Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Glen Jenvey admits to faking evidence for Sun article

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Terror Target SugarRichard Bartholomew has the latest on Glen Jenvey, who now admits to his role in faking the evidence behind the notorious “Terror Target Sugar” story in the Sun, which reported that Muslims were plotting to attack British Jews.

Glenvey now claims to have converted to Islam under the guidance of Anjem Choudary’s “School of Shariah”. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be some sort of sting operation on Glenvey’s part. But then again, it could be that I’m doing him an injustice and he is in fact just a total fruitcake.

Research shows multiculturalism is working in the UK

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Children of International Migrants in EuropeMuslim teenagers in the UK are much more assimilated with the nation than their counterparts growing up in other European countries, new research claims.

For the study, young second generation Pakistanis and Indians who were also Muslims living in Blackburn and Rochdale were compared with Moroccan and Algerian youngsters in France and Turks and former Yugoslavs in Germany.

The British “multicultural” approach of accommodating immigrants actually works better than the French or German approaches, it is claimed.

In France, where head coverings have been banned in schools, there is no allowance for ethnic and religious differences by the state. And the widespread ethnic tensions seen between North Africans and the police in France in 2007 were repeated this summer.

In Germany, unless you have a German ancestor you cannot legally become a German citizen no matter how long your family have settled in the country. Citizenship relies on a German blood line.

The research is to be published in a new book out tomorrow, titled Children of International Migrants in Europe. Professor Roger Penn, from Lancaster University, who co-authored the book said:

“Perceptions of discrimination were lowest in Britain and highest in Germany, reflecting the failure of the German model of exclusive ‘ethnic nationalism’. Britain’s model of multiculturalism is proving far more effective for the incorporation of ethnic minority groups than the French ‘assimilation’ or German ‘ethnic nationalist’ ones. There is simply a moral panic going on about young Muslims because of 7/7.”

Daily Mail, 20 August 2009

Danish Conservatives call for burqa ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jyllands Posten Khader“We don’t want to see burqas in Denmark. We simply can’t accept that some of our citizens walk around with their faces covered,” Naser Khader, a Danish member of parliament of Syrian-Palestinian extraction who was recently appointed spokesman for integration issues for the Conservative Party, told the newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

In comments published on Sunday, Khader said the burqa is un-Danish and oppressive towards women and should be completely banned. He and his party say that what people do in their own homes is their business, but as soon as they walk into the public domain, one should be able to see their faces.

The Danish People’s Party and the Social Democratic Party have welcomed the proposal, while the Liberal Party, which is the senior partner in Denmark’s coalition government, rejects the idea of legislating about citizens’ clothing, provided they are not employed in a public function.

“It’s going too far if we start legislating on what sort of clothes people can and cannot wear. The burqa and covered faces should not be allowed if you work with people in the public sector — but that is where we draw the line,” says Liberal Party political spokesman Peter Christensen, who adds that it is important that politicians know where to draw the line in introducing policy.

Khader, however, says a ban is the only solution. “My view is that (the burqa) is not Islamic at all,” Khader says. “The modern burqa was introduced by the Taliban when the movement came to power. So I associate the burqa with the Taliban.”

The burqa ban is part of an integration initiative that the Conservatives’ parliamentary group approved on Friday, although the party has not decided what punishment should be meted out to those who break the ban.

“Initially we’re sending out a signal by saying that it should be banned. Then it’s up to the lawyers to find out what sanctions should be introduced,” Khader told the Jyllands-Posten.

Denmark is not the only European country where politicians have proposed a ban on burqas. French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said that the burqa was “not welcome” in France, while France’s urban regeneration minister, Fadela Amara, told the Saturday edition of the Financial Times that she was in favor of the burqa “not existing in my country.” The Netherlands has also considered a ban on burqas.

Spiegel, 18 August 2009

Quilliam accuses anti-BNP protestors of ‘thuggery and hooliganism’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-BNP Codnor protest2

“Last weekend the BNP’s annual shindig ‘Red, White and Blue’ took place in a small town in Derbyshire. Reports said that the number of attendees was only marginally more than the number of anti-fascist protesters who congregated outside the gate.

“Unfortunately, these anti-BNP protesters soon became violent – leading to a total of 19 protesters being arrested. Although it is good to see ordinary people protesting against the BNP, such protests become ineffective when they descend into thuggery and hooliganism.”

So Lucy James, research fellow at the Quilliam Foundation, writes at Progress Online.

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Yusuf Qaradawi’s jihad

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi“Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the Egyptian-born octogenarian embraced by Ken Livingstone in 2004 and, as of 2008, excluded from the UK as a preacher of hate, has recently published a two-volume book entitled The Jurisprudence of Jihad. It is over 1400 pages long and has been received enthusiastically, and with some justification, as a major intervention on the subject by one of Islam’s most respected ‘modernist’ figures.

“‘Jihad’, much like ‘fatwa’, is a term that carries some heavy baggage. In the west, jihad now conjures up images of suicide bombers and implacable violence. Non-Muslims tend to equate this so-called ‘pinnacle’ of Islam with abject evil. The lack of mutual understanding, trust and respect between ‘Islam’ and the ‘west’ is a problem many – not just President Obama – recognise….

“Qaradawi’s views on jihad are already relatively well known and, in the Arab context, mainstream: Palestinians have the right to pursue jihad in self-defence against Israel, as do Iraqis against Americans. More controversially, this right extends to the use of suicide bombing. But al-Qa’ida’s global jihad is definitely out, as is the targeting of civilians or the use of violence not sanctioned by the state.

“Instead Qaradawi encourages a ‘middle way’ conception of jihad: ‘solidarity’ with the Palestinians and others on the front line, rather than violence, is an obligatory form of jihad. Financial jihad, which corresponds with the obligation of alms giving (zakat), counts as well. And Muslims should recognise that technological change means that media and information systems are as much a part of the jihadist repertoire as are guns. Indeed, as long as Muslims are free to use media and other resources to press their case, there is no justification for using force to ‘open’ countries for Islam.”

Ewan Stein at Comment is Free, 17 August 2009

Lord Patel condemns Fitzpatrick’s ‘cowardly attack’ on Muslim constituents

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Labour peer has demanded an apology from Jim Fitzpatrick, the Farming minister, after Mr Fitzpatrick publicly criticised the segregation of men and women at Muslim weddings.

Lord Patel of Blackburn, a senior figure in Britain’s Muslim community, accused Mr Fitzpatrick of launching a “cowardly attack” on Muslims who opted for a segregated wedding, accusing him of pandering to “anti-Muslim sentiment” within his constituency.

Mr Fitzpatrick angered many Muslims in his east London constituency when he walked out of a ceremony at the London Muslim Centre last week in protest at being split up from his wife. He also gave interviews suggesting that the custom showed a “degree of intolerance” towards guests who may be offended.

But in a scathing attack on his party colleague, Lord Patel said that Mr Fitzpatrick’s stance was merely an attempt to gain votes.

“I suspect Mr Fitzpatrick has one eye on the general election and has mistakenly used this event for political gain,” he said. “He is playing to a section of the voters with whom anti-Muslim sentiment is appealing. This is underhand and dangerous.”

He warned that Mr Fitzpatrick risked creating “alienation and distrust” within his own community by implying that all Muslims in the area must assimilate for reasons of social cohesion.

The bridegroom has also asked for an apology from Mr Fitzpatrick for “hijacking” the ceremony for political gain. Bodrul Islam said he had been “amazed and shocked” by Mr Fitzpatrick’s protest.

Independent, 18 August 2009

Segregated weddings and opportunistic MPs

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“One of these days I’ll hopefully get married and a ceremony is likely to be held at a Sikh Gurdwara (more because my parents will want to have a ceremony there rather than on account of my own religiousness). In a Gurdwara the guys sit on one side and girls sit on the other side, and the bride-groom in the middle. If some MP came and didn’t like it, buggered off, and then sent a press release to all the media going on how about insulting he found it – I wouldn’t speak to that tosser ever….

“I have a suggestion: why don’t Labour MPs ban the practice of British women adopting the surname of their husband once they get married? That’s a pretty unequal situation too and I know plenty of feminists who won’t do it. It’s only right these MPs register their disgust and refuse to stand for it.”

Sunny Hundal at Pickled Politics, 18 August 2009

Tariq Ramadan answers his Dutch detractors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

tariq_ramadan“Once again I have come under attack in the Netherlands. Last May and June, I was accused of ‘doublespeak’, of ‘homophobia’ and of demeaning women. Upon investigation, the Rotterdam municipality declared the accusations unfounded.

“Today, the argument goes that I am linked to the Iranian regime; I support the repression that followed the recent elections. Should we be surprised that this latest accusation has surfaced only in the Netherlands? It is as if I in particular, and Islam in general, are being used to promote certain political agendas in the upcoming Dutch elections.

“Geert Wilders, who wins votes by comparing the Koran to Hitler’sMein Kampf, casts a long shadow. I am cast as the cause of an outburst of political passions that is far from healthy. But the present controversy says far more about the alarming state of politics in the Netherlands than about my person.”

Tariq Ramadan in NRC International, 18 August 2009

Fascists gather in Derbyshire

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP membersFar-right activists from Europe spoke at the British National party’s annual gathering this weekend despite protests by more than 1,000 anti-fascists who blockaded the event for several hours.

Roberto Fiore, the leader of the Italian party Forza Nuova and a friend of the BNP leader Nick Griffin, spoke to several hundred people at the Red, White and Blue festival about the “threat to Europe from Islamic extremism” on Saturday night. Fiore, who once said he was happy to be described as a neo-fascist, was joined by Marc Abramson, from the Swedish National Democrats.

The annual Red, White and Blue event has been held on a farm owned by a BNP member near Codnor, Derbyshire, for the past three years, and is described by the far-right party as a family festival. However, the mood at the event threatened to turn ugly on Saturday as far-right supporters outside the camp gave fascist salutes to protesters and shouted “Sieg Heil”.

Weyman Bennett from Unite Against Fascism, one of the groups who organised Saturday’s demonstration, said it had been a success. “We managed to disrupt the event with peaceful direct action but the attendance of people like Fiore and the actions of some BNP sympathisers shows the real extremism that we are facing,” he said.

Guardian, 17 August 2009

See also “A day to remember in Codnor as anti-fascists drown out the BNP’s festival of race hate”, UAF news report, 16 August 2009

Update:  See “Three charged over racial taunt at BNP rally”, Reuters, 17 August 2009

Burka ban proposal splits Danish government

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The governing party has rejected a proposal from its coalition partner, the Conservative Party, to ban people from covering their face with clothing such as burkas and niqabs.

“We do not want to see burkas in Denmark,” said Naser Khader, the integration spokesman for the Conservatives. Khader, who immigrated to Denmark from Syria and who helped established the Modern Muslims group, said the burka symbolised the Taleban and oppression of women. It had nothing do to with Islam. “The modern burka was instituted by the Taleban when it came to power. I see it as a symbol of the Taleban,” he said. Khader said the burka was “un-Danish” and should be completely banned in this country.

The Conservatives’ proposal received the support of the Danish People’s Party, a key government ally, and the opposition Social Democrats. But the party’s government ally, the prime minister’s Liberal Party, said legislating against certain types of clothing was a step too far.

Islamic Faith Society spokesman Imran Shah said the ban was unnecessary as only three or four women in Denmark wore the burka, while 30-40 women wore the niqab.

Copenhagen Post, 17 August 2009