Revealing report on anti-Muslim racism in Ireland

AMR reportAn informative report by Dr James Carr on racism and bigotry against Muslims in Ireland has been published by the University of Limerick. Based on a survey of Irish Muslims on their experiences of anti-Muslim hostility, complemented by one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions, the report found that 36% of respondents felt they had been targeted on the basis of being identified as Muslim.

Dr Carr writes: “The manner in which this hostility manifested varied. Participants reported experiencing physical assaults (22%) ranging from being struck, having hijabs forcibly removed, to being pushed, spat at; some reported being threatened or harassed (20%). A white Irish male revert to Islam recalls his experiences of physical forms of abuse: ‘I have been pushed and have had people spit in my face, for being Muslim’. Fewer participants (14%) indicated that they had property damaged. Those who detailed how this manifested referred to tyres being slashed, having eggs thrown at their home inter alia.”

The survey found that women, who were more easily identified as Muslim because of their dress, experienced higher levels of anti-Muslim hostility (44%) and discrimination (40%) than men (28% and 22% respectively). Women interviewees also reported their frustration at being subjected to anti-Muslim stereotyping and regarded condescendingly as passive victims of male oppression.

Dr Carr adds: “The discourse of oppressed Muslim women also serves to ‘legitimise’ the deployment of ‘liberation tactics’ by those would be ‘liberators’ of the oppressed. The impact these ‘tactics’ have on the Muslim female participants in this study includes shock, depression, feelings of fear and vulnerability. Jada explains how she was told to ‘take that thing rag off your head you you’re too good looking for that’ by a patient in the hospital she works in.”

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Police release CCTV image of Warrington mosque attack

Warrington mosque attack CCTVCheshire Police has released a CCTV image of suspects they are hunting, believed to be involved in an attack on the mosque in Warrington town centre.

Officers are again appealing for information after the mosque on Arpley Street was vandalised.

One man can be seen, apparently about to smash a window, with another man in the background of the image.

Police say they are treating the incident, on Monday, July 7, as racially aggravated criminal damage.

Sgt Rob Horton, of Warrington Town Centre NPU, said: “Enquiries are still ongoing and we would like to speak to anybody who may know the people seen in the CCTV footage.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting incident 1041 of 7th July, 2014. Alternatively, information can be passed via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Warrington Guardian, 14 July 2014

Schools top source of police concern over radicalisation

Schools are referring to the police record numbers of pupils and staff identified as being at risk of radicalisation.

Official data to be released on Tuesday will show that the details of 1,281 people were referred to the government’s “Prevent” scheme, up from 748 the year before, with officers citing the civil war in Syria as the main reason for the increase.

Sir Peter Fahy, the chief constable of Manchester police who leads on extremism for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), told the Guardian that schools were now the greatest source of concern for the police, followed by local authorities, the NHS and then higher education.

But he said people should not be surprised that “Muslim lads” felt compelled to travel to Syria after seeing in the media the atrocities committed there.

Since 2007, 1,450 children aged 18 and under have been referred to Prevent, the government’s scheme to tackle extremism, the Acpo figures show.

The disclosure that education is at the forefront of anti-terror measures comes in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, in which Ofsted and the Department for Education placed five schools in inner-city Birmingham into special measures.

Fahy defended Prevent, saying it was “just trying to look out for vulnerable young people and to try and avoid using a criminal justice intervention”.

He said: “It’s been a difficult issue with some of the people we know who have been wanting to go to Syria and the people who have come back. Do you want to prosecute them? We have stopped young people on the way to the airport going to Syria. They have not been prosecuted but instead we are working with other agencies to get them help.”

Fahy risked criticism from some quarters by adding: “We all feel desperate about Syria. I have written to my MP. I have watched those reports about Aleppo and Homs and say: ‘What the hell can I do?’ Don’t be surprised that Muslim lads look at that and say: ‘What the hell can I do but go out there and help them.'”

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If Cage has broken the law, let it be prosecuted; this reeks of the police state

Cage logo“Is it mere coincidence that Cage has had bank accounts closed down, its staff targeted, and pressure heaped on its funders by the Charity Commission all the space of a few months since Begg’s arrest? If this is a concerted effort to silence Cage, who is behind it and why?”

Alex Delmar-Morgan and Peter Oborne challenge the persecution of Cage.

Daily Telegraph, 14 July 2014

More harassment and threats from Britain First fascists

Britain First Crayford mosque harassment
Britain First leader Paul Golding harassing imam at the NWK Mosque in Crayford

Under a headline proclaiming “Britain First Kent battalion activists invade Crayford mosque”, the fascist group Britain First is boasting that its paramilitary-clothed activists have engaged in yet another act of religious harassment, in this instance at North West Kent Muslim Association’s mosque in Crayford High Street.

The purpose of the ‘invasion’, according to Britain First, was to “to inform the Imams that they have exactly 7 days to remove sexist, segregationalist signs from outside their building, or we will”. The reference is to signs indicating the entrance to the women’s section of the mosque. Like most mosques, Orthodox Jewish synagogues and Sikh gurdwaras, the North West Kent Muslim Association conducts acts of worship on the basis of gender separation.

Needless to say, Britain First doesn’t have a problem with gender separation when Jews or Sikhs engage in it. But when Muslims follow this religious practice, Britain First leader Paul Golding thinks he’s entitled to subject them to threats.

This isn’t the first time that Golding has targeted the Crayford mosque. In March last year, accusing the North West Kent Muslim Association of “Islamic bigotry against women”, he launched a campaign together with fellow fascist Paul Pitt/Prodromou under the banner of the now moribund far-right unity group, the English National Resistance. Although a proposed demonstration outside the mosque was called off, Golding announced that Britain First would be continuing the campaign by other means.

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Bendigo council joins anti-racism campaign

Bendigo council joins anti racism campaignThe City of Greater Bendigo has joined the “Racism. It stops with me” campaign, in light of recent events in Bendigo.

City of Greater Bendigo mayor Barry Lyons was contacted by the Australian Human Rights Commission to join the campaign, which invites all Australians to reflect on what they can do to counter racism.

Bendigo has been in the national spotlight after plans to build a mosque in the city fueled a heated debate among residents.

More than 170 organisations in Australia have already joined campaign and the council is asking Bendigo residents to support them. A special event will be held on Saturday, July 19, for people to make a pledge in support of the campaign.

The council wants the community to show support for the campaign on July 19 from 10:30am at Hargreaves Mall. Throughout the week the City is also asking residents to take ‘selfies’ posing with their hand on their heart and post them on social media using the hashtag #ItStopsWithMeBendigo. The campaign has already gained momentum with a television advertisement featuring Sydney AFL captain Adam Goodes.

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Victoria: tribunal rules in favour of mosque in Coolaroo

Coolaroo mosque protestors
Mosque opponents gather outside a council planning meeting last August

A Muslim mosque has been given the green light to be built next to an Assyrian Christian church in Coolaroo.

Hume Council ticked off the Al Sadiq Foundation’s application to build a mosque at 60-66 Kyabram St last August, despite more than 1000 objections. The decision was then appealed by residents at VCAT, but was today upheld after almost six months of deliberation.

Among the tribunal’s reasons for granting the permit included Hume being a “diverse multicultural, multifaith society”, with a relatively even population split between Muslims and Christians in Coolaroo.

“All faiths are entitled to facilities and services to meet their needs, including places of worship to practise their faith,” a VCAT statement said. “For planning purposes, a ‘place of worship’ does not discriminate between religions, nor is it incompatible (in a town planning sense) for one place of worship to be sited adjacent to another.”

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Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 7‑13 July

Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 7-13 July 2014

Police chief delivers rebuke to mosque protesters

Stop the Mosque in Bendigo

Victoria’s police chief says the people behind plans for Bendigo’s first mosque have been vilified by a small minority.

Ken Lay has used a speech during the Islamic holy period of Ramadan to voice what he said was a message of tolerance and goodwill. At the same time, he also delivered a rebuke to opponents of the mosque, which Bendigo councillors approved last month.

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Justin Welby warns of hysteria over threat of Muslim radicalisation

Justin WelbyThe Archbishop of Canterbury has warned against becoming “too hysterical” over Islamic radicalisation in Britain as he spoke of his concerns about developing a “culture of fear” towards Muslims.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said there was a problem with radicalisation of Muslims in Britain and an “issue” with young men travelling to Syria and returning to the UK “highly radicalised”.

But, speaking in an interview on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, the Archbishop said the proportion of Muslims in Britain who are radicalised remained “extraordinarily small”.

He said there was a danger of a “national culture of fear” over the issue. “Clearly there is an issue with people going to Syria and coming back highly radicalised. There is a problem with radicalisation,” he said.

“But the proportion of Muslims who are radicalised is extraordinarily small and I’m just edgy about developing a national culture of fear because I don’t think that gets us anywhere and I think we’re in danger of slipping into a very fearful culture in which we see everyone against us and us against everyone and we’re constantly trying to defend ourselves.”

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