Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

US Appeals Court orders new hearing in hijab case

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said on Monday that a majority of its 27 judges voted to set aside the court’s earlier ruling in the case.

A federal appeals court has ordered a new hearing for a Muslim woman who was made to remove her religiously mandated headscarf by Orange County deputies in a courthouse holding cell.

A three-judge panel of the court decided in May that deputies had not violated Souhair Khatib’s rights when they ordered her to remove the head scarf for security reasons.

The incident occurred after a judge revoked Khatib’s probation for a conviction on a misdemeanor charge.

At issue is whether a courthouse holding cell qualifies as a pretrial detention facility under a federal law that protects inmates’ religious practices.

The case is scheduled for rehearing in December.

Associated Press, 14 September 2010

Sharia hysteria: how Fox & Friends stitched up Feisal Abdul Rauf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fox Abdul Rauf Sharia

Media Matters for America has the details.

See also “Anti-Park 51 rally attendees echo Fox News misinformation and right-wing Islamophobia”, by Ben Armbruster at Think Progress, which features the following video in which participants at the SIOA 9/11 demonstration parrot the lies and distortions spread by Fox News and the rest of the anti-Muslim right (it ends with some sensitive and rational comments by supporters Park51).

Royal Mail refused Muslim staff time off for Eid, CWU condemns ‘clear case of discrimination’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CWUPostal workers who were refused time off to celebrate a religious holiday are considering legal action against Royal Mail.

Muslim staff at the regional distribution centre in Stourton, Leeds, say they are usually allowed to take the day off to mark Eid-ul-Fitr – the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But around 50 workers who wanted leave to mark the festival last Friday were told they could not have the day off this year “for operational reasons”. Many, however, refused to turn up and are now facing disciplinary hearings over “unauthorised absences”.

One staff member told the YEP: “In previous years shifts have been organised so there was cover for those who wanted to celebrate Eid. For some reason this year the management either forgot to do this or deliberately did not do it. It is the most important time of the year for many of us and it is very important we are with our families. I was not prepared to work.”

Union bosses are now holding talks with senior managers to secure agreements that, in future, cover will be provided for Muslims who want time off to mark religious holidays. And they have warned they are prepared to take the company to an employment tribunal, alleging discrimination.

Andy Lee, secretary of the Communications Workers Union Leeds No1 Amalgamated branch, said: “We know they cannot always release everybody, but they have always tried to release as many as possible. This year they simply said ‘unfortunately, we can’t do it’ and so they cancelled leave for all. They knew it was coming as it does every year and they should have planned for it.

“Our members are very upset – my phone did not stop ringing. Many members decided they would not go in to work and as a result they are facing hearings over unauthorised absences. We’re already fighting those. We’re actively pursuing this. There is another Eid coming up at the end of November and we want to avoid a similar confrontation.

“If we have to then we are prepared to take it to a tribunal because we believe it is a clear case of discrimination.”

Yorkshire Evening Post, 14 September 2010

Rushdie backs Park51

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Salman_Rushdie“The Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie is not a great fan of organized worship but believes an Islamic center and mosque should be permitted two blocks from ground zero.

Rushdie’s satirical novel led in the 1980s to worldwide riots by Muslims and calls for his death. He says he understands the “sensitivities” of building the site close to where thousands were killed during on Sept. 11, 2001.

But he says First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion should be honored. He adds that he is “not personally” a lover of mosques or any place of worship. But he says that if people “want a mosque, it seems absolutely right they should have it.”

Associated Press, 13 September 2010

See also the New York Post, which quotes Rushdie as saying of the Park51 controversy: “It’s just a stupid argument. Of course they should be able to build a mosque there.”

SPD national executive votes to expel Sarrazin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Leaders of Germany’s opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) called Monday for the expulsion of Thilo Sarrazin, the author of a divisive book that claims immigration will be the downfall of German society.

The party’s general secretary, Andrea Nahles, said the SPD’s 40-member national executive had cast a “united” vote to begin proceedings against the 65-year-old.

However, opposition to Sarrazin from within the SPD has not been unanimous, with several senior figures expressing their support for him in recent weeks, saying they would resist moves to have him ejected from the party.

SPD chief Sigmar Gabriel confirmed Monday the decision to seek his removal was based on Sarrazin’s controversial remarks. A party tribunal in Sarrazin’s local district of Berlin must now decide whether he will be ejected.

Deutsche Welle, 13 September 2010

New Republic editor defends his claim that ‘Muslim life is cheap’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Martin PeretzUnder fire from prominent journalists, the top editor of the influential magazine New Republic on Monday apologized for suggesting that Muslim Americans be denied First Amendment rights, but stood by his broad claim that members of the Islamic faith don’t much value human life.

“[My] other sentence is: ‘Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, especially for Muslims.’ This is a statement of fact, not value. In his column, [the New York Times‘ Nick] Kristof made this seem like a statement of bigotry,” wrote Marty Peretz,TNR‘s editor-in-chief, in a blog post titled: “An Apology.”

“The idea that in remarking upon the cheapening of Muslim lives I was calling for the cheapening of Muslim lives, as some have suggested, is preposterous,” Peretz defended. “There is no hatred in my heart; there is deep anxiety about the dangers of Islamism.”

In his Times column Saturday, Kristof excoriated Peretz’s September 4 blog post, elevating the controversy over the TNReditor’s initial remarks. “Is it possible to imagine the same kind of casual slur tossed off about blacks or Jews?” Kristof wrote. “How do America’s nearly seven million American Muslims feel when their faith is denounced as barbaric?”

“[A]t some point,” Kristof added on his Times blog, “criticisms morph into racist stereotypes and slurs, and the suggestion that Muslims don’t value human life and maybe don’t deserve First Amendment protections is just that, a slur. It should be offensive to all of us.”

The Raw Story, 13 September 2010

See also Salon.com, 13 September 2010

Update:  And see Benjamin Sarlin, “Harvard’s Marty Peretz Problem”, Daily Best, 15 September 2010

Eight arrests at EDL ‘flash demo’ in Oldham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Eight people have been arrested during an English Defence League (EDL) gathering in Greater Manchester.

About 120 members met in Oldham on Saturday. Some laid a wreath at the war memorial in Yorkshire Street.

Up to 50 supporters threw bottles at a police car at about 1315 BST, a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said.

Four were arrested over public order offences. Another four were arrested, also on suspicion of public order offences, in the town centre.

BBC News, 12 September 2010

See also Hope Not Hate, 12 September 2010

Update:  See “No complacency over new EDL ‘flash mob’ tactics”, UAF 13 September 2010 and “EDL’s new tactic”, Indymedia, 13 September 2010