A fraudulent email making the rounds of the right-wing blogosphere this past week, from Glenn Beck’s 9/12 site to Fox News, relayed the amazing first-hand tale of an heroic patriotic Texan who practically single-handily thwarted a “terrorist dry run” on a flight from Atlanta to Houston. The fake Jack Bauer wannabe in question, Theodore Petruna, posted the tale of his Texas tough-guy commando action against 11 Muslims on a plane in “full attire,” on his Facebook and sent it to a few friends.

The tale of 11 “robotic” terrorists on a plane in full Muslim dress, who would have been allowed to fly on the plane with real Americans, were it not for the brave actions of Tedd Petruna, was forwarded by a friend who vouched for his credibility. And from that point the ridiculous story was used as proof by right-wing blogs, that America was “under siege.” Right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel “confirmed” the story in the email as legitimate and wished that we had “real men like Tedd Petruna running things”.

The fake story found its way to AirTran Airways and the airline debunked Petruna’s made-up story point by point. What was the first clue that his story was a lie? He wasn’t even on the plane in question, because he missed his connecting flight. And there were no Muslims on the plane dressed like Arab Sheiks. The incident in question involved two Spanish-speaking passengers who were asked to put away their cell phones and other electronic devices. Because they didn’t speak English, they didn’t respond and the flight was delayed, until the two passengers were questioned and allowed to re-board.

ChattahBox.com, 5 December 2009

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Ed Balls responds to the Tories’ demand for a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, accusing them of feeding the anti-Muslim propaganda of the right-wing press and aiding the far right:

“… whatever the political and media pressure – politicians cannot and should not make organisations unlawful simply because they find their views offensive and deplorable without the necessary evidence. Nevertheless, David Cameron and Michael Gove continue to call for Hizb-ut-Tahir to be banned – without providing the evidence and ignoring the legal advice Ministers have received.

“Last week, they renewed this attack by making a series of allegations about two independent Muslim schools which they claimed had not been inspected by Ofsted and were in receipt of public money from the anti-terrorism budget, which was being used by Hizb-ut-Tahir to promote extremism.

“Even if these allegations were correct, it would have been reckless to raise these very serious and sensitive issues in the highly charged atmosphere of Prime Minister’s Questions. The fact that these allegations turned out to be false is deeply irresponsible. David Cameron was reduced to saying his wider point was right: that two schools with some alleged connections to Hizb-ut-Tahir had received some public money.

“Forget that both schools are properly registered and inspected. Forget the fact that in all Ofsted’s inspections, no evidence has been found that extremist or anti-semitic views are being taught. Forget that the only public funding these schools have received is from their local councils to provide free nursery places for local three and four year olds.

“Predictably David Cameron’s false allegations generated tabloid headlines such as: ‘Extremists benefit from state funding’ and ‘£113,000 aid to fanatics who want to kill us’. But at what price? Parents and children being told that ‘fanatics’ are teaching their children – presenting a propaganda victory for both extremists in the Muslim community as well as Islamaphobic and racist organisations on the far-right.

“We all know how difficult it is for a country like ours to tackle the extremist threat effectively. We have to be vigilant and investigate every potential threat. But we also have to be responsible and work with the law-abiding Muslim community. If we bandy around accusations regardless of the facts, and take action regardless of the evidence, we will just end up alienating the very communities we need to help us tackle extremism.”

Writing in the Independent, Richard Garner explains how the Tory leader’s attack on the Government has unravelled.

In the Sun, Ken Livingstone comments:

“Devious David Cameron blundered in smearing two Muslim schools as training grounds for terrorists. Encouraged by his swivel-eyed schools adviser, Michael Gove, he thought he could get a few votes by whipping up fear of Islam. What the Tories must realise is that the Muslims who left the villages of Pakistan and Bangladesh to come here and work did so because they wanted their kids to grow up with our traditions of democracy, law and fair play. All the opinion polls show British Muslims are as loyal to Britain and its values as those of us who have been here for 1,000 years. Our media should stop giving publicity to the few mad mullahs and their handful of followers. They no more represent British Muslims than 1999 nailbomber David Copeland represented the mass of decent and tolerant Brits.”