Yearly Archives: 2011

Rizwaan Sabir wins compensation from police

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rizwaan SabirA student who was arrested and held for seven days after downloading the al-Qaida training manual as part of his university research into terrorist tactics has received £20,000 in compensation and an apology from the police for being stopped and searched.

Rizwaan Sabir, 26, was studying for a master’s at the University of Nottingham in 2008 when he was detained under the Terrorism Act and accused of downloading the material for illegal use. He was arrested on 14 May after the document was found on an administrator’s computer by a member of staff.

Sabir had asked the administrator, Hisham Yezza, to print out the 140-page manual as they were collaborating on research. The university said it called the police after efforts to contact Yezza failed as it felt compelled to act by its duty of care to staff and students. However, Sabir and Yezza dispute this version of events.

As soon as he was made aware of the situation, one of Sabir’s supervisors confirmed that the manual – which he had downloaded from a US government website and which can be bought at WH Smith – was relevant to his research.

After seven days and six nights in custody, he was released without charge or apology. But his lawyers later discovered Nottinghamshire police were holding an intelligence file on him, which contained false information about him and wrongly claimed he had been convicted of a terrorist offence.

His legal team brought proceedings against Nottinghamshire police for false imprisonment and breaches of the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Human Rights Act 1998. The proceedings also included a claim under the Data Protection Act 1998 relating to the intelligence file.

The case was due to go to trial on Monday 19 September, but the force settled last week, paying Sabir £20,000 compensation and covering his legal fees. It apologised to Sabir for a stop and search on 4 February 2010 and agreed to delete the inaccurate intelligence information.

Guardian, 15 September 2011

See also BBC News, 14 September 2011

Asbo for Hull EDL member who staged racist protest at world music festival

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tony ThomsenA protester with a far-right group hurled racist abuse at hundreds of people who had gathered for a world music festival.

Tony Thomsen wrapped an English flag around his head and shouted during the festival in Queens Gardens, city centre. He was part of an English Defence League (EDL) rally, a far-right group which opposes what it terms as “Muslim extremism”.

Thomsen, 40, of Rosedale Avenue, east Hull, has now been given an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) after being convicted of being drunk and disorderly at the event on June 25.

The world music festival had been organised as part of Hull Refugee Week, which aims to challenge negative stereotypes, and attracted crowds of up to 2,000.

Ben Butler, project co-ordinator at the Asylum Seekers and Refugees Kingston Upon Hull (ARKH) group, said: “It was quite intimidating. The event was all about community cohesion and families and it was intimidating for the people who were present. What confuses me is the EDL claims to be a single-issue group, against Islamic fundamentalism.

“I can’t understand why members would turn up at a family event celebrating world music that had no religious connections and start shouting racist abuse. I get the feeling the EDL focus on Islamic fundamentalism as a bit of a smokescreen for general hatred.”

Thomsen, who recently changed his name from Tony Handley, was convicted in 2003 of daubing racist abuse on a private property in Spring Bank, city centre.

Under the Asbo, which lasts for two years, Thomsen is banned from drinking alcohol in a public place and causing harassment, alarm or distress to others. If he breaches the order, he could be jailed for up to five years. Thomsen was also fined £100 and made to pay £250 court costs after being sentenced at Hull Magistrates’ Court.

Hull Daily Mail, 15 September 2011

Paris: Muslims banned from praying in the street

Posted on by Bob Pitt

muslim of France pray on the streets of

Praying in the streets of Paris is against the law starting Friday, after the interior minister warned that police will use force if Muslims, and those of any other faith, disobey the new rule to keep the French capital’s public spaces secular.

Claude Guéant said that ban could later be extended to the rest of France, in particular to the Mediterranean cities of Nice and Marseilles, where “the problem persists”. He promised the new legislation would be followed to the letter as it “hurts the sensitivities of many of our fellow citizens”.

“My vigilance will be unflinching for the law to be applied. Praying in the street is not dignified for religious practice and violates the principles of secularism, the minister told Le Figaro newspaper. “All Muslim leaders are in agreement,” he insisted.

In December when Marine Le Pen, then leader-in-waiting of the far-Right National Front, sparked outrage by likening the practice to the Nazi occupation of Paris in the Second World War “without the tanks or soldiers”. She said it was a “political act of fundamentalists”.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s party denounced the comments, but the President called for a debate on Islam and secularism and went on to say that multiculturalism had failed in France. Following the debate, Mr Guéant promised a countrywide ban “within months”, saying the “street is for driving in, not praying”.

Under an agreement signed this week, believers will be able to use the premises of a vast nearby fire station while awaiting the construction of a bigger mosque. “We could go as far as using force if necessary (to impose the ban), but it’s a scenario I don’t believe will happen, as dialogue (with local religious leaders) has born fruit,” he said.

Sheikh Mohamed salah Hamza, in charge of one of the Parisian mosques which regularly overflows, said he would obey the new law, but complained: “We are not cattle” and that he was “not entirely satisfied” with the new location. He said he feared many believers would continue to prefer going to the smaller mosque.

Daily Telegraph, 15 September 2011

See also “Ban on praying on street draws ire of Muslims in France”, Today’s Zaman, 15 September 2011

TUC expresses solidarity with journalists attacked by EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TUC affiliates expressed maximum solidarity with journalists who came under attack by the English Defence League (EDL) on September 3.

Moving an emergency motion on Tuesday National Union of Journalists (NUJ) executive member Anita Halpin explained how journalists going about their jobs had been abused and assaulted by members of the far-right organisation.

One journalist was sexually assaulted while another had lighter fuel poured over him and was set alight, suffering minor injuries. “We don’t want to have to add a British journalist’s death to the already too long list of colleagues abroad,” she said to a sombre hall.

Ms Halpin highlighted how NUJ activists had been identified by fascist website Redwatch. “We ask affiliates to call on police to prosecute those who attacked our members,” she said. “We won that fight against fascism and we will win this one.”

Seconding the motion RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that transport workers had refused to carry EDL members across the city on the day of the planned rally. “Our members felt threatened and we warned that members would walk out without a ballot if instructed to carry EDL members on public transport.”

“We won’t go to work if these people are there. And we won’t even use a ballot and we ask you to support us,” he said to huge applause from the conference hall. “The EDL need to be wiped out. They don’t stand for what decent human beings stand for.”

Morning Star, 14 September 2011

Work on Murfreesboro Islamic Center delayed as construction companies show reluctance to bid

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Not WelcomeLeaders of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro said this summer that breaking ground on their mosque would bring relief after a tumultuous year.

But an August target date slipped past, and a lack of contractor interest led to an extended deadline – still open – for construction companies to offer bids to build the new center.

“It’s not a secret that we could not get the bids that we would hope to get,” said Saleh Sbenaty, a member of the mosque planning committee. “That can be for various reasons. Some contractors are busy … and sometimes you find a contractor who really would like to get the job who is feeling some pressure from the community.”

While contractors remain fiercely competitive when most projects crop up, mosque leaders are left wondering why some companies backed out and never returned calls. It’s their latest frustration after a year of protests and court hearings over the mosque plans.

Sbenaty and fellow board member Essam Fathy said they extended the bidding deadline and have accepted bids from a wider area, including outside of Tennessee.

Going into the bidding process, mosque leaders believed construction companies would be eager to find work amid the economic downturn – and that is the case on most projects, said contractors in Rutherford County.

But market conditions are not the only factor in play. Fathy said one local contractor backed out of the mosque bidding process after describing pressure inside his church. “He was interested and then he actually said, ‘You know what, it’s going to be tough for me to do this job…. The pastor is talking about your outfit almost every week, and it would be very hard for me to take the job’,” Fathy said.

Contractors may also worry about equipment vandalism at the mosque site on Veals Road off Bradyville Pike, where in August 2010 police investigated a suspicious fire that scorched construction gear. Fathy said security cameras will be installed. “Of course, every (contractor) talked about that,” he said. “We need to secure the place.”

Since CNN re-aired a documentary about the mosque this month, Fathy has received emails and calls from across the country, including some contractors interested in the project, he said.

The Tennessean, 14 September 2011

Posted in USA

US Muslim receives hate message with burger

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Happy September 11

He wanted to grab a meal at one of his favourite Texas burger joints, but what he got was a sick joke about one of the darkest days in U.S. history.

Tarek Ghalayani said he went to Petrol Station, a Houston, Texas, bar on Sunday with a friend to watch the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants game. But when they decided to watch the second half at home, he ordered a burger to go, and was shocked by what came out of the kitchen. Scrawled on the to-go box was a message that read “Happy September 11th” with a plane flying into two towers.

Mr Ghalayani, a Muslim, said he was working near the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, and found the image disturbing. He told ABC 13: “It’s a sad day in this country’s history, where we lost 3,000 innocent lives and I don’t ever think there’s ever going to be a time when that’s OK.”

Mr Ghalayani said he demanded a refund, which he got from the manager – but without an apology or explanation. He also said he could hear someone behind the bar repeating “Allahu Akbar”, an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great”, that has also been heard by Islamic extremists in several terror attacks, including the crash of United Flight 93 outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11.

Struck by the eatery’s actions, Mr Ghalayani went home and wrote about his experience on the popular review site Yelp.com. He wrote:

“Within earshot, [the bartender] called my friend and I ‘a**holes’ for complaining about what he clearly thought was funny. Go there if you want a good burger – but know that you’re dealing with people who have no regard for you or what it means to be in this country. Some things are still sacred – and making light of the day that 3,000 innocent people lost their lives and being unapologetic about it is, in my view, a bit much.”

The review sparked a firestorm on social networking sites like Twitter, where it reached the bar’s owner, Ben Fullelove, who said he was not at the bar at the time of the incident. On Monday, the restaurant tweeted: “I am really sorry. Please don’t let this idiot be a reflection of Petrol.”

By that afternoon, the bartender responsible was fired. Mr Fullelove told ABC 13: “I just don’t understand how somebody could think that’s a joke. I mean, it’s not a joke. It’s not how I run my business.”

Later, Mr Fullelove met with Mr Ghalayani personally, and formally apologized, prompting Ghalayani to update his Yelp post. He wrote: “I wanted to update this – I was able to speak to the owner and have a good conversation about my experience at Petrol. He sounded sincere and I appreciated his swift response once he was notified of the issues by the local community.”

Mr Fullelove said his employees would be receiving sensitivity training as a result of the incident.

Daily Mail, 14 September 2011

Posted in USA

Sign outside Buffalo mosque is smashed on 9/11

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Buffalo mosque sign smashed

BUFFALO, NY — Was the sign at a mosque on the city’s east side intentionally damaged? What makes this incident suspicious is that it happened on Sunday, the 10 year anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on America.

Police are investigating and have not determined whether it was a was deliberate act, but some residents we talked to believe this was no accident. Geneva’s Auto owner Walter Johnson said, “That was deliberately done and I think it’s awful.”

Buffalo Police Chaplain Bilal Abdullah said, “I guess it was a 9/11. People maybe looked at it as a way to get back at Muslims in general.” Police say a truck drove over the lawn in front of the mosque and smashed the sign, which was found in pieces around the parking lot.

WIVB, 12 September 2011

See also CAIRtv, 14 September 2011

Islam is ‘closing in’ on Israel, claims Benny Morris

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Benny MorrisIsraeli historian Benny Morris has an article in the National Interest warning of the Islamic threat to Israel and indeed to civilisation in general.

According to Morris: “Islam these past two weeks has definitely been closing in on the Jewish state, with Israel’s ambassadors in the two major Middle Eastern states with which it had good relations, Turkey and Egypt, being sent packing.”

In both countries, Morris asserts, “it was Islam which gradually eroded secularism and brought down pragmatic, prudent governments in the region, which drove the diplomats from their posts”. From this standpoint the Arab Spring, and indeed any democratisation of Muslim-majority countries in Middle East, is to be opposed.

Morris pours scorn on those Westerners who “deluded themselves into believing that the popular uprisings sweeping the Arab world were presaging a new birth of freedom”. If the Muslim citizens of these countries are ever going to be capable of governing themselves it will only be in the distant future, and possibly not even then – “over the span of a century or two, who knows? maybe democracy will evolve in Cairo and Sana and Damascus (though I wouldn’t bet on it)”. In the meantime, “what this tumult is certainly delivering is the ruination of responsible government, chaos … and a surge in, and possibly, finally, a takeover by, radical Islamism”.

And it’s not just the Arab Spring that’s got Morris worried. Elsewhere he warns that the “threat of resurgent Islam” has emerged within Israel’s own borders: “The Israeli Arab landscape is increasingly dominated by minarets and veiled women.” Minarets, veils – this is the language and imagery of the European far right, transposed to the Middle East.

Of course, from Morris’s standpoint it was a historical blunder to have allowed Arabs to remain in Israel in the first place. They should have been ethnically cleansed back in 1948, according to him, allowing for the construction of a purely Jewish state. Indeed, in Morris’s opinion, it is a mistake to allow Muslims into any country with a non-Muslim majority. He takes the view that “mass Muslim penetration into the West and their settlement there is creating a dangerous internal threat”.

This is the man who was recently invited to speak at the London School of Economics, with the enthusiastic approval of Harry’s Place, who are fully in favour of hate preachers so long as they’re Zionists.

Peter King defends his witch-hunt of US Muslims, endorses Prevent

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter King protestPeter King testified before a British Parliamentary committee on Tuesday, defending his three congressional 9/11 hearings and saying he will not be stopped by political correctness.

The New York Republican appeared before the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee inquiry entitled “Roots of Violent Radicalisation“, presenting his findings from the three hearings he has held on radicalization within the Muslim-American community as the House Committee on Homeland Security chairman.

He told the Parliamentary hearing he “would not back down to political correctness” and will continue to tackle what he called a “dangerous problem”, according to a copy of his testimony provided to POLITICO by his office.

“Undoubtedly, Congressional investigation of Muslim-American radicalization is the logical response to the unquestionable fact that homegrown radicalization is part of Al Qaeda’s strategy to continue attacking the United States and its allies,” King said. “I would not back down to political correctness.”

King also praised the United Kingdom’s government for its work on stemming radicalization, noting that its “Prevent” strategy “offers a candid assessment of the problem and a model for effectively addressing and countering this problem”.

King told the hearing he is “concerned that within the United States, political correctness has prevented many from sufficiently acknowledging and tackling this dangerous problem” and said studying homegrown terrorism must remain of the highest priority for both the U.S. and UK.

“While I have no doubt that the Committee’s radicalization hearings have had a significant and beneficial impact in fostering an honest dialogue about the growing issue of radicalization within the United States, I remain concerned that this problem is far from resolved,” King said, according to his prepared remarks.

Politico, 12 September 2011

Australia: Greens move to censure Cory Bernardi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Greens today will ask Parliament to condemn Liberal senator Cory Bernardi for offering to help controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders in his trip to Australia.

Mr Wilders has compared the Koran to Mein Kampf, called the prophet Muhammad a paedophile and said Islam was not a religion, rather it was a totalitarian ideology.

Last week it was reported that Senator Bernardi met Mr Wilders and offered to help him when he visited Australia, prompting calls for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to dump him from the front bench.

The Age understands some Labor MPs have inquired about meeting Mr Wilders should he visit Australia.

Greens spokesman for multiculturalism Richard di Natale will move that the Senate condemn the invitation by Senator Bernardi to Mr Wilders and call on the Senator to withdraw that invitation; and if not for Mr Abbott to intervene.

”Senator Bernardi has expressed similar views in the past and there should be no room for extremists like Bernardi on Tony Abbott’s front bench,” Senator di Natale said.

The Age, 14 September 2011