One Society Many Cultures has issued a statement opposing further restrictions on the right of Muslim women in France to wear the hijab.
Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia
Muslim cabdriver alleges assault by passenger who cited Boston Marathon bombing
An Army reservist and Iraq veteran who works as a cabdriver says a passenger he picked up early Friday at a Northern Virginia country club accused him of being a terrorist because he is Muslim, then fractured his jaw in an attack being described by Islamic activists as a hate crime.
Mohamed A. Salim says the passenger compared him to the men accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing 11 days earlier and threatened to kill him. “Because I’m a Muslim, he treated me like a piece of trash,” Salim said. “I love this country. I didn’t deserve this.”
EDL to hold Yorkshire protest against ‘mosque’ plan
Graffiti daubed on the wall of the disused Lingfield pub last February
The right-wing English Defence League, whose members were the targets of an aborted attack by Muslim extremists in West Yorkshire last summer, is planning a rally in Leeds this weekend. Its leader Tommy Robinson tweeted that the Saturday demonstration against a planned mosque in the city would be a “lively one”.
Saturday’s rally is planned outside the old Lingfield pub in Alwoodley. A counter demonstration by Unite Against Fascism is also planned.
US panel slams Europe’s ‘aggressive secularism’
A US panel criticized Western European countries Tuesday for “aggressive secularism” as it released a report on religious freedom that took aim at laws banning full-face veils in public.
For the first time, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom — whose members are appointed by the government — included a chapter on the region in its annual review of tolerance of other faiths around the world.
Because Western Europe generally has a very good record, “it’s easy to overlook the fact that there are some questions and problematic issues emerging there” related to religious dress and customs, commission chair Katrina Lantos Swett told reporters. “In some countries a very aggressive secularism is putting people of religious faith in uncomfortable and difficult positions.”
Middle TN commissioner’s threatening Facebook post
A Coffee County commissioner’s Facebook post suggesting Muslims are best greeted from behind a rifle barrel is prompting demands for an apology.
Commissioner Barry West’s post follows a string of anti-Muslim acts throughout Middle Tennessee in recent years, including at least four incidents of mosque vandalism. Opposition to a new mosque in Rutherford County was so strong it took federal Justice Department intervention to open it last year.
West played no active role in any of those incidents. He just put an image on his Facebook page, which shows a man aiming a shotgun under the phrase “How to wink at a Muslim.” But even that put a chill through Muslims in Middle Tennessee.
Muslim groups tweeted a screen grab of his post and it went viral. West, who lives in Manchester, removed it about an hour later. He did not apologize, instead questioning how his tweet had become the focus of attention. West responded with this email: “No I did not Twitter this … no I did not create this picture … yes I shared it … so why am I being singled out?”
Graffiti attack on mosque at Graulhet
The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports that, following the graffiti attack at Meximieux a week earlier, a second mosque was desecrated this weekend – at Graulhet in the Tarn department in southern France. Graffiti were found on the wall of the Nour Al-Mouhammadi mosque, including a drawing of a pig’s head and the slogan “Arabs out”.
An investigation has been opened and government minister Manuel Valls has issued a statement condemning the attack. The CCIF, however, points out that they have recorded 13 attacks on French mosques so far this year, all of which remain “under investigation”, without the perpetrators having been identified. The CCIF argues that words are not enough and concrete results are needed.
Anti-Muslim graffiti attack in Meximieux
The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports that they have been informed by a Muslim cultural association at Meximieux in eastern France that the community has been subjected to a graffiti attack.
Not only was their mosque desecrated but a fascist symbol was spray-painted on the wall of the block of flats where the president of the association lives.
Female converts to Islam face negative stereotyping
“Converts to Islam are as diverse as the rest of America, racially and ethnically, as well as in their interpretations of the faith. Some female converts wear a headscarf, some don’t. What they share is the perception from others that they are incapable of making their own choice in a decision that involved substantial spiritual wrestling.”
Omar Sacirbey reports.
Australia: Local council threatened because it ‘supports Islamic jihad and sharia law’
A Gippsland council in south-east Victoria is receiving threatening letters from members of an anti-Islamic Facebook group over its halal program. The Facebook page uses the Baw Baw Shire official logo, contains anti-Islamic commentary and says the shire supports Islamic jihad and sharia law.
The group’s co-founder, Drouin resident Dianne Summerfield, says she set up the page because she is against the shire’s halal program, which helps local businesses become halal accredited. She says people are sending threatening letters to Baw Baw Shire councillors and staff because they are frustrated.
“To really look into … that having halal is the implementation of sharia law and once sharia law is instated into this country it brings on more problems than we know what to do with,” she said. “A lot of people are unaware in Australia of halal practices and sharia law and it’s to alert everybody … what this certification is all about … because this is Australia, we’re not a Muslim nation.”
The Baw Baw Shire Council declined to comment because it is afraid its spokesman will become the target of threats.
US Attorney General warns against Boston bombing backlash
Attorney General Eric Holder declared Monday that the Justice Department is on the lookout for acts of violence or discrimination that signal a backlash to the Boston Marathon bombings earlier this month in which three people were killed and scores wounded.
“Our investigation into this matter remains ongoing – and I want to assure you that my colleagues and I are determined to hold accountable, to the fullest extent of the law, all of those who were responsible for this attack,” Holder said, according to the prepared text of a speech delivered Monday to the Anti-Defamation League. “But I also want to make clear that – just as we will pursue relentlessly anyone who would target our people or attempt to terrorize our cities – the Justice Department is firmly committed to protecting innocent people against misguided acts of retaliation.”