Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Stop bigots, voters urged

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Voters have been urged by religious leaders to use the ballot box to help tackle racism. Representatives from the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish communities signed a declaration asking Greater Manchester people to reject all political parties that advocate racism in May’s local elections. The document was signed at Trinity United Church in Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester, which is used as drop-in centre for refugees and asylum seekers.

The statement reads: “We stand for a society of mutual respect and care where the hearts of all are heard and met through good neighbourliness at every level and in every circumstance. In particular, we regret that the British National Party now has 49 seats on local authorities in this country. Those who advocate racist policies cannot do so in the name of any of our faith communities.”

The community leaders were inspired by the similarities of their different faiths when they devised the statement. Dr Muhammad Junejo, Muslim representative for Greater Manchester, said: “We meet fairly regularly to discuss the important issues affecting our communities. One thing our religions all have in common is the commandment to love your neighbour. Racism is strongly at odds with this idea and we need to stand against it.”

Manchester Evening News, 29 March 2007

Tory MP urges Muslims to fly Union flag

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Philip DaviesA Yorkshire MP has called on Muslims in Britain to fly the Union Jack from mosques as a show of national unity.

Shipley’s Conservative MP Philip Davies submitted an early day motion which says that it would “show everyone that those in the Muslim community are very keen to integrate and positively contribute to good community relationships in the UK”.

However leading Muslim figures in Yorkshire accused Mr Davies of singling out their community, described his comments as offensive and likely to do more harm than good. Rashid Awan, president of the Pakistani Society of West Yorkshire said: “To identify Muslims as needing to do this will aggravate the situation.” Shahid Malik, the Muslim Labour MP for Dewsbury said: “What this country need is not more flags flying above mosques but less irresponsible politicians.”

Yorkshire Post, 29 March 2007

Davies, you may remember, figured in the entirely spurious Sun report about “Muslim yobs” wrecking the intended home of soldiers who had served in Afghanistan. He was quoted as saying: “This is outrageous. If there’s anybody who should fuck off it’s the Muslims who are doing this kind of thing.” Though the story was soon revealed to be false, Davies refused to issue a public apology for his provocative remarks. If we were looking for advice on how to improve community relations, Philip Davies MP is the last person we’d turn to.

Mind you, Davies does have his admirers.

Bertinotti removes anti-Muslim painting

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Over at Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer posts an indignant report that “the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, the communist Fausto Bertinotti, has had removed a painting showing a scene from the Battle of Lepanto from the hall in which he receives visitors to this lower house of parliament…. Bertinotti says it is a gesture of peace and dialogue, the painting’s title being ‘Naval battle between Christians and barbarians’, but an anonymous insider reveals it was done to avoid offending Muslims”.

And good for comrade Bertinotti, we say. Voting against the funding of Italian troops in Afghanistan would have been even better, though.

Victory for reactionary racism: Quebec election

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The Quebec election was characterized by a great deal of discontent with the traditional establishment parties, the PQ and the Liberals. The remarkable thing about this election was that this discontent was successfully shifted from the policies that ostensibly pissed people off in the first place, onto to Muslims living in Quebec. Turning anger at unrelated issues into anger at immigrants is hardly a new political technique, but watching it happen here in Montreal is pretty astounding.”

The Dominion weblog, 28 March 2007

See also “Quebec state yields to right-wing provocation on eve of provincial election”, World Socialist Web Site, 26 March 2007

We can stop the mega-mosque, say fascists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The Red-Islamic Alliance is looking for its biggest single advance so far with London’s anti-English Mayor Ken Livingstone pushing hard for the £100 million mega-mosque which one of Britain and Pakistan’s most hardline Islamic sects wants to build next to the Olympic stadium in East London…. The London Evening Standard is at present running an opinion poll on whether or not the Super Mosque should be built…. Please go to the Standard website and add your own ‘No’ vote. And please forward this email on to everyone in your address book.”

BNP news article, 27 March 2007

And we urge our supporters to do the same and vote ‘yes’. The Evening Standard poll is here.

Woolas calls for crackdown on ‘Islamic anti-semitism’ on campuses

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Phil WoolasRace hate laws should be used to crack down on extremist groups whose activities are prompting a rise in anti-Semitism at Britain’s universities, vice-chancellors are to be warned by ministers today.

Ministers are particularly concerned about the infiltration of campuses by Islamic extremist groups who have stirred up hatred against Israel. Vice-chancellors will be warned they must not ignore anti-Jewish activity on campuses and must prevent prejudiced lecturers, guest speakers and extremist political organisations stirring up hatred of Israel.

Phil Woolas, the communities minister, who will announce the Government’s measures, said the findings of the all-party parliamentary report on anti-Semitism were “very worrying”, adding: “Our response will be far tougher than anticipated. We are very worried about Islamic anti-Semitism on campuses. In this country we tend to see it as something of the past. It is not.”

The report by the all-party anti-Semitism group said that Jewish students felt “isolated and unsupported,” and that pro-Palestine debates were being used as a “vehicle for anti-Jewish language”.

Independent, 28 March 2007

Of course, cracking down on genuine racism is admirable, but defining anti-semitism according to criteria determined by the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism (pdf of their report here), who characterise MPACUK as an “extremist” group based on evidence provided by the likes of Lorna Fitzsimons and the Community Security Trust, is something else entirely.

And, if Woolas is really interested in combating racism, how about a crackdown on the appalling Islamophobia promoted by a section of the Jewish community? The sort of bigotry demonstrated by Melanie Phillips, for example, in mainstream publications like the Daily Mail and Jewish Chronicle has no parallel within the Muslim community outside of the tiniest and most sectarian Islamist groups.

For critical responses to the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry on this site, see here and here.

Cordoba Cathedral ban continues

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CORDOBA, SPAIN – Mansur Escudero knew the answer before he asked. Approaching the guard at Cordoba’s majestic once-a-mosque, now-a-cathedral, Escudero posed the question: May I say Muslim prayers inside? The slightly startled Spanish guard gave an emphatic no. This is a Catholic church, he said, and as such it is absolutely prohibited to pray in any other faith. Escudero persisted, but the guard was firm. This is a cathedral, the guard repeated, growing more agitated: “A CA-THO-LIC CHURCH.”

Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2007

Hewitt criticised for casting doubt on Muslim GPs’ ethics

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Patricia HewittThe health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has been criticised for suggesting that some Muslim GPs fail to respect the confidentiality of Muslim women who visit them.

Ms Hewitt said women feared talking about issues such as domestic violence and sexual health problems in case their details were shared among “close-knit” communities. A report in GPs’ magazine Pulse said Ms Hewitt had first raised the issue in a lecture to the Fabian Society in London.

In an interview with Pulse, she expanded on her comments, saying: “I have had Muslim women give me chapter and verse on very distressing breaches of confidentiality by Muslim GPs. Some women patients feel they cannot trust their own GP, who knows the patient’s extended families. If they go and talk to him about a very difficult situation concerning domestic violence or sexual health problems, they fear that he will share that with other members of the community. They are very close-knit communities.”

Jo Haynes, editor of Pulse, said: “These are serious accusations – failing to respect a patient’s confidentiality is a severe breach of a doctor’s code of conduct. It is generally something that happens very rarely. You would hope Patricia Hewitt has some firm evidence to back up her decision to single out Muslim doctors in this way. It’s worth bearing in mind that Muslims are hardly alone in living in close-knit communities, and doctors are generally very good at separating their personal and professional lives.”

Press Association, 28 March 2007

18 racist crimes every 24 hours in Scotland

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shocking figures have revealed a rising tide of racist crime in Scotland. Police recorded 6439 racist crimes last year – that’s 18 a day. The figure was up sharply from 5732 the previous year and 4556 in 2004. More than half of all the victims were of Asian origin. Offences ranged from “racially aggravated conduct” – usually verbal abuse – to vandalism, fire-raising and serious assault. The figures were set out in the first Scotland-wide report into racist crime, published by the Executive.

Bashir Mann, president of the Muslim Council in Scotland, said: “I think racism is on the increase in this country and in the UK as a whole. There has been a rise in Islamophobia and this has been aggravated by the anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Government.”

Daily Record, 28 March 2007

Film on ‘radical Islam’ tied to pro-Israel groups

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A controversial documentary on the threat of radical Islam, promoted by the two most-watched U.S. cable news networks, was marketed and supported in part by self-described “pro-Israel” groups, according to an IPS investigation. Abbreviated versions and segments of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” ran on FOX News and CNN, but neither station disclosed the film’s connection to HonestReporting, a watchdog group that monitors the media for allegedly negative portrayals of Israel.

While watching the film, it becomes clear that the controversy surrounding “Obsession” has less to with what it says about the threat of radical Islam, than how it presents the information. While the film contains disclaimers stating that “it’s important to remember most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror,” critics argue that it makes little distinction between the religion of Islam and the political realities that inform terrorism. “It’s all part of that industry of Muslim bashers,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“The sentiment is there, you can see in the [1995] Oklahoma City bombing that it was originally seen as an act of Islamic terrorism,” said Peter Hart of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. “It’s almost a default position for the media, so you’re going to have work like this received uncritically.” The Oklahoma City bombing, initially attributed by the mainstream media to Islamic terrorists, was actually perpetrated by right-wing extremists from the U.S. midwest.

IPS, 26 March 2007