Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Al-Qaeda has support ‘in large parts of the country’ says Tory MP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Secret enclaves of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton are planning mass-casualty attacks in Britain, according to a leaked Government intelligence report. The document, which was drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence, MI5 and Special Branch, states that “some thousands” of extremists are active in the UK.

Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP for Newark, said al-Qaeda now had support in large parts of the country, especially around Luton which was the spot where the 7/7 terrorists assembled before travelling to London to mount the Tube bombings. He added: “We know that subversion and support for al-Qaeda is taking place in campuses and prisons all over the UK.”

Sunday Telegraph, 9 November 2008

Media Workers Against the War conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Under Siege

Half-day conference
November 15th 2008
2.00-6.30pm
London School of Economics

With Peter Oborne, Inayat Bunglawala, Nick Davies and others

Hosted by Media Workers Against the War (www.mwaw.net)

We are living in dramatic times. The first black president of the United States has raised expectations of genuine change.

Yet the “war on terror”, now in its eighth year, continues to be waged in the name of the same free-market ideas that lie behind the current economic crisis.

In Iraq, bloodshed, fear and a shocking standard of living remain the norm for most civilians, but too often the situation is spun as a “good news story” for Western audiences.

In Afghanistan the commander of British troops, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, has said: “We’re not going to win this war”. In the last 6 months Carleton-Smith has lost 32 soldiers and had 170 more injured.

The US and European governments are seeking to create a “coalition of the willing” that would bypass the United Nations and impose sanctions on Iran – while a military attack remains on the agenda.

Meanwhile a proxy war is currently going on, largely unreported, in Somalia.

The war continues to have a damaging effect on the mainstream British media:

•  Journalists struggle to access and convey genuine information from Afghanistan and Iraq owing to strict military control and censorship;

•  At home, the war has led to vilification of Islam and scapegoating of Muslims. Journalists who investigate extremism have been targeted by the courts, while the police have used “terror” laws to harass photographers;

•  Without critical media we can stumble blindly into new wars, such as that in the Caucasus in August;

•  Iran is routinely demonised, while war is already spreading – almost unmentioned – into nuclear-armed Pakistan.

This conference comes at a crucial time – never has the need to keep an open mind and an open media been greater.

‘Political correctness’ allows Muslims to control prison

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Whitemoor prisonMuslim gangs have created no-go areas for warders in a British jail. Guards claim the Islamic mobs are “a law unto themselves”. And prison staff have passed a vote of no confidence in their governor. MP Malcolm Moss, 65, said Whitemoor Prison, Cambs, was descending into turmoil. He added that staff blamed governor Steve Rodford for pandering to political correctness and making the Muslims untouchable.

The Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire warned the unrest had created a “tense” atmosphere not seen since the 90s when the IRA maintained an inner sanctum inside the maximum security prison. He said: “There are no-go sections policed by Muslim inmates, not staff. In the 1990s officers couldn’t do their jobs properly and prisoners did what they like. We may be operating a similar situation.”

A Ministry of Justice spokes-man said: “Ministers receive up-dates on high security prisons and there is no indication of concerns about the management of HMP Whitemoor.”

Daily Star, 6 November 2008

Muslim religious councils ‘first step’ in normalising sharia law, says NSS

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP NSS ShariaDespite reassurances to the contrary, the Government is permitting sharia law to creep into Britain, says the National Secular Society.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: “The creeping ‘recognising’ of Muslim religious councils is the first disastrous step in a gradual process of normalising sharia law in this country.

“Sharia arbitration disadvantages women and treats them unequally. Women within strict Muslim communities are going to be coerced into accepting decisions that severely discriminate against them,” he said.

“Who is to decide whether a decision by these councils has been willingly agreed, or whether women are being forced into accepting their inferior legal status by community and family pressure? The only way to ensure all are equal before the law is to have only one legal system – our secular system.”

BNP news article, 4 November 2008

Oddly enough, Terry Sanderson doesn’t see fit to provide a link to this piece in his daily news roundup on the NSS website, although any media reference to the NSS is usually publicised enthusiastically. What’s the problem here, Terry? A bit embarrassed, are you, that your hysterical nonsense about the threat from sharia law feeds into the far right’s racist propaganda?

Lord Bingham: ‘no reason’ to exclude Sharia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim communities should have the right to decide their own disputes provided they are subject to our laws, one of Britain’s most senior legal figures has said.

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, who has recently stepped down as senior law lord, said he could see “no reason” why a devout Muslim, provided he or she was “acting voluntarily and without coercion”, should not choose to submit a family dispute to a Muslim cleric.

That would be no different from a Jewish family submitting their dispute to be decided by a Rabbi or a Christian to a Church of England to an Anglican priest or marriage counsellor, he said.

Times, 3 November 2008

Baptist church in Florida again offends Muslims with message

Posted on by Bob Pitt

God loves you Allah hatesA Baptist church in Florida is once again creating tension with its Muslim neighbors over a marquee message. A sign posted outside First Conservative Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., reads, “God loves you, Allah hates.”

A local television station interviewed a Muslim woman who said she took offense. “What have I done?” asked the woman, who is not identified. “What have I done to deserve that kind of hatred in my neighborhood?”

She said she was driving by the church with her children when the sign caught her attention. “The thing that bothers me so much is that this is in my neighborhood, where I live with my children,” she said. “To know that people that feel this way are in my neighborhood is scary.”

It isn’t the first time the independent Baptist church has grabbed attention with its marquee, which is updated regularly to confront passersby with messages about doctrinal, social or world-religion issues.

“We find it an integral part of communicating the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Pastor Gene Youngblood says on a website, Truthsthatfree.com.

In 2005 the church made news by posting a sign that read “Islam is evil and believes in murder, Surah 9-29” contrasted with, “Jesus teaches peace, Matt. 5-9.”

In 2003 local Muslims were upset when the church sign read “Jesus forbade murder Matthew 26-52 Muhammad approved murder Surah 8-65.”

Youngblood says on his website that he loves Muslims and would like to see many of them accept Christ, but the sign’s purpose is to warn people of “false teachers” and “untruth from theologically unsound doctrine.”

APB, 3 November 2008

Seville mosque remains costly dream

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Despite years of relentless efforts, the construction of a stately mosque remains a costly dream for Muslims in the southern city of Seville, the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia.

“We are still negotiating with city officials to find a solution for the mosque issue,” Muslim community leader Malik Roueth told IslamOnline.net.

After municipal officials reneged on several promises to allocate a plot of land for the mosque, the sizable Muslim community is left with no other option but buy one. “We need no less than 6 million euros,” said Roueth, citing rocketing land prices in the area.

Plans to build a purpose-based mosque in Seville have been met with fierce oppositions from some locals. A few months ago, authorities froze plans to allocate a plot of land for Muslims to build their mosque after protests. Opponents has left slaughtered pig heads at the location, believing such a move would push Muslims to drop the plans.

In reaction to the protests, the authorities withdraw the land even though by that time Muslims had spent more than 200,000 euros to prepare the land for the mosque construction.

Islam Online, 2 November 2008