Author Archives: Eddie Truman

So what do they want?

Posted on by Eddie Truman

‘Terrorism Expert’ Kevin Toolis does his best to whip up hysteria in The Mirror:

“If the Islamic fanatics who bombed London ever achieved their aims and took power, Britain would become an Iranian-style Islamic Republic…. The streets of every British city would be patrolled by special religious police who would enforce this Islamic dress code and arrest any suspected ‘courting couples’.

“Anyone suspected of committing adultery would be hanged or stoned to death in public at the new Wembley stadium. Britain would be ruled by a special council of Islamic Guardians who would oversee all laws and determine who could stand for Parliament….

“The Royal family would be killed or driven into exile. An Islamic Britain would declare war on the United States.”

Daily Mirror, 9 July 2005

Posted in UK

Don’t panic, I’m Islamic

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic meets Muslims who speak openly about what it means to be a British Muslim – at a time when the nation is fighting a ‘war on terror’. “If you have a Muslim name or wear a beard, we are all tarnished with the same brush,” says Tariq, a PR executive. World events are forcing young Muslims to confront a crisis over their identity. Tariq changed his name to Daniel Jacob in order to get a job after a series of rejections for employment that he was amply qualified – as Daniel, job offers flooded in.

Don’t Panic, I’m Islamic is on BBC 2, Sunday 12th June, 19:00

Islamic leaders, two others held in California terror probe

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Federal agents searched the homes of two Islamic leaders in Lodi, California, and have made four arrests since Sunday, part of an ongoing terrorism investigation, according to the FBI and witnesses. Two of those arrested are top Muslim leaders in Lodi, including one who publicly condemned the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and issued a declaration of peace with Christian and Jewish leaders in Lodi three years ago

CNN, 8 June 2005

Club removes drink firm logo for ‘Muslim jerseys’

Posted on by Eddie Truman

rfcIt’s not often that this member of the Islamophobia Watch collective can be heard praising Rangers Football Club but we’ve got to hand it to them for providing their supporters with the option of buying replica kit without their sponsor’s logo.

This has been done in direct response to Muslim fans of Rangers who didn’t want to be seen promoting alcohol.

Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Britain, made an excellent point in broadening out the issue of alcohol saying:

“Muslims are prohibited from selling, serving and promoting alcohol so this has been a difficult issue for Muslim fans of Rangers for many years.

“We do welcome the move by Rangers but there are wider issues of whether it’s responsible for football clubs to be promoting alcohol in this way.

“I would imagine other non-Muslims would not want their children particularly wearing alcohol branding.”

The story has had wide coverage in Scotland. See Press Association and Glasgow Evening Times.

Anti US movements sweep Muslim world

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Quran desecration protestRevelations about the use of torture techniques used by US military forces that include the desecration of the Qur’an have sparked unrest across the Muslim world.

Aljazeera reports here.

At least nine people were killed yesterday as a wave of anti-American demonstrations swept the Islamic world from the Gaza Strip to the Java Sea, the Times reports.

CNN report on events in Afghanistan here.

Daily Star: ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ encourages Muslim terrorists

Posted on by Eddie Truman

The UK’s Daily Star has a go at using the film Kingdom of Heaven to keep the pot boiling over Muslim terrorist scare mongering.

Apparently Ridley Scott’s epic is promoting “Osama bin Laden’s version of history” – the verdict of Cambridge professor Jonathan Riley-Smith.

Worst of all, Ridley Scott is apparently depicting Muslims as sophisticated and civilised while showing the crusaders as barbarians.

In a separate box out, Daily Star hack Jerry Lawton turns his hand to history in a piece entitled “1,000 years of conflict”.

Back of the class for Jerry though – he says that the Crusades started in 1076 when Muslims captured Jerusalem. Wrong Jerry, that was 400 years earlier in 638. Pope Urban’s call for the retaking of Jerusalem wasn’t until 1095.

Thanks to the always excellent Arab Media Watch for drawing this to our attention.

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Interview: William Montgomery Watt

Posted on by Eddie Truman

The Reverend Professor William Montgomery Watt has written over 30 books including Islamic Political Thought (1968) and Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misconceptions (1991). In Scotland he has been a member of the ecumenical Iona Community since 1960. Amongst Islamic scholars he has been held in an esteem described as “most reverential.” The Muslim press have called him “the Last Orientalist.” This interview was conducted in 1999, his ninetieth year, at his home in Dalkeith. With Professor Watt’s approval and careful agreement of the final text, it uses both spoken material and statements drawn from some of his most important articles of recent years. It is, in a sense, a distillation of his life’s work.

Alastair McIntosh’s website