Monthly Archives: December 2011

ConservativeHome withdraws Paul Goodman article, apologises to Sir Iqbal Sacranie

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ConservativeHome has published the following apology:

Sir Iqbal Sacranie

In a Diary post by Paul Goodman (“Pickles and Warsi wrestle for control of Government strategy on anti-Muslim hatred”, 19 November) we repeated in good faith a statement wrongly reported elsewhere that Sir Iqbal Sacranie is a trustee of Union of Good, an organisation which has been listed by the US Treasury as a Special Designated Global Terrorist group. We also suggested (wrongly) that it was possible that, as a result of this association, the UK government had rejected Sir Iqbal as a possible candidate for membership of the Muslim Leadership Council (MLC).

We now understand that in fact Sir Iqbal is not, and never has been, a trustee of Union of Good.  We also accept Sir Iqbal’s assurance that while he was approached with a view to participating in the MLC initiative, he declined to do so. He was not on the list of individuals that was put forward and was not rejected by the government as we had suggested.

We are sorry for any embarrassment caused to Sir Iqbal by our Diary post.

To be fair to Paul Goodman, he probably didn’t set out intentionally to libel Sir Iqbal. It’s just that when it comes to the Muslim community Goodman doesn’t know what he’s talking about and uncritically recycles second-hand right-wing smears.

Via Inayat’s Corner

Arab-Israelis protest ‘mosque bill’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Israel mosque bill protestHundreds of Arabs across Israel took to the streets Saturday to rally against attacks on mosques and the so-called ‘mosque bill,’ which aims to prohibit mosques from sounding public calls for prayer.

The protesters carried signs reading: “We won’t agree to silence the Muezzin”, “A democratic state doesn’t attack freedom of religion” and “Transfer state.” Demonstrators also chanted against the torching of mosques in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the Arab-Israeli towns of Umm al-Fahm and Shfaram, with more protestors joining in various other communities, including Baka al-Garbiyeh, Tira, Taiba, Sakhnin, Tarshiha, Nazareth, Rahat, Jaffa, Kabul and Jisr az-Zarqa.

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Arson attack may have been directed against halal abattoir, councillor suggests

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Burnt electricity pole HattonArsonists who brought down a power line leaving 1,100 homes without electricity were trying to target a Muslim-run slaughterhouse, it has been claimed.

An electricity pole in Bradshaw Meadow, Hatton, has been burned down five times, including the latest attack early yesterday. Now the councillor for the area has voiced his concerns that the incidents are directed at a nearby abattoir, which produces ritually slaughtered halal meat. But Councillor Andy Roberts’ claims have been denied by both the owners of M Najib and Sons, based in Miry Lane, Foston, and police investigating the attacks.

It took more than seven hours to restore power to all the affected homes after the latest blackout happened at 3am yesterday.

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A one-man war on American Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

David Caton

“It would be upsetting enough if a well-financed, well-organized mass campaign had misrepresented a television show, insulted an entire religious community and intimidated a national corporation. What makes the attack on ‘All-American Muslim’ more disturbing – and very revealing – is that it was prosecuted by just one person, a person unaffiliated with any established organization on the Christian right, a person who effectively tapped into a groundswell of anti-Muslim bigotry.”

The New York Times examines the role of David Caton, executive director and only known activist of the Florida Family Association.

Cordoba Foundation seminar ‘Behind Closed Doors’ at London Muslim Centre on Monday 19 December

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Behind Closed DoorsTen years ago, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the British government passed laws allowing them to detain and imprison foreign “terrorism suspects” without charge or trial. By December 2001, almost a dozen Muslim men, mainly from Algeria, had been detained and later became known, with others, as the “Belmarsh detainees”. They were held without trial or charge for over three years until the courts ruled this system illegal in 2004.

The men were released but things did not get better for them or their families… control orders were introduced in 2005 and others were subject to harsh bail restrictions after being threatened with deportation to their countries of origin – Algeria, Jordan and Libya. Tagged, with restrictions on their freedom, all without having any idea of the reason why, this has been the life of at least 18 individuals and families over the past decade, with no end in sight… 10 years of not knowing the accusations, of coming up against a wall of silence and secret evidence by the Home Office in court, not knowing if they will be deported to countries that will torture, of abuse, misuse and being ignored by the wider community.

At the same time, the British government is seeking to replace the control order regime with new Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (T-PIMs), to broaden the number of countries so-called terrorism suspects can be deported to without knowing the reason why and to harshen its anti-terrorism laws.

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Interfaith opposition to Pennsylvania anti-sharia bill

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Critics say a bill introduced by a Pennsylvania state lawmaker amounts to an attack on Shariah law, which is followed by many devout Muslims.

The House bill, introduced by Rep. Rosemarie Swanger, stipulates state courts when deciding cases shall not “consider a foreign legal code or system” lacking “the same fundamental liberties” as the Pennsylvania constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday a rabbi, an interfaith leader and a Temple University professor had joined the Council on American-Islamic Relations in criticizing the bill.

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Belgium, Islam, and the booomerang of loon idiocy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Apparently the loons are unaware that Amrani is typically a Mizrahi Jewish surname. It is reckless to guess because names can be deceiving, but if Amrani’s Jewish origin is confirmed, will the loons suddenly agree with us that the religious and ethnic heritage of the perpetrator shouldn’t be relevant?

As the bigots are fond of pointing out, Nordine Amrani is of Moroccan extraction, though he was born and raised in Belgium. According to an article in the New York Times, Amrani considered himself Belgian, didn’t speak a word of Arabic, and was not a Muslim.

In the absence of facts, it seems anti-Muslim bigots just manufacture whatever sensational headlines suit their hateful agenda.

LoonWatch demolishes the response of US Islamophobes to the killings in Liege.

Another Torygraph smear against the East London Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Al-Furqan bookshop

The Daily Telegraph reports on the conviction of Ahmed Faraz for producing and distributing extremist literature (“Terrorists’ favourite bookseller guilty”). According to the report:

“Faraz made profits of at least £62,000 and employed a number of salesmen, sending unsolicited copies of his books to Islamic shops around the country. Financial records showed that he had distributed his wares to bookshops including the al-Furqan bookshop at East London Mosque….”

But the al-Furqan bookshop has no connection to the East London Mosque and isn’t even geographically adjacent to it, being situated some distance away down Whitechapel Road, as the Telegraph‘s intrepid Security Correspondent could have found out if he had bothered to check Google Street View (see photo above).

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