If everyone is free to be practically naked in public pools, why aren’t Muslim women free to be modest? Hesham A. Hassaballa poses the question.
Author Archives: Bob Pitt
Jim Fitzpatrick: don’t call me an Islamophobe
The press conference was for Bangladeshi media only, but a small group of politicians were outside anyway. Jim Fitzpatrick, the current farming minister who has represented the borough since 1997, has smelled the rancid whiff of a racial smear swirling around his campaign, and hoped that a press conference would help clear the air.
The Labour incumbent’s problem stems from an incident back in August, in which he raised questions about forced segregation after leaving a Muslim constituent’s wedding at the London Muslim Centre.
Republican right-wingers accuse CAIR of planting ‘spies’ on Capitol Hill
Four Republican lawmakers have accused the most prominent Islamic advocacy group in Washington of trying to plant “spies” as interns on Capitol Hill. The claim was quickly denounced as “racist” and “insidious” by the Council on American Islamic Relations, and the effort appears to have little support from GOP leaders.
In an unusual announcement this morning, four conservative Republicans – Reps. John Shadegg (Ariz.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Trent Franks (Ariz.) and Sue Myrick (N.C.) – formally asked the House Sergeant at Arms to launch an investigation of the Center for American-Islamic Relations. They accused CAIR, a non profit group, of trying to infiltrate Capitol Hill with interns and staffers.
The proclamation from the four Republicans came in advance of a book, entitled “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld that’s Conspiring to Islamize America,” which includes a forward by Myrick. The author of the book, Dave Gaubatz, is an anti-Islam activist who wrote last year that “a vote for Hussein Obama is a vote for Sharia Law.”
Update: See also Salon.com, 15 October 2009, Media Matters, 15 October 2009 and Bartholomew’s Notes, 16 October 2009
Geert Wilders wins appeal against ban on travelling to UK
The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders intends to travel to London next week after an immigration tribunal ruling overturned a ban on visiting Britain.
The Home Office said it was disappointed after the tribunal rejected its claim that his presence could “inflame community tensions and lead to inter-faith violence”.
The Freedom party leader immediately announced his intention to meet Ukip’s Lord Pearson of Rannoch to discuss a showing of his anti-Islamic film Fitna later this month in the House of Lords.
Judge CMG Ockelton, who chaired the tribunal, said that Wilders’s opinions were expressed strongly and in a way that was bound to cause offence but that the right of freedom of expression was important in a democratic society.
“Substantial evidence of actual harm would be needed before it would be proper for a government to prevent the expression and discussion of matters that might form the opinions of legislators, policy makers and voters,” he said.
The ruling said there had been no evidence of public order problems or damage to community relations as a result of a previous visit by Wilders to Britain. “It was more important to allow free speech than to take restrictive action speculatively,” said Ockelton.
The judgment goes further, saying that even if there were evidence that Wilders posed a threat to public order it would still not have been necessary to ban him because the police would have been able to ensure no disorder took place and remove him if there was trouble.
See also BBC News, 13 October 2009
Update: Ed West writes: “Wilders has called it ‘fantastisch nieuws”, and I for one agree.” After all, “Wilders for his part has never preached hatred against any people, only a religion”.
West concedes that Wilders “has talked about a growing Islamic population with dread. He said: ‘Take a walk down the street and see where this is going. You no longer feel like you are living in your own country. There is a battle going on and we have to defend ourselves. Before you know it there will be more mosques than churches’.”
But Wilders is not inciting fear and hatred against Muslims, you understand, only against their faith.
Anti-fascists run EDL out of town
Far-right thugs planning an anti-Islamic demonstration in Manchester were forced back on Saturday following a mass counter-protest by anti-fascists. The English Defence League (EDL) was outnumbered by more than three to one by people of all races determined to defend Britain’s diverse cultural mix.
Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said that the 700 EDL activists had been “run out of town” by 2,500 counter-protesters who occupied most of Piccadilly Gardens, destroying the organisers’ plan to hold a rally and sing the national anthem on the spot.
Greater Manchester UAF spokesman Mike Gilligan hailed it as a “very successful day for the anti-racist movement” against a far-right march on a scale unseen in the city for decades.
“The number of counter-protesters was inspiring, representing a multicultural Manchester,” said Mr Gilligan. “Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre,” he added.
Members of EDL, which is closely affiliated with hooligan outfits such as Casuals United and neofascist groups around the country, made nazi salutes and traded insults over a line of riot police which separated the two groups of protesters. They waved banners declaring “Make Britain Safe” and “Extreme Islamists Out.”
Five hundred police officers attended the scene and police made 48 arrests, around 32 from the EDL ranks. Grounds for arrest included suspicion of public order offences, affray, possession of an offensive weapon and racially aggravated public order offences.
UAF described the police as “heavy-handed,” with at least three anti-fascists bitten by police dogs. Fellow activists charged the police with “protecting fascists.” One protester was allegedly pushed into a van where a crisp packet had been shoved into the ventilation and the heating turned on full blast.
Links between the EDL and groups such as Casuals United and militant white supremacists Racial Force have sparked calls from some anti-fascist activists for increased activity in the struggle to suppress these groups. Thousands of anti-fascists are currently organising to neutralise planned far-right rallies in coming weeks by the English, Welsh and Scottish Defence leagues in Swansea, Newport, Leeds and Glasgow. Anti-fascists are also planning to hold a national demonstration to allow the British public to express its opposition to the far right.
Police officers on trial for racial assault
Six Metropolitan Police officers go on trial, accused of racially assaulting and abusing Muslim teenagers and then engaging in a cover-up. Prosecution and Kingston crown court told a jury that one officer said: “They needed to dealt with. We are like vigilantes.” The officers, who are part of the Territorial Support Group, deny racially aggravated assault, threats and misfeasance in public office.
‘Islam is different’ – Christopher Caldwell on immigration
Christopher Caldwell, author of Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, calls for a discussion on immigration. Or rather, Muslim immigration. He’s not necessarily against immigrants as such, you understand. Latin American migration into the US hasn’t been such a problem, according to Caldwell, but that’s because the migrants are at least Christians, and their presence requires “no fundamental reform of America’s culture or institutions”.
However: “Islam is different. Living with Muslim cultures requires larger adjustments, and they touch deeper, more essential parts of European culture. This kind of change needs to be considered when we talk about the costs and benefits of immigration.”
But don’t imagine that Caldwell’s article is feeding paranoid racist fantasies about the “Islamification” of Europe. Not at all. As he assures his readers: “Discussing immigration and its consequences openly is not rude. It is necessary to lower the temperature of the debate.”
Sunday Times exposes Labour MP’s links with Islamic extremism
And the Labour MP is none other than Jack Straw! The Liberal Democrats are apparently the source of an attempt, taken up by the Sunday Times, to make an issue of Straw’s role in gaining a donation from the Emir of Qatar towards the construction of a mosque in his Blackburn constituency.
Haras Rafiq of the Sufi Muslim Council steps forward to claim that “Some of the biggest mosques and institutions in the UK have been funded by foreign money and have been proven to be portraying extremist viewpoints”. And Anthony Glees and Patrick Mercer also weigh in with warnings about the threat from foreign donations.
The Sunday Times concedes that the Emir of Qatar has a reputation of being “a pro-western reformist and moderniser”, which does rather undermine this scaremongering campaign. But that doesn’t prevent the paper trying to make a case that the emir is some sort of extremist.
After all, he helped to establish Al-Jazeera in Qatar, and one of the TV station’s regular presenters is Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who “has praised suicide bombings in Iraq”. Whereas of course Qaradawi has in reality opposed suicide bombings in Iraq.
See also “Jack Straw ‘too close’ to pro-Hamas faction”, Sunday Times, 4 October 2009
And Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, “Times exposes Jack Straw links with Blackburn radicals”, ‘Focus on Islamism’ Standpoint blog, 4 October 2009
Racists post threatening comments on anti-mosque Facebook group
Threatening and racist comments have appeared on an anti-mosque Facebook group. “No to the new Mosque in Weston-super-Mare” has been set up in opposition to proposals for a new Muslim centre in Orchard Street.
Last week the Weston & Somerset Mercury revealed the Weston Islamic Education Centre group had applied to covert the former Rock Gardens site into a community centre which would also be used for prayer.
But some of the 440 members have written threatening comments in the internet forum. One post said: “Muslims are never gonna take over this country….well at least weston super mare, I swear on my life if they built this new mosque in weston I will set fire 2 it and thats a f***in promis.” Other comments say that all Muslims are terrorists and one aggressive member threatens to drive a bus into the centre and blow it up if it is given planning permission.
EDL protest in Manchester
Ten people were injured and 44 people arrested in the English Defence League protest in Manchester city centre. Police imposed a lockdown around Piccadilly Gardens as EDL demonstrators faced off against Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
The two factions stood on opposite sides separated by a police line with officers on horseback and in riot gear. EDL supporters, who oppose “radical Islam” and Sharia law made Nazi salutes and sang patriotic songs, while UAF protesters maintained a non-stop anti-fascist chant. There were several hundred EDL protesters and more than 1,000 from the UAF.
The stand-off continued for about four and a half hours on Saturday afternoon. Shops were closed around the Piccadilly area. Around 4.30pm some UAF protesters began to disperse. Shortly before 5pm police moved the EDL supporters off Piccadilly Gardens and escorted them to bus and train stations.
UAF spokesman Mike Gilligan said: “It was a tremendously successful day for the anti-racist movement. The EDL were run out of town, they were not very powerful, they completely failed. Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre. It was a vibrant celebration of multi-cultural Manchester.”
Manchester Evening News, 10 October 2009
