Category Archives: Right wing

Man charged with firebombing Oregon mosque described himself as a ‘Christian warrior’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cody CrawfordThe 24-year-old man being held in last year’s firebombing of an Oregon mosque ranted about Muslims and referred to himself as a “Christian warrior” weeks after the arrest of a Muslim man accused of plotting to set off a car bomb in Portland, according to court documents.

Cody Crawford was arrested Wednesday night in the Nov. 28 firebombing in Corvallis. He was indicted on charges of damaging religious property for racial reasons, which is a hate crime, and using fire to commit a felony.

Court documents show that three weeks after the mosque firebombing, in unrelated encounters with police, Crawford ranted about Muslims, said Christians are capable of jihad and told an officer he resembled President Barack Obama. “You look like Obama. You are a Muslim like him. Jihad goes both ways. Christians can jihad too,” a court document quotes Crawford as telling a McMinnville officer Dec. 14.

The document says Crawford told officers “only Christians could understand him, that he was a Christian warrior that they were persecuting,” and that “you will never know the truth about the mosque.” Crawford also said he did not torch the mosque, according to the affidavit.

He had been arrested Dec. 14 after causing a disturbance at a gas station by shining a flashlight at a car, “talking about terrorists and Muslims,” and telling a witness he would “come back and kill you if you call the cops,” according to the document.

Associated Press, 26 August 2011

Can we take it that if Crawford is convicted Fox News etc will describe him as a “Christian terrorist”?

Update:  See Adam Serwer, “Alleged Oregon arsonist on ‘secret Muslims’ and ‘Christian warriors'”, American Prospect, 26 August 2011

Ohio Catholic school cancels Muslim goodwill event due to anti-CAIR campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Complaints and a request from the archbishop have led a Cincinnati Roman Catholic high school to drop plans for a Ramadan dinner to build goodwill with Muslims.

Kirsten MacDougal, president of Mother of Mercy school, says Archbishop Dennis Schnurr received “emotionally charged” emails, mostly from outside the area, and asked the girls’ school to cancel its Friday night plans. The event instead will be held at a church parish center.

A spokesman for Schnurr tells the Cincinnati Enquirer the complaints centered around the school’s partnership with the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Associated Press, 26 August 2011

‘Bordering on xenophobia’: Freep condemns Agema’s anti-Sharia bill

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“At a time when hundreds of thousands of Michigan families are hurting, State Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, is waging a silly anti-immigrant crusade that will do nothing but sow fear and distrust among the state’s diverse residents.”

The Detroit Free Press comes down firmly against the Michigan anti-Sharia bill.

Cork councillor calls for veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Cork councillor has called for a ban on burkas, balaclavas or other any clothing that masks identity, on the grounds of public safety.

Cllr Joe O’Callaghan (FG) said now was the time to deal with the issue as those affected are a “tiny minority”. His comments were rejected by, among others, Ali Selim, of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland, who described the proposal as “unnecessary”.

Mr O’Callaghan proposed a motion to Cork City Council, calling on Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to ban burkas and give gardaí powers to order youths to remove their hoodies.

“I knew this would cause controversy but I live in a free country and if I have an opinion I will express it. I’m doing it now because I feel now is the time to address this issue, not in five years’ time,” he said. The councillor said burkas, along with balaclavas and hoodies, have become unacceptable in public places for reasons of “public safety and common sense” following recent riots in London.

He added the burka had no place in modern Irish society. “Wearing a burka is an affront to women in this day and age and this view has been endorsed by one of our local Muslim leaders in Cork. I fail to accept that anyone with any cop-on would like to wrap themselves in what looks like a curtain all day,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

He endorsed the introduction of an Irish law making it obligatory not to cover one’s identity in public.

Mr Selim said the councillor was placing the burka, which has religious significance, in the same context as the hoodie, which has a criminal context.

“How many women has he talked to? And if some women choose to dress this way, why is he imposing a different way of clothing upon them?” Mr Selim said. “Ireland is a society with a good understanding of religion. There are lots of traditions shared between Irish society and Muslim communities. We should aim to unite on friendly ground, not aim to cause conflict among members of the same society.”

Irish Times, 20 August 2011

Via ENGAGE

Melbourne’s mayor accused of attack on Santa

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Robert Doyle has compared burqa-wearing Muslims to Santa Claus.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor yesterday said banning the burqa for security reasons could equally apply to people dressed as Santa. “After all, he’s got that red cap with the white band pulled down low over his forehead and then he’s got this false beard that hides most of his face in the lower part. So maybe those guys should be banned because you can’t really identify them,” he joked.

But anti-burqa senator Cory Bernardi said that Santa had no place in the debate. “It surprises me that the thought bubble from Robert Doyle would question one of our great cultural traditions in defence of something that is so alien to most Australians,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are already too many instances when our cultural traditions and celebrations have been abandoned to appease the disease of political correctness.”

A group of Victorian youths held an anti-burqa protest on Monday in response to the case of a Sydney woman who, because of identity issues caused by her wearing a burqua, successfully appealed against a jail sentence for deliberately making a false statement.

Cr Doyle said that calls to ban the burqa were offensive and a sign of prejudice and that there were procedures in place for police and customs staff who needed to properly identify someone wearing a burqua.

Herald Sun, 20 July 2011

See also Helen Szoke, “Burqa rally is about stoking fear not promoting security”, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July 2011

Tennessee: protestors oppose Wilders film

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cookeville protestCOOKEVILLE — A crowd of more than 100 peaceful protestors gathered outside the courthouse last night with signs saying “We love Muslims” and “All religions believe in justice,” among many others, showing their opposition to the Tennessee Freedom Coalition’s showing of what they call a highly controversial film about the Islamic religion.

“A Warning to America,” by Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician who has spoken out against Islam, was shown in the county commission chambers last night. DVDs of the film were also available for purchase at the event.

“We’re here to voice another side,” Pat Handlson, minister of Cookeville First Presbyterian Church and event organizer said. “I think it’s sad there’s been such negativity surrounding the Murfreesboro mosque.”

Wilders, according to Rachel Welch, organizer of the film showing and vice-chair of the Putnam County Republican Party, has been under persecution in his country for hate speech and speaking out against Shariah law. “This is certainly not a hate film,” Welch said. “It’s about facts and Islam being a political ideology shrouded in a religion.”

Very few confrontations between the two sides were reported and both Welch and Handlson were pleased with how peaceful it was.

“I just wanted everyone here to be a witness to this event,” Handlson continued. “To be a witness to love your God and love your neighbor. We all can co-exist.” Handlson is concerned about this film being shown locally because Cookeville is home to a large group of Saudi Muslims.

Herald-Citizen, 20 August 2011

See also Cookeville Times, 20 August 2011

Maryam Namazie and her allies

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Enemies Not AlliesThis week Maryam Namazie of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran announced the publication of a new book, Enemies Not Allies: The Far-Right. Co-authored by Namazie and Adam Barnett, it is issued under the imprint of One Law For All, an organisation launched by the WPI and its friends to campaign against the supposed threat posed by Sharia law in the UK.

The authors claim that the far right have “attempted to hijack legitimate criticism of Islamism” and the stated aim of their book is to establish the differences between the position of OLFA and that of “racist campaigns and organisations”. So we are given a summary of the ideology and political practice of the British National Party and the English Defence League, and of Stop Islamisation of Europe and its US franchise headed by Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, all of whom the authors roundly denounce.

Now it is certainly true that the WPI have major differences with the BNP, the EDL, SIOE and SIOA. Obviously Maryam Namazie and her comrades do not have a long history of activity on the neo-Nazi right like Nick Griffin, they do not head a violent anti-Muslim street movement like the leaders of the EDL, nor are they rabid ultra-Zionists like Pamela Geller. However, when it comes to Islam, the common ground that exists between the WPI and sections of the Islamophobic right, including some of its most extreme elements, is quite clear. And that is something Enemies Not Allies completely ignores.

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Mosque plan goes forward despite opposition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Plymouth, Minn. — A proposal to house a mosque in a soon-to-be-closed suburban post office is now heading to the Plymouth City Council, after being reviewed by the city’s planning commission Wednesday night.

About 200 people attended the hearing, which commissioners tried to limit to a discussion about logistics such as parking spaces, access and building use. But of the 16 or so people who spoke before the commission, two raised objections to the mosque on religious grounds, and the atmosphere sometimes grew heated.

“The center of Plymouth is not the appropriate place for this,” said resident Connie Sambor, who invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and said the community was forgetting the attacks too soon. She was interrupted by commission chair Jim Davis. “Ma’am, I’m going to have to cut you off. We’re here to talk about the building and the land use issues, not to talk about political opinions,” he said.

Jeff Baumann, of Coon Rapids, went a step further. “Aiding the enemy is treason,” he said.

“These are not my enemies, sir,” Davis replied. “Will you please sit down?”

“They are the enemy – they are saying they are the enemy,” Baumann insisted before finally yielding the floor.

Some commissioners also reported they received anti-Islamic e‑mails in the run-up to the meeting.

Many of the people who spoke at the public hearing were local Muslims such as Tamim Saidi, who told the commission his family is glad to belong to the Plymouth community, enjoyed living there, and wanted a place near home to worship. “This is our home. This is our country, and we love this country,” he said. “We have been here for a long time, and it’s time for us to have a place where we can worship.”

Non-Muslims, including Plymouth resident Steven Miller, also expressed support for the mosque. “I want the community to know that I not only approve of this facility but I do plan on going there and visiting and learning from the people who are there. I hope that you approve this,” he said as meeting attendees clapped.

The proposal goes to the Plymouth City Council next week for approval.

Minnesota Public Radio, 18 August 2011 

See also KARE who spoke to Ms Sabor after the meeting. “What’s it going to take for Americans to wake up to the Islamic agenda in this country?” she demanded.

‘NUTS!’ Allen West’s response to CAIR’s call to break links with anti-Muslim extremists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Congressman and possible senator Allen West lives in his own serene and strange reality where, no doubt, his recent response to a local Islamic group makes perfect sense.

In early August, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sent a 679-word letter to West urging him to cut ties with “anti-Islamic extremists”. CAIR singled out Brigitte Gabriel, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, and Rev. Neil Dozier as Muslim-haters with whom West has shared stages.

“Muslims protect and serve our great country and are afforded equal protection under law,” the letter read. “We shouldn’t have to defend our rights to worship freely or participate in the governing of our society.”

Soon afterward, CAIR received the following letter, which was first reported by CBS4. The Muslim group sent us a copy, which we’ve embedded below. We believe it might be the dumbest thing ever written on congressional stationery.

Executive director Nezar Hamze tells Riptide he’s befuddled: “Obviously, I was expecting a little more from an elected official. I don’t know if he was calling me nuts or calling my request nuts or what.”

(West’s spokesperson has yet to explain to New Times what the congressman meant.)

Hamze doesn’t think he’ll write West back. “How can I respond to this?”

Miami New Times, 16 August 2011

Allen West NUTS