Yearly Archives: 2014

Channel 4’s Muslim call to prayer is top in viewer complaints tally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sun Ramadan a Ding-DongChannel’s 4 broadcast of a Muslim call to prayer during the holy month of Ramadan was the programme that brought the broadcaster the most complaints last year.

The broadcast received 2,011 complaints about its 4Ramadan season, with 1,658 specifically about the broadcast of the daily call to prayer.

Writing in the broadcaster’s annual report, the head of factual programmes for Channel 4, Ralph Lee, said: “The level of Islamophobia we encountered with the 4Ramadan season was unexpected, though much of it came from communities that were either very polarised or very undiverse.”

Lee said he had personally received hundreds of emails complaining about the broadcast after he defended it in an article for the Radio Times, in which he said it would “act as a nationwide Tannoy system” and a provocation to viewers “in the very real sense of the word”.

Channel 4 received a total of 16,835 complaints in 2013. The second most complained about show was Crazy About One Direction, a documentary about the boyband’s most devoted fans, which attracted 1,056 complaints.

Press Association, 8 May 2014

Posted in UK

The hateful views of UKIP candidate Magnus Nielsen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Magnus Nielsen with anti-sharia placard (2)I sent a letter to the Camden New Journal this week exposing the bigoted views of local UK Independence Party council candidate Magnus Nielsen. They didn’t see fit to publish it.

Evidently the CNJ doesn’t think it newsworthy that a rabid Islamophobe like Nielsen is standing for local government in a borough with a large Muslim population. At any rate, whereas the Hampstead & Highgate Express ran an article on it, and Nielsen’s obnoxious views even made the national media, the CNJ hasn’t bothered to report the story.

The CNJ did, however, think it appropriate to publish a letter from Nielsen last year claiming that “the logic of ‘affirmative action’ on behalf of the self-styled ‘under­privileged’ is seriously flawed and can only have disastrous consequences for society as a whole”, and that a House of Commons which reflected the diversity of the British electorate would necessarily discriminate against “able-bodied, happily-married, heterosexual, men of Anglo Saxon heritage”.

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Daily Mail follows Sun in stoking halal hysteria

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daily Mail Millions Are Eating Halal Food front pageYesterday we had the Sun running an anti-halal story on its front page under the screaming headline “Halal secrets of Pizza Express”. Not to be outdone in the field of right-wing anti-Muslim scaremongering, the Daily Mail decided to run this story on its front page today.

Of course, this is not the first time the Mail has tried to work its readers up into an anti-Muslim frenzy over the issue of halal slaughter by appealing to their ignorance and bigotry.

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5 in court after EDL protest in Thatcham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

After 20 people staged a protest in Thatcham, 5 people have appeared in court charged with a string of offences. They gathered in The Broadway on the 28th of February and indicated they were members of the EDL.

The 4 men and 1 woman are charged with a string of offences, including using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

All five have pleaded not guilty and were released on conditional bail. They are due at Reading Magistrates on the 15th May.

The Breeze, 7 May 2014

Nigel Farage: UKIP is not a racist party

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-UKIP protestThe UK Independence Party “is not racist”, leader Nigel Farage has told activists in central London.

Mr Farage said a “handful” of its thousands of candidates had said “stupid or offensive” things, but “they never have, and they never will”, represent the views of the party.

He was speaking at an event designed to highlight UKIP’s female, black and ethnic-minority candidates. The rally was disrupted several times by protesters accusing UKIP of racism.

One UKIP candidate was suspended from the party on Saturday after describing Islam as “evil”, and another resigned last week after after tweeting that comedian Lenny Henry should emigrate to a “black country”.

But Mr Farage said the party had “professionalised” in recent years, and now had a membership form that urged people whose views were incompatible with UKIP’s not to join the party. Despite these measures, he continued: “There will always be in any system a few people that creep over the line and cause us embarrassment.”

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Sun exposes ‘halal secret’ of Pizza Express … except that it’s not a secret

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sun Halal Secret of Pizza ExpressHalal secret of Pizza Express

— All chicken killed in line with Islamic law
— No mention of it on restaurant’s menus
— Staff will only tell customers if they ask
— Comes after some Subways ditch bacon

PIZZA Express is using halal chicken in every meal that contains the meat – but customers only find out if they ask.

The chain decided to only serve chicken that is killed in line with strict Islamic law after feedback from Muslim customers. But diners are not warned in advance the chicken they will be eating is halal. There is no mention of it on menus and staff only tell customers if they ask.

Islam says chicken can only be eaten if the bird’s throat has been slit while it is still alive. A verse from the Koran is also recited. Some non-Muslims object to halal because they claim the ritual killing can cause unnecessary suffering.

It comes after some Subways ditched bacon, outlawed by Islam.

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Increased police presence for BNP anti-mosque demonstration in Hemel Hempstead

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP 'unity demo' Hemel HempsteadDacorum’s police chief has promised his officers will ensure ‘minimal disruption’ to the community during the BNP’s planned protest in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday.

Members of the British National Party are planning to demonstrate at the now-derelict site of the Nash Mills Methodist Church on Barnacres Road, which pre-application plans suggested could house a new mosque.

According to Dacorum Borough Council planning officers, no formal applications for a Muslim house of worship have been submitted, or are indeed expected, at this time.

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Report says Internet hate speech can lead to acts of violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Click Here to End HateAnti-Muslim hate speech on the Internet is commonplace and can motivate some people to commit acts of violence against Muslims, according to a report released Tuesday (May 6) by Muslim Advocates, a legal and advocacy group in San Francisco.

“When you have threatening comments online and they go unchecked, people start thinking it’s acceptable,” said Madihha Ahussain, an attorney and the report’s lead author. “And it doesn’t take long to figure out that what becomes acceptable online becomes acceptable in the real world.”

The report contains examples of hate speech and how it can lead to violence, as well as how victims of online hate speech can report it and counter it. The report aims to help educate parents, students, youth, community leaders, Internet companies and policymakers on how to counter online hate speech.

Ahussain said that anti-Muslim websites give like-minded people a place to gather and at the same time win new supporters through their posts. As an example, Ahussain cited the Facebook page of anti-Muslim blogger Pamela Geller, which she said grew from roughly 19,000 followers in July 2013 to some 78,000 people as of late April.

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