Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Whose ‘Aussie values’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“John Howard’s government is using the idea of protecting ‘Aussie values’ – such as ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ – to justify both its brutal foreign policies, such as its participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its attempts to criminalise political dissent. The Coalition, aided by some state Labor governments and the media, has been whipping up Islamophobia and racism, trying to convince us that this is consistent with ‘Australian values’. …

“The resurgence of racism and nationalism is not unique to Australia; it is happening in nearly every advanced capitalist country. First World governments are using racism and Islamophobia to win public support for – or at least passive acceptance of – their big attacks on working conditions and civil liberties….

“Recognising that, in fact, we are all under the same whip is the essential basis for moving forward, towards a just world in which everyone stands for values that are universal, that reflect and safeguard the needs and interests of the great majority of people in all nations.”

Green Left Weekly, 20 January 2007

Dispatches and the demonisation of Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“This week, Channel 4 broadcast a very controversial documentary, Dispatches: Undercover Mosque, which appeared to have a clear agenda to demonise Muslims and incite fear of and hatred against them. Preachers’ statements were taken completely out of context … that a mainstream figure like Lord Nazir Ahmad was even castigated as having extremist tendencies indicated the immense bias which ran throughout the documentary.

“Moreover, by singling out Muslims for demonisation for holding beliefs shared by many other religious communities, the programme’s inherent Islamophobia was all too clear to see. Certain Muslim beliefs which were negatively portrayed as the doctrine of extremists are actually shared by Judaism and Christianity.”

Fahad Ansari at Open Minds, 19 January 2007

Like ‘a cheap Fox News report’ – Press Gazette on Undercover Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Zoe Smith reviews the Channel 4 Dispatches “documentary” Undercover Mosque:

The reporter attended talks at mosques run by key organisations claiming to be ‘mainstream’and found preachers condemning integration, democracy and homosexuality. The hour limped on with little new or revealing information. So some Muslims hate non-Muslims. Some Christians hate gays and some Jews hate Arabs, but broadcasters don’t feel the need to make hour-long programmes insinuating that entire religions are to be mistrusted.

The irritating background music, which cranked into gear whenever a preacher used the word kaffir or kuffr, gave the feel of a cheap Fox News report. Patronising in the extreme, the decision to make dramatic cuts to footage of women in hijabs and burkhas whenever ignorant mullahs spouted off about male supremacy, was bewildering. Does Dispatches think the majority of viewers equate the hijab with the subjugation of women? I expected a huge pay-off. ‘Our programme has uncovered bigotry and intolerance,’ it concluded. What else would one expect from an hour-long programme about religion?

Press Gazette, 18 January 2007

Anti-Muslim incidents on the rise at Ontario college

Posted on by Bob Pitt

McMaster University’s director of human rights and equity services is worried that racism and Islamophobia are growing on campus. Mark Walma said it is often subtle but it is affecting the environment for the school’s minorities, which include 1,500 students who are Muslim. He organized a seminar on campus yesterday to address the problem. It was attended by about 100 students. “We’ve been tracking an alarming number of racist incidents ranging from derogatory comments and opinions expressed by students and faculty to physical violence against Arab and Muslim students and it’s not a healthy climate for studying or working,” says Walma.

Hamilton Spectator, 19 January 2007

24 under fire from Muslim groups

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TV drama 24 is under fire from Muslim groups in the US, which say the show’s latest storyline fuels intolerance. The current series begins with Islamic terrorists waging an 11-day campaign of suicide bombings across America. The Council on American-Islam Relations said: “Repeated association of acts of terrorism with Islam will only serve to increase anti-Muslim prejudice”.

BBC News, 19 January 2007

Muslim preacher defends TV comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The hardline preacher at the centre of an explosive TV documentary into extremist lectures delivered at a Birmingham Mosque today insisted: “I have nothing to hide.”

Abu Usamah At-Thahabi was secretly taped for months by undercover reporters, appearing to deliver hate-filled lectures at Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath. He is now being investigated by West Midlands Police.

But today he described the Channel 4 Dispatches programme as “a poor attempt at fair journalism because every one of my statements were taken out of context – without any explanation.”

The cleric said he welcomed the police investigation and would provide them with all the DVDs of his lectures. “I totally embrace and encourage a police investigation because I do not believe that the security forces will have any hidden agenda in which they will allow themselves to be swayed by Channel Four’s sensationalist journalism.”

Birmingham Mail, 18 January 2007

Head scarf ban for Antwerp city counter clerks raises protests

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A head scarf ban for municipal counter clerks in the northern port city of Antwerp has raised protest from Muslims and women activists, officials said Tuesday.

The city council decided late Monday that civil servants dealing directly with the public should not wear visible religious symbols like a Muslim head scarf or a Christian cross. Some 150 mostly Muslim women protested the decision late Monday and the organizers said they were considering further action.

Antwerp has been a stronghold of the far-right Flemish Interest party, but it was defeated in local elections last October by the socialists, who had run a campaign stressing the multicultural makeup of Belgium’s second-largest city.

Opponents of the ban were disappointed that the coalition of socialists, liberals and Christian democrats who run the city council had outlawed head scarves for frontdesk staff. “It was a surprise, especially after a campaign like that,” said Sophie De Graeve of the women’s rights group VOK.

Associated Press, 16 January 2007

Responses to Dispatches

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain responds to Monday evening’s Dispatches programme “Undercover Mosque”:

“Following the 7/7 bombings it was always inevitable that Muslim organisations and mosques would be placed under the spotlight. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Documentary makers have an important responsibility though to do their research properly and carefully identify those who actually incite hatred. They must take great care to avoid unfairly stigmatising whole institutions and groups of people. The Dispatches team may have partly succeeded with the first bit, but I believe they failed quite badly with the second.”

Guardian Comment is Free, 17 January 2007

Osama Saeed has written: “… you will not find me defending the bigoted comments made on last night’s programme. They were out of order, full stop. In fact we did not see the people that made them finding much defence either. There were some inaccurate criticisms in the film, but this does not take away from the fact that there are some objectionable people who say seriously objectionable things in speeches. Muslims who hear these things must take them to task.”

See further comment from FOSIS, IHRC, Indigo Jo Blogs, Yahya Birt and Eteraz.

Sun admits ‘Muslim yobs’ story was baseless

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pickled Politics reports that the Sun has apologised for the story that it published last October, accusing “Muslim yobs” of hounding four soldiers out of their house in Windsor. The Sun now says:

“Following our report ‘Hounded out’ about a soldiers’ home in Datchet, Berks, being vandalised by Muslims, we have been asked to point out no threatening calls were logged at Combermere Barracks from Muslims and police have been unable to establish if any faith or religious group was responsible for the incident. We are happy to make this clear.”

See also Lenin’s Tomb, 18 January 2007

Even Mad Mel has been forced to (sort of) retract (scroll down to the bottom of the article).

40 Michigan Muslims claim racial profiling by airline

Posted on by Bob Pitt

DETROIT — A group of 40 Michigan Muslims said Tuesday they were unfairly profiled earlier this month when they were not allowed to board a Northwest Airlines flight in Germany on their way home from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

A Northwest spokesman said that the travelers reported to the gate Jan. 7 in Frankfurt, Germany, only about 20 minutes before their connecting flight was due to take off. Airline and international rules stipulate that passengers must check in for international flights at least an hour before departure and be onboard the aircraft at least 30 minutes beforehand. “They showed up at the last minute,” spokesman Dean Breest told The Detroit News.

But the Muslim pilgrims and the Council on American Islamic Relations rejected the airline’s statement at a news conference Tuesday, saying flight rules are at least the third reason given for the incident. “We arrived at the gate at least an hour and 30 minutes before the departure,” said Imam Sayed Hassan al-Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. “Others who came after us were allowed to board the airplane.” Al-Qazwini told the Detroit Free Press the airline was likely afraid of having 40 Muslims together on one flight.

Fox News, 17 January 2007

Update:  See “MI Muslim pilgrims offered apology, compensation by NW Airlines”, CAIR press release, 17 January 2007