.

Spiegel, 27 September 2011

Religiously aggravated criminal damage at two Milton Keynes mosques

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An investigation has been opened after three suspected acts of religiously aggravated criminal damage took place in and around two mosques in Milton Keynes.

Between 10.30pm and 11pm on Saturday (September 24), graffiti was sprayed on Granby Mosque, Peverel Drive, Bletchley, and a shed to the side of the building was set alight and destroyed. Detectives believe this incident is connected to two other acts of criminal damage at the mosque in North Street, New Bradwell, and on a white Mercedes Sprinter van in Harwood Street, New Bradwell, overnight between Saturday and Sunday. In all three incidents offensive messages were sprayed.

DI Richard North, investigating officer, said: “I am appealing to anyone who was in the area around this time of these offences, or who has any information to contact my officers. Did you see anyone acting suspiciously near the mosques? Have you heard someone discussing this before or after Saturday night?

“These messages were highly offensive and designed to cause maximum upset to the Muslim community. We have increased our patrols in the areas and I would like to reassure everyone that we are doing all we can to catch those responsible.”

Anyone with information should contact DC Dave Phipps on 0845 8 505 505.

MK News, 26 September 2011

Via ENGAGE