Monthly Archives: July 2014

Another flop for the South East Alliance

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-SEA protest Cricklewood

Having been humiliated by anti-fascists last month when they turned up in Cricklewood to stage a protest against the Muslim Brotherhood, the South East Alliance came back today for a rematch.

The dozen or so fascists that turned up (I counted 13 of them, although I’m told that at one point the SEA’s ranks swelled to fully 14 “patriots”) were put in a pen on Cricklewood Broadway, some distance away from the Muslim Brotherhood office they were targeting. They were confronted by several hundred counter-demonstrators.

After milling around pointlessly in their pen for a couple of hours, the SEA retreated back to Kilburn tube station under police escort. There were so few of them that they didn’t even get to use the road and their “march” was restricted to the pavement.

The SEA, needless to say, claimed a victory over the left. Even their own supporters weren’t buying that.

SEA claim victory

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French mosque site desecrated with pig’s head

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ambérieu-en-Bugey pig's headThe Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France  and Al Kanz have reported that, barely a month after work began on the site of a future mosque in Ambérieu-en-Bugey in the Rhône-Alpes region, it has been desecrated with a pig’s head on a stick.

Rafik Goucem, president of the UCMA (Union cultuelle des musulmans d’Ambérieu), the association in charge of the mosque, issued a statement condemning the act and calling on Muslims not to respond to this provocation. He points out that the Muslim community in Ambérieu-en-Bugey has always had excellent relations with the town and its citizens and hopes this is an isolated incident.

The UCMA has lodged a complaint with the police and expresses confidence that the authorities will do everything possible to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended.

Al Kanz suggests that in order to show solidarity with the UCMA and assist the financing of the mosque it would be appropriate to make a donation to their fund.

Prisoners who ‘expressed deeply racist and anti-Muslim views’ sent letter bombs to solicitors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

HMP Full SuttonTwo inmates at a maximum security prison have been condemned by police for posting crude explosive devices and racist letters to solicitors in West Yorkshire.

Bret Atkins, 23, and Jamie Snow, 27, prisoners at HMP Full Sutton near York, sent a series of threatening letters which police say were “designed to instil fear in their recipients”. Officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit were alerted to what they were doing by prison officers after they intercepted a letter containing an incendiary device.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court found Atkins guilty of conspiracy to send an explosive substance with intent and Snow, originally of Potternewton, Leeds, previously admitted sending an explosive substance with intent and two offences of threats to kill. They will be sentenced in September.

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Iceland: MP leaves Progressive Party over handling of mosque issue

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Þorsteinn MagnússonÞorsteinn Magnússon resigned yesterday as Alternate MP for the Progressive Party citing the party’s handling of the mosque issue. Þorsteinn said in an interview with visir.is that the reaction of the party’s leadership implies that there was nothing wrong in the party’s handling of the matter.

“The chair and most other key people in the leadership of the Progressive Party failed to publicly comment on the conduct of the party in Reykjavík during the election campaign period. Then the recent words of the chair of the party, in my view, imply the complete denial that anything was wrong … The party has in my opinion not handled the case in an acceptable way,” he commented.

Þorsteinn went on to say, “There must be a requirement that representatives of the party, whether at the national or municipal level, conduct their pleadings in accordance with it [the key policy of the Progressive Party] and reject viewpoints that are likely to encourage discrimination.”

As reported earlier, the party’s leader in Reykjavík, Sveinbjörg Birna Sveinbjörnsdóttir, stated during the municipal election campaign that she wanted city authorities to go back on their promise to the Muslim Association of Iceland on a free lot to build a mosque in Reykjavík.

During the campaign, the debate, such as on the Progressive Party’s Facebook page, quickly turned into general opposition towards Muslims and a mosque in Reykjavík, resulting in support for the party surging and achieving two seats on the city council. Prior to Sveinbjörg’s statements, polls had suggested that the party would not gain any seats in Reykjavík.

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Anti-racism protesters organise demonstration as Britain First plan meeting in Swanley

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-racism protesters are planning a demonstration against right-wing group Britain First which is holding a meeting in Swanley. The group originally planned to hold the meeting in Dartford, but tweeted that the first venue had cancelled due to “adverse police activity”.

Gabriel Forcella-Burton, organiser of the anti-Britain First protest, said: “This is exactly what happened in Wigan last week when the venue found out who they really were. I think it’s a combination of that and them knowing they would meet stiff opposition in Dartford.”

Britain First is now planning to meet at an unnamed venue in Swanley, the latest stop on the group’s controversial national tour.

Both Britain First and anti-racism protesters have been building support on social media over the last few weeks.

Mr Forcella-Burton said: “The majority of the protesters will be local people – some who have never met before. We have been in touch with some antifascist groups from the south east but the core will be from Dartford.”

The ‘Kentish Batallion’ of the stridently anti-Muslim Britain First recently ‘invaded’ Crayford Mosque in Bexley, demanding they remove signs designating separate entrances for men and women. Mr Forcella-Burton said: “The congregation from the Crayford Mosque they targeted two weeks ago will be present, as they have been directly affected by this.”

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City in Tarragona passes bylaw banning burqas and niqabs in public places

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Alicia Alegret with Carles PellicerThe Reus city council, in the Catalan province of Tarragona, on Friday approved new bylaws that will ban people from wearing a burqa, niqab or any other kind of full face veil in public places.

The measure is the first to go so far in Spain, given that other such local legislation had only banned such clothing on municipal-owned premises.

The measure was passed thanks to votes from the coalition government in the city council, made up of the conservative Popular Party (PP) and the Catalan nationalist bloc CiU. The opposition parties – including the Catalan Socialists, PSC – all voted against the measure.

The local government had called for the prohibition based on criteria of “security” and “coexistence.”

CiU and the PP initially wanted to introduce fines of €750 for wearing this clothing, but the mayor, Carles Pellicer (CiU), and the deputy mayor, Alicia Alegret (PP), [pictured] admitted that they would not be able to apply such penalties. The police will simply have powers to identify anyone who has their face covered in public spaces.

“According to a sentence from the Supreme Court from February 13, 2013, municipal powers do not allow for fines for people with their face covered due to religious reasons,” a juridical report commissioned by the PSC reads. “If the municipal authority does not observe this limitation to its powers to levy fines, it could be committing the offense of perversion of justice.”

Reus says that it is backed by a recent sentence issued by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which backed a similar ban in France.

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BNP links up with Infidels and NF in Bolton anti-mosque campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque Bolton with NWI protest ad

The far-right group the North West Infidels, which originated in a split in the English Defence League, will be holding a demonstration in Bolton next month against the planned so-called “super mosque” in Astley Bridge. There is an existing campaign based on the Facebook page Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque Bolton, which has already organised several anti-mosque protests, and as you can see they are now enthusiastically promoting the Infidels’ demonstration.

The Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque Bolton campaign is led by Bryn Morgan (aka Morgan Jones) who is an activist in the British National Party. It was also a bit of a giveaway that the campaign’s Facebook page originally featured the same banner that had appeared earlier on a BNP protest against the expansion of a mosque in Farnworth. The Bolton News went so far as to describe one of the Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque Bolton demonstrations, not inaccurately, as a “BNP rally”. In short, there is no question that the BNP has played a leading role in the campaign.

It might seem odd that the BNP is promoting an event organised by a white supremacist, neo-Nazi group like the Infidels. Central to Nick Griffin’s “modernisation” strategy, which he implemented after ousting John Tyndall as BNP leader in 1999, was a policy of hiding the party’s fascist ideology and presenting an “image of moderate reasonableness” to the public, with the aim of attracting electoral support. During the following period, and indeed until quite recently, the BNP would have steered clear of any public involvement with an organisation like the Infidels. But times have changed.

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Muslim girl spat at and racially abused in Bristol city centre – and no one came to help

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Corn Street BristolA teenage girl walking home from school through Bristol’s city centre was spat at in one of the busiest streets in the centre – a place where she should have been safe. And while the incident took place, leaving the 17-year-old feeling humiliated, nobody stopped to intervene or help.

Now councillors in the inner city ward where the girl lives say they fear there could be a backlash in Bristol if more “Islamophobic” incidents occur.

The girl, who has asked not to be named, was walking in the city centre along Corn Street wearing a headscarf when a man approached and started hurling insults at her. She tried to take the abuse in her stride, but the tirade got worse. The man began spitting in her face and all over her clothes and school bag.

The Bristol Post understands that he was swearing and shouting insults against Islam and her supposed birth place – even though the girl was born in Bristol, has never lived outside the city and considers herself British. Eventually the girl ran off and phoned her father who immediately came to pick her up. He took her to Trinity Road police station and made a formal complaint.

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Wrexham EDL supporter told shop owner ‘I’m a racist and I kill Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL not racist not violentA man entered a shop and told its Muslim owner “I’m a racist and I kill Muslims,” on the first anniversary of the death of soldier Lee Rigby.

Daniel Lee Lewis, of Church Street, Wrexham, entered the shop on Chester Street in Flint after midnight on May 23. He asked the owner where he was from and if he was a Muslim. The owner replied he was Turkish but had an English passport and told Lewis he was Muslim.

Lewis told the owner: “It’s alright, I won’t cause any trouble. It’s my country, I will do what I want. I’m a racist and I kill Muslims.” He spat on the shop floor and invited the owner outside for a fight. But the police had been called and he was arrested.

The 32-year-old told police: “It’s one year today to the death of Lee Rigby, there will be thousands of us in Manchester on Saturday,” before chanting EDL [English Defence League] at them.

Appearing at Wrexham Magistrates Court yesterday, Lewis pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause racially aggravated fear of or provoke unlawful violence. He also admitted failure to surrender to bail.

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Demonstrate against the South East Alliance in Cricklewood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Racist thugs not welcome in Cricklewood

When the far-right South East Alliance tried to march on a Muslim Brotherhood office in Cricklewood, north west London, last month their path was blocked by anti-fascists and they were forced to turn back.

On Saturday the fascists are returning for a rematch. North West London United, a broad coalition of community groups and trade unions, is organising a counter-protest.

See also “Fascists not welcome in Cricklewood”, Kilburn Herald, 8 July 2014

And “Community in Brent unites against plans for far-right group to march in Cricklewood”, Kilburn Times, 14 July 2014

Update:  See “Another flop for the South East Alliance”, Islamophobia Watch, 19 July 2014