Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Archbishop of Vienna takes stand against Austrian far right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FPO posterA Church leader has added his voice to criticism of the campaign tactics of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party.

The Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, spoke out in a sermon on Thursday, warning politicians against exploiting Christian symbols.

He did not name the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe), but it is using the slogan “The West in Christian hands” in its European election campaign. The FPOe’s leader held up a cross at a rally against a Muslim centre recently.

In his Ascension Day sermon, Cardinal Schoenborn said the Cross “must not be misused as a fighting symbol against other religions”. He said the Cross was “a sign of love, which does not answer violence with violence, or hate with hate, but conquers hatred and hostility through devotion and forgiveness”.

BBC News, 22 May 2009

Is this the end of Christianity in England?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“One way or another, the lights seem to be going out for Christianity in England. If the secularists do not destroy the church there, the Islamists are happy to have a go at it. Just last week it was announced that the BBC has appointed a Muslim to be ‘the Head of Religion and Ethics’. This is simply the latest in a long list of Islamist initiatives which may well turn England into a Muslim nation. As Melanie Philips documented in her important book, Londonistan, the Islamisation of England is steadily rolling on.”

Christian Today, 22 May 2009

BNP threatens Basildon Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP Islam Out of BritainA Muslim leader has urged people not to vote for the BNP in next month’s council and European elections and claimed the Islamic community in Basildon has already been threatened by the far right group.

Brother Sarfraz Sarwar, leader of the Basildon Islamic Centre, says members of the British National Party have been deliberately dishing out their pro-election leaflets near to the Vange Community Centre where Muslims hold their Friday prayers.

He also said one member of the local Muslim community was “verbally abused” by the BNP. Brother Sarwar said: “One of our brothers was coming out of prayers when he saw the BNP handing out leaflets. He screwed it up and threw it away and that’s when they began hurling racist abuse at him.”

Brother Sarwar says the man was threatened with comments such as “We are going to get you” and “your time has come!” He said: “There were four men trying to intimidate him in the street. They were definitely from the BNP. They deliberately targeted us near to our prayer centre.

“I am urging people not to vote for the BNP just because they are fed up with the other parties. A lot of people in our community are worried the BNP could win lots of seats because of the current political climate. They are scared.”

Continue reading →

ENGAGE complains to the Daily Mail about Amanda Platell article

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dear Sir,

Amanda Platell in her column, ‘Equality? You must be joking!‘, (Daily Mail 21st May 2009) makes some shockingly inaccurate remarks.

She claims, ‘In March this year, a large group of Muslims in Luton protested in the town with deeply offensive posters vilifying our returning troops, calling them rapists and murderers.’

The group of Muslims involved in the protest numbered no more than 20, something patently obvious from television footage from the day. In a town where Muslim residents number in excess of 25,000, how could 20 possibly be said to constitute ‘a large group of Muslims’?

Ms Platell also writes of Christian festivals being routinely cancelled at Easter and Christmas each year while no similar treatment of Muslim festivals would be conceivable. Stories of the ‘banning of Christmas’ have regularly been shown to be fabrications; the work of imaginative journalists keen to foment mischief between communities.

It is falsehoods such as these that bolster the likes of the far right BNP.

Yours sincerely,
Inayat Bunglawala
Advisor on Research and Policy
ENGAGE

How MI5 blackmails British Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MI5 logo

Five Muslim community workers have accused MI5 of waging a campaign of blackmail and harassment in an attempt to recruit them as informants.

The men claim they were given a choice of working for the Security Service or face detention and harassment in the UK and overseas.

They have made official complaints to the police, to the body which oversees the work of the Security Service and to their local MP Frank Dobson. Now they have decided to speak publicly about their experiences in the hope that publicity will stop similar tactics being used in the future.

Independent, 21 May 2009

See also MPACUK press release, 22 May 2009

Update:  See the Independent, 22 May 2009

Dorval Mosque vandalized a third time

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dorval mosque graffitiA small mosque in a quiet, residential neighbourhood in Dorval has fallen victim to a third graffiti vandalism attack in the space of 11 months, with no suspects retained after the first two incidents. “”This person is not a graffiti artist. This person is trying to give a message,” said Dorval Mosque’s president Mehmet Deger, alluding to the nature of the scrawls left each time on one of the mosque’s walls.

In this instance, the words “Koran 8,12” appear in blue on the wall facing the parking lot. As in the past two writings left in June 2008 and this last February, respectively, the reference is to a verse in the Muslim holy book that could be taken to mean it encourages the murder of infidels or non-believers. “We still would like to talk to these people,” said Deger, repeating his call for the perpetrators to come forward. “I don’t know whether they are a group of people,” he added. “But they are giving a message. And it looks like they are a bit brain-washed.”

The writing appears to be lower on the surface of the wall than in the two previous cases, which leads Deger to believe a child, or children, were used. “If they educate children this way, it’s no good,” he said.

The wall in question is adorned with a single video camera, but, covered as it was with spider webs, Deger said it is unlikely to do much good. “There is a moment there (on the tape) but you cannot see clearly,” he said.

The incident must have happened overnight between May 17 and 18, Deger said, since he was there at the mosque until 11:30 p.m. on the 17th, and only discovered the graffiti on the morning of the 18th.

A police report was made, but an investigation may not go too far, according to Station 5 community relations officer Liliana Belluci. “I know a police officer was there and he gave (the mosque) some security tips,” she explained. When informed the camera’s footage is unclear though, she said it could be difficult to pursue the investigation.

In April, following media reports of the winter vandalism incident, a national Muslim advocacy group condemned the attack and demanded Montreal police pursue it vigorously.

Reached today over telephone, the Canada Council on American-Islamic Relations’ executive president seemed unaware of the latest attack. “If it has been vandalized again, I can tell you our statement still stands,” said Ihsaan Gardee. “We would call again for the authorities to investigate this as a matter of urgency.”

Meanwhile, the mosque is scheduled to receive a visit by federal Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, who is currently on a trip to the Middle East. “Our office initially heard about the vandalism acts in the paper and then followed up with the mosque and they informed us of the situation,” explained Kenney’s press secretary Julie Carmichael.

The visit is scheduled for May 29.

Courrier de Portneuf, 20 May 2009

Appeal against deportation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“It is with utmost distress and pain that we approach your kind office to plead the case of 10 Pakistani students, who are being held by British authorities despite absence of any charges or evidence. Our kids are in prison, thousand of miles away from us having no contact with them for the last 43 days. Agonies, stresses which we are experiencing at the moment cannot be simply explained, what to speak of the mothers of these unfortunate students. UK has long history of fair play and justice and we are sure that justice coupled with compassion will also prevail in this case.”

Socialist Unity reproduces the letter to Gordon Brown from parents of three of the Pakistani students who are awaiting deportation, under the pretext that they pose a “threat to national security” but without any evidence being presented to substantiate that charge.

‘Tories commit to Islamification of Britain’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Well, so the brain-dead bigots of the BNP claim.

The basis of this accusation is the recent launch of the Conservative Muslim Forum North West, which aims to “give Muslims in the party a platform to have their voices heard, to engage with Muslims and encourage them to participate in political life at all levels, from grassroots to Parliament”. This initiative also “hopes to encourage more Muslims to join the party with a big drive to encourage more women and young people to become politically active”.

Could there be a more graphic illustration of the Tories’ sell-out to the Muslim hordes?

Mind you, I can’t help recalling that when the government launched its Young Muslim Advisory Group last October the Tories’ shadow minister for community cohesion, Sayeeda Warsi, denounced it as “another example of the Government engaging with the British Muslim communities on the basis purely of their faith”. She continued: “When will the Government learn that the Muslim community is not a homogenous block…? Actions such as this are a continuation of the Government’s policy of state multiculturalism, which creates a more divided Britain.”

I suppose, though, that when the Tories themselves are trying to rally support among Muslims in the run-up to a general election, “engaging with the British Muslim communities on the basis purely of their faith” seems like quite a good idea after all.