Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Pakistani men ‘part of al-Qaeda network planning attacks in Britain’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ten Pakistani men released without charge after an investigation into an alleged plot to bomb shopping centres in Manchester were part of an al-Qaeda network planning attacks in Britain and should be deported, a tribunal has heard.

Robin Tam QC for the Home Secretary told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in London: “All the applicants were members of a UK based network linked to al-Qaeda involved in attack planning. Each therefore poses a risk to national security and deportation would be considered in the national good.”

Three of the men, Abdul Wahab Khan, Shoaib Khan and Tariq ur-Rehman, waived their rights to anonymity at the hearing. The SIAC panel considered evidence behind closed doors before refusing bail for the three named men, along with a fourth, “XC.”

Sibghat Kadri QC for Abdul Wahab Khan, 26, said: “Other than what he was told upon arrest, that he was suspected to be a terrorist, he has never been informed of the substance of any allegations against him.” He added that despite the police seizing computers, a TV and clothing which were subjected to forensic examination, “not a shred of evidence was found.”

He added: “This case does not involve the liberty of the applicant but the wider question of trust that the community can repose in the security services in a multi-racial society and the subsequent faith in the Secretary of State to make a decision based on justice rather than fear of political failure.”

Daily Telegraph, 13 May 2009

See also the Times, 13 May 2009

BBC appoints Muslim to top religious post, Mail and Torygraph not happy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Aaqil AhmedThe BBC yesterday appointed a Muslim as its head of religious programming in a radical departure from broadcasting tradition. The post – considered one of the most influential religious roles in the country – has gone to Aaqil Ahmed, who has been working as an executive at Channel 4.

The appointment will cause dismay among the Christian churches. It comes at a time of deepening worries among Christian leaders that their faith is being sidelined and downgraded by authorities. Last year the BBC gave the job of producing its most popular and longrunning religious programme, Songs of Praise, to a Sikh, Tommy Nagra.

Mr Ahmed is a trustee of the Runnymede Trust, a body that has championed the ideology of multiculturalism. He has also taken part in campaigns for a greater Muslim presence in the media. In the past the post of head of religion at the BBC has been considered a job for a senior and respected cleric or lay churchgoer.

Daily Mail, 12 May 2009

Tabloid Watch has an analysis of the comments on the Mail‘s website.

See also the Telegraph which takes a similar line: “Leading church figures suspect that the BBC is giving preferential treatment to minority faiths, with a Muslim now in charge of its programming on television and a Sikh producing Songs of Praise, its flagship Christian show…. Channel 4 was accused of being biased towards Islam and failing to show enough respect to Christianity under Mr Ahmed, who was head of religious broadcasting.”

For an alternative view see Asians in Media and Sunny Hundal at Comment is Free.

Update:  See “BBC slammed over Muslim ‘gimmick’” in the Newsletter. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the BNP, who greet the news with the predictable headline “The Islamification of Britain continues: BBC appoints Muslim as head of religious programming“. According to the fascists:

“The British National Party is the only political party to voice its objection to this bloodless genocide and ethnic cleansing of the British people in their own country. A vote for the BNP on June 4th will send a clear message to the ruling elite that the British people do not want to subjected to foreign rule and Islamified.”

And over at Jihad Watch, the appointment is denounced as “a typical dhimmi move”.

Stickers against Koran displayed in Prague underground, Brno

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Czech anti-Quran posterStickers against the Koran have appeared around the mosque in Brno and in the Prague underground probably with the aim to stir up conflicts and encourage prejudices, Vladimir Sanka, deputy head of the Muslim Communities Centre, told CTK today.

The Brnensky denik local daily reported on Monday that similar stickers were displayed near the Brno mosque that became a target of an attack by unknown vandals in the past.

Petra Edelmannova, chairwoman of the ultra-right extra-parliamentary National Party (NS), expressed support for displaying the stickers in the town, she told Brnensky denik.

“Similar events are namely part of our campaign,” said Edelmannova though she did not confirm that her party was behind the stickers.

The municipal police say the number of racist posters, stickers and sprayed inscriptions has considerably increased in Brno recently.

ČTK, 12 May 2009

Free speech and the hypocrisy of the anti-Muslim Right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“… the anti-Muslim Right’s parading around under the free speech banner (just like their pretense of safeguarding the rights of gay people from oppressive Muslim societies) is so blatantly insincere, nothing more than a means of opportunistically elevating and justifying their anti-Islamic animus. That fact is conclusively demonstrated by how selectively self-interested is the application of their free speech ‘principles’.”

Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com, 12 May 2009

Prisoners in Ranby jail make bomb to blow up Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ranby_PrisonA bomb made by jail inmates to blow up Muslim prisoners came within moments of exploding outside a prayer meeting.

The device, made with fireworks and detonators smuggled in with a fishing rod, was put in a room where worshippers wash their hands and feet for Friday prayers.

But a prison officer spotted it, picked it up and carried it into the middle of the playing field. A bomb disposal unit called to Ranby Prison in Retford, Notts, confirmed the bomb was a viable device primed to go off.

The whole prison was put into lock-down as police were called in and an inmate was arrested after explosives dogs searched the cells.

A prison source said: “This could have caused a bloodbath. It was only because of a vigilant officer that the bomb was carried away. When the bomb squad got to the jail they went mad as it could have gone off at any time.”

Sunday Mirror, 10 May 2009

Police ‘must stop harassing Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cheetham Hill raidThe government must end its “shameful harassment and demonisation” of Muslims, campaigners will demand at a public meeting in Manchester today.

The call follows the continued detention and attempted deportation of 11 Pakistani students falsely arrested during terror raids in the area in April.

All 11 men, plus a British citizen also arrested in the Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire raids, have been released without charge and no evidence has been produced to support the allegations made against the men.

However, in a development which provoked fury from campaigners, the 11 foreign nationals were then immediately detained once more, this time by the UK Borders Agency.

A spokesman for the Respect party in Greater Manchester, which helped organise the meeting, said: “In a blaze of hysterical publicity, armed police swooped on 12 Pakistani students in Manchester and Liverpool on April 8.

“The Prime Minister boasted of a major terror plot being foiled. In spite of no evidence of any terror plot being found, 11 of the 12 are still being held in custody, awaiting deportation.”

He added: “Instead of an apology, the police promised more such raids. We must unite to stop the deportation of the Pakistani students and break the wall of fear that is being built around Muslim communities.

“The government must stop this shameful harassment and criminalisation of Muslim communities and the media must stop the demonisation of Muslims.”

Mr Abdul Kureshi of the Lancashire Council of Mosques said that government policy towards the Muslim community was alienating many and that it needed to be addressed.

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The Muslim conquest of Europe (part 956)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The definition of colonisation is when a foreign people settle in a nation and force the locals to take on the ways, norms and customs of the invading force. History is replete with examples, and the end result has always been the extinction of the indigenous culture and very often of the indigenous people themselves….

“Anyone looking for a practical example of how British culture is being crushed under the wave of immigrant colonisation need look no further than the announcement this week that Kentucky Fried Chicken is to launch a halal-only menu in eight of its London stores. The company has announced this as a ‘trial’ which will be extended to other areas of the UK.”

BNP news article, 9 May 2009

Fascists behind Luton arson attack?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police sought to calm fears yesterday that a suspected arson attack on an Islamic ­centre in Luton was revenge for the picketing of homecoming British troops by Muslim extremists in March.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the UK’s leading Islamic body, said the incident, in which an explosive device was thrown into the centre just after midnight on Tuesday, was motivated by Islamophobia.

The MCB said the Call to Islam Education Centre had received threats from far-right groups two weeks after Muslim protesters picketed a homecoming event for soldiers with “Butchers of Basra” placards. The MCB called on mosques and Muslim businesses, community centres and schools in the area to take extra precautions against attack.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the MCB, said: “Although the investigation is still ongoing into this shocking crime, we cannot ignore the clear correlation between the rise of Islamophobia with the rise of extremist far-right groups in Britain.”

Bedfordshire police said there was no evidence to suggest at this stage that the fire was started by far-right extremists, although a spokeswoman said two threatening letters “full of unpleasant, racist vitriol” had been received by the centre.

Farasat Latif, the centre’s secretary, said: “We believe that this attack was carried out by far-right extremists, an attack that could have led to many deaths. Over 90 children attend our centre daily. Had this happened at a different time, the results would have been catastrophic.”

Guardian, 9 May 2009

See also Inayat Bunglawala’s piece at Comment is Free, 8 May 2009

Facebook campaign for Manx mosque faces opposition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An internet group set up by the Island’s Muslim community has sparked fiercely anti-Islamic opposition. The group on social networking site Facebook, outlining their campaign for a new mosque to replace the converted garage used at present, has attracted almost 100 members.

But 360 people have joined an opposition group claiming to be non-racist but carrying comments such as: “Thay (sic) can **** right off!!!!!! thay come over and don’t respect are (sic) way of life. Thay belive (sic) if you are not a muslam (sic) you should die wots (sic) all that about!!! thay have one (a mosque) as it is so why do thay need a new one **** off i say !!!”

The creator of the group “New Mosque for Isle of Man” explains the Muslim community, thought to number around 70, has been using a small converted garage as a mosque for more than 20 years. He claims Islamic worshippers are “at a disadvantage” as the mosque is too small to hold them all for Jumuah salah, a Friday afternoon prayer considered the most important of the week.

Meanwhile, contributors to the opposition group “No to Mosque in the Isle of Man” urge members to “keep your Island free of the alien invaders”. One member accuses the Island’s Muslims of “taking education, jobs and a better way of life and throwing it back in our faces”. Another writes: “You can’t say you are Muslim and not expect suspicion from the world … you have earned it.”

Those who have left messages condemning such comments are described as “white traitors”. “Wake up and grow some loyalty to your own people, your own country, your own race, your own identity as White British,” one member writes. “Stop falling over yourself to condemn your own people all so a horde of foreign, anti-British Muslims can colonise the Isle of Man.”

One Island-based Muslim writes: “I don’t see why a very small group of people going to worship in their own time, not bothering anyone else, seems so bad to people? The last 20 years is proof that Islam on the Isle of Man is not a negative thing and that it has never affected anything on the Island in a bad way.

“The only difference now is that the mosque is no longer big enough and it is against health and safety regulations for 70 people to pray in a building that only holds 40. The Muslims on the Isle of Man have never bothered anyone before. What makes people think that a slightly bigger place to worship is going to damage the Isle of Man?”

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Patriotic, respectful and homophobic: a portrait of British Muslims’ state of mind

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Well, that how the headline currently reads to a quite balanced report of the Gallup poll findings in today’s Independent. However, as you can see from the URL, the original headline was “Patriotic, paranoid and homophobic”. Quite where they got that from, I don’t know. Perhaps the sub-editor was so used to producing headlines for articles portraying the Muslim community in a negative light that they had difficulty adjusting.

And over at the Daily Mail, their report is headed “Just one in 10 British Muslims feel integrated into society, study claims“.