Kate Dailey reports for BBC News Magazine.
Monthly Archives: December 2011
‘Marching through Wales – the Islamist Stormtroopers of the future?’
Thus the headline to a report by the British National Party. They have uploaded a video of the annual procession held by Shia Muslims in Newport to mark the Day of Ashura. According to the BNP, this is a “striking example of the steady colonisation of our country”.
All is not lost, though: “The good news is that these Muslim colonists are still massively outnumbered in Wales, and indeed through the UK as a whole. It is not too late to both stop and reverse the immigration tide. But time is running short.”
Not that short, you might think. Shia Muslims currently comprise around 0.3% of the population of the UK.
Muslims and Jews unite to oppose EDL
The Home Office has written to an umbrella group representing a range of Jewish communal and religious groups in response to statements distancing themselves from the methods and aims of the English Defence League.
Earlier this year the leaders of the United Synagogue, Reform, Liberal and Masorti communities, as well as the Board of Deputies and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ congregation, highlighted their opposition to the EDL’s tactics and called on the far right organisation to refrain from using Jewish and Israeli symbols in its campaigns.
CPS statement on case of Aayan, Hibo and Ambaro Maxamed and Ifran Nur
The Crown Prosecution Service has been asked why four defendants who assaulted a woman in Leicester were not charged with a racially aggravated offence. Here is the statement on the case issued by the CPS:
“The CPS reviewed all the evidence in this case, including whether a racially aggravated offence should be brought on the basis that the comment ‘white bitch’ was reported to have been heard during the incident. However, this racist comment could not be attributed to any particular suspect and was not adopted by the group as a whole. There was therefore no realistic prospect of conviction for a racially aggravated offence.”
Another mosque torched in West Bank
Vandals set fire to another mosque in the West Bank on Thursday and defaced it with Hebrew graffiti.
The governor of Ramallah, Laila Ghanam, said arsonists doused the mosque in the village of Burqa with gasoline, then set it afire. The Hebrew words for “war” and “Mitzpe Yitzhar” were painted in red on a wall, and the Israeli military said carpets and chairs were burned.
Mitzpe Yitzhar is an unauthorized Jewish settlement outpost in the West Bank where Israeli security forces demolished two structures early Thursday.
How Geller and Spencer inspired Breivik
Jeff Sparrow, one of the contributors to the recently published collection of essays On Utøya: Anders Breivik, Right Terror, Racism and Europe, examines the role of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in promoting the ideology that inspired the Norwegian mass murderer.
All-American Muslim: Kayak executive Robert Birge issues world’s worst ‘apology’ ever
Robert Birge, chief marketing officer of KAYAK, the online travel company that withdrew its advertising from All-American Muslim following a right-wing campaign, has issued an apology. LoonWatch is not impressed.
British Freedom Party chairman interviewed
Paul Weston with Geert Wilders and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff
There’s an interview with the British Freedom Party’s chairman Paul Weston at the European Son blog. It doesn’t tell us much we didn’t already know but it’s of interest all the same.
A former member of UKIP, Weston states that he joined that party “because of Lord Pearson, who was the only person to speak about Islam”. He resigned after Nigel Farage replaced Pearson as leader of UKIP: “Mr. Farage has actually come out and said that he will not say anything about Islam because he will no longer be invited on to BBC television programs such Have I Got News for You. I think it’s terrible, so that’s really why I left UKIP.”
This is hardly an accurate summary of Farage’s position – he’s been quite happy to play the anti-Islam card on behalf of his party – but it’s probably true that the current UKIP leader doesn’t entirely share the raving anti-Muslim bigotry of his predecessor, at least as far as his public utterances are concerned. So you can see why Weston became disillusioned and saw the need for a more hardline party that placed Islamophobia at the centre of its programme.
Lowe’s pulls TV ads – and gives a Christmas gift to Target et al
Lowe’s decision to pull its advertising from All-American Muslim bows to the bigots and risks a huge commercial own goal, argues Wajahat Ali.
Jerusalem mosque set alight in another ‘price tag’ attack
Arsonists set fire to a deserted mosque in central Jerusalem during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.
There was no structural damage reported and the damage mainly consisted of the blackening of walls and graffiti reading “Price Tag,” and anti-Islamic phrases.
The Nebi Akasha mosque, apparently built under the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century with additions made under the Mamluk dyanothernasty in the 13th century. It is believed that the mosque was founded on the burial site of combatants in Saladin’s army, though an ancient tradition designates the site as the place where Akasha, a friend of the Prophet Muhammad, was buried.
Graffiti spray painted on the historical site included inscriptions such as “Mohammad is Dead,” “Mohammad is a Pig,” and “Price Tag.”