Author Archives: Bob Pitt

Martin Amis and the new racism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Amis’s views are symptomatic of a much wider and deeper hostility to Islam and intolerance of otherness. Only last week, the London Evening Standard felt able to sponsor a debate entitled: Is Islam good for London? Do another substitution here and imagine the reaction had Judaism been the subject. As Rabbi Pete Tobias noted on Comment is Free, the so-called debate was sinisterly reminiscent of the paper’s campaign a century ago to alert its readers to the ‘problem of the alien’, namely the eastern European Jews fleeing persecution who had found refuge in the capital. In this context, Rod Liddle’s contribution to proceedings – ‘Islamophobia? Count me in’ – sounds neither brave, brash nor provocatively outrageous, merely racist. Those who claim that Islamophobia can’t be racist, because Islam is a religion not a race, are fooling themselves: religion is not only about faith but also about identity, background and culture, and Muslims are overwhelmingly non-white. Islamophobia is racist, and so is antisemitism.”

Brilliant piece by Ronan Bennett in the Guardian, 19 November 2007

Hijab-wearing girl blocked from judo match

Posted on by Bob Pitt

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s sport minister has ordered the agency that governs provincial sports to review a decision that banned an 11-year-old girl from a judo tournament because she wore a Muslim head scarf. “I’ve asked Sport Manitoba to become engaged here and find out what the deal is and come to a resolution in short order,” Eric Robinson told the Winnipeg Free Press yesterday.

Hagar Outbih left a judo tournament in tears Saturday when judo officials in Winnipeg refused to let her fight while wearing the hijab. The girl said she couldn’t believe sports officials would ban her because she wore a head scarf. Safety, not religious reasons, determined the decision, said Judo Manitoba president Dave Minuk. “It could be used to strangle somebody,” he said.

Canadian Press, 19 November 2007

Australia: far right targets Tablighi Jamaat

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Darrin Hodges“As the people of Camden rally to defend their rural paradise from the armies of Muslim school teachers and students amassing at their gates, they will undoubtedly be reassured that the cavalry has arrived.

“Darrin Hodges, head of the so-called Anglo-Australian National Community Council, has selflessly taken time out from his apparent involvement with the sex industry and posting on the neo-Nazi Stormfront website, to man the barricades of Western civilisation. Darrin, you see, is ‘dedicated to fighting the spread of Islam in Australia’.

“Sure, he might have trouble pronouncing the word ‘Tablighi’ (he calls it Tabliqi) and his claim that the Tablighi Jamaat are a ‘conveyor belt for terrorism’ funded by Saudis and promoting a Pakistani version of the ‘hardline Wahabiism founded in Saudi Arabia’ may be completely wrong but there is no doubting his steely resolve. There may be other errors too but now isn’t the time for facts because, as Darrin warns the people of Camden, Muslims are cunningly working to transform the town into an Islamic state by buying real estate and opening businesses.”

Austrolabe, 18 November 2007

‘The abuse of Muslim women shames us all’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Yet another anti-Muslim piece in today’s Observer from Jasper Gerard who tells us that “it’s not racist to defend Asian women who need help”, although it’s unclear how his insistence on criticising the Muslim community (or “Islamic sorts” to employ Gerard’s preferred term) provides any help at all to Asian women. On the contrary, it merely legitimises the prevailing culture of anti-Muslim bigotry, of which hijab-wearing Muslim women in particular are the frequent victims.

But what can you expect from a writer whose response to the Eagleton-Amis controversy was to opine that “it’s a blessed relief that Amis and co have latched on to Islam” and assert that “Eagleton, not Amis, is the problem”? As for racism, perhaps Gerard might ask himself how he would characterise a non-Jewish journalist who demonstrated a similar obsession with criticising the Jewish community.

Gerard observes that “a study claims to show an analysis of British media reports on Islam demonise Muslims. I’m sure this article will also be chalked up as another ‘attack’.” Only too happy to oblige, Jasper.

Am I the demoniser… or is it Ken’s ‘experts’? asks John Ware

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John Ware 2Poor sensitive John Ware complains that he’s been “demonised” – by the Muslim Council of Britain and by the recent report on Islamophobia commissioned by the Mayor of London, which included a detailed analysis of Ware’s 2005 Panorama documentary on the MCB. “Who were the three ‘experts on Islam’ who helped to produce the report?” Ware writes. “Surprise, surprise: they all turn out to be from the MCB.”

Sunday Telegraph, 18 November 2007

The nine experts who helped to compile the publication The Search for Common Ground: Muslims, Non-Muslims and the UK Media in fact included Robin Richardson, editor of the famous 1997 Runnymede Trust report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All and Chris Allen, co-author of Islamophobia in the European Union after 11 September 2001, published by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia – both of whom, most of us might think, qualify as “experts on Islam” – along with people with a specialist knowledge of the media, such as Julian Petley, Hugh Muir and Laura Smith.

John Ware’s capacity for manipulating the evidence to suit his polemical purposes, which was such a notable feature of his Panorama documentary atttacking the MCB, has evidently not deserted him.

LA police chief scraps Muslim mapping

Posted on by Bob Pitt

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said Thursday a plan to map out where Muslims lived had been scrapped, saying strong reaction from Muslim communities forced the department to change course. “The proposal will not be moving forward,” Bratton said, standing with several Muslim leaders after a closed-door meeting. “It’s dead on arrival.”

Muslim groups praised the move, but said reversing the damage would take a long time. “We hope to receive a written statement from the chief on the demise of the plan, and a recognition of the pain it caused in our communities,” said Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California. “We’ll also wait to get new ideas of engagement from the chief.”

Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing announced last week that the department’s counterterrorism bureau planned to identify Muslim enclaves to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to “violent, ideologically based extremism.”

The plan was immediately and roundly criticized by Muslim and civil rights groups who said it amounted to religious profiling. Many argued it would achieve the opposite of its intent, making Muslims hesitant to work with authorities. “My first mistake was not reaching out to more groups” before announcing the plan, Downing said.

Associated Press, 16 November 2007

Stand by for a denunciation of the LAPD at Dhimmi Watch.

MPs ready to fight Brown’s terror laws

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MPs ready to fightMPs ready to fight Brown’s terror laws

By Tom Mellen

Morning Star, 16 November 2007

DETERMINED MPs from across the political spectrum prepared to fight Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s plans to extend detention without trial to 58 days on yesterday.

Mr Brown has declared that he believes that a cross-party consensus can be found on the issue. But the Tories, Liberal Democrats and many Labour MPs are opposed to any extension of internment beyond the 28-day compromise that was agreed after former premier Tony Blair was defeated in the Commons in 2005 over proposals for a 90-day limit.

Back then, 49 Labour rebels voted against the government. Mr Brown enjoys a working majority of 69 seats in the Commons. If he can win the backing of some Northern Irish parties, over 40 Labour MPs would have to rebel to save traditional British liberties.

Socialist Campaign Group chairman John McDonnell MP reported that “the opposition within Labour ranks to these ‘fortress Britain’ proposals remains the same as in 2005. It has certainly not decreased.”

Under the government’s latest proposals, detention without charge beyond 28 days could only be triggered in “exceptional circumstances” agreed in advance by Parliament. This would include cases where there are “multiple plots or links with multiple countries or exceptional levels of complexity.” It would also require the Home Secretary’s agreement and the extension of the powers would be time-limited. There have already been assurances about greater judicial approval and parliamentary scrutiny.

But Mr McDonnell described the new plans as, “in effect, no different from the old ones. “Mr Brown’s claim to be concerned about our civil rights has been undermined in practice by his attacks on basic human rights. He now has a significant battle on his hands,” Mr McDonnell warned.

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Veil bill ‘misses target’ say Canadian Liberals

Posted on by Bob Pitt

OTTAWA – Liberals have lost their enthusiasm for forcing veiled Muslim women to show their faces if they want to vote in federal elections. Some Grit MPs now admit the party was wrong to jump on the bandwagon two months ago, joining the three other federal parties in demanding that Elections Canada insist all voters uncover their faces.

At the time, the parties were contesting three crucial by-elections in Quebec, where the issue of veiled voters was part of a heated debate over how far the province should go in accommodating immigrants.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion was among those who initially urged Elections Canada to revisit its decision not to compel by-election voters to show their faces. But now that the Tory government has introduced legislation to require precisely that, Mr. Dion is hinting that Liberals won’t support it.

Moncton MP Brian Murphy, who led off debate for the Liberals on the bill, suggested the issue of veiled voters is a tempest in a teapot. He said the legislation is unnecessary, that it targets Muslim women, and possibly violates equality guarantees in the Charter of Rights.

Canadian Press, 16 November 2007