The presence of Muslims in Europe should be celebrated, not feared, argues Dr Leon Moosavi.
Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia
Group of House Republicans stand by Islamophobic witch hunt
Despite criticism from leading Republicans over their attacks on a notable senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a group of House Republicans conducting a witch hunt on government officials supposedly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood are doubling down on their accusations.
Police response to Scottish Defence League protest probed
Police are investigating allegations that officers allowed an extreme right wing racist group to protest illegally in Glasgow city centre after it hijacked an organised demonstration backing asylum seekers.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie raised the issue with Alex Salmond, branding the Scottish Defence League (SDL) “obnoxious and disgusting”.
Mr Harvie said the allegations centred on a council-approved protest by the Campaign to Welcome Refugees in George Square. He said the SDL disrupted the event, leading to police telling organisers it had to end early for public order reasons.
Mr Harvie said the SDL was then permitted by police to hold a short demonstration in the square despite having no prior official permission and then marched down Buchanan Street before leaving the city centre.
Alain Juppé against Islamophobia
In an interview with France Inter on 28 August, former prime minister Alain Juppé told Patrick Cohen that one of the fundamental points of cleavage between the candidates for UMP president was Islamophobia.
Last June in an interview with Jean Jacques Bourdin the mayor of Bordeaux had already expressed his disagreement with the Islamophobic politics that the UMP promoted. For him, respect for secularism is “respect for all religions”.
“My vision of French identity is quite clear”, the former UMP president stated. “These are republican principles”, “the principle of secularism” which “is not a war against religion, but respect for all religions”. “For me, one of the fundamental points of cleavage is the attitude towards Islam”, he continued. “Islamophobia that generalises the problems of that religion is contrary to the principle of secularism and the principle of republicanism. So this is for me an extremely sensitive question.”
He also said that one of the problems for the opposition party was that half of its activists and sympathisers find the ideas of the Front National compatible with their own. Alain Juppé appeared to be pointing the finger particularly at Jean-François Copé’s hostile positions towards Islam and Muslims, which pose a problem even inside his own party, provoking discord.
The manipulation of questions about Islam which we witnessed during the presidential election campaign, and which had the aim of winning votes from Marine Le Pen, appears to deeply disturb some of the highest ranking figures in the UMP.
Dudley Muslim Association granted appeal over rejection of mosque plan
Muslim leaders have been granted an appeal against the High Court’s decision to throw out plans for a new mosque – meaning the long-running dispute is heading back to the courtroom. It comes just weeks after council chiefs in Dudley thought they had reached a conclusion to the seven-year wrangle.
Murfreesboro: federal judge extends Islamic Center additional time to finish mosque
A federal judge agreed Thursday to give the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro more time to complete construction and occupy its new building on Veals Road on the southeast side of town.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp extended a temporary restraining order until Aug. 15 after another federal judge last week ordered Rutherford County to restart the inspection process on the mosque.
Muslim workers fired for prayer get their jobs back
MOUNT JULIET, Tenn. — Several workers said they were shocked after they were sent to the restroom to pray and not long after they lost their jobs.
Several Muslim employees at the CEVA Logistics in Mt. Juliet said they were discriminated against because of how and where they chose to spend their breaks.
“I’ve lived here for 19 years in America. I grew up here. I don’t think I should be treated in this way,” said Abdir Ahman
Nine Muslim employees said they were fired Wednesday from the plant for using their breaks to pray during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
Islamophobia and the Republican Party
Republican politicians’ attack on a Muslim State Department official echoes the Communist witch-hunts of an earlier era, argues former CIA station chief and GOP supporter Robert Grenier
Michele Bachmann’s Muslim Brotherhood claims condemned by Catholic Bishops, 41 other groups
Forty-two religious and secular organizations united on Thursday in condemning conservative lawmakers’ allegations that Muslim-American individuals connected to the U.S. government may be trying to spread the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood.
They directed their criticisms at Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), who recently wrote to various government agencies and asked them to investigate the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood. In their letters, the lawmakers targeted top State Department official Huma Abedin and several advisers to the Department of Homeland Security.
Huma Abedin isn’t the only victim of Bachmann’s witch hunt
The Huffington Post examines the cases of Mohamed Elibiary, Mohamed Magid and Dalia Mogahed.
Elibiary, who serves as an advisor for the Department of Homeland Security, says of Michele Bachmann and her colleagues:
“They feel like there’s no consequences to what they’re doing, no negativity, and they just wrap themselves in the flag like they’re the only uber-patriots out there. There are real peoples’ lives that are affected. This is a witch hunt to just make sure that we ruin every Muslim who is serving in any capacity in the government, period.”
See also “Well paid Islamophobe Frank Gaffney and the Center for Security Policy’s crusade against American Muslims”, Straight Record, 25 July 2012