Category Archives: Right wing

Quilliam accuses anti-BNP protestors of ‘thuggery and hooliganism’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-BNP Codnor protest2

“Last weekend the BNP’s annual shindig ‘Red, White and Blue’ took place in a small town in Derbyshire. Reports said that the number of attendees was only marginally more than the number of anti-fascist protesters who congregated outside the gate.

“Unfortunately, these anti-BNP protesters soon became violent – leading to a total of 19 protesters being arrested. Although it is good to see ordinary people protesting against the BNP, such protests become ineffective when they descend into thuggery and hooliganism.”

So Lucy James, research fellow at the Quilliam Foundation, writes at Progress Online.

Continue reading →

Burka ban proposal splits Danish government

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The governing party has rejected a proposal from its coalition partner, the Conservative Party, to ban people from covering their face with clothing such as burkas and niqabs.

“We do not want to see burkas in Denmark,” said Naser Khader, the integration spokesman for the Conservatives. Khader, who immigrated to Denmark from Syria and who helped established the Modern Muslims group, said the burka symbolised the Taleban and oppression of women. It had nothing do to with Islam. “The modern burka was instituted by the Taleban when it came to power. I see it as a symbol of the Taleban,” he said. Khader said the burka was “un-Danish” and should be completely banned in this country.

The Conservatives’ proposal received the support of the Danish People’s Party, a key government ally, and the opposition Social Democrats. But the party’s government ally, the prime minister’s Liberal Party, said legislating against certain types of clothing was a step too far.

Islamic Faith Society spokesman Imran Shah said the ban was unnecessary as only three or four women in Denmark wore the burka, while 30-40 women wore the niqab.

Copenhagen Post, 17 August 2009

The burkini – it’s part of ‘the Islamist war on the West’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

James-Delingpole“When most of us think of militant Islam, we tend to think in terms of suicide bombs on London buses, planes flying into Twin Towers and 19-year olds getting their limbs blown off by Taliban IEDs. But as any extremist Imam could tell you, there are at least two ways in which a good Muslim can further the ongoing struggle to convert the whole world from the House of War (that’s the non-Muslim world) to the House of Islam (ie global submission to the will of Allah): one (see above) is by poison or the sword; the other is by honey.

“So the Burkini is part of the honey campaign: all those parts of the Islamist war on the West that have nothing to do with killing people. This campaign includes everything from schoolgirls fighting legal battles (with the help of one Cherie Blair) to fight for their inalienable right to go to school dressed like a sack, to Muslim supermarket workers trying to dictate the terms of their employment (refusing to sell alcohol), to the ongoing campaign (apparently endorsed by our own Archbishop of Canterbury) for certain civil decisions in the Muslim ‘community’ to be made under Sharia law. The goal is to establish the view that Islam is a religion should be allowed to trump everything, including the cultural norms of any non-Muslim society in which its adherents find themselves living.”

James Delingpole’s Daily Telegraph blog, 16 Auguat 2009

See also Jemima Lewis in the Daily Telegraph, 16 August 2009

Update:  Delingpole has published an expanded version of this bigoted rant in the Daily Express. See ENGAGE for a response.

French minister urges burka ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A ban on the wearing of the burka in France would help stem the spread of the “cancer” of radical Islam, one of its female Muslim ministers has said.

Urban Regeneration Minister Fadela Amara told the Financial Times that a veil covering everything but the eyes represented “the oppression of women”. Ms Amara said she was “in favour of the burka not existing in my country”.

The comments come as French MPs hold hearings on whether to ban the garment, which covers the body from head to toe.

BBC News, 15 August 2009

Jim Fitzpatrick condemns traditional Muslim wedding

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jim FitzpatrickThe Daily Telegraph reports that London Labour MP Jim Fitzpatrick, a third of whose constituents are Muslim, has condemned the Muslim tradition of separating men and women at weddings.

Fitzpatrick and his wife walked out of the marriage ceremony of a constituent after discovering they would have to sit in separate rooms. He claimed the gender segregation was a sign of increasing radicalisation and was damaging to social cohesion.

Continue reading →

Dutch right (and left) step up attack on Tariq Ramadan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

TariqRamadanOpposition members in the Rotterdam city council are once again calling for the resignation of integration consultant Tariq Ramadan, this time because he is hosting a talk show on an Iranian TV station.

Ramadan, a Swiss Muslim academic of Egyptian descent, was hired by the city of Rotterdam in 2007 to help bridge the divide between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. He also lectures at Rotterdam’s Erasmus university.

In April, the right-wing liberal party VVD resigned from the city executive because of its refusal to sack Ramadan following a controversy concerning homophobic statements Ramadan allegedly made. An investigation by the city executive concluded at the time there were no grounds for the accusations.

Now, three opposition parties in the city council – Leefbaar Rotterdam, the Socialist Party and the VVD – are once again calling for Ramadan’s resignation because of his collaboration with the Iranian state TV station Press TV.

Ramadan has been hosting a weekly talk show on the English-language Press TV titled “Islam & Life”. The ruling Labour party has also said that Ramadan’s work for Press TV affects his credibility, and has asked the city executive for clarification.

Leefbaar Rotterdam councilwoman Anita Fähmel said Ramadan’s “Iranian hat” proves once more that he has a “double agenda”. She said it was “unacceptable” that Ramadan is “on the payroll of the dictatorial regime of Ahmadinejad, while at the same time he preaches tolerance here in Rotterdam”.

NRC International, 13 August 2009

Evangelical Christians plan anti-Islam conference in Australia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An evangelical church leader who blamed bushfires in February on Victoria’s abortion laws will address an anti-Muslim Christian conference alongside the Reverend Fred Nile and state Liberal MLC David Clarke this year.

Mr Nile invited the leader of the Catch the Fire ministries, Pastor Danny Nalliah, to address the National Conference for all Concerned Christians on November 21 on the theme ”Australia’s Future and Global Jihad”, an event Mr Nile said was about ”strengthening Australia’s Christian heritage”.

”We are concerned with the conflict between Islam and Christianity that is happening around the world,” Mr Nile said.

Mr Nalliah told the Herald the alleged terrorist plot on Holsworthy barracks by men with links to the Somali terrorism group al-Shabab showed why Christianity should be protected ”as the core value of the nation”.

”At some point we have to draw the line and say enough is enough,” he said. ”The nation has to stand for its Christian values, irrespective of whether all people practise Christianity or not.”

Mr Nalliah will deliver a speech on the topic ”Is the West being de-Christianised?”

Sydney Morning Herald, 10 August 2009

Prevent scheme is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NLGN Stronger TogetherThe Government’s flagship scheme on tackling extremism is alienating Muslim communities and should be scrapped according to a new report. The New Local Government Network (NLGN) think tank is calling for the £45million scheme to focus on tackling all extremism – including far-right extremists – rather than just focusing on Islamic extremism.

The Government set up the Prevent scheme in 2006 to help local councils to tackle violent extremism at a local level. Currently 94 local authorities receive funding from the scheme. NLGN’s independent report argues that whilst the scheme has helped in some areas, overall it risks alienating some local communities and particularly Muslim communities.

The report calls for the Government to allocate resources to tackle all extremist ideologies, arguing that the recent increase in far-right extremism is as much of as a challenge for local communities as Islamic extremism. In July this year Scotland Yard warned that far-right extremists are planning a “spectacular” terrorist attack in Britain to try to stoke racial tensions and that more resources need to be targeted to tackle this form of extremism.

NLGN press release, 10 August 2009

See also Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 10 August 2009

Update:  Over at Harry’s Place the inimitable David T urges the government to broaden the definition of extremism even further, in order to combat organisations like the Socialist Workers Party and Socialist Action! Harry’s Place itself, that haven for anti-Muslim bigots and Islamophobic witch-hunters, is of course an instrument for marginalising extremists and promoting harmonious relations between the UK’s diverse communities.