VIENNA — Young leaders and other representatives of Muslim communities from the OSCE region voiced concern at a meeting in Vienna today about rising anti-Muslim attitudes among majority youth populations in some participating States.
Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia
Islamophobia shown the Red Card
Osama Saeed reports on the launch of Show Racism the Red Card’s Islamophobia DVD in the Scottish Parliament.
EU parliament prevents screening of Wilders’ Fitna
The EU parliament prevented the showing on Wednesday of an anti-Islamic film made by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders, bringing cries of censorship from the British eurodeputy who organised the screening.
“The banning of this film is a direct attack on free speech,” said British MEP Gerard Batten, who had organised the event, though officials pointed out that parliamentary leaders had banned the film from being shown in their Strasbourg building back in March.
“A parliament that constantly talks of freedom, democracy and tolerance has shown once again that these are empty words when it does not agree with what is being said,” added Batten, a member of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP).
Wilders, who was in the parliament building hoping to see the film in a screening room, said he intended to present it during European parliamentary elections next June. “We are in discussion with other parties,” he said, without giving details.
Although, of course, we do know from Wilders’ interview with Haaretz that one of the parties he is in discussion with is Vlaams Belang.
Express pays out libel damages to Inayat Bunglawala
Great news from ENGAGE.
See also the Press Release from Carter-Ruck and the (pdf) Statement in Open Court, plus Inayat’s piece at Comment is Free.
US Muslims jailed for failing to remove hijab in court
A Douglasville woman was jailed Tuesday after a judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her hijab, the head covering worn by Muslim women.
Lisa Valentine, also known by her Islamic name, Miedah, 40, was arrested at the Douglasville Municipal Court for violating a court policy of no headgear, said Chris Womack, deputy chief of operations for the Douglasville police. Judge Keith Rollins ordered her held in jail for 10 days, but she was released Tuesday evening. The reason for the early release wasn’t immediately clear. “It was very humiliating, degrading,” Valentine said from her home Tuesday evening. “I wear my hijab faithfully and for no reason I was asked to take it off. It was unreal.”
Other Muslim women said the same judge has ordered them to remove their hijabs. Sabreen Abdul Rahman, 55, said she was asked to take off her scarf when she went to the municipal court last week with her son. “I can’t. I’m Muslim,” she mouthed silently to the bailiff, who then removed her from the courtroom, Rahman said. “This is a religious right,” she said. Halimah Abdullah, 43, said she spent 24 hours in jail in November 2007 after Rollins held her in contempt of court for refusing to remove her head covering. Rollins could not be reached for comment.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 17 December 2008
See also CAIR press release, 16 December 2008
Update: See Selene Kaye’s post on the ACLU blog, “A call to action for women of all beliefs“.
Mohamed Ali Harrath – Littlejohn leaps on the anti-‘terrorist’ bandwagon
“For some unfathomable reason, the Government has the notion that if it embraces Muslim extremists they’ll help us win the war on terror. Assorted headbangers are given lavish grants and seats on ‘anti-terrorism’ committees. Ministers have got it into their heads that if we put our arms around them and cross their palms with silver, they won’t blow us up.
“The rest of the world thinks we’re stark, staring bonkers. And not without reason. So it didn’t come as any surprise to learn that a man wanted by Interpol in connection with terrorist offences has been hired as an adviser to Scotland Yard.
“Mohammed Ali Harrath was convicted in Tunisia of numerous criminal and terrorism offences and sentenced in his absence to 56 years in prison. Interpol has him subject to a ‘red notice’ (the highest level of alert) and is urging all countries, including Britain, to arrest and deport him. Yet in addition to advising the Yard on ‘best practice’ in combating terrorism, he also runs his own TV station, which pumps out Islamist propaganda to 1.6 million viewers in this country.”
Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail, 16 December 2008
Meanwhile, over at the Times, the appalling Pauline Neville-Jones is calling for Mohamed Ali Harrath to be sacked from his position as an adviser to Scotland Yard and even, it appears, to be deported: “The FCO must be aware that the Tunisian Government, an ally in the fight against terrorism, has asked for the extradition of this man.”
And Mad Mel (“Lunacy at the Yard“) has added her ten cents to the debate:
“It’s all because of this extraordinary belief by the higher echelons of the British security world that Islamist extremism is the antidote to Islamist terrorism – that the Muslim Brotherhood are useful allies against al Qaeda. That utterly false belief derives in turn from the refusal by the establishment to accept that what we are facing is an Islamic jihad, a religious war against the non-Islamic world.”
For a response to the witch-hunt see Islam Channel press release, 16 December 2008
Violence against Muslims increases in Holland
Violence against Muslims in the Netherlands rose considerably last year, according to the latest monitor on racism and extremism published by Leiden University and the Anne Frank Foundation on Wednesday.
The number of violent incidents against Muslims rose to 82 in 2007, from 62 in the preceding year. However the total number of racist attacks last year was down to 187, according to the 306-page report.
The Anne Frank Foundation says anti-Muslim sentiment has grown “significantly” in the last year and public opinion about Muslims has become more negative.
The researchers also point to the stream of anti-Muslim comments by the populist PVV party, led by the controversial member of parliament Geert Wilders. This, and the massive attention they are given in the media, has contributed to Islam phobia in the Netherlands, the foundation says.
The fact that the justice department decided not to prosecute those who made these anti-Muslim statements also played a role, say researchers Jaap van Donselaar and Peter Rodrigues.
The researchers also conclude that the PVV can be labelled as an extreme-right group because of, for example, its dislike of “strangers” and the political establishment and its tendency towards authoritarianism. The party also attracts more radical right-wing extremists.
Wilders is furious with the report. “They have gone completely mad. It is an insult to the PVV and our voters,” he told ANP news agency.
The arrival of the PVV has played a major part in changing the extreme-right climate in the country, according to the report. And the willingness of extreme right groups to take action has grown significantly. The number of demonstrations organised by extreme right-wing group is expected to rise to 20 this year from 12 in 2007.
See also “Islamophobia on the rise” on the website of the Anne Frank Museum.
It’s also worth noting that Wilders’ ally Ehsan Jami, who has made his own contribution to the rise of Islamophobia in the Netherlands, has just released his film Interview with Mohammed.
Mad mullah rants: Ban evil Christmas
Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has launched his sickest rant yet as he branded Christmas “evil”. The Muslim fanatic shocked Christians and even those of his own faith by slamming the festival as “the pathway to hellfire”. And the hardline nut, 41, who recently praised the Mumbai terror massacre, urged all Muslims to reject traditional yuletide fun.
In an internet sermon on an Islamic website, demented Choudary raged:
“In the world today many Muslims, especially those residing in western countries, are exposed to the evil celebration Christmas. Many take part in the festival celebrations by having Christmas turkey dinners. Decorating the house, purchasing Christmas trees or having Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited by Allah.”
Shocked “even those of his own faith”! Yes, even Muslims were taken aback by Choudary’s attack on Christmas. Who’d have thought it?
See also ENGAGE, 10 December 2008
No end to nightmare for ‘terror’ detainees
No end to nightmare for ‘terror’ detainees
By Tom Mellen
Morning Star, 10 December 2007
CIVIL rights campaigners and the British Muslim Initiative slammed the Home Office on Sunday after reports that three innocent British residents who have languished in Guantanamo Bay for five years may be hit with control orders when they return.
The Home Office has confirmed that it may impose the repressive orders on Jamil el-Banna, Omar Deghayes and Abdenour Samuer, who are expected to be home by the end of the year.
It has also been reported that MI5 will spy on them as part of a deal negotiated with the US.
Lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who represents the detainees, said: “I am sure they will be briefly questioned on arrival but equally sure they will be released. There is no reason to detain them.”
Human rights group Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti deplored the fact that former Guantanamo detainees returned to Britain had been held in Paddington Green high-security prison in London.
She insisted that “these people should be treated as kidnap victims, given trauma counselling and helped with resettlement.”
“They have been held for years. If you can’t come up with anything to charge them with by now, the basis for making a control order is poor, to say the least.”
Muslim barrister called ‘tent head’ wins £75,000
Saleca Faisal-Parkar, 31, was harassed, overlooked for jobs and training and was even branded “lazy” after she became seriously ill while pregnant.
The abuse was led by Stephen Jones, then head of litigation at the leading law firm Shakespeares, who also referred to her as a “flipping nun”. He was also a deputy district judge and a member of the Solicitors Disciplinary Panel, but has resigned both positions in the light of the scandal.
Mrs Faisal-Parkar, who has a young daughter, joined Shakespeares in 2002 as a legal assistant. Not long after she started, she found out from a fellow worker that she had been nicknamed “Mother Teresa” because she wore a hijab, which covers her head.
Over the course of the following months, she said Mr Jones – who made the derogatory comments in emails – harassed her, refused her training requests and potentially reduced her annual salary increase by the type of work he gave her. In one email he says to a colleague: “From where I sit tent ‘ead looks like a flipping nun today unless there are auditions for the Sound of Music on somewhere?”
Mrs Faisal-Parkar told The Daily Telegraph: “It was the worst experience of my life; it was just one thing after another. It had a terrible effect on my life at a time that should have been my happiest, getting married and having a baby. To this day I don’t know what motivated Mr Jones to treat me like he did, but I’m glad now he’s been shown up to be the sort of man he was.”
Mrs Faisal-Parkar, from Great Barr, West Mids, accepted an out of court settlement at the beginning of a three-day tribunal in Birmingham. Mr Jones has been demoted and fined a five-figure sum by the company.