AMSTERDAM — Maxime Verhagen, the parliamentary party leader of the Christian Democrat Party (CDA), and MP Geert Wilders have angrily rejected a claim they are guilty of rabble-rousing in the debate over Islam and Sharia Law.
The accusation has been levelled against them by researcher Jan Schoonenboom of the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). Schoonenboom has spoken out against Verhagen’s call to ban any political parties that advocate Sharia in the Netherlands.
Madeleine Bunting on how the Enlightenment has been mythologised by those intent on waging a clash-of-civilisations campaign against Islam.
“This party’s for white people, I make no bones about that,” says Simon Darby, the man leading the far right’s expansion in Birmingham.
The British National Party’s regional organiser – already a councillor in nearby Dudley and one of 23 BNP councillors in the country – believes the party can exploit increasing Islamophobia and disillusionment with mainstream political parties to make gains in local elections on 4 May.
The problem with Birmingham, says Mr Darby, is that there are so many non-whites. “Birmingham will become an Islamic city in 10 to 20 years, and to a lot of people that is quite startling, that a city in the middle of England can swap over to sharia law.”
Letter in Tribune, 7 April 2006
It is ironic that, only a week after Peter Tatchell’s article attacking the anti-fascist movement in Tribune, he appeared on the platform at the “Freedom of Expression” rally which had the support of the British National Party and Civil Liberty, whose director is Kevin Scott, a BNP organiser and candidate at the 2005 general election.
I am shocked at Tatchell’s decision to speak on this platform. The BNP exists in the tradition of the Nazis, who not only opposed freedom of speech in the abstract, but exterminated millions of people in the death camps. The BNP denies the reality of the Holocaust and calls for an all-white Britain.
As the secretary of the National Assembly Against Racism, I will unite with everyone who will fight against fascism so that such murderous policies can never be pursued in Britain, even if I profoundly differ with them on many other questions.
Had he attended the Unite Against Fascism conference he would know that this very point was made by almost every speaker, including the Muslim Council of Britain.
Lee Jasper
“Faced with a possible disaster in Iraq, the political establishment has closed ranks to scapegoat Islam. On the day of the London bombings in July 2005, Blair’s foreign secretary Jack Straw set the tone for a renewed onslaught, crudely dismissing any connection with Iraq. Solidarity with Muslims in the anti-war movement has been pilloried by the right’s most effective allies – critics with left-liberal credentials. The response to the racist cartoons published in European newspapers has highlighted the extent of Islamophobia in so called liberal circles – and confusion on the left.”
Dave Crouch in International Socialism No.110, Spring 2006
Regarding the Bolsheviks’ practice in government, Crouch writes:
“Sharia law had been a central demand of Muslims during the February Revolution of 1917 and, as the civil war drew to a close in 1920-1921, a parallel court system was created in Central Asia and the Caucasus, with Islamic courts administering justice in accordance with sharia law side by side with Soviet legal institutions. The aim was for people to have a choice between religious and revolutionary justice.
“A Sharia Commission was established in the Soviet Commissariat of Justice to oversee the system. In 1921 a series of commissions were attached to regional units of the Soviet administration with the purpose of adapting the Russian legal code to the conditions of Central Asia, allowing for compromise between the two systems on questions such as under-age marriage and polygamy.”
A million miles away from the Islamophobic absurdities of Maryam Namazie, Homa Arjomand and their fellow sectarians in the Worker Communist Party of Iran, you’d have to agree.
“Brett Lock of Outrage is free and easy with accusations of lies, when tilting at the Socialist Action windmill. He would do well to observe that there is little point in lecturing others about your own sins. Notwithstanding his claim that the BNP ‘boycotted’ the rally over ‘free speech’, the BNP’s own site, and its Civil Liberty front, are quite clear. They supported the rally and their members attended. One of the bourgeois liberals that Lock makes mention of, Johann Hari, is quite open about the fact that he marched with fascists.”
Letter from Tony Greenstein in the Weekly Worker, 6 April 2006
See also the letter from Ian Donovan.
Meanwhile, having backed Tatchell’s decision to share a platform with hard right-wingers and racists, Lock continues to defend Outrage’s call for the Muslim Council of Britain to be denied a speaker at the Unite Against Fascism conference in February. There is, Lock explains, no real difference between the MCB and the fascists: “a BNP success in the local elections would be catastrophic, but frankly, given current indicators, the success of an MCB-aligned candidate could be equally disastrous for gay people”.
A new entrance test for would-be immigrants to the Netherlands has been condemned by some as Islamophobic and detrimental to the country’s economy. The “civic integration” test, part of a broader government policy shift on immigration, came into effect in February.
It includes the compulsory viewing of a film which includes scenes of gay men kissing and topless women. Critics say the film, which forms part of a study pack for would-be immigrants, is designed to discourage applicants from Muslim countries who may be offended by its content.
Arzu Merali, spokeswoman for the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, says the test indicates that Muslims are not welcome. People seeking entrance from other EU countries, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan do not have to take it.
“Sadly the Dutch authorities are now openly exhibiting the type of Islamophobia that sends a very clear message to wider society,” Merali said. She said the message is that new Muslim immigrants are unwelcome, as are those already present who do not conform to a uniform idea of a Dutch citizen.
Padraig Reidy of the New Humanist has a go at Denis Fernando, Socialist Action, Respect, the Muslim Association of Britain and Eamonn McCann – all in one short Tribune piece. Needless to say, they’re all guilty of “selling out political ideals to religion”. By which, of course, he means “Islam”.
“The only question about Europe is whether it’s going to be (a) catastrophically bad or (b) apocalyptically bad, as in head for the hills, here come the Four Horsemen: Death (the self-extinction of European races too self-absorbed to breed), Famine (the withering of unaffordable social programs), War (civil strife as the disaffected decide to move beyond mere Citroën-torching), and Conquest (the inevitable victory of the Muslim successor population already in place). I’d say option (b) looks the better bet….”
Mark Steyn (again) on how Europe is about to succumb to the Muslim hordes.
A debate has been heating up among Danish viewers over the appearance of the first hijab-clad talk show presenter on the Danish television.
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, a 24-year-old Danish Muslim of Palestinian origin, appeared last week on the DR2 network to host an eight-part programme on the fallout of Danish cartoons lampooning Prophet Muhammad. The female Muslim host has been selected to co-present the talk show with Danish reporter Adam Holm, an ardent proponent of press freedom, debating on Danish society’s pressing issues.
The appearance of hijab-wearing Asmaa has drawn mixed reactions from Danish women’s groups. Feminist Forum, a Danish women’s organization, said Abdol-Hamid’s TV presence “strengthens ethnic and gender equality in Denmark”. But another feminist group, the Women for Freedom association, echoed a different stance. “The choice of Asmsa Abdol-Hamid (…) is an insult to both Danish and Muslim women,” claimed Vibeke Manniche, the association’s head. “She sends the signal that an honourable woman cannot go out unless her head is covered.”
But DR2 network defended its decision to allow Asmaa’s TV presence, saying “headscarf-wearing women are part of Danish society and we need to accept this fact”.
See also Daily Times, 5 April 2006