Category Archives: Far right racists

Muslims ‘not welcome’ at interfaith prayer centre in Genoa

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A proposal to turn a medieval palace in Genoa founded by Crusader knights into a multi faith prayer centre for Muslims, Jews and Christians has run into opposition from local politicians who say Muslims are “not welcome”.

Members of the anti immigrant Northern League – which is part of the centre Right government led by Silvio Berlusconi – said the Genoa council’s plan to use the Commenda di Pre for multi faith prayer was unacceptable.

Francesco Bruzzone, a regional councillor for the Northern League, said Muslims had “no business coming” to the hospital and hostel where crusaders and pilgrims had gathered and said mass before leaving for the Holy Land.”This shows a lack of respect for history” Mr Bruzzone said. He said he had been due to go on holiday but instead had decided to stay in Genoa to protest.

Continue reading →

Dawkins blames Muslims for ‘importing creationism’ into classroom

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dawkins God DelusionDevout Muslims are importing creationist theories into science and are not being challenged because of political correctness, one of the country’s most famous scientists said tonight.

Professor Richard Dawkins argued that as a result teachers were promoting the “mythology” of creationism over the science of evolution.

Professor Dawkins, a geneticist and author of the best-selling book The God Delusion, said:

“Islam is importing creationism into this country. Most devout Muslims are creationists – so when you go to schools, there are a large number of children of Islamic parents who trot out what they have been taught. Teachers are bending over backwards to respect home prejudices that children have been brought up with. The Government could do more but it doesn’t want to because it is fanatical about multiculturalism and the need to respect the different traditions from which these children come.”

He added: “It seems as though teachers are terribly frightened of being thought racist. It’s almost impossible to say anything against Islam in this country because if you do you are accused of being racist or Islamophobic.”

Daily Mail, 4 August 2008

On the other hand, there are those of us who would argue that paranoid delusions about the impact on educational policy of a minority faith community who comprise less than 3% of the population of the UK are quite accurately categorisable as Islamophobia.

See also the Daily Telegraph, which reports: “Prof Dawkins said the failure in classrooms meant religious fanatics had a chance to get hold. ‘Because we are all brought up to respect faith, it leaves open a gap through which fanatics can charge’, he said.”

Update:  Predictably, Dawkins’ views are approvingly reproduced by the British National Party. Of course, the BNP’s own position is that they’re defending “Christian civilisation” against Islam. But they’re prepared to overlook minor differences like that when it comes to whipping up hatred against Muslims.

Update 2:  See Terry Sanderson, “Is Bob Pitt a new McCarthy?”, National Secular Society, 8 August 2008

Anti-Islamic movement hits the rocks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SIOE NederlandAn attempt to set up a pan-European anti-Islam movement is in tatters after its launch activities turned into a series of disasters and its two main components in Denmark and the Netherlands split up.

Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) was founded in 2007 after Stop Islamisation of Denmark (SIAD), led by Anders Gravers, had experienced momentary success in the wake of the controversy over the publication of anti-Islamic cartoons in a regional newspaper in September 2005.

Gravers and Stephen Gash from the UK became SIOE’s official spokesmen, believing it would act as a springboard for a wider European campaign this spring even though similar anti-Islamic groups were active only in the Netherlands. SIOE planned several anti-Islam demonstrations but few took place and the intended large rallies turned out to be no more than small gatherings in the Netherlands and Denmark.

On 26 January 2008, Gravers spoke at a poorly attended demonstration in Amsterdam. This was followed by two demonstrations in Denmark, on 14 March in Hobro and on 15 March in Aalborg, attended by Martin and Monique van der Hulst from SIOE Netherlands and the notorious Dutch nazi Ben van der Kooi.

Van der Kooi’s presence is interesting. His participation in demonstrations split SIOE in the Netherlands because of objections to cooperation with a known extremist. Others in SIOE were unperturbed and organised another demonstration in Amsterdam, but called it off when few people turned up.

The final demonstration was to be on 31 May in the heart of Copenhagen. By then the rot had set in but the grandiose plans for the day included speakers from Britain and Norway and rabble bussed in from all over Denmark to vent their anti-Islam spleen.

As in Amsterdam, the demonstration was, most embarrassingly, called off. The official reason was that Gash, the main speaker, had “been prevented” from taking part. A more likely reason is that anti-racist groups were organising a large counter-demonstration.

That was the least of SIOE’s headaches because it emerged that, days after the failure of the Amsterdam activity on 5 April, SIOE Netherlands had withdrawn from European cooperation, denouncing Gravers as an authoritarian who routinely ignores criticism from SIOE members.

Searchlight, August 2008

Vandal jailed for racist campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Robert WhitehousePolice hope the the amount of graffiti in Hanworth will drop dramatically following the conviction of a racist vandal. Robert Whitehouse admitted scrawling offensive graffiti all over Hanworth and was jailed for two months on July 11 at Feltham Magistrates Court after being caught in the act on May 2 spray painting an anti-Islamic message.

Sgt Darren Weston, who leads Hanworth Park Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT), said: “We’ve had an ongoing problem with racist graffiti but this was the most intensive campaign we’ve seen.”

Whitehouse, 42, of Almond Close, Feltham, pleaded guilty to charges of committing racially and religiously-aggravated criminal damage and going equipped to charge criminal damage and saw his sentence cut from 12 to eight weeks in light of his guilty plea. .

“We were driving around looking for the person responsible,” said arresting officer PC Adam Pearson-Smith. “It had been going on for about four months and we kept missing him by a little bit so we were delighted to finally catch him.”

When the officers stopped Whitehouse and demanded he turn out his pockets they found a spray can and stickers referring to the far-right British National Party.

Sgt Weston added: “Graffiti is a high-priority issue for our residents who have told us it gives a poor impression of the area and makes them feel unsafe. We hope they’ll be as pleased as we are.”

Hounslow Chronicle, 24 July 2008

Evicted Milan Muslims pray at stadium ‘mosque’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SantancheItalian police were out in force Friday at a Milan stadium converted into a makeshift mosque by Muslims who were forced to abandon their previous place of worship. Organizers of the Friday prayers said they expected some 5,000 Muslims at the Vigorelli velodrome which also contains a disused cycling track.

The decision by Milan’s town hall to allow Muslims to use the facility on a temporary basis has triggered protests from local residents, raising concern of possible attempts to disrupt the prayer session. On Friday, several dozen protesters, including far-right political leader, Daniela Santanche, gathered near the stadium. “We are here to prevent a symbol of Milanese sport from being transformed into a mosque,” Santanche, who leads the opposition party, The Right, said.

Earlier this month, Italy’s centre-right government ordered the closure of the so-called Jenner mosque – the converted garage where for over 20 years, thousands of Muslims in Italy’s financial capital attended prayer sessions. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the decision was based on public order and health concerns – worshippers often spilled out on the street – and complaints from local residents. Maroni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, drew sharp criticism for the move, with one prominent Catholic cleric, Monsignor Gianfranco Bottoni, who deals with inter-faith issues in Milan, describing it as “fascist”.

Earth Times, 18 July 2008

‘You’re having a mosque whether you want one or not’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The BBC reports that the government’s Planning Inspectorate has overturned a decision by the local council to reject an application to build a mosque in Dudley.

The proposal had been the subject of a bitter right-wing campaign by the likes of the BNP and UKIP, and the Birmingham Mail quotes Khurshid Ahmed of the Dudley Muslim Association as hailing the Planning Inspectorate’s ruling as a “victory for common sense and democracy and a defeat for prejudice and bigotry”. Indeed, you might have thought that the decision would be welcomed by anyone with remotely progressive politics.

However, Andy Armitage of the Pink Triangle Trust is not happy at all:

Continue reading →

Mosques increasingly not welcome

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cologne mosque protestEuropeans are increasingly lashing out at the construction of mosques in their cities as terrorism fears and continued immigration feed anti-Muslim sentiment across the continent.

The latest dispute is in Switzerland, which is planning a nationwide referendum to ban minarets on mosques. This month, Italy’s interior minister vowed to close a controversial mosque in Milan.

Some analysts call the mosque conflicts the manifestation of a growing fear that Muslims aren’t assimilating, don’t accept Western values and pose a threat to security. “It’s a visible symbol of anti-Muslim feelings in Europe,” says Danièle Joly, director of the Center for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick in England. “It’s part of an Islamophobia. Europeans feel threatened.”

The disputes reflect unease with the estimated 18 million Muslims who constitute the continent’s second-biggest religion, living amid Western Europe’s predominantly Christian population of 400 million, Joly says. The clashes also represent a turnaround from the 1980s and ’90s, when construction of large mosques was accepted and even celebrated in many cities. “I think the tide has turned,” Joly says.

Continue reading →

Rowan Willams welcomes A Common Word

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rowan_WilliamsThe Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has welcomed A Common Word and provided a substantial reflection on it in a letter sent to Muslim religious leaders and scholars. The Archbishop’s letter, entitled ‘A Common Word for the Common Good‘, comes after a period of world-wide consultation within the Anglican Communion and across the Christian denominations, most notably in last month’s meeting of Church representatives and scholars in London.

Dr Williams has announced that, in collaboration with Cambridge University, he is inviting a group of Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars to a conference in October that will mark the anniversary of the publication of A Common Word. In a context of scholarly engagement with the issues the gathering will seek to consider a programme of practical steps to deepen mutual understanding, action and friendships.

In his letter Dr Williams said “We are deeply appreciative of the initiative you have taken and welcome A Common Word Between Us and You as a significant development in relations between Christians and Muslims”. He reflected on what he calls “the hospitable and friendly spirit” of the original letter, acknowledging it as a timely initiative “given the growing awareness that peace throughout the world is deeply entwined with the ability of all people of faith everywhere to live together in peace, justice, mutual respect and love.”

The Archbishop explores how the Christian understanding of love of God and love of neighbour – seen as a response to God’s love for humankind and his creation – provide the basis on which Christians and Muslims can take practical steps together for a “radical, transforming, non-violent engagement with the deepest needs of our world and our common humanity”.

Anglican Communion News Service, 15 July 2008

The Daily Telegraph reports this under the heading “Christian doctrine offensive to Muslims, says Archbishop of Canterbury”, while the Daily Mail has “Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘Christian doctrine is offensive to Muslims'”. This is based on a single phrase in the letter in which Williams refers to Muslim disagreement with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.

Predictably, this misleading right-wing spin on Williams’ letter has been taken up by the BNP.

Watch Islamophobic video rant by fascist leader Nick Griffin here.

Racism row in Switzerland over minaret ban referendum

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SVP sheep posterAnother racism row flared up in Switzerland after the country’s far-right party managed to trigger a referendum on banning minarets in the country.

The demand for a popular vote was driven by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which used an image of a white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag to illustrate its anti-immigration policies in last year’s election campaign.

The SVP has a record of using the country’s system of direct democracy to provoke debate about immigration. This year it lost a referendum on moves to make it harder to obtain a Swiss passport.

The party said it had chosen minarets because they were “symbols of political-religious imperialism” rather than simply traditional architecture. Dominique Baettig, an SVP MP, said: “It is like the veil, it is a symbol of non-integration. We hope that this initiative sends a clear signal that we are calling a halt to the Islamisation of Switzerland. Our hard-won individual liberties are being eroded and that is not acceptable.”

Jasmin Hutter, vice-president of the party, added: “Many women, even socialists, signed this petition because not one Swiss woman can tolerate the way that Muslim men treat their wives.”

Times, 9 July 2008

Canadian mosque targeted with hate messages

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Moncton mosqueCodiac RCMP are attempting to link a series of spray-painted messages, including swastikas and racist declarations, at five different Moncton locations during the last 48 hours.

Two large swastikas and racist messages were spray-painted on the side of Moncton’s two-year-old mosque on High Street. One swastika was painted in black, while the other and the message were painted in red.

“Why?” asked worshipper Abdullah Delancey as he attempted to scrub the thick paint off the vinyl siding during yesterday afternoon’s heat wave. “It scares our kids. In fact, it scares a lot of our members. That’s probably why I am the only one here working on this. Some of our members are afraid to come back.”

Other offensive messages were found during the last two days at the Tiferes Israel Synagogue on Steadman Street, the Mapleton Road Shell station and Beaverbrook School and St. Hubert restaurant, both on Mountain Road.

At the mosque, Delancey, who also serves as a volunteer chaplain at The Moncton Hospital and is the father of seven and nine-year-old children, was confused by the hate crimes. “It’s sad because people come here to pray and it is a place of peace,” the 38-year-old Monctonian said. “In the past, we’ve had people throw rocks through the front window and now we have this.”

Times & Transcript, 10 July 2008