Monthly Archives: August 2012

Chelmsford unites against EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A group of church leaders, community groups and political partiesare preparing to unite against the English Defence League (EDL) this weekend.

EDL members are expected to descend upon Chelmsford town centre on Saturday, 18 August and United Chelmsford is preparing to march. The protest coincides with the first day of V Festival at Hylands Park.

United Chelmsford’s Celebration of Unity will be starting from Tindal Square at 11.30am and marching through the city at 1pm, the group expects their numbers to swell to 200 as they take a stand against the EDL.

Malcolm Wallace, Secretary of Chelmsford TUC, speaking on behalf of United Chelmsford, said: “This will be a magnificent demonstration of our City’s opposition to racism and islamophobia. The divisive policies of the EDL stand in sharp contrast to our multi-cultural Team GB and the spirit of the Olympics.”

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Home Office rejects far-right campaign against Azad Ali and UAF

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-EDL march Tower Hamlets 2010
Demonstration against the English Defence League, Tower Hamlets June 2010

In March this year the English Defence League’s political wing, the British Freedom party, launched a letter campaign aimed at persuading MPs who had signed Unite Against Fascism’s founding statement to withdraw their support from the organisation. The hook for this campaign was provided by a witch-hunting article by Andrew Gilligan (a journalist greatly admired by right-wing Islamophobes) who had accused UAF vice chair Azad Ali of being a fascist. The model letter provided by the BFP also included the claim that Azad Ali had been “exposed at the web site Harry’s Place” (which has been another source of inspiration for far-right racists).

It appears that the only positive response the BFP received was from Brian Donohoe, Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, who took up the issue after being contacted by George Whale, editor of the British Freedom website. To the delight of the BFP, Donohoe replied to Whale with a friendly assurance that he was pursuing the question of UAF on his behalf: “I have written to both the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary asking for an update on this website as I am sure the majority of these ‘signatories’ are unaware their names are listed there.” Donohoe also relayed to the Home and Foreign offices Whale’s accusation that UAF is an extremist group.

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Juan Cole on the top ten differences between white terrorists and others

Posted on by Bob Pitt

1. White terrorists are called “gunmen.” What does that even mean? A person with a gun? Wouldn’t that be, like, everyone in the US? Other terrorists are called, like, “terrorists.”

2. White terrorists are “troubled loners.” Other terrorists are always suspected of being part of a global plot, even when they are obviously troubled loners.

3. Doing a study on the danger of white terrorists at the Department of Homeland Security will get you sidelined by angry white Congressmen. Doing studies on other kinds of terrorists is a guaranteed promotion.

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FBI Muslim spying lawsuit against U.S. is tossed by judge

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A federal judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed against the U.S. government and the FBI over the agency’s spying on Orange County Muslims, ruling that allowing the suit to go forward would risk divulging sensitive state secrets.

Comparing himself to Odysseus navigating the waters between a six-headed monster and a deadly whirlpool, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney wrote that “the state secrets privilege may unfortunately mean the sacrifice of individual liberties for the sake of national security.”

The judge said that he reached the decision reluctantly after reviewing confidential declarations filed by top FBI officials, and that he was convinced the operation in question involved “intelligence that, if disclosed, would significantly compromise national security.”

Carney allowed the suit to stand against individual FBI agents and supervisors on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-related claims.

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Another politician tries to win support by backing bigots over Sheepshead Bay mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ben AkselrodAssembly hopeful Ben Akselrod is railing against the construction of the Sheepshead Bay mosque – a hopeless battle political insiders say the former Community Board 15 district manager has no chance of turning around, but will help him pander to Southern Brooklyn conservatives looking to get rid of the Muslim house of worship.

Akselrod, a Democrat looking to unseat Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D–Sheepshead Bay) in September, claimed last week that the mosque being constructed on Voorhies Avenue will harm property values, cause a traffic nightmare on the block and draw radical elements to the leafy residential neighborhood.

“The Muslim American Society – the organization behind this mosque – originate from the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization that was outlawed in the U.S.,” said Akselrod, alleging the mosque backers have terrorist roots.

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Islamic school in Illinois hit with acid-filled bottle

Posted on by Bob Pitt

College Preparatory School of America

An Islamic school in west suburban Lombard is at least the second Muslim institution to report an attack this past weekend.

The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago says the College Preparatory School of America, an Islamic school at 331 W. Madison St. in Lombard, was subjected to vandalism on Sunday night.

The council says someone hurled a 7-Up bottle filled with acid and other unspecified materials at the school during the nighttime Ramadan prayers.

During the prayer session, worshipers heard a loud bang and went to find an empty bottle thrown on the window of the school. No one was injured.

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British Freedom party spokesman explains why foul-mouthed racist abuse is not racist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tony SutcliffeIf there were Olympic medals being handed out for political spin then the man who had just introduced himself to me as “Tony Smith” was clearly going for gold.

I was interviewing him against a back drop of largely drunken men waving banners and chanting foul-mouthed racist abuse at a rally organised by the far-right English Defence League in the West Yorkshire town of Keighley.

“Tony”, who admitted he was giving me a false name, had a ready answer when I asked if their language and behaviour was acceptable for a Saturday afternoon political rally in a town where many British Asians live. “That is really unfair,” he told me. “It’s not about race. It’s not about colour. It’s about culture.”

BBC News, 14 August 2012

Vandals shoot paintballs at Oklahoma City mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Oklahoma mosque vandalismThe Grand Mosque of Oklahoma City was fired upon by paintballs early Sunday, and the vandals fled the scene before they were apprehended.

About 2:45 a.m., the vandals pulled into the parking lot of the Grand Mosque, 3201 NW 48, and fired upon the building’s doors, Hassan Ahmed, the mosque’s imam and director said.

“A car pulled here in front of the main entrance and started shooting paintball guns, but at the time, I didn’t know it was that. I thought it was bullets they were shooting into the building. And I could hear when I was coming from the house, but before I reached there, they were gone,” Ahmed said.

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EDL’s Alan Lake loses his job at development bank

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The man known as Alan Lake, a key strategist and funder behind the racist English Defence League (EDL) is out of his job at a major international development bank.

The news comes the week after another shadowy EDL strategist, Chris Knowles, was sacked by Leeds council.

Lake, whose real name is Alan Ayling, masterminded the EDL’s strategy of bringing together football hooligan firms into an anti-Muslim army of racist street thugs.

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Ex-worker sues Disney, says company forbids Muslim head scarf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imane Boudlal press conference

A former Disneyland restaurant employee sued Walt Disney Co on Monday for harassment and religious discrimination, saying she was fired because she wanted to wear a Muslim head scarf at work.

Imane Boudlal, a 28-year-old Muslim, worked as a hostess at the Storytellers Cafe, a restaurant inside Disney’s Grand California Hotel & Spa at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

Two years into the job, Boudlal asked permission to wear a hijab, a head scarf worn by Muslim women, while at work. She said she offered to wear a scarf that matched the colors of her uniform or featured a Disney logo.

According to her lawsuit, Disney managers denied her request, saying it would violate the company’s policy for how employees “look” while on the job. Among the restrictions, the policy prohibits visible tattoos and fingernails that exceed a quarter of an inch, the lawsuit said.

Boudlal was given the choice of working in a back area, away from customers, or wearing a fedora-style hat on top of her head scarf. When Boudlal refused, she was fired, the lawsuit states.

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