Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Labour ministers should oppose niqab, says Tribune columnist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Joan Smith“Labour must be more principled at a time when the whole notion of equal rights for men and women is under attack from religious extremists.

“Since Jack Straw became the first mainstream politician to question the practice of wearing the niqab last autumn, it’s become clear that a small but vocal minority in this country no longer accepts the premise that women have exactly the same right to the enjoyment of public space as men.

“If women have to cover their faces with a mask (which is what niqab means in Arabic) whenever they leave the house, they are signalling their acceptance of conditional access to public space – and a Taliban theory of gender relations in which women are responsible for avoiding men’s accidental arousal.

“Neither of these propositions is compatible with a notion of universal human rights, and Labour ministers shouldn’t be afraid of saying so.”

Joan Smith in Tribune, 16 March 2007

From the standpoint of this sort of secularist fundamentalism, of course, the concept of human rights doesn’t include the right of Muslim women to dress as they choose, without being bullied by white male non-Muslim politicians.

FBI invite to Robert Spencer condemned

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jihad Watch dhimmitude billboardThe decision by the FBI’s Indianapolis office to bring in author Robert Spencer to talk to its anti-terrorism task force has a Plainfield-based Muslim organization concerned that the bureau is listening to an “Islamophobe” who distorts its faith.

The FBI had planned to bring in Spencer this week to speak to Indiana’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. His appearance was postponed because he had a scheduling conflict. Both Spencer and the FBI hope to reschedule.

Louay Safi, director of leadership development with the Islamic Society of North America, said bringing Spencer in to talk of Islam is akin to bringing an anti-Semite to talk about Jews or a Ku Klux Klan member to talk about race.

Indianapolis Star, 18 March 2007

Florida bus driver fired over Muslim jokes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ORLANDO, FL (AP) – A bus driver was fired after a Muslim couple complained that he insulted members of their religion over the loudspeaker.

The driver, whose name was not released, was fired Thursday after Hilal Isler of upstate New York said she and her husband, Volkan Isler, were offended. The Turkish-American couple say he launched into a monologue after they boarded the I-Ride Trolley bus March 5.

Hilal Isler said he greeted passengers, told a blonde joke and then one about Muslims.

“And now they’re telling us we’re supposed to be nice to these Muslim terrorists who are trying to kill us all,” Hilal Isler recalled him saying. “Here in America, we call them ‘rag-heads’ or ‘towelheads,’ but that’s not right. What they wear on their heads is more like a sheet. We should be calling them sheetheads.”

After returning to New York, Hilal Isler, who is Muslim but does not wear a traditional head scarf, reported the incident to the Orlando Sentinel and the International Drive Master Transit and Improvement District, which owns I-Ride.

Luann Brooks, executive director of the transit company, told the Sentinel that the driver had been identified on Thursday and dismissed. Brooks said while the driver’s “conduct is not going to be tolerated,” drivers for the service are encouraged to interact with passengers and play the role of ambassadors to the area.

Associated Press, 16 March 2007

Representing Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Naima Bouteldja“Timothy Garton-Ash is obviously right in his assertion that ‘what has characterised the Muslim world throughout history is the great diversity of what Muslims say and do under the banner of Islam’. One could even afford a smile, if it was not so worrying, that this idea, considered self-evident for any other ethnic or religious group, is proclaimed as if a groundbreaking discovery. What it shows, yet again, is that when it comes to issues related to Islam and Muslims, the world has gone slightly mad.

“Take the word ‘Islamism’, which represents a political momentum that emerged in the Muslim world within the context of western colonial expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries. Islamism, when used by politicians or media pundits, is rarely defined and is often rashly substituted for terrorism. Yet, most in-depth research on political Islam illustrates that Islamism is not a monolithic, static, insular movement but one with multiple threads and tendencies that varies from country to country, depending on internal political and economic characteristics, as well as the wider, regional and international geopolitical environment….

“The question of who represents the true version of Islam is not as interesting as the answers indirectly supplied by the mass media and what they reveal about the ‘us’, as opposed to the ‘them’. For instance, it would be naive to attribute the dizzying ascension of a figure like Ayaan Hirsi Ali in politics and the media solely to her talent or the popularity of her struggle. Today, like yesterday, the ruling elites choose from the side of the Other the pawns best-positioned to support their own visions of the world and their interests.”

Naima Bouteldja at Comment is Free, 16 March 2007

Muslim schools ‘help integration’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim schools could be a positive addition to the educational system and an effective way of integrating religious minorities into British citizenship, a Bristol University study found.

Muslims in Britain are currently subject to attention that has often focused upon citizenship and integration, with Muslim schools often seen as an obstacle to social cohesion.

The study, by Nasar Meer, research assistant in the Department of Sociology and the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the university, said there were only seven state-funded Muslim schools compared to over 4,700 Church of England schools, 2,100 Catholic schools, 37 Jewish and 28 Methodist schools.

Muslim parents want more Muslim schools so that more aspects of Islamic culture are feature within the teaching and ethos of the school their children attend.

Muslim educators argue that one of the most effective ways to pass on knowledge about different people is through teaching. And Nasar Meer said: “Contrary to the current movements seeking a ‘retreat’ from multiculturalism, more multicultural accommodations of this kind will be beneficial.”

Western Daily Press, 17 March 2007

See also “Muslim schools make a positive contribution”, University of Bristol press release, 16 March 2007

Why no media boost for Belgian racists, Diana West wants to know

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vlaams Belang“Without attracting much attention, representatives of the Belgian political party Vlaams Belang recently visited Washington, D.C. Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter hoped to meet members of Congress; but Congress was in recess. They hoped to engender some understanding of their program to reverse the Islamization of Belgium; but the media were strip-mining the tinsel life and tawdry times of Anna Nicole Smith.

“Maybe they should have known that Tabloid America doesn’t care about the likely transformation of Europe into an Islamic continent, let alone the fate of a French- and Dutch-speaking country of 10 million people.”

Diana West bemoans the failure of the US media to give favourable coverage to the far-right VB, a political party whose origins are to be found among Belgian fascist sympathisers who collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of 1941-44. In the course of that occupation 25,000 Jews (44% of Belgium’s Jewish community) were deported to concentration camps and killed. But, what the heck, the VB now direct their hatred against Muslims rather than Jews, so they’re alright with Diana West.

Washington Times, 16 March 2007

Inayat Bunglawala on Muslim-Jewish relations

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain calls for better understanding between Muslim and Jewish communities: “… both communities are concerned that antisemitism and Islamophobia are on the rise. Some Jewish groups believe that anti-Jewish prejudice is being incited by Muslim extremists, while some Muslim groups believe that some Jewish columnists and editors have been deliberately trying to foster an anti-Muslim climate in the UK. Muslim communities must take more responsibility to ensure that criticism of Israel’s policies does not slide into casual antisemitism. The best way to encourage this is to ensure that grassroots ties prosper between our communities.”

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Three little piggies win a reprieve

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Telegraph reports that organisers of a children’s performance have given the Three Little Pigs a reprieve after they were originally ditched from the show “for fear they may offend Muslims”.

The article appears to be lifted largely from yesterday’s Daily Mail which, unlike the Torygraph, did at least have the honesty to include a lengthy quote from Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra of the MCB, who described the original ban as “bizarre”. He said:

“The vast majority of Muslims have no problem whatsoever with the Three Little Pigs. It’s always been the traditional way of telling the story and I don’t see why that should be changed. There’s an issue about the eating of pork, which is forbidden, but there is no prohibition about reading stories about pigs. This is an unnecessary step.”