Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

North Carolina church’s sign against Islam sparks controversy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

North Carolina church sign (1)

Words like “bomb” and “die” draw attention to the small sign in front of Good News Independent Baptist Church.

Rev. Gary Murrell put up the sign, which on one side claims the message of Islam is “submit, convert or die.” The other side reads: “When is the last time you heard of a Jew or Christian with a bomb strapped to their body?”

Despite some in the Islamic community who claim the sign is offensive, Murrell says it is not a hate sign. “It was not put up there with the purpose of showing that we hate those people,” he said. “It’s not the people, it’s the religion.”

Murrell says it is a violent religion compared to Christianity. But not everyone agrees.

“I would really say that the actions of one individual really do not represent the Islamic faith,” said Debbie Jaunich, with the Islamic Center of Raleigh. “The Islamic faith really calls for peace.”

“It’s sad to see that we still have this kind of ignorance in the community about the Islamic faith,” she added. Murrell says he is trying to make people think but Jaunich said she thinks it breeds discrimination and bigotry.

“The point is that their salvation is in Jesus Christ, not in the Islamic faith,” Murrell said. “I am not trying to be a bigot. I’m not. I don’t hate those people.”

Murrell says the sign has been up for about a week and that he plans to change it this weekend.

But discussion about the message will likely continue. The Islamic Center of Raleigh is inviting Murrell and his congregation for a visit to learn more about Islam.

WRAL, 11 May 2007

North Carolina church sign (2)

Hidden toll of Scots religious hate crime

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nearly half of Scotland’s police forces have no idea about the number of religious hate incidents reported in their area.

Despite the west of Scotland’s problems with sectarianism and growing concerns over Islamophobia in the wake of the 7 July terror attacks in London, Strathclyde Police does not track crimes linked to faith. Neither the Fife nor Dumfries and Galloway force compiles such statistics. However, police in other areas have been collating them for up to a decade.

Community leaders expressed concerns yesterday, claiming little action could be taken to address religious hatred until the true picture was known. Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, said: “There is a climate of fear of Islam and general tension about the international situation. Until you know the scale of the problem, you can’t tackle it.”

Scotsman, 9 May 2007

The Little Bulldogs blog takes the opportunity to repeat false allegations against Osama Saeed which Osama himself rebutted at the time.

Years after 9-11, American Muslims increasingly targets of hate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Sometimes it takes a real yahoo to wake up a village. So, just wanted to say thanks to the person who sent Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a death threat last week. It carried the usual ‘Death to Islam’ rantings. But this one also had the chilling message: ‘Altaf Ali is a walking dead man.’

“Good job. We needed the wake-up call. Needed to remember that, six years after 9-11, Muslims in America continue to be the targets of violence and abuse. We especially need it now, with President Bush threatening a veto of legislation that would expand the national hate crime law.”

Ralph de la Cruz in the Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8 May 2007

Despotic secularism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“I am now more convinced than ever that there is no secularism, per se, ever associated with democracy, openness, tolerance and other lofty political values, and no religion, per se, ever linked to intolerance, irrationality, violence, fanaticism and all that is deficient and disturbing. Neither has a monopoly over virtue or evil. Secularism may be allied to repression and despotism; religion to democratisation and openness. In Turkey today, the generals, secularism’s self-appointed ‘absolute guardians’, are the ones threatening to suspend the democratic process and overthrow the elected government and the Islamist-rooted AKP government the one defending democracy and pluralism, and appealing to the nation to uphold them.”

Soumaya Ghannoushi at Comment is Free, 7 May 2007

See also Lenin’s Tomb, 2 May 2007 and Austrolabe, 5 May 2007

Meanwhile, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown takes a different view of despotic secularism: “Our universities do nothing as Muslim women are compelled or pulled into wearing head and body covers. We do not defend our secular state. They do in Turkey, though some with unwarranted viciousness, which is self-defeating. I hope they can save their country’s political pillars being lent on with such strength by Islamicists. They still have a chance and can avoid, I hope, the charms of the Iranian Islamic idyll. We must, too.”

Independent, 7 May 2007

Hijab and Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“I can’t quite figure out how holding criminals who happen to be Muslims responsible for their crimes translates into the ‘all Muslims are terrorists’ attitude now rampant. Nor do I understand how criticising the oppression of women who among other things may be forced to wear hijab against their will, automatically makes hijab a symbol of the oppression of women by Islam. To me this sounds like the same old demonising and essentialising of the ‘other’ that has gone on for centuries. You know, the tropes that persist until today. They position all African peoples as inferior savages; all travellers (previously known as gypsies) as thieves and dishonest; all Jews as ‘shylocks’ etc. Curious, that considering the overwhelming list of crimes committed against humanity by people with white skin from the 15th century to today’s Iraq, this type of ‘logic’ never leads to the conclusion that ‘all whites are depraved and deranged murderers and thieves’.”

Colonise This! 3 May 2007

Anger at bus firm’s veil ruling – T&G threatens strike action

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lothian busesA bus company in Edinburgh has sparked anger over rules requiring drivers to ask Muslim women wearing the veil to show their faces. Religious groups and unions said the rules introduced by Lothian Buses to catch potential fare cheats were unnecessary. Passengers have been told to lift their veils or produce a passport or driving licence when boarding. The company said the rules brought them into line with airport security.

Sohaib Saeed, events co-ordinator at Edinburgh Central Mosque, said: “This seems quite unnecessary. You have to wonder how much of a problem this really is. People going to all the trouble of wearing a veil just to dodge a bus fare seems an incredible effort. This rule is intrusive and it’s singling people out.”

Osama Saeed, from the Muslim Association of Britain in Scotland, said: “In the current climate, I don’t think there are many women in Edinburgh wearing a veil, let alone getting on buses to evade fares.”

The Transport and General Workers’ Union (T&G) said bus drivers could go on strike unless the new rules were ditched. “Drivers are unhappy and uneasy about this. There’s a real risk of causing offence and their jobs are hard enough,” regional industrial organiser Sandy Smart said. “It’s not particularly clever, it’s a bad idea and Lothian Buses need to have a rethink.”

BBC News, 4 May 2007

Faith communities oppose fascism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim and Jewish leaders have called on voters to stop the BNP in Yorkshire and other target areas. Their move follows the Archbishop of York’s advert on May 1st warning about the threat posed by politics of hate.

On Tuesday, Archbishop of York Dr. John Sentamu placed an advert in the York press calling for a vote against division and hatred.

His advert read; “…Not voting creates a political vacuum, leaving the way open to unrepresentative politicans and parties to get their way. There are those seeking your vote whose actions betray the lives of those who fought for freedom. Jesus warned us to be wary of wolves who come in sheep’s clothing. They come with honeycombed words, promising a New England, and a land of milk and honey. In reality they offer us a diet of bile and discord, a litany of hopelessness and policies which stoke the ashes of Cliffords tower.

If apathy becomes the real winner on Thursday night, then those who seek to divide us will be elected, hiding under apathy’s skirt. My hope is that as you cast your vote on Thursday you do so with your eyes wide open so that our city does not sleepwalk into a wall of hate.”

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