Category Archives: Right wing

How Islamophobia swayed vote in Oklahoma elections

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cory Williams, a Democratic state representative from Stillwater, expected his opponent in the recent election to label him a free-spending liberal allied with President Obama. He did not foresee that he would be accused of trying to subject Oklahomans to Islamic law.

Mr. Williams was one of 10 Democrats who voted against putting a state constitutional amendment on the ballot that would forbid state judges from considering international or Islamic law in deciding cases. He considered the idea unnecessary, since the First Amendment already bans state-imposed religion.

His Republican challenger sent out mailers showing him next to a shadowy figure in an Arab headdress. On the other side, the flier said Mr. Williams wanted to allow “Islamic ‘Shariah’ law to be used by Oklahoma courts” and suggested that he was part of “an international movement, supported by militant Muslims and liberals,” to establish Islamic law throughout the world. “At the end of the day, it was just fearmongering,” Mr. Williams said.

He won by 280 votes, but many of his fellow Democrats failed to hold their seats. The amendment passed with 70 percent of the vote and helped drive record turnout in Republican strongholds. For the first time in the state, Republicans will now control the governor’s office and have veto-proof majorities in both houses of the Legislature.

New York Times, 14 November 2010

See also “Poll shows majority of Oklahomans have unfavorable view of Islam”, Tulsa World, 14 November 2010

‘Halal meat is being served in schools, hospitals and pubs – even though vets say Islamic slaughter is cruel ‘

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A few hours before dawn, and even through the inky blackness it is clear this is no ­ordinary warehouse. Outside the building, gusts of wind send hay and straw flying, and the air is thick with the acrid sent of manure. Despite the darkness, I can see blood trickling down the gutters and a group of men clutching knives. Every so often, the eerie scene is ­punctured by the sound of lambs bleating.”

The Daily Mail resumes its anti-halal campaign.

Republican right exploits Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Looking at the smoldering post-election landscape and the long presidential campaign trail ahead, it’s clear that Islamophobia as a political tool is here to stay – wielded by Republicans who use it to excite and galvanize the right wing, embarrass their opponents and sow the seeds of fear and paranoia in everyone else. And it’s so damn effective!”

Kelley B. Vlahos at antiwar.com, 9 November 2010

Leo McKinstry warns against ‘the rapid Islamification of our public culture’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The fabric of our civilisation is now at risk from militant Islam which aims to destroy our way of life. Yet instead of showing resolve in the face of this challenge, the political establishment vacillates between collusion and denial.

We are told that the Muslim zealots are a only tiny minority while we are also given constant assurances that there is no cause for concern in the rapid Islamification of our public culture….

But this is the hallmark of Britain’s relationship with Islam, where fear is dressed up as tolerance. Our political leaders constantly prattle about equality, yet they allow Sharia courts to flourish in our midst, with all its nasty oppression of women.

They pretend that the burqa is a welcome form of Muslim self-expression, though they would not dream of allowing British youths to go around public spaces permanently wearing black balaclavas. They do nothing to combat Muslim extremism on university campuses or in so-called faith schools and allow laws on human rights to be cynically exploited by those who only have contempt for humanity.

In this climate of denial, a number of myths are sedulously promoted to quell justified public anxieties about Islam. One is the emphasis on the majority of Muslim moderates who have nothing to do with extremism. But in recent years, this majority has been distinguished only by its silence….

We are dealing with a dangerous, aggressive ideology, not some minor fringe problem. “Islam will dominate the world” read one of the placards at last week’s [demonstration]. Unless we wake up, this will become a terrifying reality.

Daily Express, 8 November 2010

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 8 November 2010

Judge blocks Oklahoma anti-Islam constitutional amendment

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A federal judge in Oklahoma today temporarily blocked an anti-Islam state ballot measure (officially known as SQ 755) that would have amended that state’s constitution to forbid judges from considering Islamic principles (Shariah) or international law when making a ruling.

U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the United States District Court – Western District of Oklahoma granted a temporary restraining order blocking certification of the November 2nd passed ballot measure by the Oklahoma State Board of Elections.

The court ruling came one day before the certification of the election results. If the voting result is certified on November 9, the measure would amend the Oklahoma state constitution to forbid judges from considering Islamic principles (Shariah) or international law to guide their decisions.

Judge Miles-LaGrange also scheduled a hearing on November 22 for arguments as to whether she should grant a preliminary injunction that would extend the restraining order until a final determination is made in the case.

OpEd News, 8 November 2010

Express says Shias are ‘Islamic fanatics’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic fanatics are mutilating themselves at a British mosque in a bloody ceremony carried out only yards from a busy high street.

Shia Muslims use a five-bladed chain called a Zanjeer to whip their own backs and make cuts in their foreheads with razor blades in homage to their faith. Bare-chested men were left bleeding heavily during the ritual known as Matam – self-flagellation – which a witness described as being “like a scene from a horror film”.

The Sunday Express found that up to 800 men performed the bloody ceremony in secret at the Imamia Mosque in Forest Gate, east London, last year.

Sunday Express, 7 November 2010

Wilders accuses Merkel of copying him

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders says German Chancellor Angela Merkel is copying his politics. In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, the anti-Islam MP said Chancellor Merkel is scared that a charismatic figure, like himself, who can attract 20 percent of the vote, will emerge in Germany.

“That is a threat to the traditional parties,” says Mr Wilders. “That is why she is trying to copy us; Merkel declared the multicultural society a failure.” The controversial politician criticised a pattern he also sees in the Netherlands; he thinks the political elite is in disarray. As an example he pointed out that CSU leader Horst Seehofer says he does not want any more Turkish or Arabic immigrants.

RNW, 7 November 2010

Does Mr Justice Cooke think Islam is a religion of hate?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sentencing Roshonara Choudhry after her conviction for the attempted murder of Stephen Timms MP, Mr Justice Cooke told her: “You said you wanted to die because you wanted to be a martyr and that it was Islamic teaching that to fight and die for your religion is the highest honour. You said that you thought you had fulfilled your obligation and your Islamic duties to stand up for the people of Iraq and to punish someone who wanted to make war with them.”

Cooke observed of Timms: “I understand that he brings to bear his own faith, which upholds very different values to those which appear to have driven this defendant. Those values are those upon which the common law of this country was founded and include respect and love for one’s neighbour, for the foreigner in the land, and for those who consider themselves enemies, all as part of one’s love of God. These values were the basis of our system of law and justice and I trust that they will remain so as well as motivating those, like Mr Timms, who hold public office.”

If Cooke was saying that Timms’ interpretation of his faith led him to do good, whereas Choudhry’s interpretation of hers led her to an act of attempted murder, that would be fair enough (allowing for the fact that a judge is hardly likely to view a vote for the Iraq war as an act of evil). All faiths are open to conflicting interpretations. But Cooke’s words could also be taken as arguing that Christianity is a religion of love and peace whereas Islam is a religion that inspires violence. Trying to be charitable, I initially concluded that his statements were ambiguous.

However, Tom Leonard draws our attention to the fact that Mr Justice Cooke is a prominent figure in the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, a right-wing evangelical organisation with a record of promoting anti-Muslim bigotry.

For example, the LCF joined with other fundamentalist Christian groups in whipping up hysteria over the plan to build a so-called “mega-mosque” in Newham. The LCF website published a letter to MPs and peers by Christian Concern For Our Nation headed “Terrorist links for Olympics mosque?”, and in the aftermath of the attempted 2007 car bombings in London and Glasgow the LCF reproduced a press release by Alan Craig of the Christian People’s Alliance accusing Tablighi Jamaat of inspiring the attacks.

In 2008 the LCF’s then public policy director Andrea Minichiello Williams hosted a conference called Understanding Islam, where the featured speaker was one Sam Solomon, who told his audience: “The Christian faith, it is all about love…. What is Islam based on? It’s based on this one word: Hate.” Solomon added: “The closer you get in Islam to the Koran and to the Islamic sources the more radical you become and the more hateful a personality you develop.” Solomon claimed that Muslims “are brainwashed, they are indoctrinated in accepting that we are the enemies and we must be liquidated and eradicated”. (See video here here from 2:30.)

This certainly sheds some light on the thinking behind Cooke’s comments, doesn’t it? That a man with close links to Christian fundamentalism should have been allowed to preside over such a sensitive case as Choudhry’s is unbelievable, and it is even more unacceptable that he should use the trial as a platform to promote his own religious views.