Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

The other 7/7 victims: Five years on, British Muslims reveal how the bombings left them angry, ashamed – and afraid

Posted on by Bob Pitt

7-7 Muslim PerspectivesFive years ago next Wednesday, on a day of horror and infamy, four bombs exploded on London’s public transport system, part of a series of coordinated suicide attacks. Some 52 innocent people were murdered, and hundreds more maimed or injured.

For weeks afterwards Londoners lived in fear, and rightly so. Two weeks later, four more bombs were detonated. Mercifully, this time none of the main explosive devices went off.

At this stage, it looked very much as though bombings might become a regular feature of British urban life, just as at the height of the war against the IRA in the Eighties.

Murtaza Shibli’s fascinating book of short essays by Muslims on their response to the 7/7 atrocities helps to explain why that has not come about.

Some might argue that focusing on Muslims is a myopic and self-indulgent response to an attack where the great majority of the victims were not Muslim. But Shibli makes the powerful if controversial case that Muslims, too, were the long-term victims of the 7/7 atrocities.

Society turned against them. Completely innocent people found themselves being blamed for a crime that they had not committed. Muslims were traduced, spat at and physically attacked.

Police stopped them in the street as terrorist suspects. Yaser Iqbal, a Birmingham barrister, recalls: “I can still vividly recall the menace and hatred in the eyes of almost every white face that stared at me on that day – and they all stared.” The atmosphere became so tense that one contributor to this volume came close to emigrating.

Peter Oborne reviews the new book 7/7 Muslim Perspectives in the Daily Mail, 7 July 2010

Demonstration in support of Staten Island mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Staten Island mosque demo

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Asking that they be treated like believers of other religions, about 50 supporters of a proposed mosque in Midland Beach today rallied support for the project on the steps of Borough Hall in St. George.

“The reaction to the sale of the convent hurt us,” said New Springville resident Heshm El-Meligy, speaking on behalf of the Arab Muslim American Federation. “We are Staten Islanders. We have the right to have a house of worship anywhere of our choosing according to the law of the land.”

The rally was organized by the Muslim American Society (MAS).

There has been fierce debate across the borough about whether MAS should convert an empty former convent, owned by St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church in Midland Beach, into a mosque and community center.

But Muslims have argued that they have as much right to be there as Catholics or Jews. “We don’t want a privilege that no one else has,” said El-Meligy, one of several speakers who addressed the crowd.

SILive, 7 July 2010

Update:  See “A move on Staten Island to broker mosque peace”, SILive, 8 July 2010

‘Swimming pool blacked out to appease Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslims force pool cover upTown hall chiefs were yesterday accused of “political correctness gone stark-raving mad” for forcing pool users to swim in the gloom to protect Muslim women’s modesty. The bizarre council diktat is the latest example of bureaucrats taking an extreme decision to avoid upsetting a minority group.

Residents are outraged after council chiefs ordered the windows of their glass-panelled swimming pool to be blacked out after complaints were received from Muslim groups. That has meant all swimmers at Darlaston Leisure Centre in Walsall, West Midlands, have been forced to swim in a darkened, gloomy pool.

The centre won plaudits from architects for its “ultra-modern” design when it opened to the public 10 years ago. But now council staff have covered ground-level ­windows with opaque film at a cost of £1,400 following complaints, mainly from Muslims concerned that they might be spotted in their swimwear.

Regular users of the pool are furious that the tinted windows, installed a fortnight ago, have plunged the pool into gloom – and all in the name of political correctness.

Jean Merchant, from Wolverhampton, said: “Regular swimmers should boycott the pool for as long as the film is in place. It seems they are not bothered about what we find offensive, as long as the Muslim community is kept happy.”

Retired building surveyor John Ewart, 63, from Walsall, said: “I cannot believe this council has agreed to something so loony. The whole thing smacks of political correctness gone stark raving mad.”

Daily Express, 6 July 2010

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Conservative parliamentary candidate rejects Hollobone’s ‘burqa ban’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

I fear that some of the sweeping statements made on the subject of the niqab and the burqa are actually thinly veiled (no pun intended) expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment and curtail the freedom of women in their choice to dress as they wish, despite claiming the contrary view. In stating that banning the burqa or niqab will empower women, it actually does just the opposite by dictating to them what they can and cannot wear. Philip Hollobone MP, in his speech on the subject reported on ConHome this week, made such a contradictory assertion.

His view that the woman he encountered in the park dressed in full burqa did not want any normal human interaction with anyone else is pure speculation, as is the view that she wears the burqa because she finds our society objectionable. He said: “In my view and that of my constituents, the burqa is not an acceptable form of dress and banning it should be seriously considered”. Was the woman he met in the park not one of his constituents?

Susan Williams, who was the Conservative parliamentary candidate in the Bolton West constituency, at ConservativeHome, 3 July 2010

Rise of European far right fuels ‘new racism’ of religious victimisation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A rise in right-wing radicalism is fuelling the spread of xenophobia and extremist attitudes towards religious minorities in Europe, says Minority Rights Group International.

MRG’s flagship annual State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples report, themed for 2010 on religious minorities, was launched in Budapest, Hungary. It suggests that victimisation against religious groups is in many respects the “new racism”.

The report says that ultra right-wing parties, aiming to establish themselves in mainstream political arenas in Europe, justify their anti-immigration, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic rhetoric by stoking fears that religious minorities and immigrants are a threat to modern societies.

“Successes in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections, and at the national parliamentary level, have allowed these populist right-wing parties to shift formerly far-right ideas, on immigration for example, into the mainstream,” says Carl Soderbergh, MRG’s Director of Policy and Communications.

The report details a sharp rise in Islamophobia in Europe in 2009.

In May 2009, ultra right-wing groups held an “anti-Islam” rally to oppose the building of a large new mosque in Cologne, Germany. When the authorities in Denmark’s capital city Copenhagen approved the country’s first purpose-built mosque, the extreme-right Danish People’s Party launched an anti-mosque campaign in September.

Following a campaign by the ultra-conservative Swiss People’s Party, a sizeable majority of Switzerland’s cantons backed a referendum in November 2009, which proposed a ban on the building of new minarets in mosques.

“MRG is deeply concerned about the infringement of religious freedom that the Swiss ban on minarets, and other European Islamophobic initiatives, supposes for the Muslim community. We urge European authorities to abide by their obligations under international law and protect their populations’ freedom to practice their religion and be free from discrimination,” added Soderbergh.

Ekklesia, 5 July 2010

See also ENGAGE, 2 July 2010

Hidden cameras in parts of Birmingham ‘will be removed’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hidden cameras in areas of Birmingham with large Muslim populations will be removed and any counter terrorism involvement stopped, police say.

A total of 218 cameras – 72 hidden – were put up in the Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook districts and paid for from a Home Office counter-terrorism fund. Residents said they were not consulted about it. Sharon Rowe, Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, apologised and said “mistakes had been made”.

The CCTV and number plate recognition cameras have not been switched on and officials involved promised full public consultation last month.

About 300 people attended a public meeting at the Bordesley Centre in the Sparkbrook area of the city on Sunday to discuss the issue. Senior police, council officers, politicians and civil liberty campaigners addressed the audience as well as campaigners fighting to get the cameras removed.

BBC News, 5 July 2010

See also “Covert spycam u-turn”, The Stirrer, 4 July 2010

And Birmingham Mail, 5 July 2010

The video above is of Salma Yaqoob’s speech at yesterday’s rally (via Socialist Unity). Other speeches can be viewed here.

Another political campaign based on religious hatred

Posted on by Bob Pitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_DGNu6dI_ZE

INDIANAPOLIS — Congressman André Carson’s Republican opponent, Marvin Scott, is now calling on Carson (D-7th District), who is Muslim, to “stand up against Muslim extremism.” It’s a tactic that has local Islamic leaders condemning Scott’s actions.

It’s a normal Friday at Al-Fajr, a mosque on the northwest side of town, where Muslims gather for Jumu’a, the Friday prayer service. Before the service we asked the Chairman of the board, Dr. Haroon Qazi and another leader, Tim Palmer, to give us their reaction to the website created this week by GOP Congressional candidate Marvin Scott, drmarvinscottforcongress.com.

On it, Scott lists “fight Muslim extremism” as one of his guiding principles. Click on the words and you will find an image from 9/11 and ten reasons why radical Islam is a threat. They include “Islam commands homosexuals must be executed.” “Islam allows husbands to hit their wives.” And “Islam commands that drinkers and gamblers should be whipped.”

Dr. Haroon Qazi, Chairman of the Board at the Al-Fajr Mosque says, “You can take anything out of context and make a peaceful religion into something which is demonic.”

Scott is trying to unseat Carson, one of two Muslims in Congress but, at the mosque there is a belief that in the process he is smearing, not just Carson, but all Muslims. Al-Fajr Mosque public relations chair Tim Palmer points to website saying, “The change in word phrase, ‘Muslim extremism’ transitioning into just “Muslims”, is painting all Muslims as extremists.”

Wish TV, 2 July 2010

See also Sheila Musaji at The American Muslim, 2 July 2010

‘Flying while Muslim’: ACLU challenges no fly list

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Halime SatAt the Long Beach, California, airport, a 28 year-old married student, Halime Sat, tried to board a plane to Oakland. She was denied access. Ms. Sat, a resident of Corona, California, has suddenly been put on the government’s no-fly list. She has no criminal record nor affiliation with any outlawed organization anywhere in the world. The only crime committed by this young German citizen, who is married to an American: Flying while Muslim.

Ms. Sat is one of a ten plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleging that thousands of people have been added to the no-fly list and barred from commercial travel, without any opportunity to learn about or refute the basis for their inclusion on the list. Plaintiffs in the case include a disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran stranded in Egypt and a U.S. Army veteran stuck in Colombia.

Ms. Sat was only trying to fly from one place to another in the state where she is a permanent resident. Denying people such fundamental rights in complete secrecy and without due process is unconstitutional and un-American. They become pariahs, deemed unworthy to fly – but no one says why.

ACLU blog, 2 July 2010

See also “Too scary to fly, not scary enough to arrest”, Wired, 30 June 2010

Another political campaign based on religious hatred

Posted on by Bob Pitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_DGNu6dI_ZE

INDIANAPOLIS — Congressman André Carson’s Republican opponent, Marvin Scott, is now calling on Carson (D-7th District), who is Muslim, to “stand up against Muslim extremism.” It’s a tactic that has local Islamic leaders condemning Scott’s actions.

It’s a normal Friday at Al-Fajr, a mosque on the northwest side of town, where Muslims gather for Jumu’a, the Friday prayer service. Before the service we asked the Chairman of the board, Dr. Haroon Qazi and another leader, Tim Palmer, to give us their reaction to the website created this week by GOP Congressional candidate Marvin Scott, drmarvinscottforcongress.com.

On it, Scott lists “fight Muslim extremism” as one of his guiding principles. Click on the words and you will find an image from 9/11 and ten reasons why radical Islam is a threat. They include “Islam commands homosexuals must be executed.” “Islam allows husbands to hit their wives.” And “Islam commands that drinkers and gamblers should be whipped.”

Dr. Haroon Qazi, Chairman of the Board at the Al-Fajr Mosque says, “You can take anything out of context and make a peaceful religion into something which is demonic.”

Scott is trying to unseat Carson, one of two Muslims in Congress but, at the mosque there is a belief that in the process he is smearing, not just Carson, but all Muslims. Al-Fajr Mosque public relations chair Tim Palmer points to website saying, “The change in word phrase, ‘Muslim extremism’ transitioning into just “Muslims”, is painting all Muslims as extremists.”

Wish TV, 2 July 2010

See also Sheila Musaji at The American Muslim, 2 July 2010

Catalonia: veil ban motion defeated

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Catalonia’s parliament rejected Thursday a move to ban the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public places across the Spanish region after reversing an initial vote.

A resolution moved by conservatives and centre-right nationalists was passed, but opponents said there had been a technical error and some absentees at the moment of the vote.

After the session was suspended, the parliamentary speaker ordered the vote to be put again, prompting a walk-out by the motion’s supporters and a victory for its left-wing opponents.

The motion would have called on the government of the northeastern region to ban the Islamic women’s garment which conceals all but the eyes, in the street as well as in public buildings.

Right-wing deputy Rafael Lopez said it was a question of values, of voicing opposition to clothing which he said kept women in a “degrading prison.”

AFP, 1 July 2010