Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Thilo Sarrazin told he’s not welcome in Kreuzberg

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sarrazin rassist“Get lost!” and “Nazis out!” were among the epithets lobbed at controversial author Thilo Sarrazin during a recent trip to Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, according to newspaper reports on Monday.

The city’s former finance senator had taken a trip to the area with broadcaster ZDF to film a TV special ahead of the one-year anniversary of the publication of his controversial book, “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (“Germany Does Itself In”).

The memory of the book’s content, which sparked massive controversy in Germany for what many called its anti-immigrant sentiments, was apparently still fresh in the minds of some residents of the district, known for its high concentration of Muslim immigrants.

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Goodbye EDL – and don’t come back

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-EDL demo PortsmouthCity leaders have condemned English Defence League protesters who marched through Portsmouth – telling them: “Don’t come back”. The clear message came after hundreds of EDL members snaked through the city centre on Saturday as part of a planned protest.

Organisers had promised a peaceful event and deny their campaign has racist undertones. But there were ugly scenes at times as the event threatened to spill over into violence. At the very start of the march police had to stand firm to stop EDL members surging forward before the official start time.

Some of the group of around 500 marchers were heard spouting vile racist abuse and making insulting references to Allah. At one point some of the marchers paused to jeer at an Asian family who had stepped onto their balcony to see the parade pass by.

Some EDL members made a beeline for a scaffolding van in a bid to grab poles, but were thwarted by police. And at the end of the event police averted a potential clash as marchers tried to get into Guildhall Square where anti-fascist protesters had gathered for their own rally in defence of multiculturalism.

Saturday saw seven arrests of EDL supporters on suspicion of crimes ranging from public order offences to assaulting a police officer. Two “counter protesters” who were among 150 people taking part in the demonstration in Guildhall Square were also arrested but released without charge at the scene, Hampshire Constabulary said.

EDL marchers travelled from all over the country to take part in the march, the first of its kind in Hampshire. Supporters came from divisions including those in West Yorkshire, Berkshire, London, Plymouth, Essex, Brighton and Colchester. Hampshire police mounted a huge operation involving around 400 officers after similar events elsewhere in the country had sparked trouble.

After the march, MP Mike Hancock said he did not ever want to see the group in Portsmouth again.

“I don’t want to see them here at all,” said the Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South. “I would much prefer if they came nowhere near us. But sadly they have persisted in doing it. I think they are pointless.

“I hope they will now leave Portsmouth and not come back. What I don’t get is how people want to come all the way from Plymouth to demonstrate on the streets of Portsmouth. It must have been five or six to one people from outside the city.”

His views were echoed by city council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who was in the city centre on Saturday as he watched the protest unfold.

He said: “We don’t want it here. I wish they would leave Portsmouth alone. On the whole people get on well between communities. They all mix up pretty well. In lots of other cities there are areas where different communities live. We have a well-integrated city and that’s how we should remain.”

Portsmouth News, 18 July 2011

See also “Portsmouth antiracists take over square in protest against EDL”, UAF news report, 17 July 2011

Southern Baptist leader defends US Muslims against Herman Cain

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Richard LandSouthern Baptist leader Richard Land chided presidential candidate Herman Cain for disregarding the constitutional rights of U.S. Muslims during a Monday C-SPAN interview.

He reminded Cain that as a Christian and an African American, he should have a special interest in the enforcement of the constitution in all communities.

Last week, Cain told reporters that the plan to build the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County, Tenn., is “an infringement and an abuse of our freedom of religion.” He sided with community members who have protested the center saying the center is “another way to gradually sneak Sharia law into our laws.”

Cain, an associate pastor at Antioch Baptist Church North and a GOP presidential hopeful, argued last week that the ICM is not an “innocent mosque” and warned of the threat of Sharia (Islamic law) to American laws. He asserted in a Sunday Fox News interview that the Murfreesboro community has the right to ban the center’s construction.

Land said he agrees that allowing Sharia law in the courts is unconstitutional, as it also violates the rights of women. He agreed that it should not be enforced in America’s legal system or government, but reminded the public that that the First Amendment allows for religious freedom.

“I think the First Amendment is one of those amendments that is too important and protects rights that are too central to our guaranteed rights in this country to be left with a local option,” he asserted.

Like Christians, Muslims have the right to have places of worship near where they live, Land said. Additionally, Muslims and Christians have the shared right to abide by the rules of their faith as long as that faith is not imposed on the government, he argued.

Muslim women in America have a right to choose to be veiled and abide by Sharia in their marriages. Land said that he would fight to the death to protect Christians’ right to abide by biblical precepts in their marriages. Similarly he contended, “I defend to the death of their (Muslims’) right” to marry according to their customs.

The Southern Baptist also asserted that Cain, who boasts that he is the descendent of slaves, should defend Muslims’ rights under the Constitution so that they are upheld in every community, city and state.

“Mr. Cain of all people, as an African American, should understand that our civil rights have to be guaranteed on a federal level,” he said. “I don’t think he would want to leave the civil rights of an African American to the local voters in Philadelphia and Mississippi where they buried three civil rights workers – one black, two white – under a dam after they had killed them.”

Christian Post, 18 July 2011

Watchdog recommends Tory U-turn on banning Hizb ut-Tahrir

Posted on by Bob Pitt

HizbThe counter-terrorism watchdog has recommended that the government back down on a manifesto promise to ban a British radical Islamist group.

In a report submitted to parliament, David Anderson QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, says he does “not recommend changes to the system for proscription” that would allow the non-violent organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir to be banned.

As recently as May this year, David Cameron was explicit about his desire to see the group banned. In reply to a question from the Labour MP and former home secretary Alan Johnson, he said: “We are clear that we must target groups that promote extremism, not just violent extremism. We have proscribed one or two groups. I would like to see action taken against Hizb ut-Tahrir, and that review is under way.”

It is understood that Anderson’s review is likely to force the government into a U-turn over the issue. In his report Anderson said there were “formidable difficulties” to changing the proscription system, “which appear amply to justify the decision to stick with the status quo”.

In the aftermath of the 7 July attacks Tony Blair promised to ban HT but failed to get around legal obstacles. Currently only groups involved in violence or those directly “glorifying terrorism” can lawfully be banned.

In opposition, Cameron raised the issue during Gordon Brown’s first prime minister’s question time, asking: “We think it [Hizb ut-Tahrir] should be banned – why has this not happened?” In 2009 Cameron again upbraided Brown for not banning the group.

The Tory 2010 election manifesto was explicit in its promise to ban the group. It stated that a Conservative government would “ban any organisation which advocates hate or the violent overthrow of our society, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir.”

Tory ministers have backed the pledge to ban the group. In 2009 the then shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said in a speech to his party conference: “I will immediately ban Hizb ut Tahrir.” In November of that year, the shadow education minister, Michael Gove, said a Tory government would proscribe the group, which has branches in dozens of other countries around the world.

Anderson told the Guardian he believed that the government would ultimately drop its plans to ban the group. “I’m not part of the government … but I’m aware that it has been very carefully looked at … and I’m not aware of any immediate plans to put them on the list,” he said.

Lord Carlile, the previous counter-terrorism reviewer, told the Guardian he was not aware of any plans to ban the group and believed that the government would be forced into a U-turn. “I don’t think anything is going to happen … I think the general view is that Hizb ut-Tahrir are best dealt with in public debate rather than by proscription,” he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome David Anderson’s thorough and considered report – his first on the operation of the terrorism acts since becoming the independent reviewer. He has raised a number of issues and made detailed recommendations which we will consider carefully and respond to formally in the autumn.”

Guardian, 19 July 2011

We look forward to The Spittoon denouncing David Anderson and Lord Carlile for having come to much the same conclusion about Hizb ut-Tahrir as Islamophobia Watch has.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain backs opponents of Murfreesboro Islamic Center

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Murfreesboro mosque protestMURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain opposes a planned Tennessee mosque that has been the subject of protests and legal challenges.

Cain didn’t bring up the controversial facility in a campaign rally on Thursday, but told reporters afterward that he’s concerned about the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. “It is an infringement and an abuse of our freedom of religion,” he said. “And I don’t agree with what’s happening, because this isn’t an innocent mosque.”

The new mosque has been the subject of protests and counterprotests in the city about 35 miles southeast of Nashville. A county judge ruled in May that the mosque construction does not harm the residents who sued to try to stop it, but he allowed them to move forward on claims the county violated an open meetings law in approving it.

Opponents have used the hearings to argue that the mosque is part of a plot to expand Islamic extremism in the U.S. Cain appeared to agree. “It is another example of why I believe in American laws and American courts,” Cain said. “This is just another way to try to gradually sneak Shariah law into our laws, and I absolutely object to that.”

Huffington Post, 14 July 2011

See also Adam Serwer, “Herman Cain winning the anti-Muslim primary hands down”, The Plum Line, 15 July 2011

‘Forgotten’ terror suspect from Tooting nears five years in prison

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Free Talha AhsanThe family of Tooting’s ‘forgotten’ terror suspect, who remains in jail without trial, are preparing to mark the fifth anniversary of his imprisonment.

Syed Talha Ahsan – a 31-year-old writer with Asperger syndrome – was arrested at his home in Franciscan Road, Tooting, on July 19, 2007, after US authorities requested his extradition. He is accused in the US of terrorism-related offences arising out of an alleged involvement with a series of websites between 1997 and 2004. Mr Ahsan’s case is linked to that of Babar Ahmad – but he has received much less media attention than Mr Ahmad, who was arrested in 2003 and is also still in prison.

Mr Ahsan, who graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies with a First in Arabic, has never been charged or tried in this country. He is currently in the final stage of proceedings at the European Courts of Human Rights – fighting against extradition.

Speaking to the Wandsworth Guardian this week, Mr Ahsan’s 73-year-old father, Syed Abu Ahsan, said the family was “very very depressed” about the situation, adding he did not hold out much hope his son’s case would be resolved soon. He said: “Nobody is above America. If they say something nobody dares to say differently.”

But Mr Ahsan’s family continue to lobby the Home Secretary to give him a fair trial in the UK, giving special consideration to his medical conditions. On July 19, they will be at the Islamic Human Rights Commission bookshop, in Wembley, where supporters will give readings from a book of poetry Mr Ahsan has written and had published while in Long Lartin Prison.

Mr Ahsan’s MP, Sadiq Khan, who has spoken out about Mr Ahmad’s case in the past, said: “It is extremely distressing for Mr Ahsan’s family that this case continues to drag on. I have met with the Extradition Minister to discuss this case and the case of Babar Ahmad. Although the Government is reviewing its policy on extradition to the United States, they have told me it is unlikely to cover existing cases, which is bad news for the family. I am hopeful that the European Court of Human Rights will make a judgement soon on the case.”

A spokeswoman for the Home Office had not responded to any queries as this week’s paper went to press.

For more information visit freetalha.org

Wandsworth Guardian, 13 July 2014

Community support for Blackpool mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Noor-A-Madina mosqueA community turned out in force to show their support for a mosque which has become the subject of an English Defence League campaign.

Members of the Noor-A-Madina mosque on Waterloo Road were joined by the North West branch of United Against Fascism, the Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Trade Union Council and Blackpool Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT).

All of the people present were there to show defiance to the EDL, a group which one UAF member claims is “trying to whip up racism”.

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