Yearly Archives: 2014

Brisbane: Christian college rejects student teachers who wore hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Redlands CollegeThe principal of a Christian College has come under fire for transferring two student teachers after they turned up for work dressed in traditional Muslim headwear.

The two women, in their final year of a teaching degree, had started a work placement at Redlands College this year.

In a newsletter addressed to the school’s parents on Tuesday, principal Mark Bensley outlined his reasons for dismissing the pair, explaining he had acted out of a “duty of care”.

“I have a duty of care to ensure that those teaching at the College are actively supporting the Christian principles, practices and beliefs of the College,” he wrote. “I see the wearing of the hijab as openly acting in a manner that is contrary to or inconsistent with these principles, practices and beliefs.”

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New UKIP councillor thinks Muslims bring disease

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A UKIP councillor has been embroiled in a row over homophobic and racist comments just hours after being elected.

Dave Small won the Church Hill seat for the party on Redditch Borough Council on Friday (May 23). But just minutes later it emerged a posting had been made on his Facebook page on June 3 last year in which homosexual people are branded perverts including musician Sir Elton John and sports presenter Clare Balding OBE.

“I refuse to call them gays, as what has gay to do with Perverts like Elton John and Clair [sic] Balding who get their jollies in such disgusting ways. to sum up, they should not allowed to be married, they should go back to the closet,” it said.

A previous post in February last year also states the best place for gay people is in the closet.

Another note on the wall under the headline ‘Muslims and the threat they pose to our way of life’ states: “Fact, we had most eradicated T.B from this country, then with the migration for Muslim country’s its near epidemic proportions. But mustn’t say anything, it might be considered racist.”

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Tower Hamlets rejects Islamophobic witch-hunt, re-elects Lutfur Rahman

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lutfur Rahman acceptance speechControversial Lutfur Rahman last night triumphed over Labour in a knife-edge mayoral election in Tower Hamlets.

The independent incumbent, standing under new party name Tower Hamlets First, fought off John Biggs to win on second preferences at a chaotic count night at the Troxy in Limehouse.

In a tightly-fought contest, Mr Rahman edged through after neither candidate secured a big enough share of the vote needed to win in the first round.

Bookmakers had placed Mr Biggs odds on favourite – but the result ushers in four more years of power for one of Britain’s most controversial politicians.

He told his exultant party members when the announcement was finally made just before 2am; “All I’ve ever said, and I’ll say it again, is judge me on my record. Judge me on what I do for this borough. I’m grateful to people who look at this borough and judge me on my record.”

He added: “To the people who didn’t vote for me… Give me a chance to serve you, let me reach out to you. “This office is a passion for me. Give me a chance to serve, even if you didn’t vote for me today.”

Mr Rahman gained a total of 37,395 votes – with under 1,000 of those second preferences. Despite a strong showing in the second round, Mr Biggs recorded a total of 34,143, with around 6,000 of those second preferences.

Turnout was more than twice as high (47.58 per cent) as it was in 2010 when Mr Rahman first swept to power.

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Finsbury Park mosque today

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“It is nine years since the building was taken over and its extremist parts dismantled from within, and it now serves as a community centre as much as a mosque, holding regular inter-faith meetings to discuss local concerns on disability, mental health and the environment.”

Charlotte Philby visits Finsbury Park mosque, where Abu Hamza used to preach.

Independent, 23 May 2013

The religious zealot who hands Bibles to Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Britain First organisation, which has invaded mosques and handed out Bibles to Muslims, is masterminded by a religious zealot with a criminal record for violence.

Although usually described as a splinter group of the far-right British National Party, its roots go deeper into the hardline Christian fundamentalist, anti-abortion movement.

Britain First has begun training followers in martial arts and has adopted a green-jacketed uniform. Five ­police forces have launched investigations into the party over allegations including public disorder and racial hatred. The East London Mosque, which it invaded on Monday, is to ask for an antisocial ­behaviour order on the group.

The organisation was founded by Jim Dowson, 49, a born-again Christian who was once a successful fundraiser for the BNP, amassing millions of pounds for the party. The chairman is Paul Golding, 32, a lorry driver and one-time BNP councillor who has spent much of this year being arrested in connection with the group’s ­publicity-seeking stunts.

Britain First said: “Mr Golding has not been charged with any  offences.” Mr Golding last night strongly denied the allegations and insisted that none of the material he had distributed had a racial element.

To the distress of the family of the murdered soldier Lee Rigby, Mr Golding used the slogan “Remember Lee Rigby” on ballot papers for the European elections in Wales. Election day was the first anniversary of the killing and dozens of Britain First supporters commemorated it by marching through Brick Lane in east London, an area with a large Muslim population.

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Jews Against Islamophobia hold protest against 9/11 museum film

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jews Against Islamophobia 9-11 museum protestThe NYPD removed 30 mostly Jewish demonstrators carrying signs such as “Islam does not equate terrorism,” from the 9/11 memorial park Wednesday.

The group protested what they called the interchangeable use of “Arab,” “Muslim” and “terrorist” in a 9/11 Museum film. Waving signs saying “Edit the Film” and “Jews say No to Islamophobia,” the crowd moved up the street. “We fear that visitors of the museum will blame Muslims. . . . The exhibition describing Al Qaeda is very sloppy,” said Todd Fine, 33.

New York Daily News, 22 May 2014

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Britain First stage intimidatory march in Brick Lane

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Britain First march through Brick LaneThe far-right group, Britain First, marched down Brick Lane last night with a large camouflaged car as part of what they called a “Christian patrol”.

The group said on their Facebook page: “Major disturbances follow Britain First Christian patrol in East London. Crowds of Muslims rampage through Brick Lane. Muslim vigilante gangs lock horns with Britain First teams.”

The leader of Britain First, Paul Golding, said that around 20-25 activists had marched up Brick Lane, starting from the Whitechapel Road end and given out leaflets. At the upper end of Brick Lane, Golding said they were confronted with a “baying mob of around 150 Muslims.”

Golding denied that the march was provocative and said that they were there to protect the local community. After the march, Golding said that the activists returned to south London.

He said the matching clothes the activists wore were not uniforms but “activist jackets” and were worn to distinguish Britain First from the “riff-raff” of the English Defence League who behave like “drunken hooligans”. Golding said that the armoured land rover was “not to look macho” but to protect Britain First from attack.

Natasha Daniels said on twitter that she was having a curry on Brick Lane when “some morons with Union Jacks and a tank/car thing came down followed by loads of police.” She said that there was not many people involved in the march and most were “hid in the car” which was large and camouflaged.

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New York Times publishes Islamophobic ad by anti-Islam group

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Visit The New York Times‘ homepage today, and before the page loads you may be shown a 15-second full-screen advertisement warning that unnamed “Islamist groups” are “undermining America’s security, liberty, and free speech,” with a photo of the World Trade Center towers.

The ad’s implicitly Islamophobic message, suggesting that Muslim-Americans may be enemies within, and its timing during the opening of the September 11 Memorial Museum, raise questions about why the Times decided to allow it such prominent display on its homepage. The advertising unit, called an interstitial, is typically one of the most expensive because it required users to view the ad or click away before they can see the New York Times homepage.

A spokesperson for the Times, asked why the ad was permitted under the company’s policy against ads that are gratuitously offensive on racial, religious, or ethnic grounds, responded that the ad had been internally reviewed and approved. The spokesperson added that the company had decided to slightly alter the ad’s wording. “However upon reexamination, we think the phrase ‘radical Islamists’ would have been better than ‘Islamists’ in this advertisement,” she explained. “The advertiser agreed to the change and the ad has been updated on nytimes.com.”

The ad is sponsored by a group called the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which says it researches “radical Islamist terror groups,” but in practice primarily argues that mainstream Muslim-Americans and Muslim-American groups are secretly terrorists who are plotting against the US.

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European election upset for Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders came fourth in European elections in the Netherlands on Thursday night, confounding predictions that he would lead a populist and far-Right backlash against the European Union across the continent.

Dutch exit polls put the far-Right and anti-Islam leader on 12.2 per cent of the vote, putting him behind all the pro-EU mainstream political parties. ‘Definitive’ exit polls put him behind the ruling centrist VVD on 12.3 per cent and almost three per cent behind the pro-EU D66 liberals and Christian Democrats, each on over 15 per cent.

Previous opinion polls had put Mr Wilders in the lead but there was widespread controversy over his alliance with the France’s Front National and the exit polls suggested that his share of the vote fell, compared with 2009, by 4.8 percentage points.

The result is a major blow to Mr Wilders who will lose two seats in the European Parliament with his MEPs now reduced to three out a total of 26 Dutch representatives.

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Evangelical Christian minister backs James McConnell, says Islam promotes killing of non-Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paul BurnsA second evangelical minister has publicly condemned Islam, comparing Muslim fundamentalists to Adolf Hitler. Pastor Paul Burns of Adullam Christian Fellowship Church in Sandy Row, south Belfast, contacted the Belfast Telegraph yesterday to voice support for Pastor James McConnell.

“I understand exactly where he is coming from,” he said. “That is not building up hatred against Muslim people but the teaching of Islam. The Koran teaches that all infidels who do not convert to Islamic teaching, then it is correct to be able to kill all those who oppose the teaching of the Koran.

“When Pastor McConnell is talking about it as a direct teaching of Satan – it is. Hitler murdered over six-and-a-half million Jewish people. I would class him as Satanic. The people who are blowing up buses are told in the teaching of the Koran they are going to have 75 virgins who are going to wait upon them, whom he would have total control over.

“Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the way of salvation and teaches that God is the God of love, and teaches to repent of your sins. It doesn’t teach to go out and murder in the name of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t teach to go out and burn villages down.”

Pastor Burns also voiced concern over halal meat being eaten in the UK. “Halal meat had been coming across into the UK, into our schools where Muslim clerics have prayed over the food that is actually being given to our children, who are of a Christian nation,” he said.

Belfast Telegraph, 22 May 2014