Supporters of a courtroom ban on the niqab from Judge Peter Murphy to Tory minister Kenneth Clarke, assert that it is vital for a defendant’s face to be visible in order for a jury to properly evaluate the evidence she gives. Archie Bland points out that it just ain’t so.
Yearly Archives: 2013
Thousands join nationalist rally in Moscow
Protestors carrying a banner with the slogan ‘Today a Mosque – tomorrow Jihad’
Several thousand Russian nationalists rallied Monday in Moscow, venting against the migrants they accuse of pushing up the crime rate and taking their jobs.
The protest took place on Unity Day, a national holiday established in 2005 to replace commemorations of the Bolshevik Revolution. Many demonstrators carried Russian imperial flags. One group displayed a banner reading “Young People Against Tolerance.”
Animosity is strong among nationalists against migrants from the former Soviet Central Asian republics and against non-Slavs from the largely Muslim Russian Caucasus region. Central Asian migrants are widely employed in big cities in construction and do other low-paid jobs that Russians are not eager to do.
Racist vandals graffiti Queensland mosque
A mosque in Cairns in far north Queensland has been targeted by vandals. The front of the Cairns North mosque was sprayed with large red letters early yesterday, calling for the worshippers to “integrate” or return to their “homelands”.
Imam Abdul Aziz Mohammed, 81, says he has been involved with the Cairns community for decades and cannot do any more to integrate.
“I’ve lived here in Cairns all my life and this is the first time we’ve ever seen any physical opposition to our religion and basically our family,” he said. “My family’s been here since 1900 and I was shocked, to say the least.”
Hundreds prepare protest against Islam chapter in Florida school textbook
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of people in Volusia County are preparing a protest against a textbook that’s in public schools across Florida.
They believe a world history book dedicates too much material to Islam and doesn’t focus equally on Christianity and other religions. Some protest organizers want students to go home and tear the section on Islam out of their textbooks.
The Muslim veil is ‘a kind of bag’, says Ken Clarke. What would he call a nun’s habit? A bin liner?
We’ve had some harsh words to say about Cristina Odone in the past, but this article on her Telegraph blog, responding to Kenneth Clarke’s offensive remarks about the veil, is pretty good.
Hainault: Muslim-run community centre that faced ‘racist’ opposition is under fire again
A trustee of a Hainault community centre that is under investigation by Redbridge Council believes it is being unfairly targeted.
New North Road Community Centre in New North Road, Hainault, opened on September 1 as a multi-faith community centre. But last week, a group of residents submitted a petition to the council, as they believe it is being used as a mosque, making people of no or other faiths feel excluded.
Dr Sohail Hameed says the centre does provide for the whole community. He said: “Our main aim at the moment is raising the standard of education. The hall is mostly used by teachers. People do their daily prayers here but I am a GP and I pray in my office too. There is no breach of planning conditions.”
EDL-supporting teenager who ‘plotted massacre’ was photographed outside mosque making Breivik-style salute
A schoolboy plotted to carry out a Columbine-style massacre on the 15th anniversary of the atrocity, the Old Bailey was told.
The 17-year-old, accused of planning to launch a terror attack on his old school in Loughborough, Leicestershire, also downloaded and kept a photograph of the pair who murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado, United States in 1999. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are pictured in the image after they killed themselves, surrounded by weapons, with blood and bullet wounds visible.
French smartphone app targets Islamophobia
A leading French organization which combats anti-Muslim behaviour and speech launched a new smartphone and tablet app on Monday, allowing users to report incidents of Islamophobia by sending photos and videos to the group.
The Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie en France (the Collective against Islamophobia in France) on Monday launched a smartphone app to enable members of the French public to report anti-Muslim acts and speech.
“In the face of Islamophobia, let’s all be witnesses,” CCIF said in a statement on Monday.
EDL propaganda video uses material from Harry’s Place
The English Defence League have uploaded a YouTube video promoting their forthcoming demonstration in Exeter. The video concentrates on depicting the University of Exeter as a pawn of Islamic totalitarian dictatorships and a promoter of terrorism and antisemitism.
Far-right graffiti on two mosques in Besançon
La Dépêche reports that two mosques at Besançon in eastern France have been desecrated with racist and fascist graffiti.
Three swastikas, accompanied by the slogans “France for the French”, “Vive la France”, “Arabs out” and “death to Muslims” were sprayed on the Al-Fath mosque. A swastika and the words “Long live the FN” (Front National) were also found on the wall of the Souna mosque.