People in Norwich have been praised for the way they responded and reacted to the controversial English Defence League march.
The centre of Norwich came to a standstill on Saturday as nearly 2,000 people gathered at the front of City Hall to protest.
A crowd of 1,500 people from community, faith and political groups took to the streets under the collective banner of We Are Norwich in protest at the EDL’s decision to march through the city, setting off from Chapelfield Gardens.
Former Test batsman Greg Ritchie has defended himself against claims of racist and anti-Muslim comments at a Brisbane Test luncheon, refusing to apologise and saying: “If they take offence that’s their choice.”
The ex-Australian player and television personality was attacked for using the forbidden “k-word” during a lunchtime speech at the Brisbane Cricket Ground Trust members dining room on day one of the first Test against South Africa on Friday. He also made disparaging remarks about Islamic people in the address, South Africa’s Sunday Times reported.
“I’ve got nothing against the Muslim people,” Ritchie was reported as saying on Friday. “Just this morning I had to try and stop three little Muslim boys trying to break the lock on my car boot. I had to say, ‘Shut up! You’re in there for a reason!'”
Fear and loathing in France
Labour Briefing, November 2012
Richard Price reports on a rising tide of Islamophobia in France: stoked by mainstream politicians and translated into discrimination and violence in everyday life
Fait-Religieux reports that Nazi graffiti was sprayed on an Ahmadiyya mosque at Épernay in northern France during the night of 7-8 November.
Hundreds of French nationalists have demonstrated in Paris against Islamist extremism, chanting the French anthem and saying the religion has no place in the country.
Protester Romain Cyiril says, “France was always a welcoming country, but for the first time we have to deal with a religion which can’t and doesn’t want to integrate itself.”
The Nottingham-based Building For The Future blog has drawn its readers’ attention to this leaflet, which has been distributed by the British National Party in Luton.
As the BFTF writer notes, the flyer “appeared to have come straight out of 1930s Germany (and BFTF does not use that analogy lightly) – with the exception that instead of hate caricatures of Jews, it was Muslims that the BNP were now choosing to portray as the evil menace in our midst”.
The writer wants to know whether “this qualifies as an inciteful document and should not be allowed” and has “asked the local council and MP what (if anything) would happen if the BNP started distributing flyers like this in Nottingham”.
We Are Norwich march against the EDL (photo: Bill Smith)
Police made four arrests during an English Defence League march and counter-protest in Norwich.
Officers from 11 forces were on duty as about 200 EDL supporters and up to 2,000 members of the We Are Norwich coalition marched through the city. Police said the day passed off relatively peacefully, although extra officers remained in the city centre into the evening as a precaution.
Diversity in the classroom is getting bigger in society all over the globe; however, there has been a growing issue of “Islamophobia.” This term is defined by UNESCO as a word to “demote fear, hatred, or prejudice against Islam and Muslims.” In response, UNESCO published a set of guidelines to address this issue and what schools can do to prevent racism among students.
“Through education, we can teach children not to hate from the very young age. Through education, we can raise tolerant leaders. Through education, we may establish a lasting culture of peace,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
Marc Schneier and Shamsi Ali write:
In addition to having similar dietary laws, customs and rituals, we found out on Nov. 6 that American Jews and American Muslims have another thing in common; each community gave 70 percent or more of its vote during Tuesday’s presidential election to President Obama.
According to two national exit polls, about 70 percent of American Jews supported President Obama over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. A poll conducted in the Muslim community in late October showed that 68 percent of American Muslims backed Obama.
What do these similar vote totals in support of President Obama say about our two communities? First, the results show that majorities of American Jews and American Muslims support President Obama’s vision of an inclusive society where people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds have a chance to succeed….
There is, however, a second reason for the overwhelming support for Obama among American Jews and Muslims; namely that both communities strongly reject the anti-Muslim rhetoric articulated by prominent Republicans during the past several years. For example, national Republican leaders shamelessly demagogued the bogus “Ground Zero mosque” controversy of 2010 and held congressional hearings in 2011 based on the false claim that 80 percent of American mosques support Islamic radicalism. This year some Republican congressional leaders also claimed the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the U.S. State Department, while Republican-controlled legislatures in states such as Oklahoma and Kansas passed wholly unnecessary and unconstitutional bans on sharia (Islamic) law.
Despite loud and well-funded efforts to enlist the Jewish community in the Islamophobia campaign of recent years, the majority of American Jews have emphatically rejected it.
A Chesapeake judge has ruled that the Department of Motor Vehicles shouldn’t have a revoked an Army veteran’s license plate that it said was offensive.
Sean Bujno’s personalized plate, “ICUHAJI,” was revoked last year because the DMV said it could be interpreted as socially, racially, or ethically offensive or disparaging.