Category Archives: Right wing

German state interior ministers call for crackdown on Salafis

Posted on by Bob Pitt

German state interior ministers are warning of a rise in radical Salafist Islam that poses a risk of home-grown terrorism, with one politician calling for changes to residency laws so “hate preachers” can be more easily deported.

Hesse Interior Minister Boris Rhein of the conservative Christian Democratic Union told daily Die Welt that Salafism was a “centre and pivot for those who want to participate in so-called holy war”.

“Salafism can in this way lay the path to Islamist terrorism,” he said, adding that the law needed to be changed so that “hate preachers” can be more easily thrown out of the country. “In future, this should be possible when someone spreads material that goes against the liberal democratic basic order or that fosters radicalisation or, as the case may be, terrorism recruitment. We should also change the corresponding laws covering the right to assembly and paragraphs of the sedition law.”

Interior ministers from Germany’s 16 federal states plan to discuss the issue when they hold a regular meeting on Tuesday. TheFinancial Times Deutschland reported Tuesday that theVerfassungsschutz domestic intelligence agencies would be intensifying their monitoring of the Salafist scene. “Salafism is seen both in Germany and on the international level as the dynamic Islamist movement at the moment,” a Verfassungsschutz expert, who was not named, told the FTD.

Rhein said that Salafists wanted “a return to a stone-age Islam and want to turn Germany into a theocracy”. “They demonise anything western. The preach hate, intolerance and exclusion. They call for the stoning of adulterers and death sentences for homosexuals. They reject the equality of men and women. This ideology is at odds with our fundamental values. It is in every way unconstitutional and dangerous.”

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann of the conservative Christian Social Union also warned of the growing danger. “I am warning against underestimating the danger arising from Salafism,” he told the FTD. “Almost all terrorism issues in the past have been somehow or other traced back to a tendency to radicalisation from Salafism. We have to be especially watchful here.”

Herrmann said: “We must not allow home-grown terrorists to breed and gain control under our noses. We have to come down on Salafism and its ideology decisively and with all legal means.”

The Local, 21 June 2011

Islamophobic extremists to hold joint conference in France

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SIOA-SIOE

Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) are to hold their first joint conference in July. The organizations will hold the event in Strasbourg, France, on July 2. Among the speakers will be a representative of the English Defence League (EDL).

SIOA and SIOE claim to “defend human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech” against what they call “Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the West.” This summit will feature the first speech in Europe by Executive Director of SIOA, Pamela Geller.

The confirmed list of speakers also includes Robert Spencer; SIOE Director Anders Gravers; Roberta Moore of the Jewish Division – EDL; Conny Meier of the German group Pax Europa; and Bulgarian presidential candidate Pavel Chernev.

Asian Image, 21 June 2011

See also Atlas Shrugs, 21 June 2011

SPLC Intelligence Report: cadre of hard-core activists fueling resurgence of anti-Muslim hate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jihad Against IslamA decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a second wave of anti-Muslim hatred is being propelled by a small cadre of activists who are exploiting Americans’ fears of Islamic extremism, according to the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today.

In the wake of this hysteria, anti-Muslim hate crimes have been reported across the country, protests have been launched against mosques, and lawmakers in more than a dozen states have introduced legislation to ban the use of Islamic religious law, called Shariah, in the U.S. legal system – a completely unfounded fear.

“We’ve seen a remarkable resurgence of anti-Muslim hatred around the country,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. “Unlike the first and far more understandable wave that followed the Sept. 11 attacks, however, this one was largely ginned up by politicians and commentators pandering for votes and ratings. It’s been a despicable exercise in Muslim-bashing for personal benefit. While there are legitimate concerns about terrorism, the rhetoric we’ve been hearing aims to demonize all Muslims.”

SPLC news report, 21 June 2011

Australia: anti-Muslim pastor launches new right-wing party

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rise Up Australia PartyA controversial pastor has formed a new political party he claims will uphold Christian values and protect freedom of speech. Catch the Fire Ministries pastor Danny Nalliah said the Rise Up Australia Party would also highlight issues such as the burqa and the failure of multiculturalism.

“Immigrants who make Australia their home, while free to celebrate their own ethnic backgrounds, must respect Australian culture,” he said. “Rise Up Australia Party is totally opposed to the introduction of Sharia law in Australia – it is incompatible with our democracy and particularly curtails the civil rights and freedoms of women.”

Dr Nalliah and another pastor were involved in a five-year legal battle after the Islamic Council of Victoria claimed comments they made about Muslims breached the state’s religious vilification laws. The case was settled after the Court of Appeal overturned VCAT’s decision to uphold the complaint.

Herald Sun, 22 June 2011

See also Catch the Fire Ministries press release, 22 June 2011

And “Pastor launches anti-multicultural party”, AAP, 22 June 2011

The Geert Wilders admirer who says she’s concerned about the rights of Muslim women

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Baroness Cox insists her chief motivation is protecting vulnerable women who are hoodwinked by sharia courts into believing that these courts have the power to make judgments. Few will disagree with the idea of reining in any attempt to usurp British law. But I cannot help feeling slightly uncomfortable that the chief proponent of this Bill is the kind of person who extends an invitation to a virulent Islamaphobe like Geert Wilders.”

Jerome Taylor interviews the author of the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill in the Independent.

Meanwhile, over at the Jewish Chronicle, Melanie Phillips has come out in support of Cox’s bill, and explains why Sharia tribunals have nothing in common with Beth Din courts: “Jews believe that the law of the land is the law…. By contrast, Muslims promoting sharia believe that Islamic law must supersede the law of the land because sharia is divinely ordained and recognises no superior secular authority.”

Hijab-wearing ‘flash mob’ protests at right-wing bloggers’ conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Protestors at RightOnlineMINNEAPOLIS — A group of around ten women in Muslim headscarves crashed the RightOnline conference for about ten minutes Saturday, protesting what they said was an incident targeting Muslim women Thursday night.

The event was the latest spark kicked up by the proximity of Netroots Nation and RightOnline. The two conferences are blocks apart – RightOnline is being held in a hotel many Netrootsers are staying in – and interaction between the progressives at Netroots and the conservatives at RightOnline has been inevitable.

A spokesperson for the group of women told TPM they weren’t sure of the identity of the man responsible for the Thursday incident – when two hijab-wearing women were followed by a man with a cell phone camera who reportedly asked them why they were dressed the way they were “in America” – but rumors that the incident involved an employee of conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart were rampant at Netroots.

The women who arrived at RightOnline were Netroots attendees, and were accompanied by blogger Joe Aravosis and gay rights advocate/provocateur Dan Choi.

The spokesperson for the “flash mob,” Allison Nevitt, told TPM that there was a larger message to their protest beyond the Thursday incident, which Nevitt said had been reported to Minneapolis police. “The point was mostly that Muslim women are an equal part of this nation, and that we have an equal right to exist here,” Nevitt said.

TPM, 18 June 2011

Update:  See “Right-wing blogger charged with harassing Muslim women”, above.

Arrests at anti-Islamic protest during Dearborn’s Arab International Festival

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bible Believers protest DearbornA small group of anti-Islamic protesters caused a ruckus at the Arab International Festival Friday, resulting in the arrest of several festival attendees.

The group, who identified themselves as the Bible Believers, held up signs referring to Islam as a “religion of murder” and urging Muslims to “repent” while standing in the festival’s free speech zone, located at Miller Road and Warren Avenue.

A group of counter-protesters and onlookers gathered around the area – some of them shouting at the Bible Believers and throwing water bottles, trash and shoes.

Wayne County and Detroit police, including mounted officers, quickly rallied to keep the public away from the anti-Islamic protesters. At least two people resisted, resulting in separate arrests.

Police were not able to confirm how many arrests were made at the festival.

Dearborn Patch, 17 June 2011

See also WXYZ.com, 17 June 2011

Multiculturalism must go, says Dutch home affairs minister

Posted on by Bob Pitt

UTRECHT-CDA-CONGRESDutch society and its values must take precedence and integration policy should go, home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner told parliament on Thursday evening during the presentation of his integration bill.

Donner spoke of a “change of direction” in which the government “will distance itself from the relativism contained in the model of a multicultural society”. Society changes, he said, but must not be “interchangeable with any other form of society”, according to press reports.

It is not the government’s job to integrate immigrants, he said. General policy on schooling, jobs and housing gives them ample opportunity for integration.

Donner wants an end to integration policy and a tougher approach to people who ignore Dutch values or disobey the law. He is planning to introduce a law making forced marriage illegal and he wants tougher measures for immigrants who lower their chance of employment by the way they dress.

If necessary, the government will introduce extra measures to allow the removal of residence permits from immigrants who fail their integration course.

Dutch News, 17 June 2011

See also RNW, 17 June 2011

Statement by the Islamic Sharia Council on Baroness Cox’s bill

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Statement by the Islamic Sharia Council

Lady Cox recently proposed “The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill” to Parliament. This aims to tackle discrimination by shariah councils and introduces an imprisonable offence if anyone claims that shariah councils have legal jurisdiction in criminal law.

It is indeed a crime that Lady Cox has made no attempt to understand the workings of the shariah councils. She repeats the modern mantra that shariah law “is an inherent discrimination system which is causing real suffering to women”. Perhaps she could then explain why 90% of clients of these councils are women.

It is totally incorrect to suggest that shariah councils consider their judgements to be superior to the English Legal System. At the Islamic Shariah Council, we are concerned only with the religious aspects of divorce, such as the settlement of the dower. This is akin to couples having a religious marriage (Nikah) at the Mosque and then a civil marriage at their local Registry office. The religious marriage and divorce satisfy the religious needs of the community and do not encroach on the work of civil bodies. In many cases Muslim couples do not register their marriages and in the event of divorce, the wife is then left in an incredibly vulnerable position with no recourse to the law. Shariah councils are in the position to dissolve this marriage.

Domestic violence is just as condemned in Islam as it is in the English Legal System. If a woman suffers from such abuse and approaches the Islamic Shariah Council, she is in a strong position to obtain the divorce she seeks. The ISC does not advise abused women to return to their husbands.

In child custody issues, we advise clients to approach family courts to settle them. If both clients sign their agreement to hear the advice of the ISC, we will certainly offer such advice. It is however not a binding judgment. In most cases of divorce, it is the mothers who receive custody of their minor children anyway unless there is very strong evidence against her ability as a mother and primary carer.

We fail to understand why the issue of the testimony of a woman being half of that of a man is even mentioned in this context. Shariah councils deal with marriage and divorce, and so have no jurisdiction in such matters.

Furthermore, it is morally wrong to comment on such issues without knowledge of them. In legal disputes, Islamic courts require two male witnesses as well. A female witness in a financial case is required to have a second woman with her in a supporting role, but the primary witness will be responsible for her own testament.

Lady Cox has regurgitated common myths about the role of women in Islam in an effort to undermine the work of the shariah councils. For this she deserves little praise.

Issued by:
Dr. Suhaib Hasan
Secretary
The Islamic Sharia Council