Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

EDL hijacks Newcastle United’s crest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL NewcastleAn anti-Islamic football group is being investigated by Newcastle United lawyers. The club is taking legal advice after their black and white crest was used by English Defence League Newcastle. The EDL has made its first steps to infiltrate football in the North East by setting up a Facebook group on the internet. It has already attracted more than 600 members.

Magpie bosses are keen for people to know that the club is in no way connected to the extremist body. A spokesman said: “Newcastle United wish to make it clear this has absolutely nothing to do with the football club and are also seeking legal advice over the misuse of its crest.” Following a probe by the Sunday Sun, the EDL removed the NUFC logo from its Facebook web page.

The group claims it is not racist, and says it is campaigning only against extremists and no one else. However, Show Racism the Red Card says the EDL is known to have links with fascist organisations. The charity, which has strong support from NUFC, has warned fans they should not become involved with the EDL.

Chief executive Ged Grebby said: “We know that the EDL are a racist organisation and since they have been set up they have caused mayhem. Wherever they have set up bases, such as in Birmingham and London, they have targeted the Asian community in a blatantly racist way.”

He is concerned that the Facebook group is the first step for the EDL to set up a base in the North East. Show Racism the Red Card is determined to stamp the group out before it even gets started. Mr Grebby said: “We don’t want them in the North East, they are not welcome here. This is a desperate attempt to get some kind of base here, using what they know is a fantastic symbol.”

Sunday Sun, 4 October 2009

EDL recruitment drive aimed at Southampton fans

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A far right-wing group is attempting to recruit Saints fans to its ranks.

The English Defence League (EDL) last month launched a recruitment drive in Southampton to enlist football fans to march against “Islamic extremism”. The league, whose demonstrations in London, Luton and Birmingham led to violence, has infiltrated supporter’s online forums and the terraces of St Mary’s Stadium.

Concerned Saints bosses have condemned the group and brought it to the attention of Hampshire police, Southampton City Council, Hampshire FA and football’s antiracism campaign Kick it Out.

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham, who is in charge of promoting inter-faith harmony for the Government, last night branded the group “troublemakers” and said he was confident most fans would have nothing to do with them.

The Echo can reveal Saints this week ordered Facebook to remove the club’s crest from an EDL campaign group founded on the social networking website.

By yesterday 175 people had signed up to the “Southampton FC branch of the EDL”, which claims it wants to peacefully protest against “militant Islam within our shores”.

Desperate to disassociate itself from the fringe group, Saints were last night seeking legal advice to have the name Southampton FC removed from the website page.

A Saints spokesman said: “Southampton Football Club wholeheartedly condemns this type of racist activity. We were made aware of this group, and immediately took the relevant steps to ensure that any implied affiliation was eradicated.

“Further to this, we have notified members of the club’s Racism Just Ain’t Saintly committee of our concerns, and asked that these are passed on to the Premier League and Football League to make other clubs aware of these activities.

“This is something the club will be monitoring in the future as it clearly conflicts with our principles of a united, cohesive and integrated community.”

Southern Daily Echo, 3 October 2009

Vigil at Southern Cemetery, Manchester

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim graves attacked, as EDL prepare for Manchester fascist rally

Oppose attacks on our cemetery!
Unite against racist attacks!
Never Again!

4pm Emergency Vigil at Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moore Rd, Manchester
Sunday 4th October

Twenty Muslim gravestones have been attacked at Southern Cemetery Manchester. Police say it is a racist hate crime as only graves in the Muslim section were pushed to the ground last Thursday night.

Next Saturday the EDL have said they will rally in Manchester. They want to rid the country of all Muslims. This attack on the gravestones shows what the EDL are really about.

When Jewish gravestones were attacked in North Manchester the whole community came out in an act of solidarity with a cry of Never Again! We all know what the politics of fascism leads to.

We call on all decent people to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Muslim community, who have had the final place of rest for their loved ones violated in this attack.

Stand together in silence outside our community cemetery

Called by UAF

UAF appeal: demonstrate against the racist hooligans of the EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

UAF_logoAnti-EDL demo in Manchester: Sat 10 October, 12 noon, Piccadilly Gardens

The racist hooligans of the English Defence League are planning a series of anti-Muslim demonstrations at towns and cities across the country in coming weeks. Previous EDL demonstrations have seen their thugs attack Asian people, chant “Muslims out” and worse at passers-by and make “seig heil” Nazi salutes.

It is vital that we do not sit back and allow a small minority of racist thugs with links to the fascist BNP to terrorise and intimidate Muslims in Britain. All communities need to stand up and link arms with Muslims against the EDL. That’s why Unite Against Fascism called a counter demonstration against the EDL in Birmingham in August. That’s why we helped mobilise thousands of people in Harrow last month to defend the local mosque against the EDL and its affiliates.

We need to turn out and tell the EDL that they are not wanted at all the following dates. We must not let these thugs turn the clock back to the 1970s when they ran round the streets terrorising black and Asian people – or back to the 1930s when Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts targeted Jews in the East End of London.

Saturday 10 October: say no to the racist EDL in Manchester

Manchester UAF has called a demonstration against the EDL at 12 noon in Piccadilly Gardens. It is supported by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Mancheseter and the Muslim-Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester. Email mancuaf@gmail.com for more details.

Forthcoming EDL demonstrations include:

17 October: Swansea
24 October: Newport
31 October: Leeds
7 November: Nottingham
14 November: Glasgow

Local UAF groups have called protests counter demonstrations at all these places – full details to follow.

Tories will stop funds to ‘radical Islamist groups’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

JC logoA conservative government would stop all funding to groups that promote radical Islamic ideology and target money at organisations with a record of bringing Britain’s diverse communities together.

In an interview with the JC, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said Labour’s policy risked creating ghettoes. He revealed that the Tories were planning an immediate review of the Prevent anti-extremism strategy, which he accused of channelling money to radical organisations.

The change would represent a shift away from the multiculturalism policy which critics charge with creating segregated religious and ethnic communities isolated from mainstream society.

Jewish Chronicle, 1 October 2009

Read Martin Bright’s interview with Grayling here. Bright reports: “Mr Grayling shares the concerns of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, and reported by the JC, that money is being used to fund dubious organisations. ‘I have some serious misgivings about the way in which Prevent money is being used. I think there are plenty of indicators that it is being channelled in a way that is actually in the end funding extremism rather than reducing extremism’.”

Bright comments approvingly that “Chris Grayling’s interview puts significant blue water between the Conservatives and Labour on extremism and anti-terror policy. The Shadow Home Secretary could not be clearer in his rejection of multiculturalism and the policy of ‘engagement for the sake of engagement’.”

Elsewhere in the JC, under the headline “Denham challenged on Prevent“, Bright reports that at the Quilliam Foundation’s Labour conference fringe meeting earlier this week Ed Husain attacked the government for funding “groups and institutions promoting radical Islamist ideology” and announced a Quilliam-sponsored campaign against Muslim organisations linked to Jamaat-e-Islami.

We have our own question for John Denham, one that we’ve raised before – how much longer will the government continue handing over taxpayers’ money to Husain and his obnoxious little gang of right-wing witch-hunters?

See also “Martin Bright praises Quilliam Foundation’s grand alliance with Zionists and neo-cons”, ENGAGE, 2 October 2009

Calling the EDL what it is

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Luton riotNick Lowles of Searchlight reports that he has been inundated with indignant emails from English Defence League supporters objecting to his description of them as “hooligans”. Perhaps Nick should be grateful they’re not threatening to take him to court for libel. But his reply to the EDL’s complaints is spot on:

“Nearly all their key people are football hooligans – many with related convictions and banning orders. Most of the people they are mobilising around the country are from the football hooligan networks. I do not call the EDL a fascist organisation because it is not (though this doesn’t make any less dangerous and of course there are many active fascists within it and at a senior level) but organically linked and driven by football hooligans it is. I should also add racist and Islamophobic as well.”

Hope Not Hate blog, 30 September 2009

Certainly a more accurate understanding of the character of the EDL than that shown by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Fathima Bary, Islam and apostasy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An emotional Fathima Rifqa Bary – whose personal writings reveal that she wants to be a modern day prophet – said of her parents:

“My parents are Muslim… I don’t know if you know about honor killing… They have to kill me… Because if they love Allah more than me, they have to do it. It’s in the Quran. And you can, like, give them knowledge about it [gestures to someone off camera, who says something unintelligible].”

It seems that Fathima’s understanding of the Quran comes from whomever she pointed to, who I can only assume is her pastor (or pastor’s underling more likely). A few more dry runs could have perfected the performance. She just had to memorize a few verses to prove her claim:

13:6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, which is as your own soul entice you secretly, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods,” which you have not known not you, nor your fathers;

13:7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

13:8 You shall not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:

13:9 But you must surely kill him; your hand must be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

13:10 And you must stone him with stones, that he die; because he has sought to thrust you away from the LORD your God.

Well, that’s pretty damning evidence right there. That sounds a lot like “honor” killing: “If your brother…or your son or your daughter….entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’…You must kill him…you must stone him with stones, that he die.” Well, if that’s in the Quran, then we better ban all Muslim immigration to America!

But before we call Homeland Security, I hope you don’t mind if I check the Quran to verify if those verses exist. [Flipping through pages of Quran] Hmmm, can’t seem to find it.

Oh wait, *smacks forehead*, I remember now where those verses are from. Ahh yes, they are from the Bible (Deuteronomy, 13:6-10). There are of course many other Biblical verses in the same vein, such as 2 Chronicles 15:13 which reads: “All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.”

Oopsie doopsie! Maybe it’s not such a good idea to randomly quote someone else’s scripture or medieval texts without any context as a proof to demonize a people or to fear monger.

LoonWatch, 28 September 2009

Scottish Defence League demo opposed by police

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Scotland’s largest police force has promised to “oppose” a demonstration by anti-Muslim extremists if the event is intent on stirring up racial hatred. It is the SDL’s intention to hold a demonstration in Scotland on November 14 that is worrying local authorities, police and community activists.

Authorities believe the SDL has earmarked George Square in Glasgow or land near the city’s sheriff court building as possible locations for the demonstration. The latter venue is close to Glasgow Central mosque, a focal point for Strathclyde’s 30,000 Muslims. Another option being considered for the protest, according to websites used by EDL supporters, is the Hillhead Tavern in Kilmarnock. Al-Huda Educational Society of Kilmarnock has hopes of buying the pub and turning it into Ayrshire’s first mosque.

However, the Sunday Herald understands that Strathclyde Police are ready to oppose any application for a rally that stirs up racial tensions. Inspector Brian Gibson reportedly told a public meeting in Glasgow last week that such a proposal would not be welcomed by his force.

Groups need a local council’s permission if a rally requires the use of a “public space”, such as George Square, or if a procession involves road closures. It is at the point of a formal application that a police force can advise a local authority on whether an event should take place.

Osama Saeed, chief executive of the Scottish Islamic Foundation, said: “We congratulate Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Police for the stance that they’ve taken on the SDL. The likelihood is, though, that even if banned there will be an illegal protest. We have to be ready for that. Some sort of action against this protest is inevitable and necessary, though it is essential that it is peaceful.”

A police spokesperson said: “A police officer in attendance at the [public] meeting stated if an application was received from a group whom we believe were intent on causing racial hatred on the streets, then Strathclyde Police would oppose it.” A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said he was not aware of an SDL application having been made yet.

Sunday Herald, 27 September 2009

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Board of Deputies and CST call on government to boycott MCB

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a joint statement to the Department of Communities and Local Government, the Board of Deputies and the Community Security Trust have demanded that the government must make any future engagement with the Muslim Council of Britain “contingent on them representing a greater range of views than those of the Islamists, and firmly rejecting violence in all circumstances, including in overseas conflicts”.

Jewish Chronicle, 24 September 2009

See the reponse by ENGAGE, who write:

“We wonder what the BoD would think if UK Muslims were to write to the CLG demanding that the government break off relations with them until they represent a wider base of British Jewish opinion than they currently do as a condition to government engagement with it? And what if the MCB were to lambast the BoD leadership as ‘Zionist’, in the same way that the BoD calls the MCB’s views ‘Islamist’? …

“During Israel’s criminal aggression against Gaza – now widely recognised as war crimes – the BoD supported a rally in Trafalgar Square in support of Israel. The question to be asked now is whether, given the extensive documentation (Breaking the Silence, Amnesty International, UN) of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the BoD itself should be critiqued for its allegiance to a state guilty of perpetrating them?”

Update:  See also ENGAGE’s letter to the JC.