Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Flying while Muslim – Bollywood actor detained at US airport

Posted on by Bob Pitt

My Name is KhanA case of life imitating art has left American diplomats scrambling to soothe relations with Bollywood’s leading film star after he was detained as he entered the United States because, he said, of his Muslim surname.

Shah Rukh Khan was held at Liberty international airport in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday. He said that he was questioned for two hours by an official who apparently had no idea that he was grilling one of the world’s most famous men.

The actor, known as King Khan to hundreds of millions of fans across the sub-continent, told reporters: “I was really hassled at the American airport because my name is Khan. While all around people from India and Pakistan were vouching for me, these guys just wouldn’t let me through.”

Mr Khan’s eagerly awaited next film, My Name is Khan, is about an innocent Muslim’s experiences of being mistakenly identified as a terrorist in the United States in the wake of 9/11.

The suggestion that the real Mr Khan, who was named one of the world’s 50 most influential men by Newsweek magazine this year, fell victim to the same kind of racial profiling depicted in the film, has provoked outrage in India. A headline in The Times of India said: “My name is Khan? Too bad. SRK feels the heat of American paranoia.”

Times, 17 August 2009

Oh no! The Muslims are coming!

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Sure as eggs is eggs, you can count on some folk being terribly exercised each time it is ‘revealed’ that lots of boys named Mohammed, or some variation of the prophet’s name, are being born in europe. This time it’s the revelation that in four Dutch cities Mohammed is the most popular name for boys. Oh no! The Muslims are coming! Never mind that Mohammed is only the 16th most popular boys name in Holland as a whole, better by far to raise the spectre of an Islamic ‘takeover’ of Dutch cities.

“Never mind that this sort of fear-mongering has become an annual tradition. Did you know, for instance, that Mohammed was already the second most popular boys’ name in Britain? Clearly the Caliphate is on the march! Except, of course, that muslims are much more likely to name their sons Mohammed than Christians are to call their son any single name. That is, there’s much greater variance amongst non-muslim families. In other words, unless you’re wanting to stoke panic and resentment what kids are called is not a terribly useful metric.”

Alex Massie in the Spectator, 17 August 2009

The burkini – it’s part of ‘the Islamist war on the West’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

James-Delingpole“When most of us think of militant Islam, we tend to think in terms of suicide bombs on London buses, planes flying into Twin Towers and 19-year olds getting their limbs blown off by Taliban IEDs. But as any extremist Imam could tell you, there are at least two ways in which a good Muslim can further the ongoing struggle to convert the whole world from the House of War (that’s the non-Muslim world) to the House of Islam (ie global submission to the will of Allah): one (see above) is by poison or the sword; the other is by honey.

“So the Burkini is part of the honey campaign: all those parts of the Islamist war on the West that have nothing to do with killing people. This campaign includes everything from schoolgirls fighting legal battles (with the help of one Cherie Blair) to fight for their inalienable right to go to school dressed like a sack, to Muslim supermarket workers trying to dictate the terms of their employment (refusing to sell alcohol), to the ongoing campaign (apparently endorsed by our own Archbishop of Canterbury) for certain civil decisions in the Muslim ‘community’ to be made under Sharia law. The goal is to establish the view that Islam is a religion should be allowed to trump everything, including the cultural norms of any non-Muslim society in which its adherents find themselves living.”

James Delingpole’s Daily Telegraph blog, 16 Auguat 2009

See also Jemima Lewis in the Daily Telegraph, 16 August 2009

Update:  Delingpole has published an expanded version of this bigoted rant in the Daily Express. See ENGAGE for a response.

Jim Fitzpatrick condemned for ‘hijacking’ Muslim wedding by bridegroom

Posted on by Bob Pitt

London Muslim CentreA bridegroom has accused Jim Fitzpatrick, the farming minister, of “politically hijacking” his wedding by publicly criticising the traditional Muslim segregation of men and women at the ceremony.

Bodrul Islam said he was “amazed and shocked” that Mr Fitzpatrick had used his wedding to make a political point about radicalisation and social integration. The 28-year-old said it would have been “common courtesy” for his local MP, who left the ceremony after being told he could not sit with his wife, to respect his religion’s customs.

Mr Islam, who is a Labour supporter, is now calling on Mr Fitzpatrick to apologise for the embarrassment he has caused to his family. “Please apologise for the fact you have hijacked an innocent wedding,” he said.

Mr Islam married Mahbuba Kamali, a 24 year-old investment banker, in front of 800 guests at a ceremony held in the London Muslim Centre, next to the East London Mosque, on Sunday. As is common with many Islamic weddings held on mosque premises, the event was segregated with men and women sitting in different rooms.

Mr Fitzpatrick, the MP for Poplar and Canning Town where a third of voters are Muslims, did not know the couple personally but was invited by the bride’s father. When he and his wife Sheila, a GP, were told by someone outside the couples’ families that they would be separated, they left the event.

The wedding party was keen not to offend Mr Fitzgerald so a local Labour councillor rang him up and invited him to come back, saying there was a table where non-Muslims of different sexes could sit together. But instead the minister contacted his local newspaper to tell them he was “disappointed” by what had happened.

Mr Fitpatrick said he had never meant to insult Mr Islam and his family and had left the wedding as discreetly as possible to avoid causing a scene. “My beef is with the IFE and the undue influence they have over the social, cultural and political aspects of the mosque. They are the militants of the 21st century, they are religious zealots with their interpretation of the Koran and I think this has now been exposed.”

Daily Telegraph, 15 August 2009

The Torygraph is facing two ways on this issue. On the one hand, it wants to cause the maximum damage to Jim Fitzpatrick’s prospects in the next general election. On the other hand, it has to cater to the anti-Muslim bigotry of its readership. So this sympathetic coverage of the upset caused to a Muslim couple by Fitzpatrick’s ignorance and stupidity is followed up with an article by Alasdair Palmer headlined “Why must we bow to the intolerant ways of Islam?“

Video coverage of Birmingham clash

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Saturday 8 August 2009: The English Defence League (EDL) and Casuals United attempted to march through Birmingham. Both groups claim they are not racist and are only concerned with peaceful protest against militant Muslims. Some scenes in this video rush clearly show racist abuse from those in these groups.

Unite Against Fascism held a counter demonstration, to oppose these groups, both being involved in clashes with police and residents earlier in the year in Birmingham and Luton.

This time, as the video shows, the EDL members that avoided being “kettled” by police went straight for the anti-fascist protest, goaded the Birmingham youth, then got beaten and chased out of town.

By Jason N. Parkinson, via Sunny Hundal, who comments:

“The video is shot really well and much better than anything on YouTube. Shows to me there wasn’t a big brawl really, just mostly some EDL twats looking for a fight running away as soon as they got chased. One runs off shouting ‘dirty pakis’ in the video. This kind of raw journalism is way better than even the national broadcasters.”

See also Sunny’s piece at Comment is Free, 12 August 2009

French woman threatens legal action over ‘burkini’ ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 35-year-old French convert to Islam has threatened legal action after she was evicted from a public pool for wearing a “burkini” – a veil, trouser and tunic covering that she said allowed her to swim while preserving her modesty. The case revolving around the pool east of Paris has reopened France’s bitter row about how Muslim women can dress.

Carole, who would not give her surname, bought the suit while on holiday in Dubai and wore it swimming with her children once at a local pool in Emerainville. The second time she wore it, she was banned. “What annoys me is that I have been made to believe this is a political problem,” she told Le Parisien. Carole, who converted to Islam at the age of 17, said she would seek advice from anti-discrimination groups.

Guardian, 12 August 2009

Prevent scheme is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NLGN Stronger TogetherThe Government’s flagship scheme on tackling extremism is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped according to a new report. The New Local Government Network (NLGN) think tank is calling for the £45million scheme to focus on tackling all extremism – including far-right extremists – rather than just focusing on Islamic extremism.

The Government set up the Prevent scheme in 2006 to help local councils to tackle violent extremism at a local level. Currently 94 local authorities receive funding from the scheme. NLGN’s independent report argues that whilst the scheme has helped in some areas, overall it risks alienating some local communities and particularly Muslim communities.

The report calls for the Government to allocate resources to tackle all extremist ideologies, arguing that the recent increase in far-right extremism is as much of as a challenge for local communities as Islamic extremism. In July this year Scotland Yard warned that far-right extremists are planning a “spectacular” terrorist attack in Britain to try to stoke racial tensions and that more resources need to be targeted to tackle this form of extremism.

NLGN press release, 10 August 2009

See also Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 10 August 2009

Update:  Over at Harry’s Place the inimitable David T urges the government to broaden the definition of extremism even further, in order to combat organisations like the Socialist Workers Party and Socialist Action! Harry’s Place itself, that haven for anti-Muslim bigots and Islamophobic witch-hunters, is of course an instrument for marginalising extremists and promoting harmonious relations between the UK’s diverse communities.