Yearly Archives: 2012

Religious groups counter anti-Muslim ad campaign in DC

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The placement of Pamela Geller’s anti-Muslim “savages” ads in the District of Columbia have spurred a wide range of religious groups to counter the ads’ message. A coalition of 157 religious groups from across the DC Metro-area signed onto a letter to the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, pressing them to take stronger steps to work against hate speech.

In the letter, the coalition requested that WMATA pursue greater outreach to communities before publishing possibly inflammatory advertisements in and on the area’s public transit, add disclaimers to such ads that they do not represent WMATA’s views, and allow free ad space to counter hate speech.

Think Progress, 11 October 2012

French rightwing hijacks the pain au chocolat

Posted on by Bob Pitt
A member (C) of the Collective against I

CCIF member distributes pain au chocolat in Paris

First Cornish pasties shook Westminster, now Paris faces its own baked-goods political storm after the humble pain au chocolat was hijacked by rightwing politics.

It began at a rally on the Côte d’Azur this weekend when the hardline Jean-François Copé, fighting a tough race to take over Nicolas Sarkozy’s rightwing UMP party, served a pastry-related anecdote that has been repeating on him ever since.

Having already complained of what he called “anti-white racism” on French estates, Copé said he identified with “exasperated” parents who, after a hard day’s work, got home to find their child had had his pain au chocolat “snatched” from him outside the school gates by “thugs” who said: “There must be no eating during Ramadan.” He then tweeted: “There are neighbourhoods in France where children can’t eat their pain au chocolat because it’s Ramadan.”

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Struggle against Islamification of Britain suffers setback – Stephen Lennon has ‘resinged’ from BFP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tommy Robinson quits BFP

Yes, EDL leader Stephen Lennon has announced on Twitter that he has quit the British Freedom party. According to the BFP, “Tommy has recognised that his heart and strengths lie within the Street Protest Movements”.

It is difficult to understand this decision, what with cousin Kev being on the point of getting elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Bedfordshire on the BFP ticket. Still, the EDL itself is about to recruit another 7 million members, so perhaps Stephen felt he would have his work cut out dealing with that.

Update:  See “English Defence League ‘to become political party and stand candidates in European elections’, says ‘Tommy Robinson'”, Independent, 11 October 2012

Riverine Centre trustees outline development plans to Newham Recorder

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NRAP Riverine Centre designThe team behind plans for Newham’s so called ‘mega mosque’ have met theRecorder for the first time to spell out their vision.

At the site of the proposed development in Canning Road, West Ham – also known as the Abbey Mills Mosque – were four of the prime proposers. Solad Mohammed, one of three trustees, was with project volunteers, including their spokesman, Yousuf Aslam, to show us around last week.

As we walked across the former industrial site, close to historic Abbey Mills Pumping Station, they explained how they hope to transform the grounds into a tranquil and peaceful place for Muslim worshippers and the wider community.

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