Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

City University London removes Muslim Friday prayer room

Posted on by Bob Pitt

City University in London has been accused of discrimination by a group of Muslim students after it closed a dedicated room used for Friday prayers.

A group of students have formed Muslim Voices on Campus, calling on the university to reverse its decision. The group said it was being “unjustly targeted”. City said it acted because students had refused to submit the proposed content of sermons to the university before prayers to check its “appropriateness”.

Wasif Sheikh, who leads the group, said: “We feel we are being unjustly targeted. All of our sermons are open, we welcome all students and all staff. But when you start submitting your sermons to be monitored and scrutinized then there’s a chance for it to be dictated what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. We, as students, don’t accept that.”

BBC News, 22 February 2013

Update:  See also “City University locks Friday prayer room”, ENGAGE, 22 February 2013

Update 2:  See “Muslim students take legal advice after City University shuts down Friday prayer meeting”, Independent, 22 February 2013

And “City University row over ‘closing’ Muslim students’ Friday prayer room”, Huffington Post, 22 February 2013

Also “Vetting Muslim talks at City University”, Inayat’s Corner, 22 February 2013

Congressman says Americans need guns to protect the nation from Sharia Law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Louie GohmertTea Party Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told a conservative radio show on Thursday that the GOP must oppose gun regulations to protect the country from the threat of “Sharia Law.”

Appearing on The Voice of Freedom, Gohmert said he “hoped and prayed” that Congress rejects gun safety legislation, arguing that Americans may need to use the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to avoid succumbing to Muslims:

[The Second Amendment] is for our protection and the founders’ quotes make that very very clear and including against a government that would run amuck. We’ve got some people who think Sharia Law should be the law of the land, forget the Constitution. But the guns are there… to make sure all of the rest of the Amendments are followed.

Gohmert has a long history of Islamaphobic remarks, most recently joining Rep. Michele Bachmannn’s (R-MN) much maligned effort to investigate the alleged infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into various departments of the U.S. government.

Think Progress, 21 February 2013

Update:  See also “Interfaith group to GOP Congressman: Stop demonizing Islam”, Think Progress, 22 February 2013

Gavin Boby loses fight against Islamic centre plan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lingfield mosque site graffiti

Police watched over a council planning meeting where emotions ran high over a proposal to create a Muslim-run community and welfare centre.

Officers attended plans panel north and east at Leeds City Council where members unanimously voted to give the go-ahead to convert the derelict Lingfield pub in Moortown.

Applicants UKIM, UK Islamic Mission, who bought the site, want to create a public gym, IT suite, library, training facilities and a prayer room for up to 70 worshippers.

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Hundreds to protest against Cambridge EDL rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Calls for students to join an anti-English Defence League march through Cambridge this Saturday have heightened following Marine Le Pen’s visit to the Cambridge Union earlier this week.

It was revealed in December that the English Defence League (EDL) would be staging a demonstration against the building of a new mosque on Mill Road. Police confirmed last month that the far-right group would be holding a “static protest”, rather than marching through the city.

The Cambridge branch of Unite Against Fascism (CUAF) responded by calling for a counter-demonstration on the same day. More than 1,000 people have said on the Facebook event page they will be attending the anti-EDL protest.

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Fears over position of EDL rally in Cambridge

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Parts of Cambridge could be “shut down” by police because of Saturday’s English Defence League (EDL) rally in a city park. The far-right group will be fenced in on a corner of Christ’s Pieces next to Drummer Street bus station where they will have a stage and speakers.

More than 400 officers will police the event as well as a counter-demonstration by Cambridge Unite Against Fascism (CUAF). The Cambridgeshire force has cancelled all leave for officers on Saturday.

But there has been criticism of the choice of the park. Tony Carter, chairman of Cambridgeshire TUC, said: “We were shocked when we heard the EDL would be in Christ’s Pieces right next to the bus station and the playground. Lots of families pass through the park and children use it to play in.”

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For second time, DMV denies ICUHAJI license plate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ICUHAJI plateAn Iraq war veteran’s quest to recover personalized license plates that some Arab Americans found offensive is not over.

After a judge ruled in November that the Department of Motor Vehicles couldn’t deny a tag on the grounds that it denigrated individuals of a particular nationality, the state has come up with a new reason to revoke Sean Bujno’s ICUHAJI plate.

In a letter from the DMV to Bujno, the agency said the tag – it can be read, “I see you, haji” – condones or encourages violence and is obscene or otherwise vulgar in nature. “That couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Andrew Meyer, Bujno’s attorney. “He really means it respectfully.”

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Mayor of Malmö slams anti-Islam art exhibition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lars Vilks with GellerThe mayor of Malmö has slammed an upcoming exhibition of work by controversial Swedish artist Lars Vilks, saying he hoped no one would visit the gallery to see artwork he said was “associated with xenophobes”.

“Of course he has the right to display what he calls art anywhere he wants,” Mayor Ilmar Reepalu told the TT news agency. “But as far as I can gather, this is pretty bad art and I think they want to use the gallery for political ends,” he added. “Vilks is increasingly associated in people’s minds with xenophobic groups at the far right of the political spectrum. I hope not a single person visits the gallery.”

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Anti-fascists demonstrate against Marine Le Pen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Marine Le Pen addresses the Cambridge Union

About 200 people have protested in Cambridge ahead of the French politician Marine Le Pen’s appearance at a university debating society.

The leader of France’s far-right party Front National was invited to speak by the Cambridge Union Society. The society’s president, Ben Kentish, said: “To silence views we might find extreme or abhorrent is a dangerous step in a bad direction.”

The protest has been organised by Unite Against Fascism. Sabby Dhalu, joint secretary from the the anti-fascist group, said it was not against freedom of speech.

“We have to remember the total devastation of the fascist-led World War II, when almost 70m people lost their lives worldwide,” she said. “Those people who lost their lives did so in name of freedom – it’s the fascists who oppose freedom.”

BBC News, 19 February 2013

See also Huffington Post, 19 February 2013

Wilders’ Perth meeting cancelled

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders Perth protestControversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders has been forced to cancel the Perth date of his speaking tour after he was unable to find a venue to host him.

The right-wing MP, who wants a ban on Islamic immigration and says the religion is incompatible with freedom, is stirring controversy with his tour of Australia, which began in Melbourne today.

An unnamed four-star CBD hotel had been set to host Wilders but pulled out late this afternoon. Host of the tour, the Q Society, said finding another venue at short notice was almost impossible because of security needed for the MP and the threat of possible protesters.

Organisers of the planned Perth protest rejected the claims. “We utterly reject the accusation that we have intimidated any venue or that we ever posed a physical threat to Wilders or any of his associates,” said protest organiser Alex Bainbridge. “Any decision by a venue to pull out indicates that they do not want to be associated with him.”

Mr Wilders is still scheduled to travel to Perth.

News.com, 19 February 2013

Update:  See “No Perth press conference for Wilders”, AAP, 20 February 2013

Update 2:  See also “Perth: Geert Wilders falsely says free speech denied”, Green Left Weekly, 23 February 2013