Yearly Archives: 2014

Montreal rally unites faiths against ‘secularism’ charter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Canadians for Coexistence

With his fuchsia skullcap and sash, Catholic Bishop Thomas Dowd stood out in the crowd at Shaare Zedek Congregation on Sunday. Speaking to nearly 500 people at the synagogue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Dowd said he purposely wore his most ostentatious outfit to the multi-faith rally against the Parti Québécois government’s proposed secular charter.

Bill 60, which would bar all public sector workers from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols like the Muslim head scarf, Jewish skullcap or Sikh turban, died on the order paper last week when Premier Pauline Marois dissolved the National Assembly to call an election. But speakers, who included local politicians and representatives of six faiths, said that was no reason to stop protesting, since the PQ has vowed to adopt the charter if it wins a majority on April 7.

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Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 3‑9 March

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 3‑9 March 2014

Slough TUC condemns far-right bullying tactics over Legoland event

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Casuals United Legoland protestA trade union group has expressed disappointment after Legoland cancelled a controversial private event following threats of violence and protests.

An Eid family fun day organised by the Muslim Research and Development Foundation on Sunday was pulled by the Windsor theme park last week because it could “no longer guarantee the safety of guests and employees”. That followed staff being bombarded with threats from far-right groups including the English Defence League (EDL) because of the foundation’s association with controversial preacher Haitham al-Haddad.

The Slough Trades Council secretary, Anas Ghaffar, said: “It is a tragedy that an event such as this has been stopped as a result of the bullying tactics of groups such as the EDL.”

Slough Observer, 9 March 2014

Why Muslims in Birmingham feel like a ‘suspect’ community

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The post-9/11 ‘war on terror’ narrative, has revealed a new suspect community. Whether inadvertently or not, measures such as profiling, hard-line policing, stop and search and surveillance all have the potential to stigmatise an entire population, such as Irish people living in Britain during the conflict in Northern Ireland, and now the Muslim community in Britain.”

Imran Awan, deputy director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, and co-editor of the study Extremism, Counter-terrorism and Policing, examines the impact of counter-terrorism legislation and other repressive measures on the Muslim community in Birmingham.

Huffington Post, 9 March 2014

Milton Keynes mosque arson: Man charged

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bletchley mosque arson

A 30-year-old man has been charged with arson and a “racially aggravated” offence after a fire at a mosque in Milton Keynes.

Thames Valley Police said a fire was started at the back of the mosque on Manor Road, Bletchley, at about 01:00 GMT on Saturday. Richard Bevington, of North Street, Bletchley, has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life and has been remanded in custody. No-one was hurt in the incident.

Mr Bevington has also been charged with a “racially and religiously aggravated section five public order offence”, possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis. He is due to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ court on Monday.

The mosque was created out of a former pub two years ago.

BBC News, 9 March 2014

Update:  See “Man charged with arson of Milton Keynes mosque remanded in custody”, Milton Keynes MKWeb, 10 March 2014

The FN candidate with Nazi sympathies who wants to shoot Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Séverine Amelot Facebook post

Under Marine Le Pen’s leadership the Front National has been trying to present a more respectable face to French voters. Unfortunately for Le Pen, some of her supporters aren’t entirely on message.

L’Express has revealed that Séverine Amelot, a municipal council candidate for the FN-led Rassemblement Bleu Marine alliance in Nevers, has posted Facebook photos of herself under a swastika flag and wearing a shirt with a Waffen-SS emblem.

Another photo features Amelot in a t-shirt with an Odin Cross, standing next a cannon which she talks about using to “kill all that scum … on Friday when they are at prayer”.

Séverine Amelot Nazi

Swedish Defence League leader jailed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kamil Ryba, SDLThe anti-fascist publication Expo has reported that Kamil Ryba, head of the EDL’s sister organisation the Swedish Defence League, has been sentenced to six months in prison for threatening the staff at GT, the Göteborg edition of the Swedish daily Expressen.

Ryba turned up at the GT offices last December to protest against Expressen publishing the names of people who had anonymously incited racial hatred. He threw an egg and said he would come back with a knife next time. Ryba subsequently returned and left a package containing a knife and a copy of the Qur’an, which was addressed to the editors of Expressen and GT. The package was seen as a possible bomb threat and GT staff were forced to evacuate the building.

Ryba pleaded not guilty. According to GT, he claimed that by including a knife with the Qur’an he intended to convey that Islam is a violent ideology, not a religion. However, he was convicted of the offence of violating civil liberty, on the grounds that he had made threats that endangered freedom of expression. Ryba’s lawyer stated that he will appeal against the verdict.

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EDL hold flash demo against Islamic centre in Clacton-on-Sea

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Clacton anti-mosque protestPolice have monitored a rally by the English Defence League in an Essex coastal town.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force was not aware of the demonstration until an off-duty police and community support officer spotted some of those involved at Clacton’s rail station.

The 20-strong group occupied an area of Pier Avenue from around 1.50pm until the last demonstrator left at 5pm. “This has been finished and dealt with,” the spokesman said. “The 20 demonstrators raised a few flags. There were no scuffles and no arrests.”

A post put up on the EDL’s Clacton-on-Sea Facebook website said: “To everyone who helped us today and the public of this great British town. We are here for the public and we will never surrender!”

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Man arrested after arson attack on Milton Keynes mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Thames Valley Police has arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in Milton Keynes.

Officers were called to the mosque in Manor Road, Bletchley, shortly before 1am this morning (8/3) after reports of a man seen acting suspiciously shortly before a fire was started at the rear of the building. Officers carried out enquiries at the scene which led to them arresting a man on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life shortly afterwards. No one was hurt in the incident. The man, who is from the Milton Keynes area, remains in police custody at this time.

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Plot to ‘take over’ and run schools on strict Islamic principles is described as ‘malicious fabrication’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Birmingham city council is investigating an alleged plot to oust headteachers in the city, replacing them with people who will run their schools on “strict Islamic principles”.

A letter, passed to the Birmingham city council late last year as well as various schools in the area, outlines a plan dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse” and claims up to four schools in the city have already been “taken over”. The West Midlands counter-terrorism unit said it was aware of the letter and was working with the council to identify whether a police investigation is warranted.

A copy of the undated and unsigned letter, seen by the Guardian, offers a five-step plan to take over schools in communities with large Muslim populations with the help of what it calls “hardline” parents who follow the strict Salafi branch of Islam. However one of the alleged plotters, Tahir Alam – a former chair of the education committee of the Muslim Council of Britain – told the Guardian on Friday evening that the letter was “a malicious fabrication and completely untrue”.

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