Category Archives: Right wing

Damian Thompson falls out with Pope

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“I don’t often have a go at Pope Benedict XVI,” Thompson writes, “but WHY is he supporting the United Nations conference on ‘racism’ in Geneva?” He quotes the Pope as stating: “We ask for firm and consistent action, at national and international level, to prevent and eliminate any form of discrimination and of intolerance.” Admirable sentiments, you might think. But Thompson is having none of it:

“With respect, Holy Father, it’s not an opportunuity [sic] to fight racism; like the disgusting fiasco in Durban in 2001, it’s an opportunity for African dictators and Jew-baiting Islamists to fulminate against Israel and the neo-Nazi, anti-Arab hordes that are sweeping across racist Europe, while dismissing any trifling Muslim assaults on other faiths as Islamophobic myths.”

Holy Smoke, 19 April 2009

Tory campaign to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir continues

Posted on by Bob Pitt

HizbA leader of a radical Muslim group which Tony Blair promised to ban four years ago has called on followers to support “jihad” against Israel at a rally in London. Dr Imran Waheed, told followers of Hizb ut-Tahrir that there could be “no peace” with Israel and urged them to “fight in the way of Allah”.

The remarks increased pressure on Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir. Patrick Mercer, the Tory chairman of the Commons Counter-Terrorism Subcommittee, said Dr Waheed’s comments appeared to represent “incitement to violence” and accused the Government of performing a U-turn on an earlier commitment to ban it.

A spokesman for the Home Office said that the group’s status was being reassessed in light of the latest remarks but said that the decision to proscribe an organisation must be “proportionate”.

But Mr Mercer said: “These comments strike me as inciting violence which is illegal. The Home Secretary must make up her mind as to whether the organisation is to be proscribed or not and if she is not going to proscribe it she has got to explain why the last Prime Minister said that it would be.”

Daily Telegraph, 18 April 2009

Tory MP calls for end to Sharia councils

Posted on by Bob Pitt

General ElectionMark Pritchard, Tory MP for The Wrekin, blogs at ConservativeHome.

And yes, it’s the usual stuff about the supposed threat from a “parallel legal system” which undermines women’s rights and social cohesion.

Needless to say, as is invariably the case with this sort of attack on Sharia councils, Pritchard makes no mention of the Beth Din courts that operate on exactly the same basis in the Jewish community.

The Centre for Social Cohesion recently published a study of the Beth Din (pdf here). In answer to the question “Is the Beth Din a recognised legal court – does it offer a parallel legal system?”, the CSC report stated:

“No, in neither arbitration cases nor religious judgements, is the Beth Din recognised as a legal court nor does it offer a parallel legal system; Beth Din rulings or advice can only be reflected in UK law if both parties freely agree and the decision is approved by the civil courts.”

As is the case with Sharia councils too. Indeed, we look forward to a report from the CSC which presents a similarly balanced analysis of faith-based arbitration in the Muslim community.

And if Pritchard is worried about women’s rights (not a traditional Tory concern, it must be said) he might take this up with the Sephardi Beth Din which in July 2008 divorced a Jewish woman without her consent, on the grounds that she “dressed provocatively in public, worse than a common harlot” and “danced in nightclubs late into the night”.

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Wilders announces ‘Son of Fitna’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders extremistPopulist broadsheet De Telegraaf reports that Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders is going to produce a sequel to his anti-Islam film Fitna.

Wilders said his new film, which will be finished by 2010, is intended to show the Western world how far Islamisation has progressed. “It is not going to be a copy ofFitna,” said the Freedom Party leader who warns that the film would be “no less controversial than the first film”.

The first film was mainly an indictment of the Qur’an, but “I now want to show people the consequences of mass immigration from Islamic countries, for which we have opened the door here.”

The MP also said professionals from the US will assist him in the production of the film. “I have received offers from people from New York and Hollywood, people who in the past have made films that were screened in the Netherlands.”

However, De Telegraaf writes that Wilders refused to name any names, and has yet to find sponsors to finance his latest production. He will travel to Florida next week to raise funds and talk about his film.

Expatica, 16 April 2009

Meanwhile, over David Horowitz’s Front Page Magazine we find an enthusiastic defence of Wilders:

“To label Wilders a racist, a xenophobe or a fascist is false. Instead, he should be seen as a democrat who seeks to protect modern democratic societies against the realistic threat of a stealth Islamic revolution, evolving from mass immigration, step by step introduction of Sharia law, and restriction of freedom of speech.”

Maajid Nawaz and Qaradawi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

We should have posted on this earlier, but last week’s Any Questions on Radio 4 featured an exchange over Yusuf al-Qaradawi, when Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam Foundation was invited by the chair, Jonathan Dimbleby, to have a go at Ken Livingstone over the welcome he gave to Qaradawi back in 2004.

“That man justifies suicide bombing”, Nawaz asserted. “… He justifies killing women and children in market places in Israel. And that is absolutely unacceptable. There is no justification for targeting women and children.”

Which only goes to show that in this, as in much else, the Quilliam Foundation merely echoes the lies of anti-Muslim propagandists. As indeed do the “left” Islamophobes at Shiraz Socialist, who have hailed Nawaz’s “impressive performance“.

For an answer to the charge that Qaradawi supports the targeting of Israeli civilians by suicide bombers, see here.

Tariq Ramadan not homophobic, Rotterdam rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tariq Ramadan 5The city of Rotterdam is extending its contract with Tariq Ramadan for another two years, dismissing claims that the Swiss philosopher made homophobic and misogynistic statements.

Last month, the Gay Krant, a newspaper for the homosexual community in the Netherlands, accused Tariq Ramadan of making homophobic and misogynistic statements on tapes in Arabic destined for the immigrant communities in Europe.

Ramadan (46), a Swiss philosopher and theologist of Egyptian descent, was hired by the city of Rotterdam two years ago to “help lift the multicultural dialogue to a higher level”. He dismissed the Gay Krant‘s accusations as slander.

The city of Rotterdam has since carried out its own investigation, the results of which were presented on Wednesday. The city had 54 Arabic-language cassette tapes translated and examined. According to council executive Rik Grasshof of the Green party GroenLinks, the Gay Krant‘s reporting was incomplete and inaccurate.

As a result, Ramadan’s contract with the city will be extended for another two years, during which he will lead public debates in an effort to bring the various communities in Rotterdam closer together.

The right-wing liberal party VVD, one of four coalition parties in the city government, had demanded Ramadan’s resignation following the Gay Krant‘s accusations. “He can think what he wants but he cannot spread homophobic ideas in the name of the city of Rotterdam,” VVD council member Bas van Tijn said.

Van Tijn also questioned what Ramadan brought to Rotterdam. “How can someone who doesn’t speak Dutch bring the communities in Rotterdam together? Especially if that someone is constantly accused of having a double discourse?” Van Tijn asked.

NRC International, 15 April 2009

‘St George banned but it’s OK for Muslims to abuse our troops’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paul RayPatriotic Brits blasted a council yesterday for barring a St George’s Day parade – after letting Muslim fanatics abuse our soldiers.

Anyone wanting to stage an event in Luton, Beds, has to seek permission from the council’s Safety Advisory Group. But while fanatical Muslims were given the green light to gather and scream insults when the Royal Anglian Regiment returned from Iraq last month, an application for a St George’s Day celebration this month was turned down.

Approval has also been granted for events to mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed and the death of his grandson.

Daily Star, 15 April 2009

Of course, the Daily Star omits to mention that the individual who applied to organise the St George’s Day parade was Paul Ray, author of the far-right Lionheart blog, who is currently on bail facing a charge of incitement to racial hatred. See here and here.

See also Tabloid Watch which comments:

“What is so disconcerting about all this is the way the Star is fuelling the delusional hate-filled rantings of people like Paul Ray with stories like this. The story is clearly supporting his agenda in the way it frames this story. It pushes a false claim about St George being banned despite a weekend long event dedicated to him and sets up a ‘them and us’ clash against Muslims. The Star sides with Ray, Ray sides with the BNP. So where does that leave the Star?”

Update:  The Star has now amended its headline to remove the reference to St George being “banned”.

Another defence of ‘Enlightenment values’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Writing at Comment is Free, Faisal Gazi (aka “Sid”, David Toube’s alter ego who posts at Pickled Politics) reviews From Fatwa to Jihad by Kenan Malik (a supporter of the former ultraleftists turned right-wing libertarians who once traded under the name of the Revolutionary Communist Party). Gazi writes:

“… the grievance culture of radical Islam is winning the battle against Enlightenment values, helped along, Malik believes, by multicultural policy and laws like the Racial and Religious Hatred Act (2006), which has made it an offence to incite hatred against a person on grounds of their religion. Its aim was to protect the faith and dignity of minority communities. But the paradox is that these laws are now exploited to undermine the civil liberties of those very same communities they were meant to protect.”

Well, we haven’t read Malik’s book, so we can’t comment on the accuracy of this summary of his argument. But if Gazi thinks that the Racial and Religious Hatred Act set a precedent for undermining civil liberties he obviously hasn’t bothered to study the subject. The legislation was in fact sabotaged by the “Lester amendment”, which produced a completely toothless law that can never be used to mount a successful prosecution of anyone.

As those who have had the misfortune to read his incoherent Harry’s-Place-inspired posts at Pickled Politics will have observed, Gazi combines an endorsement of “Enlightenment values” with a total inability to respect empirical evidence or rational argument.