The recent spat between Paul Goodman and Douglas Murray (see here, here, here, here, here, here and here) has attracted some attention, including coverage by Hugh Muir in the Guardian Diary. For those who haven’t followed this dispute, the initial cause of the conflict was a difference of opinion over gay marriage, which Goodman opposes and Murray strongly supports (making this one of those rare occasions where I agree with Murray). A bizarre exchange of insults ensued, with Murray accusing Goodman of conniving with homophobes in the Muslim community in order to block the right of lesbian and gay couples to marry, while Goodman claimed that by refusing to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples Murray was opening the door to “multiple sharia marriages”.
Category Archives: Right wing
Hannity hosts anti-Muslim ‘hate group’ leader to analyze events in Middle East
On the Friday edition of his Fox News show, Sean Hannity invited Pamela Geller, head of the anti-Muslim group Stop the Islamization of America, to discuss events in Libya and the Middle East. The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies Geller’s organization as an anti-Muslim “hate group,” and Geller herself has an extensive history of hate speech and extremist rhetoric – both of which she brought to her Hannity appearance.
Geller engaged in her usual anti-Muslim ranting, declaring that Sharia law “discriminates against women and non-Muslims, it restricts the freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.” After being asked by Hannity how many Muslims are radicalized, Geller replied, “I don’t think they’re radical, I think they’re devout.” She seemed to think Moammar Gadhafi had been doing just fine as Libya’s leader: “I think we have to question why we went into Libya. Libya had, after the Bush doctrine, abandoned their unconventional weapons, abandoned their WMD, was selling oil to us, less than the Saudi Arabians. I mean, why did we go into Libya then? Why didn’t we go after the real devil?”
Rita Verdonk leaves politics, recommends supporters to join PVV
Right-wing populist politician Rita Verdonk is standing down as head of Trots op Nederland (proud of the Netherlands) the political party she founded in 2007, according to media reports on Friday.
TON number two Arthur van der Putte told the Volkskrant Verdonk is standing down. She had been due to announce her decision during a television current affairs show later on Friday evening.
Verdonk set up the party after losing the VVD leadership battle to Mark Rutte and being expelled from the right-wing Liberals. She lost her seat in parliament at the last general election but TON took around 50 seats in the most recent local elections.
Van der Putte said Verdonk had spoken to Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, and was recommending remaining TON members and councillors switch to supporting the anti-Islam party.
Tennessee Islamophobes link up with Christian Concern
COOKEVILLE — Sam Solomon may be an expert on Sharia law – but he doesn’t practice it. Not anymore. And tomorrow, the former Muslim and Islamic jurist from England will be at Tennessee Tech – one of several stops he’s making in Middle Tennessee in the coming days – to share his story of conversion and discuss different aspects of Sharia law, which is the legal system of the Islamic religion.
The conference, which is open to the public and welcomes people of all religious backgrounds and political affiliations, begins at 2 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Roaden University Center. A question and answer session will follow.
Also speaking will be English social activist Andrea Williams, who, along with Solomon, works with England’s Christian Concern, an organization that seeks to introduce a Christian voice into law, the media and government. She will lecture on modern liberalism and how multi-culturism, political correctness and Islamization of British society is “destroying our traditional lifestyles and prohibiting an active Christian life.”
Horowitz and Spencer’s Islamophobia
Over at National Review Online (of all places) there’s an excellent article by Matt Duss, co-author of the Center for American Progress’s report Fear Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America. It is written in reply to David Horowitz and Robert Spencer’s recent piece denouncing what they claim is an “ugly campaign” to depict them as Islamophobes.
Q Society organises speaking tour for Robert Spencer in Australia
The Q Society announces:
America’s outspoken researcher and bestselling author on Islamism and Jihad has accepted our invitation to Australia. Robert will speak in all major cities between 26 November and 3 December 2011. At this critical time comes a unique opportunity for Australians to gain valuable insights from one of the foremost experts in this field. An issue which now troubles and concerns so many. The key theme for his first Australia tour is Socio-Political Jihad – Conquering the West without Swords, Guns or Bombs.
The Q Society has produced a video in which Spencer announces his imminent arrival in Australia.
For more on the Q Society see here.
Texas: Geller and Tea Party booted from hotel
The Sugar Land Tea Party was forced to move an event featuring a prominent critic of radical Islam after Hyatt Place learned of opponents’ plans to protest it.
The hotel, where activist Pamela Geller was going to address the crowd and sign copies of her new book Stop the Islamization of America, cancelled their meeting space, forcing the Tea Party to reserve a nearby community center. “In light of the business disruptions affiliated with this event, it has been moved to an alternate location,” said a Hyatt Place manager, who declined to give further details on the decision.
Geller is known for her views on Islam, including strong opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque (which she is said to have nicknamed), dismissal of liberal politicians for “giving in” to American Muslims and continued belief that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. On her right-wing blog Atlas Shrugs, Geller urged readers to boycott the hotel for cancelling the event, calling it a setback to free speech and “a stunning surrender to Islamic supremacism”.
The Sugar Land Democrats Club announced their protest on Sunday and still plans to hold a peaceful demonstration at the event’s new location, the Sugar Land Community Center. “Let’s send a message to the fear mongers and haters in Sugar Land and Fort Bend County that the likes of Ms. Pamela Geller and her bigoted ideology are not welcome here in the 4th most racially diverse county in the USA,” residents Deron Patterson and Q Imam said in a press release.
Ann Barnhardt’s anti-Islam rant cancelled
At her mildest, Ann Barnhardt appears on a poster, dressed in pink high-heeled shoes, toting a pink AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, standing side-by-side with a heroic portrait of Joan of Arc. At her most extreme, the slim, dark-haired woman with wide, bright eyes appears before an American flag, holding a copy of the Quran bookmarked with raw bacon, reading pages aloud, tearing them out and setting them ablaze in a large vase.
Barnhardt’s tough, explicitly illustrated anti-Islamic message first played in Loveland in Sept. 20 at a meeting of the Loveland 912 Project. “She’s out there. That’s for sure,” 912 Project chairman Tom Buchanan said. “I don’t think we’ll be asking her back again anytime soon.”
Muslim students walk out in protest at Darwish’s attacks on Islam
The Arkansas State University newspaper The Herald reports on a lecture by Nonie Darwish.
Department of Homeland Security officer disciplined over anti-Muslim hate comments on Facebook
A veteran officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Chicago is being disciplined after posting hundreds of racist and derogatory comments on Facebook.
His name is Roy Egan. Not only were Officer Egan’s racial and religious rants open for anyone to see, for years he openly identified himself by name on Facebook and listed his employer as U.S. Homeland Security-TSA, the Transportation Security Administration.
For the past nine years, Egan has worked as a TSA baggage screener at O’Hare Airport. The 46-year-old has noted on his Facebook page, “I look for bad stuff going on airplanes.”
But it wasn’t Egan’s personal data that caught the eye of the I-Team. It was his public postings calling “Islam a cult that glorifies death…and a filthy religion.” It is a theme Egan repeated in postings just about every day: that Muslims should be exterminated.