Yearly Archives: 2014

Turkish Parliament report: 88% of attacks on German mosques unsolved

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mevlana Mosque arsonA report released by Parliament’s Human Rights Commission following the burning of three mosques in Germany in August has reached interesting conclusions in its study of Islamophobia in Germany, revealing that the vast majority of perpetrators of such crimes have gone unpunished.

Human Rights Commission President Ayhan Sefer Üstün reported on the comprehensive research carried out in Germany. The parliamentary report states that of the 297 attacks on mosques from 2001 to the present day, 244 (88 percent) of the crimes’ suspects or perpetrators have not been captured. According to the report, “A large portion of these attacks on mosques remain unpunished … opening the way for fear, worry and insecurity among members of the Muslim population.”

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Council rejects Islamic centre plan for South Hereford

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hereford Islamic Society planning applicationHerefordshire Council has rejected plans for an Islamic Centre in South Hereford.

The application was made by the Hereford Islamic Society earlier this year, its refusal was confirmed by the council this morning.

The decision did not go to the planning committee but was delegated to an officer.

Area councillor Chris Chappell said he accepted the concerns raised in relation to traffic and parking posed by the conversion of a ground floor shop in Holme Lacy Road. “But there were things said in the objections to this application that were inappropriate,” he said.

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Posted in UK

UKIP member kicked out for attending Britain First anti‑mosque march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Malcolm JacksonA member of Ukip has been kicked out of the party after attending a rally organised by the far right group Britain First, according to reports.

Ukip member Malcolm Jackson [pictured] said he has received a letter from the party saying his membership had been rescinded because of his “connections to Britain First” after attending their 15 November protest rally against a Mega Mosque planned for construction in Rochester.

[The new mosque will hold no more than 400 worshippers, which falls some way short of “mega”, and the site is in Gillingham.]

Jackson said he is not affiliated with Britain First – which describes itself as “probably the only group experiencing growth on the far right” – and was only marching with them to protest against the “evil cult of Islam taking over yet another part of our country”.

He said: “I have no connections with Britain First. I am not a member of any political organisation apart from Ukip, and I am not a member of Britain First. All I have done is take part, last Saturday 15 Nov 2014, in a march organised by Britain First, to demonstrate against a Mega Mosque being built on the borders of Rochester and Gillingham.”

He added: “If I had been with the crowd of left-wing thugs opposing the march against the Mega Mosque, would Ukip have made the decision to rescind my membership?”

Ukip have tried to distance themselves from Britain First ever since three of its members were photographed with the deputy leader of the party, Jayda Fransen, while both groups were campaigning in Rochester ahead of the upcoming by-election.

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‘Terror in the tucker box’: Halal certification funds extremists, claims Australian MP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

George Christensen MPConsumers who buy halal products could be funding Islamist extremism, an Abbott government backbencher claims.

In an opinion article titled Terror in the Tucker Box, Nationals MP George Christensen questions whether shoppers who buy goods with the halal logo are funding a push for Sharia law – or even backing terrorists. Christensen says there’s no way to know where the funds from halal-certified goods end up.

He said it was “outrageous” his grocery dollars were going towards a “religious tax” – listing halal-approved products such as Vegemite, Corn Flakes and Freddo frogs. “Worse still, I don’t know whether my grocery spend is going to fund extremist versions of that religion or extremist religious activities that I would rather not see in Australia,” Christensen wrote on his website.

The Nationals deputy whip said it was “entirely feasible” to think some halal certifiers could be financing groups such as Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood, citing cases in the US where such links were allegedly found.

“While it’s not terrorism, there is no doubt halal certification is funding organisations with extremist views and activities in Australia. It’s lovely to know a jar of the salty black stuff is sponsoring the advocacy of robbing women of all of their marital property rights.”

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He’s not racist, but …

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Graham MoxonA row has broken out over a school’s decision to serve a pork-free menu.

St Jude’s Church of England Primary School in Old Portsmouth is one of a number of schools in the city to use the menu.

The school also offers a halal menu to cater for children of different faiths. Eating pork is prohibited under both the Muslim and Jewish faiths.

But grandparent Graham Moxon disagrees with the idea. The 61-year-old, from Queen Street in Portsmouth, said: “I’m not racist – I have a Muslim son-in-law and a black son-in-law.

“But I get so angry at the fact that this country seems to be learning to keep the minority happy rather than the majority. By all means provide halal meat for the minority that request it but bring back good old pork bangers for the other kids.”

Mr Moxon tried to start an e-petition but the government wouldn’t accept it because they didn’t accept the instructions on what he wants to be done.

His grandchildren Jack Pople, five, Morgan Pople, nine and Kiana Moxon, 11, all attend the school. All the parents support Mr Moxon’s views.

Mr Moxon added: ‘I just want to see a decent menu for the kids. They should have good old-fashioned British food – the food that we were raised with by our mothers.

“They are tip-toeing around, trying not to upset anybody. The majority of those kids that go to that school have got to be Church of England children.

“By all means have halal meat if children require it. For the others at least give them the option of a pork sausage.”

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Posted in UK

Top London CofE school ‘failed to safeguard pupils from Islamic extremism’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sir John Cass Red Coat SchoolOne of the country’s most successful inner-city state schools is to be failed by inspectors for neglecting to safeguard its pupils from extremism in an echo of the Birmingham “Trojan Horse” affair.

Sir John Cass’s Foundation and Red Coat Church of England school in Tower Hamlets, east London, will be placed in special measures by the education standards watchdog Ofsted for failing to monitor the activities of an Islamic society set up by sixth-formers at the school.

In particular, a Facebook site set up by the society contained links to hard-line Islamist preachers – a move which could have made pupils vulnerable to radicalisation. The society also set up its own YouTube channel which was not monitored.

According to Ofsted, that constituted a failure to safeguard the pupils – a breach for which it had to be placed in special measures. It is the first school outside of Birmingham to be failed on such a safeguarding issue.

The school is also criticised for allowing segregation between boys and girls in the playground.

Local education sources have accused Ofsted of over-reacting – saying it was “taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut”.

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Pig’s head thrown at New South Wales mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Newcastle mosque pig's headA pig’s head has been thrown at a mosque in Newcastle – the second attack at the site in less than a week. The head was discovered by worshippers in the mosque’s courtyard in Wallsend just before midday on Wednesday. The incident was caught on CCTV.

“It’s a sad incident,” Newcastle Muslim Association spokeswoman Diana Rah said. “It’s not so much the action itself, but it’s the intention and hate behind it. We’ve got a lot of support from the wider community, so it’s a shame that there are elements in the community who commit these sorts of crimes.”

Newcastle Superintendent John Gralton would not comment on the motivation behind the attack and has appealed for information from the public. “This type of incident does not belong anywhere in Newcastle or in NSW,” he said. “The command will use all resources to bring those responsible to justice.”

Last Wednesday, a Muslim man was punched in the face and racially taunted outside the mosque as he left prayer. Ms Rah wasn’t sure if the two attacks were linked.

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MEND / Unite Against Fascism roundtable event

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Diane Abbott MP, Muslim community groups and NGO’s come together to tackle Islamophobia

Tackling Islamophobia: Roundtable panel discussion in Parliament

3-5pm Thursday 20 November 2014
Committee Room 16
House of Commons

Unite Against Fascism and MEND (Muslim Engagement & Development) have called a roundtable event in Parliament as part of November’s Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM). The event is an opportunity to address some of the pressing issues facing the Muslim community with a diverse panel that will take up matters including government policy regarding the Muslim community, the rise in Islamophobic hate crimes, policing and the Muslim community and the impact of the media portrayals of Islam and Muslims.

Islamophobia has been rising at an alarming rate over recent years. In London alone, from April 2013 to March 2014, we have seen a rise of 69% in Islamophobic crimes with the Met Police observing an eightfold increase in anti-Muslim attacks in the two weeks following Lee Rigby’s murder. During the last twelve months, the Metropolitan Police have recorded 573 Islamophobic crimes in London. Given that 43% of all hate crimes go unreported (Crime Survey for England and Wales), the actual number of Islamophobic crimes is undoubtedly much higher. Unlike most incidents of hate crime, which overwhelmingly involve male perpetrators and victims, Teeside University have found that the majority of the victims of Islamophobic attacks are female.

The round table will focus on key demands to the Government, policy makers, and parliamentarians to deal more effectively with Islamophobia, including statutory responses and responsibilities, measures to improve policing and better legislation to protect faith-based communities.

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‘UK foreign policy to blame for sense of hatred, alienation of young Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The main threat to UK home security is presented by young alienated Muslims who are under constant surveillance and harassment by the government, but not those citizens who went to Syria or Iraq and came back, political commentator Chris Bambery told RT.

RT: MI5 is worried that extremists are plotting to kill a police officer on the streets of the UK. Is there really a way to prevent such an attack?

Chris Bambery: MI5, MI6 are among the most sophisticated security services in the world, working hand-in-hand with the CIA, the NSA and other American security agencies and they have a track record of stopping this. Britons spend millions of pounds on this and on surveillance. We are one of the most surveyed states in the world, the highest number of CCTV cameras in any country in the world. Yes, it can be stopped.

The question here is that for over a decade under the supported “war on terror” we have seen legislation being passed which simply makes things which were previously illegal, illegal again. It is if you murder someone anywhere in the world, it is murder. You don’t need extra legislation to make that murder again. What we have discovered is not that we just rushed through this legislation but sneaked inside it clauses which allow for instant surveillance on social media, telephone calls, and erosion of liberty.

And the police officers have said this has been going on, this is the price that has to be paid. Well, this has been going on for over a decade, and regards the so-called “war on terror,” and prior to that in terms of what was happening in Northern Ireland and the struggle against the republicans. So we have seen an erosion of civil liberties in this country.

The current scare is about supposed jihadists returning from Syria and Iraq to wage war on our streets. May I just ask this? These people went to Syria, they were under surveillance from MI5, MI6 since the moment they left their home and they are under surveillance from the Turkish secret intelligence at the moment they arrived in Turkey and travelled through it, British intelligence knows who they are, they are not just going to come up to Heathrow Airport and be welcomed back into the country. If they are guilty of war crimes, in they are guilty of murders, there are already laws to apply, and we don’t need new laws. What the threat here is, if there is any threat, is from alienated young Muslims in this country. Tony Blair was warned of this back in 2003 when he took us into the invasion of Iraq, that the domestic terrorism would be the blowback as a consequence of that. Therefore, you have to turn and see that it is the British policy which is to blame.

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Racist EDL not welcome in Luton this Saturday

Posted on by Bob Pitt

We are Luton

SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2014
TIME: 12PM
ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE BURY PARK COMMUNITY CENTRE, DUNSTABLE ROAD, LU1 1BW

EDL Not welcome in Luton!

The racist and Islamophobic EDL have announced that they will hold an Islamophobic demonstration, in Luton on 22 November.

In April and May 2009 the violent and racist EDL held its first protests in Luton. Such mobilisations saw hundreds of thugs rampage through the town attacking the Asian community. Since then the EDL has held a number of protests around Britain. They’ve attacked people and protesters, caused damage to buildings and smashed up a Hindu temple in Dudley when they couldn’t get close to the mosque.

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