Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Muslims to gather to combat anti-Shariah movement

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ICNA-MAS conventionSome 15,000 Muslims are expected at this weekend’s 37th annual convention of the Islamic Circle of North America in Hartford, where the theme of “Defending Religious Freedom: Understanding Shariah” reflects the worry that anti-Muslim activists are fanning fear of Islamic law to marginalize U.S. Muslims.

The May 26-28 gathering, which is also sponsored by the Muslim American Society, is the second-largest Muslim convention in the U.S., behind only the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, which draws between 30,000 and 40,000 people.

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Police reject EDL lies about ‘paedophile gangs’ in Redditch

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL paedophile sex gangs placardPolice have quashed rumours circulated by the far-right English Defence League (EDL) that paedophile grooming gangs are operating in Redditch.

Speaking ahead of a planned demonstration by the group in the town on Saturday, Superintendant Adrian Pass said there was no evidence to back up the claims.

Saturday’s demonstration will be the first by the group in Redditch and is expected to attract around 150 demonstrators. However Supt Pass said there would be a robust police presence in the town to deal with any disorder and allow members of the community to go about their business.

He said: “There is no evidence to suggest Islamic grooming or any other kind of sexual targeting of young girls by gangs is happening in Redditch. If the EDL, or anyone else for that matter, has hard evidence of any other illegal activities of this nature in the area then they should come forward and tell us. They have not done so and we have no information whatsoever to suggest that there is a wider problem in Redditch or anywhere else in North Worcestershire.”

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Racist bullying on increase in UK schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamophobia FilmNearly 88,000 racist incidents were recorded in Britain’s schools between 2007 and 2011, the BBC has found.

Data from 90 areas shows 87,915 cases of racist bullying, which can include name calling and physical abuse. Birmingham recorded the highest number of incidents at 5,752, followed by Leeds with 4,690.

In response to the local authority figures, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, the Department for Education said racism needed to be “rooted out”.

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Veil ban ‘increased hostility towards Muslim women’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France veilNew research shows that that there is a link between the banning of the veil in France and increased levels of hostility towards veiled Muslim women.

The Research from the Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester suggests that the veil ban stigmatises veiled Muslim women as “criminals” and fosters Muslim “otherness”. Even if not explicitly inciting hate-motivated violence, the law in its application contributes to a climate of intolerance of Islam in the West.

Irene Zempi, who led the study, will present her research on Islamophobia at a Departmental Research Seminar at the University of Leicester tommorrow.

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The burqa and the new religious intolerance

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nussbaum New Religious IntoleranceAmerican philosopher Martha Nussbaum, author of the recently published book The New Religious Intolerance, examines the spurious justifications given for banning the niqab and burqa.

She concludes that “traditions of religious liberty and equality in both the United States and Europe” are under threat as the result of “a climate of fear and suspicion, directed primarily against Muslims”.

ABC, 22 May 2012

New Jersey: Muslim woman told to remove niqab in mall

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wakeelah Salaam had been shopping by herself for less than ten minutes at the Bridegwater Commons Mall when a security guard approached her and told her to remove her traditional Muslim face covering.

“He said, ‘ma’am, I’m telling you, you cannot wear that mask in here. He came as close to me as though he was going to kiss me, and then he made the hand gesture like he was going to lift it up for me,” Salaam said.

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Sympathy for the devil: Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Anders Breivik

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Darling of the Islamophobic right, fellow at the neo-conservative American Enterprise Institute and serial liar Ayaan Hirsi Ali was in Berlin last week to receive the Axel Springer Honorary Prize.  In her acceptance speech, which was delivered in English, she attacked the “advocates of silence” who censor the truth about Islam and the Muslim extremists who are destroying Europe:

The advocates of silence warn us that publishing these facts or debating them in the media and in parliament will transform the existing resentment towards Muslims into violent behavior. Censorship and silence, we are told, are the best preventive remedies against hatred and violence.

I believe that the advocates of silence are wrong, profoundly and dangerously wrong.

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Islam and the issue of exploiting minors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Over the past few days, Britain has been preoccupied with the prosecution and imprisonment of nine Muslim men (eight Pakistanis and one Afghani) on charges of being part of a child sex exploitation ring. Much has been said about the religious and ethnic background of the defendants, not to mention their victims, who were all white minors suffering from social problems, to the point that all issues became tangled up and intertwined; criminal considerations, religious and ethnic backgrounds and racial sensitivities. The result was heated discussions that mostly inclined towards unfair generalization, the promotion of a stereotyped image of Islam and false accusations against it.

Osman Mirghani analyses the response to the Rochdale “grooming” case.

Asharq Al-Awsat, 19 May 2012