Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Study exposes discrimination against Muslim prisoners

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Prison barsThe Prison Service’s attempts to curb the growth of radical Islam in jails by restricting communal prayers and reading of the Qur’an during work breaks are exacerbating the problem, according to the first in-depth study of Muslim prisoners. The research, based on interviews with 170 current and former Muslim prisoners, also reveals that bans on access to certain TV programmes and newspapers in high-security prisons have also backfired.

The four-year research project by Aberdeen University anthropologist Gabriele Marranci also finds that a small minority of former young Muslim offenders are vulnerable to recruitment by militant organisations as a result of their prison experiences. “I found no evidence to suggest that the Muslim chaplains are behaving or preaching in a way that facilitates radicalisation,” said Dr Marranci. “On the contrary, my findings suggest that they are extremely important in preventing dangerous forms of extremism. However, the distrust that they face, both internally and externally, is jeopardising their important function.”

The research shows that Muslim prisoners were subject to stricter surveillance than other inmates, especially when they adopted religious symbols such as beards, veils and caps: “Growing a beard is, in almost all establishments I visited, interpreted as ‘radicalisation’ of the individual,” said Dr Marranci, a lecturer in the anthropology of religion. He warns that the continuing atmosphere of suspicion surrounding Muslim prisoners increases a sense of frustration and depression which a strong view of Islam can help to overcome.

Guardian, 13 April 2007.

Florida mosque burns – arson suspected

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TAMPA – The fire melted the mosque’s photographs, burned the thick, green carpet down to bare concrete. A pile of singed prayer rugs sat on the floor. Bookcases along a wall held dozens of scorched Korans. Outside, investigators discovered a can of gasoline, said Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley.

Someone deliberately set fire Thursday morning to the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, a mosque tucked into a neighborhood of tidy suburban homes in Town ‘N Country, according to Hillsborough Fire Rescue and the FBI. Whether hate fueled the fire remained under investigation, said FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier.

The arsonist found the building empty when the blaze began about 9:30 a.m. Fire crews say someone poured gasoline in a window and set it ablaze. A neighbor called 911, and fire crews controlled the fire within 20 minutes, Yeakley said.

The fire stunned Hamid Faraji, one of the center’s leaders. He wondered why someone would burn a place of worship. But, he said, the fire won’t disrupt religious services. “Even if we had a tent and had to operate out of a tent, I don’t believe something as materialistic as that should stop education,” said Faraji.

There’s been trouble before at the mosque, a block building on Rockpointe Drive. In July 2005, burglars vandalized the building. They burned two pictures on the wall. No one was arrested. There also have been two minor break-ins – the most recent was nine months ago – where people shifted things around inside the building, said Ahmed Bedier, spokesman for the Tampa office of the Council on American Islamic Relations.

There are those with concerns about the mosque, said Bruce Tokarski, 26, a neighbor. “Some of the neighbors seem kind of freaked out about it,” he said. “I think there’s a racist assumption that just because they’re Muslim they could be involved in, you know, terrorism.”

Tampa Bay Times, 13 April 2007

Hundreds send the message ‘not on this campus’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

HAMILTON – A clear message has been delivered this afternoon on the campus of McMaster University. Dozens of community, labour and student groups banding together to say no to racism. The Hamilton District Labour Council’s Don Fraser among those speaking out, after anti-islamic graffiti was spray-painted on the office door of a professor who organized a recent event promoting diversity. Fraser calling an injury to one, an injury to all. McMaster President Dr. Peter George also spoke to the gathering saying islamophobia, anti-semitism and racism will not be tolerated “on this campus”.

AM900-CHML, 13 April 2007

Asylum seeker and baby sexually attacked in Glasgow

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An Algerian woman and her one-year-old baby were sexually assaulted in broad daylight in Glasgow in a racially aggravated attack.

The 33-year-old woman was pushing her son in his pram through the Yoker area of the city when a group of young men threw stones at them and kicked the woman. One man then exposed himself, indecently assaulted the woman and attempted to perform an indecent act on the one-year-old boy.

The woman, who cannot be identified, had her headscarf torn from her head. She escaped by snatching her son from his pram and running away, leaving behind the pram, headscarf and a baby’s bottle.

She took her son to hospital and he was released later that day. Her son was assaulted but she rescued him before the man could commit any sexual act.

Police are appealing for the young men involved to come forward and identify the man who committed the assault. The suspect is described as a white male, aged 20 to 25, with very short hair, who is tall and thin. He was wearing white and blue track suit trousers.

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Police probe racist slurs sprayed on prof’s door

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Racist graffiti at McMasterA McMaster University professor who organized a campus day in support of Muslim students says racial slurs sprayed onto her office door have left her in complete shock.

Hamilton police have launched a hate crime investigation into the racist attack condemned by Hamilton’s Muslim community and McMaster officials. Investigators believe the incident is a backlash against last week’s Wear a Hijab Day, an event organized by associate French professor Muriel Walker to help sensitize people about Islam.

“What have I done, not just to deserve this, but to inspire this kind of strong reaction?” she said. “I am still in disbelief.”

Campus cleaning staff discovered the racist and profane graffiti on Walker’s door early Tuesday morning. They also found copies of controversial Danish editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed glued to her door.

“Did I really do something that bad to trigger this whole hysteria?” Walker said

Hamilton Spectator, 12 April 2007

See also “Hate graffiti targets McMaster professor”, Toronto Star, 12 April 2007

Update:  See “Racist cowards at work”, Toronto Star, 13 April 2007

And “McMaster professor was targeted before, she says”, Globe & Mail, 14 April 2007

Downing Street unmoved by protests over ‘mega mosque’ petition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Number Ten Downing Street have refused to amend a petition on their website threatening “terrible violence and suffering” against Muslims. Scores of outraged members of the public emailed Tony Blair’s website manager after a petition was posted which predicted violence unless plans for a “mega Mosque” on the Olympic site in east London was dropped. No.10’s webmaster has so far not responded to Blink’s protest, but told a concerned reader Downing Street was powerless to change the petition’s wording once it had been accepted.

BLINK, 11 April 2007

Stillwater, Oklahoma sinks into dhimmitude

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Easter – the most joyous and important holiday in the Christian calendar. But there was no mention of it on the front page of an Oklahoma newspaper in a town served by more than 70 churches. Instead, page 1 of the Stillwater NewsPress was dominated yesterday by a story about efforts to battle anti-Islam bigotry by the Muslim Student Association of Oklahoma State University. ‘You wouldn’t have known it was Easter at all according to the paper if it wasn’t for the full page Hobby Lobby ad situated toward the back of the paper,’ one unhappy reader told WND.

“To him and others who saw the paper on Easter morning, there was surprise to see page 1 dominated by a large photo of Muslims praying – a picture that illustrated a story about ‘Muslim 101’, a monthly educational series begun on campus because of negative stereotyping about Islam following Sept. 11. The classes began last November, but the Stillwater NewsPress featured the story on the holiest of Christian holidays yesterday.”

World Net Daily, 9 April 2007