Yearly Archives: 2014

MP says EDL not welcome in Slough

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A politician is calling on far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) to abandon its plans to march in Slough over fears of upsetting community cohesion. Slough MP Fiona Mactaggart has come out fighting after the EDL announced plans to host its first demonstration of the year in Slough on Saturday, February 1.

The group told The Observer it plans to march at 1pm down High Street, Slough, before speeches in the Town Square. An organiser said it will be a dry demonstration – meaning no alcohol – to “not offend other faiths and religions”.

Ms Mactaggart said: “The EDL is not welcome in Slough. We call on them to abandon their planned demonstration, which risks disrupting the good community relations which our town has enjoyed for many years and which our different communities and different faiths are determined should continue. Whether or not the EDL demonstration takes place, we pledge ourselves to work together to maintain and develop good community relations in our town.”

The EDL says the demonstration is a response to plans for a Muslim community centre in Langley and plans for an all-girls Muslim-faith based free school in Slough. An organiser said: “Because of Slough being such a diverse multi-cultural town I have made it a dry demo as to not offend other faiths and religions in the town with hordes of drunken fools.”

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EDL member nailed Qur’an to pub wall in protest against Islamic centre plan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Graham FrenchA member of a far-right group nailed a copy of the Koran onto a pub which is due to be transformed into a Muslim education centre.

Graham French also wrote “EDL” on the wall of former Melrose Arms in Shotton Colliery – which has been the centre of demonstrations by the English Defence League in the village, after planning permission to change the use of the building was granted.

Since buying the property, local businessman Kaiser Javeed Choudry has been a repeat victim of crime, Peterlee Magistrates’ Court heard. Prosecutor Vicky Wilson said there had been great opposition to the plans and Mr Choudry’s property had been targeted with spray paint and windows had been smashed.

Ms Wilson said on December 14, EDL had been daubed twice in white paint on the building, causing £500 of damage, and an open Koran had been nailed onto a wooden board covering a window. She added: “Police took the Koran for forensic analysis and found several links to the defendant, including a palm print on the page.”

She told the court that information on Facebook showed French, of Dene Crescent, Shotton, is a member of a group called the Shotton Defence League. When French was arrested, he said it was a “revenge attack” after he was followed home from the pub one day by a female wearing a Burka.

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Moscow Muslims condemn warning about terrorists in mosques

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A group of Moscow muftis is demanding city authorities officially retract a warning about potential suicide bombers’ unusual behavior in mosques and the description of prayer sites as terrorist meeting places.

Mufti Hazrat Gizatullin, the deputy head of the official Muslim organization for European Russia, said in an interview with Izvestia daily that representatives of his organization intended to send an official protest to the Moscow city Department Of Interethnic And Inter-Religious Cooperation.

The move was prompted by several district councils posting a document on their websites in which they detailed signs that could indicate preparations for terrorist attacks.

“Suicide bombers can be distinguished in mosques by their more exalted behavior, close to meditation, by a deeper immersion into religious ecstasy. Besides, the mosques can be meeting places for members of terrorist cells. One can always stay for a night in a mosque or strike a deal with other persons unsuspecting about the real goals behind such contacts,” the warning reads.

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EDL Birmingham protest wanted pics released

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Birmingham EDL protest wanted pics

West Midlands Police have released photos of individuals wanted for questioning in connection with violent clashes at an English Defence League march in Birmingham last year.

Anyone who recognises anyone in the images is asked to contact officers from Operation Lynx in the incident room by calling 0121 626 4017 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Alternatively people can email tellus@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk

See also “Fresh images of EDL protest suspects released as part of Crimewatch appeal”, West Midlands Police news report, 22 January 2014

Update:  See “Birmingham riots: Dozens call police after TV appeal”, BBC News, 24 January 2014

Update 2:  See “Police closing in on Birmingham EDL riot suspects”, Islamophobia Watch, 26 January 2014

Judge tosses suit against Muslim group over speech

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Thomas More Law CenterALLEGAN, Mich. — A federal judge has dismissed a conservative Christian advocacy group’s lawsuit against a Muslim rights organization over the cancellation of a speech by an anti-Muslim speaker at a southwestern Michigan school.

The Thomas More Law Center sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in 2012, saying its Michigan director violated the free speech rights of then-state Rep. Dave Agema and others involved in the event at Allegan High School.

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Police alerted to threats against Croydon Islamic centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EVF Croydon mosque harassmentPolice are investigating threats made against an Islamic centre by supporters of two right-wing groups. A video, posted on the internet, shows three men connected to the English Defence League (EDL) and one of its splinter groups, outside Anjuman-e-Zaini, in Brighton Road, South Croydon, late on what is believed to be Sunday night (January 19). Two of the men are seen ringing the door bell before one tells the camera that the building is an “illegal mosque”. When no one answers he says they will be back to “have the place over”.

The Advertiser alerted the community centre, which is a fully licensed place of worship, who contacted the police on Tuesday. Anjuman-e-Zaini is run by members of the borough’s Dawoodi Bohra Community, a branch of Islam.

Secretary Shaukat Dungarwalla said the incident was the latest example of the centre being targeted by extremists, including an attempt to set the building on fire during the riots in 2011. He said:

“Given what’s happened in the past we’re very concerned. This is far from the first time we have been targeted. During the riots someone pushed a pile of rubbish against the door and set fire to it in hope of burning us down. Bricks have been thrown at the building on at least four occasions and our windows have been plastered with anti-Islamic posters. As soon as we were informed of this video we contacted the police. There’s no smoke without fire. We’re on full alert.”

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Judge warns jury of wrongful prejudice over defendant’s Muslim face veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A judge warned a jury on Wednesday that it was wrong to be prejudiced against anyone because of their expression of religious faith, as a Muslim defendant prepared to go on trial wearing a full face veil. The judge, Peter Murphy, said Rebekah Dawson, 22, was fully entitled to dress as she chose, and that the jury trying her case for alleged witness intimidation had to put aside any personal feelings they might have on the issue.

“I am sure you will have noticed that the defendant Rebekah Dawson is wearing a full face veil – it hides her face apart from a narrow slit for the eyes,” he told the jury at Blackfriars crown court, London. “Let me begin by saying that in this country everyone is entitled to express any religious view they wish, or to hold no religious view. Also, we are entitled to express any religious view we may have in any way that we choose – that includes wearing a form of dress which a person may consider to be appropriate.”

He added: “It would be quite wrong to be prejudiced against anybody because of their expression of their religious faith. It is very important you understand that.” He continued later: “I emphasise that Rebekah Dawson is fully entitled to dress in any way she chooses. If you have any feelings about that put them aside because they have nothing to do with the case.”

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JIMAS to press ahead with HMD event featuring former EDL leader

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Organisers of an event on Holocaust Memorial Day in Ipswich have been criticised for inviting Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, as a guest speaker. The event on Monday, January 27, was originally planned to take place in conjunction with the Education Quarter Multi Faith Chaplaincy at Suffolk New College and University Campus Suffolk.

However the colleges have since disavowed themselves entirely from the talk and organiser JIMAS has decided to proceed independently. Muhammad Manwar Ali of JIMAS, who is also a fellow of Suffolk New College and a member of the chaplaincy for SNC and UCS, said it would be a “solemn occasion” to mark the Holocaust.

It is not yet known where the event will take place. Other speakers will include Holocaust survivor Frank Bright; Pat Magee, who was convicted of planting the IRA’s Brighton Bomb; and Umme Thara, a former member of Al-Muhajiroun. Mr Ali said the idea behind the talk was to get those involved to make a “clear cut commitment against anti-Semitism and any kind of hatred and genocide. We’ve all been on a journey and we want to give a powerful message from ex-radicals to say they’re rejecting it and say ‘never again’.”

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Feds indict Klansman who designed radiation gun to kill Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Glendon Scott CrawfordAfter nearly seven months, federal prosecutors have decided to move forward with charges against one of two men charged with conspiring to build a portable, remote-controlled device designed to deliver fatal doses of radiation to Muslims – or “medical waste,” as the plotters called their intended targets.

Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, [pictured] was charged in an indictment last week with attempting to produce a radiological device, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and distribution of information related to weapons of mass destruction. Another suspect, Eric Feight, 54, was named in the original complaint but was not indicted. Both were arraigned last June.

According to sources who spoke with the Times-Union of Albany, Feight and his lawyers are working on a plea agreement in exchange for testimony against Crawford.

The case has been under investigation by a Joint Terrorism Task Force since at least April 2012, when Crawford went to a Schenectady synagogue, Congregation Gates of Heaven, and “asked to speak with a person who might be willing to help him with a type of technology that could be used by Israel to defeat its enemies while they slept.”

Crawford, with Feight’s help, had designed a device he described as “Horoshima on a light switch.” The device, he explained, was a “weaponized radiation device” that would deliver a deadly dose of radiation.

“[T]he target(s) and those around them would not immediately be aware they had absorbed lethal doses of radiation and the harmful effects of that radiation would not become apparent until days after the exposure,” court documents say.

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Enfield councillor suspended by Tory Party pending investigation by national decision board over ‘anti-Islamic’ Facebook taunts

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Chris Joannides Facebook comment

An Enfield councillor has been suspended from the Conservative party following alleged anti-Islamic comments made on a social media site last year. Councillor Chris Joannides has had his membership at the party suspended and he will now be investigated by the Conservative Party’s national board.

Enfield Borough Council’s Tory group withdrew the whip from the Grange Ward representative in February 2013 for alleged anti-Islamic comments posted on his Facebook page. In a joke he posted on his page last year, he compared Muslim burqas to dustbin bags and complained that his job was getting in the way of his social life.

However, earlier this month Mr Joannides was cleared by the Crown Prosecution Service, stating he did not break the law and will not face any criminal charges. Despite there being no legal wrongdoing, he now faces an investigation from the national party’s decision-making body.

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