Aqsa – a dirge

“Here’s what we know of Aqsa Parvez’ death: Aqsa Parvez had problems at home stemming from intergenerational and, probably to some degree, cross-cultural conflicts, which made her distinct from other Canadian kids in exactly zero ways. She was killed in her home, something so mind-shatteringly evil there is nothing normal at all about it. Analyzing it as if it falls into some pattern or other is fruitless. Scrambling over Aqsa Parvez’ prone dead body, wrenching off this bit or that, to position it so that its ultimate sacrifice is a sacrifice for our just cause, the obliteration of the hijab or the destruction of the myth of traditional multiculturalism or the age-old war against tradition, is disgusting.”

Abdiel Abd Al Hayy takes on Irshad Manji et al.

Abdiel, 18 December 2007

Much more than receipts

Abdurahman Jafar“The report is fundamentally flawed. Policy Exchange seeks to name and shame institutions, not on the basis of evidence, but purely on the basis of their religious denomination or organisational affiliation. Further, there is a distinct difference between those institutions where receipts were genuine – these were largely apolitical, literalist and ultra-conservative Salafist or Deobandi ones – and those where the receipts have come under suspicion: institutions that were pragmatic and tolerant in their interpretation of Islam but according to the report were connected to the MCB. In my view, the evidence was cherry-picked to create a pre-determined conclusion designed to support an extreme ideology at odds with our national interests.”

Abdurahman Jafar produces the best demolition so far of the Policy Exchange report The Hijacking of British Islam.

Comment is Free, 17 December 2007

On Romney, Mormonism and Islam

“While the urgency of ‘responding’ to Islamic fundamentalism has been consistently highlighted in the ongoing presidential campaign, very little has been said about Christian, Jewish or other religious fundamentalisms. Rarely has a candidate – with the exception of Democrat Dennis Kucinich – dared to examine the relationship between Christian fundamentalism and the Iraq war, or Jewish fundamentalism and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Religious fanaticism and fundamentalism are rarely discussed as perilous phenomena in their own right; if it’s not ‘Islamic’ it simply doesn’t count.”

Ramzy Baroud at Middle East Online, 15 December 2007

Poisonous and dangerous

Seumas Milne“This week’s forensic exposure by the BBC programme Newsnight of the apparent fabrication of evidence underpinning an inflammatory report into British Muslims by the Tory-linked think tank Policy Exchange has revealed the soft underbelly of what has become an increasingly poisonous and dangerous campaign.

“Throughout this year, a steady stream of hostile and sensationalised stories about the Muslim community in both press and television – often based on research by apparently reliable think tanks – has helped feed anti-Muslim prejudice to the point where Britons were found this summer by a Harris opinion poll to be more suspicious of Muslims than Americans or citizens of any other major west European country.”

Seumas Milne at Comment is Free, 15 December 2007

‘Geert Wilders is evil, and evil has to be stopped’

Doekle TerpstraThe welcome campaign launched by the prominent Christian Democrat and former trade unionist Doekle Terpstra against anti-Muslim racist Geert Wilders has been roundly denounced by the Right.

At Pipeline News Bella Rabinowitz (who finds it significant that the campaign is supported by “the ultra-left Amnesty International”) denounces Terpstra’s initiative as an attempt to deny freedom of speech to Geert Wilders and claims that “the assault on Wilders is reminiscent of the hysteria which led to the assassination of another Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn”.

Over at the Brussels Journal Thomas Landen opines: “Last month one of Holland’s most prestigious institutes, the University of Leiden, appointed the Islamist ideologue Tariq Ramadan to the post of professor of Islamology. Mr Ramadan is at least as controversial as Mr Wilders. One wonders why Mr Terpstra, contrary to Mr Wilders, did not oppose Mr Ramadan’s appointment. Mr Terpstra did not make any effort to say ‘Tariq Ramadan is evil, and has to be stopped’. Why has no-one heard him call upon his countrymen ‘to rise in order to stop Ramadan’?”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: neocon in black face

“Ayaan Hirsi Ali first came to fame in the Netherlands, after emigrating there from Somalia. She was elected to the Dutch parliament and became known for criticizing that nation’s Muslim immigrant communities, especially for their treatment of women and girls. The story of a young, pretty, African woman finding success and prestige in a foreign land was tailor made for Hollywood, or for right-wingers looking for the perfect person to excuse government sponsored mass murder…. She has become well paid and famous because she demonizes her fellow Muslims. As with black Americans or any other group of despised people, the self haters, the Uncle Toms, are given a clear path to fortune and favor.”

Margaret Kimberley in Black Agenda Report, 12 December 2007

Muslims are also Scots, so treat us the same

“The reality is that parents are getting very jumpy about their kids getting involved in any kind of Muslim activity no matter how mundane for fear of them ending up on some watch, and that is dangerous, because when there is anger about foreign policy there needs to be an outlet, and that has effectively been shut down by the atmosphere and the approach to the Muslim community.

“Young Muslims are feeling angry at what is going on in the world with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. What is vital is that these people are channelled into the democratic process, where they can air their views and make change.”

Osama Saeed interviewed in The Scotsman, 13 December 2007

Osama’s blog is here.

Policy Exchange exposed

“On the basis of the evidence presented by Newsnight, what we appear to be dealing with here is not flawed methodology, errors or inconsistencies, but wilful distortion and fabrication committed not against an individual, or an institution, but against an entire social group. The consequences go beyond the community in question to the wider society, given the report’s exploitation by the media and political class, and aggravation of the existing climate of tension, anxiety and suspicion…. Coming on the heel of another report on on extremism among British Muslim youth, the report is yet another attempt to erase distinctions between mainstream and extreme Islam. Targeting mosques is no coincidence.”

Soumaya Ghannoushi at BLINK, 13 December 2007