Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Muslims need not apply

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is being sued for religious discrimination. And for good reason. The government watchdog agency was created in 1998 to officially promote and protect religious freedom abroad, but it actually suppresses religious freedom, rather than supporting it. It should be shut down.”

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd examines the case of Safiya Ghori-Ahmad and attributes her treatment to a world view that embodies “a toxic combination of Christian supremacy and flagrant bias against Islam”.

Boston Review, 24 January 2013

Baroness Warsi: Fewer than one in four people believe Islam is compatible with British way of life

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Baroness_WarsiFewer than one in four people now believe that following Islam is compatible with a British way of life, Britain’s most senior Muslim minister will warn today.

Highlighting unpublished research showing that a majority of the country now believes that Islam is a threat to Western civilisation Baroness Sayeeda Warsi will say that “underlying, unfounded mistrust” of Muslims is in itself fuelling extremism.

And she will cite new figures from the Association of Chief Police Officers showing that between 50 to 60 per cent of all religious hate crimes reported to police in Britain are now perpetrated against Muslims.

“My fear is that seeing one community as the ‘other’ is a slippery slope that will enable extremists to advance their twisted interests unchecked,” she will say. “I don’t have to remind anyone what happens when an unfounded suspicion of one people can escalate into unspeakable horror.”

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Opposition mobilises as EDL march announced in Cambridge

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The English Defence League (EDL), an extremist far-right pressure group, has announced that they are planning a march in Cambridge. The anti-Islamic group will gather on the 23rd February, following their controversial march in July 2011.

In response, the Cambridge branch of Unite Against Fascism (CUAF), a national anti-fascist campaigning organisation, has called for a “massive” counter march.

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ACLU files lawsuit over woman’s terrifying incident at Detroit Metro Airport

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shoshana Hebshi (2)A 36-year-old Ohio woman who is half-Jewish and half-Arab is suing the FBI and other federal agencies, saying she was yanked off an airplane at Detroit Metro Airport on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, strip-searched, and jailed for more than four hours in a dirty cell because of her ethnic background.

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Allen West ‘NUTS!’ letter sold for $2,625 on eBay

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Allen West NUTS letter framedThe Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida announced Tuesday that a letter in which then-Congressman Allen West wrote “NUTS!” sold on eBay for $2,625.

The eBay listing shows West’s brief note from Aug. 4, 2011, addressed to Nezar Hamze and Hassan Shibly of CAIR Florida. They had sent the South Florida congressman a letter that July expressing their concerns about his association and support of individuals they said “have been identified as anti-Islam extremist(s),” and urging West to cut his ties with them.

“I am writing to you with regard your recent letter: ‘NUTS!'” West responded, CAIR said. The letter concluded with the words “Steadfast and Loyal” above West’s signature, name and title. West still has not fully explained his meaning, CAIR said.

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EDM calls for police to record Islamophobia as a crime

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENGAGE draws our attention to an Early Day Motion on “Recording Islamophobia as a crime”, tabled by Labour MP Keith Vaz and jointly sponsored by fellow Labour MP John McDonnell and Conservative MP Peter Bottomley. It states:

That this House notes the recognition of anti-Muslim sentiment and hate crime in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s document Creating the Conditions for Integration; further notes that the document acknowledges the limited collection of data on anti-Muslim hate crime; recognises that currently only the Metropolitan Police Service specifically records this hate crime under the definition Islamophobia as a specific crime flag, similar to anti-Semitism, racism and others, whereas the recording of this crime outside of London is under different recording flags in different constabularies; and believes that all police constabularies should record this hate crime under the same flag, which will bring national uniformity in the recording of this crime and enable authorities to gather data that will aid in tackling this issue.

You can write to your MP and urge them to support the EDM here.

ENGAGE points out that you can also send the EDM to your Police and Crime Commissioner and ask if, and how, they will implement the recommendation in their policing plan and local crime strategy.

Hope Not Hate profiles ‘mosquebuster’ Gavin Boby

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Law and Freedom Foundation logoThe Mosquebuster

Hope not hate, January-February 2013

Late last year a smartly dressed man in an office in Bristol was celebrating a decision to refuse a planning application for a mosque in Chingford, Essex. It was just the latest in a long list of victories for Gavin Boby. Dave Porter profiles a man who strives to block new mosques because of his hatred of Islam and Muslims in general.

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