Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Veil bans spread in Catalonia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

There are no burqas on the streets of Tarrés. In fact, there are no Muslims at all in this village of 108 inhabitants in north-east Spain. But that will not stop the parish council debating whether to ban burqas and face-covering niqabs from parts of the village next week.

“It is true that there are no Muslims living in the village now, but this would be a preventive measure in case they come,” said parish councillor Daniel Rivera, from the tiny and openly xenophobic Partit per Catalunya.

Rivera’s motion to ban burqas has outraged many. Other councillors plan to vote against it, but whatever the result, the motion is symptomatic of wider moves in the Catalonia region to ban Islamic veils from public buildings.

Today the nearby provincial capital, Lleida, formally passed a ban that was first announced in May. Women found wearing burqas in public buildings will first be given a warning, but any repeat will lead to a fine of between €300 and €600 (£250-£500).

From Barcelona to Tarragona, bans are being slapped into place across the region. “At this rate we will end up with more bans than burqas,” said the immigration minister, Celestino Corbacho, himself a former town mayor in Catalonia.

The Lleida ban was not passed by the anti-immigrant parties but, as in Barcelona, by a socialist-led council. “This is about equality between men and women,” Mayor Ángel Ros said. “The burqa and the niqab are symbols of the political use of a religious dogmatism that had begun to appear in Lleida.”

Guardian, 2 July 2010

London nightclub owner says he will boycott Muslim businesses

Posted on by Bob Pitt

XXL_logoOne of London’s leading gay club owners sparked controversy today after posting an online rant about British Muslims, PinkPaper.com can exclusively report.

The entrepreneur – who was responding on Facebook to a story on the Evening Standard site entitled Protestors Fight Police in Clashes Outside Mosque – vowed to boycott Muslim-owned businesses in response to recent unrest in East London. He also tried to justify his decision by reference to the death toll of British troops in Afghanistan, which has this month risen above 300.

PinkPaper.com has been trying to contact Mark Ames of club XXL in London to ask how he justified his remarks. We also wanted to double-check his Facebook account hadn’t been hacked although similar remarks have been made in his previous posts.

Ames – or someone posing as him – wrote: “From today I will be boycotting any shops, petrol stations restaurants or businesses I know are owned by Muslims this also includes holidays to muslim [sic] countries today see [sic] our death toll up to 300, so why the hell are we not just flying this scum back out to there beloved states and pull out and let them fight out there [sic] own issues!

“Funny thing is most of there parent’s would have used I am escaping the brutal rules of muslim society when they arrived on UK shores many years ago!” [sic]

Unsurprisingly, the comments have sparked criticism. One PinkPaper.com reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us: “I find this remark absolutely disturbing from anybody. But from the gay community? I am shocked.”

Pink Paper, 29 June 2010

See also “XXL owner Mark Ames slammed for Muslim boycott”, Pink Paper, 30 June 2010

Via Islam in Europe

Update:  A Facebook group “Bears Against Bigotry” has been formed to oppose Ames’s Islamophobic views. They haveannounced:

“Bears Against Bigotry have decided to march in Pride London along side and in solidarity with Imaan the LGBT Muslim Support Group this Saturday. We have chosen to do this to show that bears, their friends, families and admirers support a non-bigoted, tolerant and inclusive view of LGBTQ communities.”

Speak out against spy cameras in Birmingham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

On Sunday, there will be a public rally organised by Birmingham Against Spy Cameras (BASC) in opposition to the mass surveillance scheme being implemented in the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath areas of Birmingham. I will be one of the speakers at the rally, which brings together a diverse range of organisations and individuals who strongly oppose the scheme and are calling for it to be scrapped. Come and find out why, and add your voice to the campaign.

Birmingham Against Spy Cameras
Sunday 4 July
4.30 pm
The Bordesley Centre
(Camp Hill roundabout, Stratford Road, B11 1AR)

The event will be chaired by broadcaster and journalist Adrian Goldberg and speakers confirmed so far include:

SHAMI CHAKRABARTI, Director of Liberty

GARETH PEIRCE, human rights lawyer

SALMA YAQOOB (Leader of the Respect Party and Councillor for Sparkbrook)

ALEX DEANE, (Director, Big Brother Watch)

RAY GASTON (Methodist minister, Inter-faith enabler and author)

JOHN HEMMING (LibDem MP for Birmingham Yardley)

TANVEER CHOUDHRY (Lib Dem councillor, Springfield ward)

Salma Yaqoob’s website, 1 July 2010

Turkish minister warns against rise of Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mehmet AydinTurkish State Minister Mehmet Aydin on Tuesday said Europe considered its own culture as “superior” and all other cultures as “enemy”.

“The Europeans should quit seeing themselves the higher culture and get to know Islam better,” Aydin told a “High-level Conference on Tolerance and Non-discrimination” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Aydin said the Western world was under heavy influence of Islamophobia, which he said needed urgent counter-action. “European politicians used Islamophobia as a political chip at times of elections to get more votes. Unless urgent action is taken today, the world would have to tackle tomorrow a difficult and enduring problem just like antisemitism,” Aydin said.

World Bulletin, 29 June 2010

Spain: Amnesty urges politicians to reject veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amnesty logoThe regional parliament in Catalonia is due to vote on a ban on the use of the face-covering veil and the burqa in public, fueling debates over the freedom of rights in the country.

The motion was put down by two conservative parliament members demanding that Catalonia “adopt the legal reforms necessary to ban the wearing of clothes that totally cover the face.” The ban is expected to be in effect in all public areas as well as public buildings throughout the northeastern region.

Meanwhile, one day ahead of the vote, human rights group Amnesty International called on Catalonia’s lawmakers to remove the motion.

“Any wide-ranging ban will violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who choose to wear a full-face veil as an expression of their identity or beliefs,” John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination in Europe, said. “Women should be free to choose what and what not to wear. This is their right under international human rights law” he added.

The move by Catalonia comes as several other cities, including Barcelona, have approved bans on the use of the Islamic veil in public over the past weeks. Earlier on Monday, Coin – a small town in the southern region of Andalucia – was the first town outside of Catalonia to ban the veil in public buildings.

The banning measures come as the socialist government of Spain argues that the use of such body-covering garments is best opposed through education instead of imposing restrictions. Human rights activists, for their part, maintain that such a ruling would violate the European Convention on Human Rights, which is expected to guarantee the fundamental liberties of individuals.

Press TV, 29 June 2010

See also Amnesty news release, 29 June 2010

Tariq Ramadan sues Rotterdam city council for wrongful dismissal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TariqRamdan2Academic Tariq Ramadan, sacked by Rotterdam city council last year, is asking for €75,000 compensation for wrongful dismissal.

Ramadan lost his job as city integration adviser after officials discovered he presented a tv show for a broadcast company financed by Iran. The city said this could not be combined with his other roles. Erasmus University also ended his contract as a visiting professor.

Court hearings over the compensation claim began on Monday. Ramadan claims the sacking damaged his reputation as an Islamic scholar.

Dutch News, 28 June 2010