Yearly Archives: 2011

Organiser of EDL mosque protest: ‘we are not racist, we are not right winged and we are not hooligans’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Shotton protest May 2011More than 100 members of the English Defence League marched through Shotton on Saturday to protest against attempts to convert a former social club into an Islamic cultural centre. Shotton Lane Social Club, which was destroyed by a suspicious fire in February, had been earmarked as a potential site for a new multi-cultural centre by Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society.

The march was organised by EDL Deeside division member Graeme England to oppose what the group describes as “militant Islam”. Protestors met outside The Clwyd pub and marched to the site of the former social club, where speeches were made.

The group, which refers to itself as a “human rights organisation”, first marched through Shotton in protest against the planned cultural centre in January – just weeks before the social club site was torched in a suspected arson attack. No one has ever been caught in relation to the incident.

On Saturday an anti-EDL event was also held at Connah’s Quay Civic Hall, organised by the Deeside Trades Council.

Flintshire Chronicle, 23 May 2011

See also “Hain slates nationalist march against Muslim culture centre bid site as ‘poison'”, Wales Online, 22 May 2011

Expose draws our attention to a post on the Flintshire Chronicle discussion forum by Graeme England, the organiser of the EDL protest, who insists that “we are not racist, we are not right winged and we are not hooligans”.

England then goes on to assert that “Islam hates the western world and our way of life, Sharia law is already starting to infect our society, its happening because nobody will stand up and say NO!!! there are streets in our country where no non muslim would dare to walk…. i have spoken to many muslims in the country and they all say the same ‘ITS NOT YOUR COUNTRY ANYMORE… ITS OURS!’.” But then, don’t you see, “Islam isnt a race its a religion”. So how can inciting hatred against Muslims be racist?

As for not being “right winged”, the EDL’s leaders are former BNP members while their PA backs the British First Party, an openly neo-Nazi organisation. And Graeme England himself was happy to announce that the Shotton demonstration was supported by the North West Infidels, a group who make no attempt to conceal their links with organised fascism.

And to describe the EDL as mere “hooligans” errs on the side of mildness. The EDL Casuals United blog followed up the latest march in Shotton by celebrating the arson attack on the social club that was to serve as the premises of the new mosque.

In short, the EDL is a far-right racist organisation that doesn’t just engage in hooliganism but openly promotes violence. This only serves to reinforce the view that there is indeed a two-tier legal system in this country – because, if a Muslim group behaved in the way the EDL does, it would have been banned long ago.

Berlusconi accuses opposition of wanting to turn Milan into an Islamic city

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Berlusconi 3Less than a week ahead of a run-off vote in a bitterly contested mayoral race in Milan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday accused the opposition centre-left of wanting to turn the northern Italian city “Islamic”, overrun by Roma and foreigners.

“Milan … cannot become, at the eve of the Expo 2015, an Islamic city, a city of gypsies, full of Roma camps and besieged by foreigners to whom (the left) wants to give voting rights,” Berlusconi said. The premier’s remarks were contained in a message posted on the online site of his People of Freedom (PDL) party.

Berlusconi appealed to voters to choose Milan’s outgoing Mayor Letizia Moratti instead of the centre-left’s candidate Giuliano Pisapia – who the premier has branded an leftist extremist – in run-offs scheduled for May 28-29.

Appearing confident of victory, earlier this month Berlusconi had said that Italy’s local elections were a test of his government’s popularity two years before its mandate is due to end. However, last week in a surprise first-round result in Milan, Pisapia a former Communist forced Moratti into a run-off after capturing some 48 per cent of the vote compared to her 42 per cent.

Milan has been a stronghold for the centre-right for almost two-decades and the city is currently governed by a coalition between the PDL and the federalist and anti-immigration Northern League – a party which is also Berlusconi’s junior partner in the national government.

Moratti, a former national education minister from the PDL, says she opposes the construction of a mosque in Milan as requested by the city’s mostly migrant Muslim community. A mosque in Italy’s financial capital would “create a centre of attraction for Islamic groups from all over Italy who then would not be controllable,” Moratti said.

But Pisapia has criticised Moratti’s stance, saying that the city should cater for its Muslim community whose members are currently forced to pray in “informal” venues such as schools and garages.

DPA, 23 May 2011

UAF to hold anti-racist vigil in Blackpool

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An anti-fascist protest group has announced it will stage a rally in Blackpool on the same day as controversial far-right group the English Defence League.

Unite Against Facism (UAF) expects between 100 and 200 local members to attend the event which will take place as EDL members from across the country descend on the town on Saturday May 28 for a national protest.

Paul Jenkins, North West organiser for the UAF, said their demonstration will be nothing more than a peaceful “anti-racist vigil”. He said: “We want to show unity in the community is the best way forward.”

UAF will hold their protest at the public headland close to the Central Pier while the EDL demonstration is on the headline at South Pier. The timings of the UAF protest are still under discussion.

EDL members, who say they are protesting against the police handling of the inquiry into missing Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes, are due to gather near Britannia Place at 10am before setting off for a short march along the Promenade to the public headland where a demonstration will be held from 12.45pm to 2pm.

Charlene, 13, disappeared in 2003 and two Asian men were charged with her murder and disposing of the body. They were later acquitted.

Blackpool Gazette, 23 May 2011

Meanwhile, Exposing the English Defence League draws our attention to a post on the EDL’s Casuals United blog which denounced anyone planning to oppose the EDL in Blackpool as defenders of paedophiles and threatened them with physical violence. Yes, that’s the same Casuals United who have been celebrating the arson attack on a building in North Wales that was due to be converted into an Islamic centre.

Statement by the Enough Coalition Against Islamophobia 21 May 2011

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred in Britain and Across Europe

The following statement was drawn up by the Enough Coalition Committee at a conference held on 21 May 2011 at the London Muslim Centre, attended by over 400 participants, and titled Confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred in Britain and Across Europe.

Official prejudice against Muslims is turning into state persecution in country after country across Europe.

In France we see the outrage of Muslim women arrested in the street for what they wear.

In Switzerland, minarets have been prohibited; elsewhere Halal food is banned from schools and immigration from ‘Muslim countries’ is openly discouraged.

In Germany there has been no official condemnation of an Islamophobic murder.

In Britain, Muslims face almost daily defamation in the media as well as threats and attacks on mosques. The police and authorities too often collude in this victimization.

Politicians across the spectrum are joining in the chorus of demonization. Unsurprisingly, statistics show an increase in physical attacks on Muslims almost everywhere.

Islamophobia is often dressed up as cultural critique, but it is a form of racism. It is used by the establishment to blame Muslims for the effects of government policies.

The foreign policy of the Western powers is creating anger across the Muslim world and beyond. It is making the world a more volatile and dangerous place. The vast majority of Muslims in Europe are integrated but, discrimination in housing, jobs and education creates barriers to this process.

None of this is the fault of the Muslim communities. On the contrary, Muslim are both discriminated against and scapegoated.

The Enough Coalition brings together organisations and individuals to actively challenge Islamophobia, and this conference is a step towards European co-ordination.

We believe that it is time for Muslims and non-Muslims alike across Europe to take a clear stand against this spreading menace.

We need to share information, research and analysis to expose the development of Islamophobia as a virulent form of modern racism; we must work to insure the proper recording and reporting of Islamophobic incidents and we must co-ordinate campaigns, actions and mobilisations to directly challenge anti Muslim racism.

We say enough. We will not be silenced. And we ask you to join us.

Enough Coalition Against Islamophobia 21 May 2011

info@enoughcoalition.org.uk

Walid Shoebat was paid $5000 from public purse to tell security conference that Islam is inherently violent

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A speaker at a Homeland Security conference in Rapid City whose remarks about Muslims sparked controversy earlier this month was paid $5,000 plus expenses for his appearance.

The Rapid City Journal originally requested the fee amount immediately after the May 11 event, but Alexa White, assistant coordinator of Rapid City-Pennington County Emergency Management, denied the request. The Journal subsequently filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act with White, who released the fee information May 19.

The speaker, Walid Shoebat, is an author and professional speaker who says he is a former terrorist in the Palestine Liberation Organization. Now converted to Christianity, Shoebat says that terrorism is inherent in Islam.

His appearance at a state-sponsored conference attended by law enforcement was criticized by local Muslims and by national organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Shoebat spoke at the 2011 South Dakota Homeland Security Conference in Rapid City on May 11. He also spoke at the South Dakota Homeland Security Conference the previous year.

Rapid City Journal, 21 May 2011

Update:  See “CAIR asks Napolitano to probe use of Islamophobic trainers”, CAIR press release 23 May 2011

Further update:  See Justin Elliott, “Dubious Muslim-bashing ‘expert’ hired to train cops”, Salon, 24 May 2011

Tablighi Jamaat wins appeal against closure of Newham mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Newham Tablighi mosque

An Islamic group planning a so-called “mega mosque” in West Ham have won a challenge to keep their current base open.

Leaders of Tablighi Jamaat were bidding to overturn an enforcement notice served on their Riverine Centre in Canning Road by Newham Council in February 2010.

The council wanted to see the temporary facility – which consists of pre-fabricated and demountable buildings – shut down amid fears over traffic levels, land contamination and visual impact.

Temporary planning permission was granted in 2001, but expired in 2006, since when the group have continued to use the site.

At a public inquiry at Newham Town Hall, East Ham, held earlier this year, the group argued they should be granted a two-year extension.

And in a decision notice published today, planning inspector Graham Dudley granted their request – despite admitting harm would be caused to the area and that there was a history of non-compliance with planning guidelines.

He said the “substantial need” for religious facilities and the scarcity of land and finances for new community buildings outweighed the negative factors.

London 24, 23 May 2011

This will upset the right-wing Christian fundamentalists led by Alan Craig who formed an alliance with British Muslims for Secular Democracy and Taj Hargey to call for the TJ site to be shut down.

Incidentally, the photo of the so-called “mega-mosque” that appears alongside the London 24 report is the old Mangera Yvars design that was withdrawn long ago.

Update:  No, Alan Craig is not happy. A press release from Craig on behalf of Newham Concern (an organisation consisting of himself and a few of his right-wing evangelical cronies) has appeared on various far-right websites. It claims that the planning decision “will further boost the capital’s reputation as ‘Londonistan’.”

You can understand Craig’s resentment. All that effort he put into whipping up fear in the local community over Tablighi Jamaat, including slandering them as the inspiration behind various terrorist attacks in the UK – and the planning inspector refuses to close down their mosque. Sometimes life can be so unfair.