Yearly Archives: 2012

GOP asked to reach out to Muslim voters, reject anti-Islam bias

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A coalition of 11 major American Muslim organizations today called on the Republican Party to reach out to Muslim voters by rejecting anti-Islam bias and discriminatory legislation.

At a noon news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the coalition announced the publication of a full-page advertisement in the conservative Washington Timesnewspaper outlining recent examples of intolerant speech and actions by Republicans and offering recommendations to help improve GOP relations with the Muslim community.

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Melbourne: local council refuses to provide a platform for Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mark Durie Third ChoiceCasey councillors have overwhelmingly rejected deputy mayor Sam Aziz’s call for a discussion of the dangers of Islam before they decide on a planning application for a mosque in Doveton.

At last night’s meeting, mayor Amanda Stapledon said such a discussion would create a very poor perception in a multicultural community.

Tensions between the mayor and her deputy, former close allies, were clear during a fiery debate in front of a large public gallery.

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Pasadena church hosting Muslim conference receives hate mail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

All Saints Church in Pasadena has received dozens of e-mails denouncing its decision to host a conference by the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council – and some have been hateful, said the church’s Reverend Ed Bacon.

“We have begun to receive some of the most vile, mean-spirited e-mail I’ve ever read in my life, talking about All Saints participating in terrorism by being hospitable to Muslims,” Bacon said. According to Bacon, one e-mail said “Islam is satanic garbage.” Another accused the church of “consorting with the enemy.”

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Mosque application rejected in heated meeting

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Planning permission for a mosque in Worcester Park was unanimously turned down by councillors after a lively meeting last night.

Councillors said the proposed mosque in Green Road would bring too much traffic to the area and voted to refuse planning permission after hearing arguments from concerned neighbours and from the project’s backers.

Around 300 people attended the meeting, as well as several police officers, and there were loud cheers as the councillors voted. During the meeting the chairman had to ask the audience to calm down on several occasions as speakers were interrupted by loud heckling.

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Ontario teachers’ union ‘under fire for workshop on Islamophobia’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ETFO

The union representing Ontario’s elementary school teachers is coming under fire for running an anti-Islamophobia workshop as part of a series of seminars on how to teach students about equality.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) began putting the anti-Islamophobia workshop together in 2011 following a request from one of its local presidents for such a seminar “as a response to the collective victimization of the Muslim community” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to an ETFO report from August.

Critics of the workshop, however, are slamming the ETFO for developing an anti-Islamophobia seminar that will not pro-actively address the fact that women and girls are treated as second-class citizens in some circles of the Islamic faith.

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Australian radio presenter who vilified Muslims fails to get lawsuit thrown out

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Alan JonesShockjock Alan Jones has been unsuccessful in his latest attempt to have a lawsuit claiming he racially vilified Sydney’s Muslims three days before the Cronulla riots in 2005, dismissed.

In those proceedings, father-of-eight Sam Ekermawi, of Moorebank, claims Jones vilified Muslims when he derided “Lebs”, “wogs” and “Middle Eastern” people in his breakfast program on 2GB on December 8, 2005.

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Christmas trees, Islam and right wing populism: a Danish Christmas story

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Susi Meret shows how a housing association’s decision not to buy a Christmas tree this year was exploited by the far-right Danish People’s Party with the assistance of the mainstream media. Conservative and liberal figures helped to reinforce the narrative that Danish culture is under attack from Muslims.

“The most worrying aspect of this controversy was the total lack of response from the other side…”, Meret writes. “Those who violently oppose non-western immigration could make their point – extensively. And the voices that should have contradicted them were nowhere to be heard.”

Open Democracy, 3 November 2012

Caught on camera: Yob throws glass at police at Tipton EDL rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tipton EDL hooliganPolice are hunting for this yob after he hurled a beer glass at their van during an English Defence League protest in Tipton on August 11.

Supporters of the far-right anti-Islam group staged what officers have called a “peaceful protest” in the town, but this man broke ranks and attacked the vehicle, narrowly missing an officer with the glass.

Sandwell police are keen to speak to anyone who may recognise the hooligan, or who witnessed the attack, which came as the demonstration passed “largely without incident”, they said.

The man wore a grey cardigan-style jacket over a turquoise blue t-shirt, plus jeans and trainers.

Anyone with information should call Sandwell police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

Birmingham Mail, 3 December 2012

South Carolina: Walmart employee fired after abusing Muslim co-worker and threatening to cut her throat

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Rock Hill Walmart employee was fired Saturday after police say she grabbed a co-worker’s arm, threatened to cut her throat and called her an anti-Muslim, derogatory name, according to a police report.

Police spoke with the victim, 23, who said she was on her break at the Walmart on Old York Road and tried to buy some items, according to a Rock Hill police report. While in the checkout line, a co-worker stepped behind her but tried to check out first by skipping in front of the woman and moving her items.

The two employees began to argue before the co-worker called the victim a derogatory, anti-Muslim name. She grabbed the woman’s arm twice and said she was going to cut her throat, the victim told police.

The employee told her manager, who fired the employee, according to the report. No arrests were made. The victim will seek a courtesy summons against her former co-worker, according to the police report.

The Herald, 3 December 2012

Hijab handout clears US misconceptions

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fighting misconceptions associated with Muslim headscarf, Muslim students at California State University arranged a hijab handout to their colleagues to educate them about criticism and negative image drawn by media over the past decade.

“The goal was to teach what Islam really is because there’s so much negativity going around about Muslim people who are portrayed so negatively in the media,” Amina Hasan, organizer for the Muslim Student Association (MSA), told Daily 49ER, the university’s news website, on Sunday, December 2. “We’re regular people just like anyone else.”

The event, held last Thursday on a rainy afternoon, was sponsored by students of MSA at California State University Long Beach (CSULB).

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