On Monday, the Oklahoma State Senate passed legislation that would prevent the use of religious or foreign laws in American courts.
Considered by some to be the “anti-Sharia” bill, House Bill 1060 passed the Oklahoma Senate on a vote of 40-3. An amendment to the bill was added. That amendment must be approved by the bill’s author before going to the desk of the Oklahoma governor.
The Fourth Annual International Conference on the Study of Islamophobia will be held on 19-20 April at the University of California, Berkeley. A live stream of the proceedings will be available. See here for further details of the conference.
“I am a proud Muslim-American woman, and I am tired. I am tired of being told that I am oppressed. That I have no voice. That I need to be liberated.
“I am tired, and I am speaking out for the rights of my and other fellow Muslim sisters to be able to dress and be how they wish to be.”
Laila Alawa rejects FEMEN’s claim that they are working for her liberation.
North Carolina state Rep. Michele Presnell (R-Burnsville) linked Islamic prayer to terrorism in an email sent to a constituent, the News & Observer reported Tuesday.
In an email exchange obtained by the Raleigh newspaper, Presnell was asked by a constituent if she would support an Islamic prayer being said before a state legislative meeting.
“No, I do not condone terrorism,” Presnell responded, according to the report. “We just need to start taking a stand on our religious freedom or it will be whisked away from us.”
Huffington Post, 10 April 2013
See also “GOP must repudiate NC lawmaker who compared Islamic prayer to ‘terrorism'”, CAIR press release, 10 April 2013
Rabbi Michael White and Rabbi Jerome Davidson condemn the decision to invite anti-Muslim hatemonger Pamela Geller to speak at the Great Neck Synagogue in Long Island next weekend.
They write: “We state unequivocally that Geller’s inflammatory rhetoric does not represent us or the great majority of Jews in Great Neck and on Long Island. Hate speech has no place in synagogues. Synagogues should be places for worship, positive dialogue and reasoned political debate. The right of free speech is vitally important, but Geller crosses the line from political to hate speech. In sharp contrast, Judaism teaches us to respect the traditions and values of other faiths.”
Sharia courts have been described as “courts of convenience” by Keighley MP Kris Hopkins, who claims they threaten the integrity of the nation’s justice system.
The MP was speaking after the Bradford Council of Mosques revealed they were in talks to start up a local Sharia panel that would offer advice and deal with legal issues within the Muslim community. It led to Mr Hopkins writing to Justice Secretary Chris Grayling to block any such move.
Well, so Stephen Lennon claims. For some reason, the police chose to arrest him rather than the “armed Muslims”. But then, that’s your two-tier system for you, innit?
Fascist graffiti attack on Le Barp mosque last September
The Muslim prayer hall at Le Barp, in Gironde, has once again been the target of an Islamophobic attack. Racist graffiti has been found on the front of the mosque. This is a new slap in the face for the Muslim community in this quiet town of 5,000 inhabitants.
A widely circulated email claims that, in a speech to the Duma on 14 February, Vladimir Putin bluntly advised Russian minorities that they should speak Russian and adapt to Russian culture if they wish to live in the country and that, if they prefer sharia law, they should go and live somewhere else.
Did Putin make such a speech? Hoax-Slayer thinks not.
Seven men have pleaded guilty to violent disorder following disturbances at an EDL rally in Walsall September 2012.