Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

BNP seeks to gain Jewish votes in Islamophobic campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP changing face of london leaflet

The far right British National party is trying to shed its antisemitic past as part of a drive to pick up votes among London’s Jewish community. The party, which could get its first seat on the London assembly if voter turnout is low next month, is campaigning in Jewish areas across the capital and attempting to play on what it sees as historical enmity between the Jewish and Muslim communities.

In one leaflet, handed out in north London last weekend, the party’s only Jewish councillor, Pat Richardson, is quoted along with a picture of young Muslims holding a placard reading: “Butcher those who mock Islam.”

“I’m in the BNP because no one else speaks out against the Islamification of our country,” said Richardson. “Being Jewish only adds to my concern about this aggressive creed that also threatens our secular values and Christian tradition.”

The move has sparked a furious reaction among Jewish organisations who say the BNP is still antisemitic and racist.

Guardian, 10 April 2008

For previous coverage of this issue see here and here.

Gloves are off as Ken accuses Boris of 7/7 smear on Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Boris Johnson today accused the Mayor of “demeaning” his office by suggesting Mr Johnson had smeared Islam after the London bombings. The Tory candidate said he took “deep offence” at Ken Livingstone’s claim he had said the Koran was “inherently” violent.

However, the Mayor insisted Mr Johnson’s remarks – in contrast to his own rousing response to the 7 July attacks – showed his true reaction to the tragedy.

In the first radio hustings on LBC radio between the three main candidates, Mr Johnson insisted he would have issued “exactly the same” kind of remarks after the bombings, which killed 52 people, as Mr Livingstone had if he had been running the city at the time. “What Londoners want in the event of a tragedy of that kind … is someone who will speak for the city and give a voice to our defiance and our unwillingness to submit to that kind of terror and kind of cowardly attack,” he said.

However, the Mayor claimed: “I know what Boris would have said because he wrote it in the Spectator the following week. Very different. I said this is a criminal act by a handful of men. It doesn’t define a faith or an ideology. What you said, Boris, was Islam was the problem… And the Koran is inherently violent. I actually made certain that we were looking at individuals. You smeared an entire faith.”

An audibly furious Mr Johnson responded: “Can I tell you what deep offence I take at that? I think you really traduce what I said. My view is that Islam is a religion of peace and indeed I am very proud to say I have Muslim ancestors. My great-grandfather knew the Koran off by heart, Ken Livingstone, and I really wish you would leave off these kinds of tactics, which demean this race and demean your office.”

Evening Standard, 10 April 2008

For an example of the Spectator‘s coverage of Islam during Boris Johnson’s stint as editor, see our accompanying illustration.

For a selection of Johnson’s statements about Islam, see here.

Ontario Human Rights Commission slams Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a recent decision, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (the “Commission”) decided not to proceed with complaints filed against Maclean’s magazine related to an article “The future belongs to Islam“. The complainants alleged that the content of the magazine and Maclean’s refusal to provide space for a rebuttal violated their human rights.

Denying a service because of human rights grounds such as race or creed can form the basis for a human rights complaint. However, the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code“) does not give the Commission the jurisdiction to deal with the content of magazine articles through the complaints process.

Nevertheless, the Commission has a broader mandate to promote and advance respect for human rights in Ontario, forward the dignity and worth of every Ontarian and take steps to alleviate tension and conflict in the community, including by speaking out on events that are inconsistent with the spirit of the Code.

While freedom of expression must be recognized as a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, the Commission has serious concerns about the content of a number of articles concerning Muslims that have been published by Maclean’s magazine and other media outlets. This type of media coverage has been identified as contributing to Islamophobia and promoting societal intolerance towards Muslim, Arab and South Asian Canadians.

The Commission recognizes and understands the serious harm that such writings cause, both to the targeted communities and society as a whole. And, while we all recognize and promote the inherent value of freedom of expression, it should also be possible to challenge any institution that contributes to the dissemination of destructive, xenophobic opinions.

Ontario Human Rights Commission statement, 9 April 2008

Muslims join fellow Londoners to unite against the far-right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Muslim Council of Britain today joined forces with Operation Black Vote and a diverse coalition of groups from Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh faiths to unite against the threat from far Right political groups.

This unprecedented coalition launched a 100-foot billboard poster across the Capital that warns of the critical danger from the far Right at the upcoming elections.

The poster is designed in a Banksy style design, with a hard hitting image. The MCB is encouraging Muslims to readily join fellow Londoners to go out and vote on local matters and stop the far right. If you don’t vote, you don’t count.We must all stand united against these peddlers of hate. The far right will aim to gain legitimacy by winning a seat on the London Assembly and use the funding paid to Assembly Members by your council tax to promote its Islamophobic hatred. Participating in local elections is our civic duty and is in the best traditions of Islam.

The threat is also real outside London, with local elections taking place in certain cities and counties in England and Wales (www.aboutmyvote.org.uk for further information).

*ACT NOW*!

– The MCB has launched a campaign to raise awareness amongst its affiliates. Mosques are advised to encourage their congregations to vote on 1 May
– Affiliates are advised to launch effective local campaigns by seeking coalitions with other groups and other faiths
– Muslim student groups are raising awareness amongst young people in student unions
– Muslim and ethnic media are hosting debates and discussions on democratic participation and airing the MCB ad to encourage voter registration (to see the video, visit www.mcb.org.uk/vote2008)
– MCB is working with a diverse range of bodies who are commited to
democratic participation, wish to raise the very real social concerns affecting Londoners, and those active in preventing the far-right in gaining a foothold in public life

*ACT NOW!*

For further information, visit www.mcb.org.uk/vote2008

MORE INFO:
To find out more about Operation Black Vote’s campaign, visit: http://www.obv.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=995&Itemid=1

Download Unite Against Facism Leaflet:
http://www.mcb.org.uk/vote2008/index_files/stopfarright.pdf

The London Citizen’s Agenda:
http://www.londoncitizens.org.uk/files/LONDON%20CITIZENS%20AGENDA%20FOR%20LONDON.pdf

Muslims 4 Ken

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Ken Livingstone is the best choice you can make on May 1st. He’s stood up in support of a multicultural society, supported Muslims against racism and Islamophobia and helped improve the lives of all London’s communities. Boris Johnson would be a disaster for London. He is an Islamophobe who has insulted and condemned Islam and Muslims. We must not sit by and allow Boris Johnson to become the next Mayor and stir up more Islamophobia against London’s Muslims – MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT ON MAY 1ST.”

www.muslimsforken.blogspot.com

See also the British Muslim Initiative website.

MAB condemns war game MAB condemns war game

Posted on by Bob Pitt

War gameMuslim leaders have condemned a new war game where teams of soldiers shoot at enemies dressed as Arabs.

Players can pay to dress up in camouflaged military gear and fight opponents wearing shemaghs – the traditional headdress of Arab men – at a 20-acre former RAF hospital in Nocton, Lincs. Participants use replica machine guns, pistols and sniper rifles which fire 6mm BB rounds. Images from the Zulu 1 website show soldiers pointing rifles at hooded “Arab” men spreadeagled on the floor.

Founders Peter Jenkins, 41, and Darren Howells, 42, denied the use of Arab head dress was racist, claiming it was the “easiest way to tell who the enemy are”. But the Muslim Association of Britain said the scheme was “short-sighted and foolish”.

Executive member Mokhtar Badri said: “Any sort of game that associates guns and violence with a particular culture is clearly wrong. They could use any other type of colour or dress to tell between teams which would not cause offence. Using Arab dress, especially in the current climate, is short-sighted and foolish. And regardless of the offence causes, young people should not be given the opportunity to play in an environment where guns are being glamourised.”

>More than 40 people have signed up for the game’s launch on May 25.

Daily Telegraph, 8 April 2008

Welsh soprano takes legal action against BNP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Katherine Jenkins’s representatives last night confirmed they had started legal action to remove the singer’s image from an online video produced in support of the extremist British National Party. In a four-minute video posted on website YouTube on March 8, by a user calling himself “Egbert Saxon King”, the Welsh mezzo-soprano’s image is used in a bid to stir up opposition to plans to build Wales’ largest mosque in Cardiff.

Featuring designs apparently lifted from the website of the Madina Mosque in the Cathays area of the capital, the video claims the mosque would lead to the “Islamification of Wales” and uses a series of dramatic images to contrast stereotypical images of Muslims with stereotypical images of Wales. An image of riots in Bradford, for instance, is contrasted with a tranquil North Wales street market scene.

Viewers are then shown a picture of a woman in traditional Islamic dress, and a picture of Miss Jenkins wearing a Welsh rugby shirt. They are then asked which they would prefer. The video ends with an image of a BNP badge and the text “vote BNP”.

A member of Miss Jenkins’s management team said, “Katherine wants to have absolutely nothing to do with these people. We are trying to trace how someone got the picture. It was not passed on by the photographer or his agent. It is just stirring things up and we are striving to have the image removed.”

Wales Online, 4 April 2008

Blears blames Muslims for social divide

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Blears blames minoritiesCommunity Secretary Hazel Blears stood accused of “scapegoating” immigrants and Muslim groups on Thursday for what she called the development of “social apartheid” in Britain.

In a speech to the Fabian Society in Westminster, Ms Blears claimed that community cohesion could only be maintained by preventing one single faith or ethnic group from dominating a neighbourhood to the extent that others feel “alienated, insecure or unsafe.”

However, the minister said that she saw “nothing wrong” with cultural enclaves of “particular groups” such as “Chinatowns and Little Italys.”

Her comments follow Church of England Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali’s recent attack on the Muslim communities for supposedly creating “no-go zones” for whites in parts of Britain.

Furious left campaigners and politicians dismissed Ms Blears’s seeming concern as “beyond satire” when “no-one has done more” than new Labour to create poor and ethnic minority ghettos through its big-business policies and anti-terror laws.

Morning Star, 4 April 2008

See also the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Mail.

Muslim hairdresser accuses salon owner of ‘blatant’ religious discrimination

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wedge logoThe opening shots in a £34,000 employment battle between a pink-haired salon owner and a headscarf-wearing Muslim stylist were fired yesterday with an accusation of “blatant” religious discrimination.

Bushra Noah, 19, is claiming that amount in compensation after being turned down for a job at the Wedge salon, which specialises in “urban, edgy and funky” cuts. Owner Sarah Desrosiers, 32, says it is an “absolutely basic” job requirement that stylists should have their hair on show if they are to cut other people’s.

But Miss Noah argued: “I know my punk from my funk and my urban from my trendy. The fact that I wear a headscarf does not mean that I cannot assist in an alternative form of hairdressing. It is essential to my religion and is non-negotiable. I have been wearing it from the age of 13 and I had never suffered from such blatant discrimination until I visited Miss Desrosiers.”

She told a tribunal in central London how her interview at Wedge, at King’s Cross, left her devastated. She said: “Miss Desrosiers looked at me in shock. She asked me if I wore my headscarf all the time and I explained that I did. She asked me if I ever took it off and I said that I only took it off at home. She said as this is a hair salon it was essential that I did not wear a headscarf. Miss Desrosiers then said how uncomfortable she felt with me being around.”

Daily Mail, 1 April 2008