Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Treat Muslims better, Britain told by UN

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Britain has been told by the United Nations to challenge negative public views towards the Muslim community.

The nine-member human rights committee composed of legal experts, said it was concerned “negative public attitudes towards Muslim members of society” continued to be allowed in Britain. It recommended the Government “should take energetic measures to eliminate this phenomenon and ensure that authors of such acts of discrimination on the basis of religion are adequately deterred and sanctioned.”

The committee also expressed concern over the Government’s plan to extend detention of terrorist suspects without trial from 28 to 42 days. Those suspected of terrorism should be promptly charged and taken to court within a reasonable period of time, while their lawyers should have access to the evidence against them.

The committee contains members from Britain, Ireland, Australia, Benin, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Mauritius and Sweden – all are expected to be independent from their governments. Their comments come in response to reports from the UK and Ireland on how to carry out their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Daily Telegraph, 25 July 2008

The Blears fallacy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Soumaya Ghannoushi2“The communities’ secretary seems to be pursuing an increasingly hawkish policy towards the Muslim minority. A few days ago, she gave a provocative and rather bizarre speech fittingly delivered from the rightwing thinktank Policy Exchange, which was last year discredited by the BBC’s Newsnight for its fabricated mosque report. Blears announced a long list of conditions which Muslim organisations must meet if they are to enjoy government recognition, or ‘legitimisation’.

“Hearing Blears demand the recognition of Israel, it was difficult to tell whether one was listening to a foreign, or communities’ secretary, and whether those she had been targeting were diplomats and foreign ministers, or communities and British citizens. And when she echoed former Policy Exchange chairman Charles Moore’s criticisms of the IslamExpo, recently held in Olympia, for giving floor space to the ‘genocidal’ government of Iran – one of 15 Muslim countries represented at the event – one couldn’t help wondering if her government had just cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran, and closed its embassy in London.

“Brown’s government, like its predecessor, seems unable to relinquish the old approach to communities based on the systems and methods of the colonial era. Minorities are to be managed through many sticks, a few carrots, and a handful of engineered political and religious representatives. These are the modern-day versions of the local intermediaries on whom colonial administrations relied in the control of indigenous populations. The rule is simple. To win recognition, you must lose any independence. You must turn into the government’s eyes, ears and arms in your community, nothing more.”

Soumaya Ghannoushi at Comment is Free, 25 July 2008

Muslim schools fuel segregation, say teachers (well, one right-wing teacher)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Government plans to create more state-funded Muslim schools will divide communities along racial and religious lines, it is claimed. They risk creating a situation similar to that in Northern Ireland where some educated teenagers fail to meet students of the opposite faith until they go to university, according to Voice, the teaching union. In a speech to the union’s annual conference next week, one teacher will claim Labour’s policy to expand Muslim schools is “about trying to defend minorities”.

Last year, Ed Balls, the schools secretary, pledged to remove “unnecessary barriers” to religious groups bidding to open their own schools. He said additional money would be made available to allow the hundreds of private religious schools to convert to the state sector. The move raised the prospect of more schools for faiths including Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus, which have few schools of their own, despite representing significant minority groups.

Speaking at the conference, Wesley Paxton, a further education lecturer from Hull, will say: “As is often pointed out, there are already many schools with more than a 50 per cent non-white enrolment.

“More faith schools in 2008 is probably going to mean more Islamic schools.” He adds: “What benefit will there be by emphasising difference, by removing what non-Islamic influences these people will have, and reduce their chances of having a balanced upbringing?”

At the moment, there are just four state-funded Muslim primary schools and five secondaries – including two which opened last September. They educate almost 3,500 pupils. In addition, there is one Hindu school, three Sikh schools, and 38 Jewish schools. England’s remaining 6,750 faith schools – around a third of the total number of schools – are all Christian.

Daily Telegraph, 25 July 2008

‘Why can’t people respect my choice?’ asks Faiza Silmi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In addition to excerpts from the NYT interview with Faiza Silmi, the Muslim woman whose application for French citizenship was rejected because she wore the niqab, Islam in Europe cites an article from the Danish paper Kristeligt Dagblad which quotes Faiza Silmi as saying:

“… it’s pure rubbish that I’m oppressed by my husband and all the men in his family. I go in and out of the apartment when it fits me. My youngest is two, but when the children are bigger I would like to work. I’m a trained seamstress and would like to continue in my profession…. I thought France was a free country, where people can live as they want. I respect others’ choice to go in jeans or miniskirts. Why can’t people respect my choice of something else.”

Two Muslim women file suit, say McDonald’s banned headscarves

Posted on by Bob Pitt

McDonald's headscarf banDEARBORN, MICH. — Two Muslim women say the manager of a McDonald’s restaurant refused to hire them and insulted them during job interviews because they wear traditional Islamic dress.

Toi Whitfield, 20, of Detroit, and Quiana Pugh, 25, of Dearborn, filed a lawsuit Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court against McDonald’s, the owner of the local franchise and its unnamed manager. Their representative said they are considering filing civil rights complaints with the federal and state governments.

“I applied for the McDonald’s position maybe two weeks ago and he simply (told me) I had to make a choice and remove my hijab, or I would not be able to establish employment there,” Pugh said.

The restaurant in question sits amid one of the largest concentrations of commercial businesses for Arab-Americans in the country. Like many of the national chain fast-food establishments in the area, it has long served some halal food, which conforms to Muslim dietary requirements. “This manager must have just stepped off of some spaceship to think he can do this in this back yard, in Dearborn,” said Nabih Ayad, a civil rights lawyer who represents the women.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Michigan, said that he has eaten at McDonald’s restaurants in Turkey that cater to Muslims and employ them, including numerous women who cover. “It is extremely disturbing that such discrimination could take place at a location which does not mind collecting Muslim dollars, yet places restriction on Muslim women who wear hijab.”

Whitfield said the manager told her she could not wear her headscarf because, “It gets too hot back there.” “I hope that they learn from their mistakes,” she said. “They should not discriminate against people. Everyone should have an equal chance to work at McDonald’s.”

Detroit News, 25 July 2008

Scottish ‘Islamist terrorist’ wins appeal fight

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Scotland’s first Islamist terrorist today won the right to argue he did not get a fair trial. Mohammed Atif Siddique, 22, was jailed for eight years last October for a string of terror offences. He has always maintained his innocence.”

Herald, 23 July 2008

Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but if Mohammed Atif Siddique is indeed innocent – and Islamophobia Watch has argued strongly that he is – then he’d hardly be “Scotland’s first Islamist terrorist”, would he? Or has the Herald decided the result of the appeal in advance?

Muslims take police to task over stop-and-search procedures

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Scottish Islamic FoundationScottish Muslims will today quiz police about “growing disquiet” over the use of anti-terrorist stop-and-search procedures in Scotland.

The Scottish-Islamic Foundation has set up a Question Time forum with the police to allow members of the Muslim community to express their feelings about heavy-handed questioning a year after stop- and-search powers were introduced across the UK in the wake of the Glasgow Airport car bomb attack.

There is concern that in some cases “suspects” are visited at home and questioned about internet sites they have viewed, fuelling fears that they are under surveillance. The foundation says that stop-and-search procedures should be strictly intelligence-led.

Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, at the Home Secretary’s discretion, allows police to stop and search any individual acting suspiciously.

Although Scottish police have been using the power sparingly, it is claimed the approach has not been adopted by the London-controlled British Transport Police.

Herald, 22 July 2008

See also BBC News, 22 July 2008

 

Update: Over at the laughably misnamed Centre for Social Cohesion, Douglas Murray writes:

“On the BBC’s website yesterday, headlined ‘Muslim concern at stop and search‘ the site leads with the news that: ‘Muslims in Scotland have expressed unease about the use of “stop and search” procedures at Glasgow Airport.’ In any season this is a story likely to spread irritation among the British public….

“But on reading through it emerges that the ‘Muslims’ expressing ‘unease’ at being searched at Glasgow airport are actually the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF). Readers might remember that this group was exposed last month, prior to its launch, as a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organisation….

“The iniquity of this is that the founders of the SIF can truthfully claim to represent almost nobody. But Salmond has been (to put it at its kindest) duped, public money has come rolling in, and next thing the BBC is willing to portray such an unrepresentative group as representative of ‘Muslims’ in Scotland.”

And in the comments section a supporter of Murray states: “Absolutely shocking. All part of the stealth jihad of course. The BBC has been infiltrated by muslim extremists right up to the highest level.”

Murray’s piece is crossposted at ConservativeHome.

What not to wear – Obama bans the colour green

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An Obama campaign ban on green clothing during the candidate’s visits to Israel and Jordan has created wide puzzlement among observers of the Middle East. In a memo to reporters, described as “a few guidelines we sent staff before departure to the Middle East,” Obama advance staffer Peter Newell laid out rules on attire for Jordan and Israel. First among them: “Do not wear green.”

An Obama aide explained to reporters that green is the color associated with the militant Palestinian group Hamas. But while the color does appear on Hamas banners, there is no particular symbolism to wearing green clothes, experts said. Moreover, green is more generally seen as a symbol of Islam.

“A ban on wearing green seems bizarre,” said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Middle Eastern history at Columbia University, who said the color is associated with the family of the Prophet Mohammed.

“I would hazard the guess that the campaign’s concern is more with distorted – and religiously inaccurate – reporting by Obama’s detractors than with any actual signal that might be conveyed,” he said, referring to false rumors that Obama is a Muslim. “You don’t want to have some blogger come along and say ‘Obama is showing his true color’.”

Politico, 21 July 2008

The only ‘proper’ Muslim is a non-political one

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The government has stated that it is doing its best to tackle Islamists who are the source of extremism. According to the government, Islamists are all without exception terribly violent and bloodthirsty…. The only good Islamist is an ex-Islamist…. But the problem is that the term ‘Islamism’ has now been stretched to mean any Muslim who is political.

“Blears insinuates that Muslims who are not politically active are the preferred kind of Muslim. She said in a speech to the Policy Exchange: ‘The fact remains that most British Muslims, like the wider community, are not politically active, do not sit on committees, and do not attend seminars and meetings. They are working hard, bringing up families, planning their holidays, and going about their business.’ …

“The recent refusal of ministers to attend IslamExpo is a case in point. Irrespective of their opinion of the organisers, it was a chance to engage with forty thousand Muslims who want to create and settle into a comfortable peaceful British Islam. It smacks of an increasing confusion on the part of the government who are now not only failing to engage with Muslims, but are actively disengaging with those Muslims who are working to a positive peaceful agenda….

“Blears said that ‘You can’t win political arguments with the leaders of groups… who believe in the destruction of the very democratic process of debate and deliberation’. By excluding the Muslim opinions that the government doesn’t want to engage with through the devious method of saying that being a political Muslim is unpalatable, it is the government itself who is destroying the democratic process of debate.”

Spirit21, 22 July 2008

Islamophobe joins team Boris

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anthony Browne (2)Boris Johnson has appointed the director of a leading Tory think tank as his director of policy at City Hall. Anthony Browne of Policy Exchange will play a senior political role. The former journalist has headed the think tank since last May and will be responsible for developing new policy ideas for the Mayor.

Mr Johnson said of the appointment: “I am delighted that Anthony is joining my team at City Hall. As a policy expert in the fields of environment, health and politics for the influential Policy Exchange and a former journalist on the Times and Observer, I am sure Anthony will be a valuable asset in helping to shape London’s future over the next four years.”

However, Mr Browne’s appointment is certain to cause a degree of concern among his political opponents as he is known for his strong Right-wing stance on immigration.

He first came to prominence when he was denounced by then home secretary David Blunkett for “bordering on fascism” after a series of articles on immigration.

Mr Browne has also been criticised for “demonising” Muslims in an article headlined “the Muslims are coming – there’s no plot: Islam really does want to conquer the world” in The Spectator.

Former Mayor Ken Livingstone said: “Anthony Browne’s extensive Rightwing track record and his divisive attacks on immigration, are an indication that Boris Johnson’s administration is deeply at odds with the needs of a multicultural city like London.”

Evening Standard, 22 July 2008

For more on Browne see here.

Update:  Over at the hardline right-wing New English Review blog, one Mary Jackson welcomes the appointment of Browne in a post headed “Boris employs good egg“. In connection with Browne’s “The Muslims are coming” article published in the Spectator in 2004, with its “Islam really does want to conquer the world” standfirst, she observes: “Good title – it sounds like Boris used to before he stopped putting his foot in it.” Which is hardly surprising, given that Johnson was editor of the Spectatorat the time that Browne’s paranoid piece of anti-Muslim scaremongering was published.