Author Archives: Bob Pitt

US pastor slammed for anti-Islam rant

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A prominent US pastor and a former advisor to President George W. Bush has drawn fire from leaders in the Muslim minority, rights activists and politicians for calling Islam a “dangerous” religion.

“It appears that he doesn’t have that much knowledge about Islam,” Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, told The Miami Herald on Saturday, July 8. He said he has tried unsuccessfully to meet with Dozier.

Appearing on the Steve Kane Radio Show, The Rev. O’Neal Dozier, a Broward clergyman and an ally of Governor Jeb Bush, criticized Islam as a “cult” religion.

“The Islamic religion in my view is a cult,” Dozier told the Herald Friday, July 7, when asked to recap the controversial comments he made earlier on the show. “On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion,” he added, refusing to disavow his comments.

Islam Online, 8 July 2006

‘Why the sight of veiled women offends me’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Deborah Orr“I’ve been more and more troubled lately by the sight of veiled women swathed in heavy black, getting on with their everyday business in Britain. A woman on the bus the other day looked like she was auditioning for an Islamic version of the Blues Brothers, with the only part of her body uncovered by her drapes, hidden behind very black sunglasses….

“Multiculturalism tells us that it is rude and insensitive to be critical of such garb, and that we must tolerate and even celebrate difference. But I’m afraid I find that the sort of difference these women proclaim by getting themselves up in these sinister weeds to be deeply offensive.

“I understand that in a free society they are entitled to dress as they please, just as I am. But I also understand that in a free society I am at liberty to say that the values these outfits imply are repulsive and insulting to me.”

Deborah Orr in the Independent, 8 July 2006

Nazi backs Nick Cohen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kevin Scott of Civil Liberty, the BNP front organisation, writes: “We are NOT suggesting that all Muslims are terrorist or terrorists sympathisers. But the current terrorism is inspired by Islam and its fantasies of world domination. Most terror acts in Europe have been inspired by Islam. As Nick Cohen of the Observer newspaper has pointed out such terrorism should be called ‘Islamic terrorism’.”

Civil Liberty website, 7 July 2006

Not content with endorsing Cohen, Scott also argues, in words that could have been written by David T of Harry’s Place: “… the Muslim Brotherhood is banned in several Muslim countries. We are concerned at the public recognition to some MB leaders such as Al Qaradawi who was welcomed by Ken Livingstone. We are very concerned at the activities of the Muslim Association of Britain which has links with the Brotherhood.”

Livingstone kicks off celebration of Islamic culture

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mayor Ken Livingstone was joined by 2012 Olympic Games chief Sebastian Coe and singer Yusuf Islam – formerly known as Cat Stevens – at the launch of a four-day Islamic cultural festival at Alexander Palace in north London yesterday.

People attending the event today, which is expected to attract 40,000 visitors, will observe the midday two-minute silence in memory of the victims of last year’s outrage. And, immediately afterwards, former Iraq hostage and peace activist Norman Kember will share a platform with anti-war campaigner Anas Altikriti, who visited Iraq in an attempt to secure his release.

Festival spokesman Ihtisham Hibatullah said that the event would “see mainstream Muslims condemn the terrorist atrocities in London and elsewhere against innocents. The focus on Friday will be to share in the sorrow of the families of the victims and the survivors. There will be a strong message from the mainstream Muslim community against all violence by extremists.”

Planning for the festival began in 2002, according to organisers, who stressed that it only coincides with the July 7 anniversary by chance.

Morning Star, 7 July 2006

Out of a cycle of ignorance

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Islamophobia is a threat to our democratic way of life. This cancer should be as unacceptable as anti-semitism. Pluralism and tolerance demand greater understanding and respect from non-Muslims and Muslims alike. The more we learn about each other, the more we will see beyond our differences to a reservoir of common concerns, values and interests.”

John Esposito in the Guardian, 7 July 2006

Blair’s Muslim views ‘unhelpful’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A leading Muslim has accused Tony Blair of playing an “unhelpful blame game” by suggesting moderate Muslims are doing too little to challenge extreme views. Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said Mr Blair’s remarks could hamper the good work being done. Moderate Muslims had promoted dialogue and peace in their communities since the 2001 attacks in the US, he said. And Mr Blair risked obscuring the real reasons for last year’s London attacks. Dr Bari said: “Blaming a community, especially those who have been working for the last five years to bringing sanity in the community, bringing peace and harmony in the community. This blaming is not helpful to us.”

BBC News, 6 July 2006

Tariq Ramadan on 7/7

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tariq Ramadan“One year after the London bombings we have good reason to be concerned. The scars left by this atrocity and other terrorist attacks, and the ongoing ‘war against terror’, have combined to portray Islam as a threat to Western societies. Fear, and the emotions that accompany it, has become a part of the public mindset. In this climate, arguments that were previously the sole province of the extreme right have found space within mainstream political discourse. The past is reinterpreted so as to deny Islam any place in the creation of Western identity which is now frequently redefined as purely Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian.

“Meanwhile many politicians have opted for the dangerous rhetoric of defending ‘Western values’ and seek to impose strict limitations on ‘foreigners’, while at the same time putting in place a whole apparatus of new security laws to fight terrorism. Hardly a Western society has been spared its own debate on questions of ‘identity’ or ‘integration’, but the implicit terms of the debate are often reduced to a distinction between two entities: ‘We, Westerners’ and ‘They, the Muslims’.”

Tariq Ramadan in the Independent, 6 July 2006

The Independent still manages to headline this article “Muslims need to stop behaving like victims”.