Death threat to rector of Lyon mosque

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Kamel Kabtane has been threatened with death. The rector of the Great Mosque in Lyon announced on Thursday 23 August, that he had today received a letter containing death threats.

“This four-page handwritten letter with the words ‘personal’ and ‘confidential’ was sent to me at the mosque”, Kamel Kabtane told AFP, adding that he had already received another threatening letter from the same person at his home the day before.

In this letter, the author wrote in red: “A bomb will go ‘boom’ and it is not a pig’s head that you will find outside your mosque but your own…. Sod off quickly to Dubai and die there if you don’t want to die here.”

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NYPD surveillance will only hurt anti-terrorism efforts, say Muslims

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Controversial program risks alienating Muslims and hasn’t generated a single lead, but NYPD steadfastly defends it. Chitrangada Choudhury reports.

Guardian, 23 August 2012

Egypt’s ‘crucifixion’ hoax becomes an instant internet myth

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Jonathan Kay debunks the absurd story – promoted by Daniel Pipes’ and David Horowitz’s colleague Raymond Ibrahim on the Algemeiner website, and subsequently taken up by WorldNetDailyand others – that the Muslim Brotherhood nailed Christians to crosses and left them to die in front of the Egyptian presidential place. He asks:

Why do so many people believe this made up story? For the same reason that people believe all urban legends – because they play to some deeply held narrative that resides in our deepest fears. In this case, the narrative is that the Arab Spring is part of an orchestrated Islamist plot to destroy Western civilization (beginning with Israel). Believers in this narrative (who are especially numerous in America’s right-wing Evangelical circles) are so hungry for news items that purport to offer confirmation that they ignore the credibility of the messengers. If they had checked out the credibility of WorldNetDaily, for instance, they would have found that the site’s past “scoops” have included the claim that drinking soy milk makes you gay, and that Barack Obama himself is gay (presumably from aforesaid soy milk).

National Post, 22 August 2012

Two new mosques get go ahead

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

The BBC reports that two new mosques, in Cambridge and York, have been given planning permission. Both had been subjected to hostile campaigns aimed at forcing the local council to block the plans.

A leaflet was circulated in Cambridge last year denouncing the so-called “megamosque” and claiming that it was intended to “send a message of physical and numerical dominance”. This was followed by an English Defence League demonstration that ended in violence when EDL supporters attacked an Islamic book stall and threw Qur’ans at the Muslims running it.

The York proposal resulted in an EDL-supported petition and a Facebook page entitled “Say ‘NO’ to the York mosque” (which attracted 1,426 likes). The building design had to be revised after police objected that it lacked sufficient security measures to defend the mosque against attacks by racists.

So it is good to see two local councils taking a stand against the bigots.

Poll: GOP really dislikes Muslims

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Anyone wondering why Rep. Michele Bachmann would launch a witch hunt against Muslims or why the Republican Party would add a plank to its platform opposing Shariah law need look no further than a new poll conducted by the Arab American Institute.

The poll, released today, asked Americans for their views on various religious groups, as well as on Arabs and Arab-Americans. It also asked respondents how confident they would be that a Muslim or Arab-American holding a position of influence in government could do their job without letting “ethnic loyalty … influence their decision-making.”

The results are split sharply along partisan lines. Overall, Republican voters hold strongly negative views of Muslims, with 57 percent saying they view them unfavorably and just 26 saying they view them favorably – more than double. The numbers are similar for Arabs, whom Republican respondents view negatively by a slightly smaller margin of 26 percent, 53 to 27 percent. When asked about “Muslim Americans” and “Arab Americans,” the numbers improved slightly, with a 12 and 15 percent net unfavorable rating, respectively.

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Molotov cocktail thrown at Libourne Mosque

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Another act of vandalism against a mosque. One day after Eid ul-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims, the mosque in Libourne (Aquitaine) was targeted on Monday night. An individual threw a Molotov cocktail at the front of the brand new place of worship, which opened in 2011.

Fortunately, the damage is not serious. Only a few traces on the wall show the start of a fire that was quickly extinguished. The Lilbourne mosque is, in fact, situated right in front of the town’s fire station. Firefighters intervened very quickly after one of them saw a person throw a Molotov cocktail and flee the scene by car.

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Waltham Forest Council of Mosques backs Walthamstow demo

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Bob Pitt

The Waltham Forest Council of Mosques has thrown its weight behind the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and ‘We Are Waltham Forest’ demonstration against the English Defence League (EDL).

The EDL is planning to march in Walthamstow, north east London on Saturday 1 September. It is a violent group of racist thugs who want to whip up hatred against Muslims, and spread intolerance in our multicultural community.

The ‘We Are Waltham Forest’ campaign, which is supported by all the major local trade unions and community groups, has now received backing from the Waltham Forest Council of Mosques.

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Scottish Defence League organiser tells Dundee to expect big right-wing presence on September 1

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Bob Pitt

Graham Walker, regional organiser and spokesman for the Scottish Defence League (SDL), said supporters from a string of far-right groups including the North West Infidels (NWI), the English Defence League (EDL) and the Combined Ex-Forces (CXF) will be bussed to the city to take part in a static demonstration on Saturday, September 1.

The news comes less than a week after the city council’s licensing committee rejected police recommendations to allow the controversial protest in City Square. Instead councillors gave the green light to a counter-rally, led by Dundee Trades Union Council, named Dundee Together, which will celebrate the city’s multi-cultural background.

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