Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Policy Exchange publishes another futile report

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MCB banner

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) views the Policy Exchange’s latest offering as another divisive attempt to drive a wedge between British Muslims and the rest of society.

Today’s report from Policy Exchange entitled ‘The Hijacking of British Islam‘ plumbs new depths in the ongoing and transparent attempts to try and delegitimise popular mainstream Islamic institutions in the UK and replace them with those who are subservient to neo-conservative aims.

The report cultivates an insidious programme of generating sectarianism amongst British Muslims by preferring some traditions of Islam over others. From its inception, the MCB has been a pioneer in creating a space for the many rich traditions of Islam. The authors of this report would do well to learn from the MCB’s good practice. The MCB reasserts its commitment to seek the common good and point to its record in encouraging all British Muslims to enthuse the Islamic value of reaching out and seeking common cause with all, of all faiths and none. The MCB does not tolerate any messages of hate, whatever its source – and the law should take its course.

“Today’s report lists extracts from a number of books on sale in some Muslim bookshops which they deem to be unacceptable. The plain fact is that if you deliberately go looking for controversial material then you will be guaranteed to find it somewhere in a bookshop. Muslim bookshops are no exception. Yet tellingly, it is only Muslim bookshops and institutions that Policy Exchange calls to be regulated. British Muslims will not be intimidated by these futile and irresponsible recommendations,” said Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

He added: “I would urge everyone to guard against the shrill hysteria generated by divisive organisations such as the Policy Exchange who provide succour to the far right. Sources of hope can be found elsewhere – yesterday’s launch of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) will complement, continue and strengthen the on-going work of the MCB in ensuring that mosques are welcoming and equipped for the twenty-first century.

Muslim Council of Britain news release, 30 October 2007

Islamophobia and self-hating Arabs

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nonie Darwish“A recent weeklong campaign undertaken by anti-Arab, anti-Muslim racist David Horowitz in university campuses across the US was designed to intimidate and terrorize students and professors who do not share Mr. Horowitz’s views when it comes to Israel….

“Among those recruited to participate in Mr. Horowitz’s hatred campaign is an Arab and former Muslim woman, named Nonie Darwish. Darwish is an Egyptian who is going around the country defending Israel’s right to occupy Arab lands and kill Arabs. She is also speaking against Arab and Muslim Americans accusing them of supporting terrorism.

“As if it’s not enough for Arab Americans and Muslims in this country to deal with bigots, racists and extremist pro-Israeli militants, they now have to deal with Nonie Darwish, who joins the racist cacophony in order to blemish the faith and culture of Arabs by falsely claiming Arabs and Muslims in America are about to or desire to ‘declare war’ on America.

“As ridiculous as this lie may sound, not surprisingly however, it finds fertile ground and receptive ears among those who has made it a career to tarnish Arab and Muslim Americans…. Nonie Darwish functions as the Native Informant who uses her knowledge of the Islamic faith and Arab culture to twist and bend the facts to serve her purposes.”

Ali Alarabi at The American Muslim, 29 October 2007

Minister ‘deeply disappointed’ by US airport detention

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shahid MalikBritain’s first Muslim minister has described his disappointment at being detained – for a second time – at a US airport, where his hand luggage was analysed for traces of explosive materials.

International development minister Shahid Malik was returning to the UK yesterday morning after attending a series of meetings on tackling terrorism when was stopped and searched at Dulles Airport in Washington DC. The MP for Dewsbury was detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – the same department whose representatives he had been meeting on his visit to the country.

Mr Malik said yesterday: “After a few minutes a couple of other people were also taken to one side. We were all Muslims – the other two were black Muslims, both with Muslim names.”

Mr Malik said he was particularly annoyed, as a similar incident happened to him last year, when he was detained for an hour at JFK airport in New York by the DHS. After his detention yesterday, which lasted about 40 minutes, he said:

“I am deeply disappointed. The abusive attitude I endured last November I forgot about and I forgave but I really do believe that British ministers and parliamentarians should be afforded the same respect and dignity at USA airports that we would bestow upon our colleagues in the Senate and Congress.”

Press Association, 29 October 2007

Indian Islamic group attacks BBC film for Bin Laden link

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Darul UloomA BBC documentary shown last night came under attack from one of India’s largest Islamic groups for linking their movement to Osama bin Laden and “extremist” Muslim groups around the world.

The Deoband school, whose main madrassa Darul Uloom (House of Knowledge) lies 90 miles north-east of Delhi, said it had allowed a television crew making a three-part documentary called Clash of Worlds into its grounds to explain its “message of peace and historic role in Indian affairs”.

The seminary is a global centre of Muslim learning with 15,000 schools worldwide adopting its sparse and dogmatic version of Islam. One report last month said almost 600 of Britain’s nearly 1,400 mosques are run by Deobandi-affiliated clerics.

However, Muslim scholars in Delhi became alarmed to hear the programme’s presenters talk of their part in the anti-British uprising in the nineteenth century being similar to “the role played by Osama bin Laden today”. Mohammad Anwer, a spokesman for the Deoband school, said he had protested to the film’s producers about the link with Bin Laden and “many other mistakes”. “We protested at the time but it made no difference. We do not advocate violence nor are we asking others to do violence,” said Mr Anwer.

“We did fight against the British in the nineteenth century but so did Hindus. Deoband has a long, proud history of being part of the independence struggle. But this is not comparable to Osama bin Laden.” Clerics in Delhi have also been incensed that their creed has been termed an Indian version of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi school, seen as a hardline, revivalist form of Islam.

Guardian, 29 October 2007

US protesters shout down Nick Griffin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP dustbinEAST LANSING – When British Nationalist Nick Griffin took the podium at a Friday night Michigan State University event, he tried to explain how Islam is a threat to Western civilization.

Protesters wouldn’t have it. Hurling obscenities and using chants to interrupt his address, rambunctious student organizations forced Griffin to abandon his speech and allow an informal question and answer session.

“We have all come from different backgrounds,” said Authra Khreis, 17, a pre-med student and a protester. “We should accept one another. I don’t think he should be allowed to speak. You can use free speech until you hurt another person.”

Griffin was invited to campus by a conservative student organization called Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF. Kyle Bristow, chairman of YAF, said his organization invited Griffin to promote intellectual debate.

Bristow said he doesn’t believe in many of the ideas Griffin has preached, particularly his alleged denial of the Holocaust, but does agree that the Islamic faith is a threat to America.

“I’ll stop saying their religion is terrible when they stop flying planes into buildings,” he said. “Islam is horrible. The extreme in Christianity is ‘love thy neighbor,’ with Islam it is violence.”

One student who engaged in a particularly long debate with Griffin was Junaid Mattu, a finance junior from India. “I am a supporter of free speech, but at the same time there has to be a benchmark,” he said. “Why does MSU time and time again show its insensitivity to minorities by inviting racists?”

Lansing State Journal, 27 October 2007

See also Indigo Jo Blogs, 27 October 2007 and CAIR press release, 26 October 2007

Let people wear cross or veil, says Archbishop

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Archbishop of Canterbury today warns politicians not to interfere with a Muslim woman’s right to wear the veil in public and cautions against a march towards secularism in British society.

In a dramatic intervention Dr Rowan Williams, who is backed by other senior church leaders, said that the Government must not become a “licensing authority” that decides which religious symbols are acceptable.

Writing in The Times he adds that any ban on the veil would be “politically dangerous”. His comments reflect concern within the Church that some members of the Government want to see Britain follow the same route as France, where secularism is close to being a national religion.

“The ideal of a society where no visible public signs of religion would be seen – no crosses round necks, no sidelocks, turbans or veils – is a politically dangerous one,” he writes. “It assumes that what comes first in society is the central political ‘licensing authority’, which has all the resource it needs to create a workable public morality.”

But secularists said that the Archbishop was misguided. Terry Sanderson, of the National Secular Society, said: “The way we are going in this country with the rise of Islam, the churches should look at secularism as their best friend.”

Times, 27 October 2006

Sanderson’s comment is of course entirely in line with the Islamophobic approach of the NSS, who happily formed an alliance with the evangelical Christian right in a campaign against the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, the primary purpose of which was to defend Muslims against incitement to hatred.

In January 2004, in the NSS Newsline, Sanderson wrote: “Secularism is under sustained threat from a resurgent Islam – and not just in France. In this country, too, it is becoming difficult to even discuss minority religions in critical terms without landing in trouble. We need to resist.”

Religious gesture of understanding turns into usual debate on hate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An ethnic advisory commission set up by the Governor of Oklahoma printed copies of the Quran, the Islamic “bible”, had them embossed with the State Seal and offered to distribute them to the 149 members of that state’s legislature. What was to be a gesture of understanding has turned into a battle of hateful words.

Oklahoma legislator Rex Duncan, a Republican from Sand Springs, rejected the offering and returned his copy of the Quran. Had it just been that, maybe we would not have noticed. But then like many other confused and uneducated Americans, Duncan added a little hate-politicking to the mix.

Duncan sent a nasty letter to his legislative colleagues and about two dozen said they would return the Islamic holy books, too, asserting that Islam is an evil religion that encourages its followers to kill innocent people.

“Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology,” Duncan asserted, adding in an interview with the Associated Press that he has “researched the Quran”, on the Internet, of course, and believes it supports killing. “That’s exactly what it says,” Duncan insisted.

Notorious for spewing anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred, Duncan probably is mindful of the fact that Americans are not knowledgeable about Islam, and that makes for a great opportunity to exploit them for political purposes.

Muslims and Arabs in America are under siege by a wave of ignorance-driven hatred. They should know that even the simplest, kindest gesture will be exploited by some to create angry debate rather than understanding.

The American Muslim, 27 October 2007

See  also “Lawmaker objects to getting copy of Quran”, Associated Press, 23 October 2007

And “Okla. lawmakers return Qurans”, Associated Press, 24 October 2007

Are US Muslims not real Americans?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sheila Musaji replies to an article in the St Louis Dispatch by one Z. Dwight Billingsly: “Mr. Billingsly is upset that a Chicago school district has allowed Muslim students to have crescent moons and stars to mark Ramadan included in school decorations along with decorations for other holidays like Christmas that already are included in the schools.”

She quotes Billingsly as writing: “In other words, mainstream Americans had agreed to subordinate their cultural traditions and accept another culture’s traditions as equivalent to their own. This is a prescription for our society’s destruction, a dangerous appeasement in the cultural wars. The school board should have told the Muslim parent that America’s cultural norm is to celebrate and value Christmas, not Ramadan. The board should have told her that if she wanted to celebrate Ramadan in her home or at her mosque, she was welcome to do so, but that at public schools, only Christmas and other traditional American cultural celebrations would take place.”

As Sheila Musaji points out, what Billingsly is asserting is that “American Muslims must accept that they are not equivalent to real Americans“.

Austria: provincial parliament demands ban on mosque construction

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The provincial parliament in the southern Austrian province Carinthia called on its provincial government to prepare legislation banning the construction of mosques or minarets. The province’s governor, the populist former leader of the rightist Freedom Party, Joerg Haider, had repeatedly called for anti-Muslim measures along those lines.

The proposal was adopted with the votes of the conservative People’s Party, Freedom Party, and the support of the Alliance for Austria’s Future, an equally rightist breakaway party from the Freedom Party, founded by Haider. Alliance floor leader Kurt Scheuch said his party wanted to prevent the creeping Islamization by radical forces. “We prefer churchbells to the muezzin’s chants,” he said.

Carinthia’s Social Democrats and Greens, who had voted against the measure, slammed the proposal as a move to “prevent integration (and) hinder religious freedom” and called it an “open attack on democracy and the rule of law.” The Social Democrats pointed out that currently there were no plans for for building mosques in the province, unmasking the proposal as an attempt to “attract the right-wing vote,” Social Democrat floor leader Peter Kaiser said.

Earth Times, 25 October 2007