Category Archives: Right wing

9,000 Muslims in UK prisons for terror offences, claims BNP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“There are almost 10,000 Muslims in Britain’s jails – with 90 percent of them serving time for terror offences”, claims the BNP.

This is evidently taken from a News of the World report which states: “There are almost 10,000 Muslims in Britain’s jails – with 90 of them serving time for terror offences.” Even allowing that this figure is accurate (which we doubt – the total number of convictions under the Terrorism Act 2000 is far less than that) the BNP has contrived to increase it by 8,910!

However, it would perhaps be unduly harsh to accuse the fascists of manipulating statistics for political ends. A more charitable explanation would be that they’re just plain thick.

The witch-hunt of Asghar Bukhari

Posted on by Bob Pitt

AsgharA London-based think tank has revealed that the co-founder of a Muslim communal organization whose spokespeople are used by mainstream media outlets has glorified terrorism and attacks on Israel.

The Center for Social Cohesion (CSC) reported that last week Asghar Bukhari, co-founder and spokesman for the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC UK), said on the social networking site Facebook that any Muslim who died fighting Israel was a martyr.

Responding to comments by another contributor on a discussion entitled ‘Has Europe come to terms with Islam?’, Bukhari said, “Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are mujahadeen and are blessed by Allah. And any Muslim who fights against Israel and dies is a martyr and will be granted paradise.”

The Muslim leader went on to justify jihadism, saying, “The concept of jihad is a beautiful thing, and logical to those with a sincere heart. It tells the human being to stand up and fight against those who bring evil and oppression on this earth, and by standing up – roll back that oppression until the people are free from it.”

CSC called into question the media outlets’ use of MPAC UK and their portrayal of it as a mainstream Muslim organization. “The leadership of MPAC UK has been shown before to have expressed opinions which border on glorification of terrorism,” said Robin Simcox, a CSC researcher.

“Concern has previously been expressed to the BBC and other media about their continuing use of Bukhari and his organization. Despite this, they are regularly treated by the BBC and other mainstream media as representative of mainstream Muslim opinion,” Simcox said.

“Bukhari’s incitement and likely illegal public comments should be a matter of grave concern to broadcasters and others who have repeatedly given him and his organization a platform,” Simcox added.

The think tank has reported the incident to the police.

Jerusalem Post, 22 December 2008

The article is in fact almost a straight reprint of a (pdf) CSC briefing.

Predictably Damian Thompson and Melanie Phillips have seized on this, with the latter calling for Asghar to be prosecuted.

Read MPAC’s reponse here. They rightly accuse the CSC of “wasting police time by reporting Asghar Bukhari for supposedly contravening the new law banning ‘glorification of terrorism’. MPACUK – who actually care about stopping terrorism – expect our taxes to be spent trying to prevent anyone from blowing us up on tube trains (not dealing with politically-motivated malicious reports against media spokespeople from Muslim groups!)”

Once again we have a witch-hunt against mainstream Muslims, the origin of which can be traced back to the Islamophobic cesspool that is Harry’s Place.

Update:  See also ENGAGE’s letter to Damian Thompson, challenging him over his support for the CSC.

Established Church needed to hold Islam at bay, says Mad Mel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Melanie Phillips Jihad in BritainMelanie Phillips warns against proposals to disestablish the Church of England:

“Christianity is not just any faith. It lies at the heart of British values and Western civilisation. Breaking the link would mean Christianity would be cast adrift, along with many of this country’s values. The Church might not be destroyed, but the country’s core identity would undoubtedly suffer.

“And the plain fact is that Britain is not multicultural. Parts of it are multi-ethnic, with large pockets of immigrants from other nations, but that is a very different matter. Britain remains a Protestant Christian country, and most Britons define themselves as such.

“… the undermining of Christianity from within is being exploited by militant Islamist fanatics who want to turn Britain into an Islamic state. This might seem an impossible notion, until you recall the way Dr Williams – followed by the senior judge Lord Phillips – said there was nothing to be feared from the encroachment within Britain of Islamic sharia law, regardless of the fact that such law is based on principles which are inimical to Christianity and liberal democracy.

“The only way to defend British and Western society from such cultural attack is to re-assert a confident Christianity. Yet Dr Williams spends all his time apologising for the faith he supposedly represents….

“Maybe we can’t any longer hold off the demand for ‘equality’ between Christianity and the other faiths that make up modern Britain. But in that case we have to accept that Britain and its values will be utterly changed, and not for the better.”

Daily Mail, 22 December 2008

Update:  See the response from ENGAGE to Phillips’ article.

Wal-Mart saves US children from conversion to Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

WAL-MART SAYS YES TO PARENTS – REMOVES “ISLAM IS THE LIGHT” DOLL:
Parents campaign focuses on Target, Kmart and Toys R Us

Wal-Mart managers are removing the Mattel doll that says “Islam is the Light” from store shelves, according to reports from parents and the media across the U.S. and Canada, as well as Wal-Mart employees. Many Wal-Mart managers have removed the controversial doll in the last two weeks, and others are removing it as soon as parents ask.

The Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability (MAMA) campaign to remove the doll began in late November on “Black” Friday, the year’s biggest shopping day. The national MAMA campaign started as a response to parent concerns about the Mattel/Fisher Price “Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo Doll.” The majority of “Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo” dolls on store shelves have an audio soundtrack that says “Islam is the Light,” with no label or warning to parents on the doll’s packaging that it advocates Islam to their young children, a practice known as “Dawa.”

MAMA has advised parents in the U.S. and Canada to ask retailers either to remove the doll from the shelves or to attach a label stating “NOTICE: This doll says ‘Islam is the light’, an invitation to your child to join Islam.” MAMA is concerned that an invitation to Islam is a material risk to young girls, because of the discriminatory Islamic law known as Shariah, and wants parents informed about the doll’s statement before they purchase the doll.

“Parents are reporting that most Wal-Marts have already removed the doll, or immediately remove it when asked,” said Denise Lee, founder of Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability. “And TV and newspaper stories are reporting the same policy changes. MAMA applauds Wal-Mart for taking the lead here in responding to parents’ concerns, especially over the Christmas season.”

MAMA website, 19 December 2008

Exclusive: over 60 per cent of Britain’s Muslim schools have extremist links

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Damian_Thompson“Britain’s Muslim schools have been sharply criticised in a controversial draft report commissioned by a leading think tank which suggests that over 60 per cent of them are linked to potentially dangerous Islamic fundamentalists.

“An early version of the report, entitled When Worlds Collide, alleges that of the 133 Muslim primary and secondary schools it surveyed, 82 (61.6 per cent) have connections or direct affiliations to fundamentalists. The 133 schools are in the private sector but supposedly subject to Ofsted inspection. The report also claims that some of these schools teach ‘repugnant’ beliefs about the wickedness of Western society and Jews.

“The claims in the report, written by Denis MacEoin in response to a commission from Civitas, will provoke ritual cries of ‘Islamophobia’ from the Muslim Council of Britain and fellow travellers such as Koran [sic] Armstrong.”

Yes, it’s yet another thoughtful contribution to interfaith dialogue from Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson.

It tells you all you need to know about MacEoin’s political agenda that he has chosen a blog run by a reactionary bigot like Thompson as the vehicle for promoting his forthcoming report.

But why should MacEoin leak the draft report before it is published? Thompson provides the answer:

“Civitas, however, is not prepared to endorse MacEoin’s 61.6 per cent figure, which will not appear in the published version of When Worlds Collide. A spokesman for Civitas explains: ‘We want to concentrate on claims that are absolutely robust, rather than complicated material, some of it in Arabic, that might unjustly damage someone’s reputation’.”

In other words, even an Islamophobic right-wing think-tank like Civitas regards MacEoin’s central claim, which forms the basis for Thompson’s “exclusive”, as indefensible.

But then, you might have thought that any self-respecting think-tank would steer well clear of MacEoin, given the problems over The Hijacking of British Islam, the notorious and now discredited report he put together for Policy Exchange.

Update:  Predictably, the British National Party are eagerly publicising MacEoin’s report, which of course provides a “respectable” cover for their own hate-filled propaganda against Muslim communities in the UK.

EU parliament prevents screening of Wilders’ Fitna

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The EU parliament prevented the showing on Wednesday of an anti-Islamic film made by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders, bringing cries of censorship from the British eurodeputy who organised the screening.

“The banning of this film is a direct attack on free speech,” said British MEP Gerard Batten, who had organised the event, though officials pointed out that parliamentary leaders had banned the film from being shown in their Strasbourg building back in March.

“A parliament that constantly talks of freedom, democracy and tolerance has shown once again that these are empty words when it does not agree with what is being said,” added Batten, a member of the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP).

Wilders, who was in the parliament building hoping to see the film in a screening room, said he intended to present it during European parliamentary elections next June. “We are in discussion with other parties,” he said, without giving details.

AFP, 17 December 2008

Although, of course, we do know from Wilders’ interview with Haaretz that one of the parties he is in discussion with is Vlaams Belang.

‘We have to win war against Islam’, Wilders tells Jerusalem conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders in IsraelDutch Parliamentarian Geert screened his controversial film Fitna in Jerusalem on Sunday, calling on Europe to restrict immigration “from backward Islamic countries” and describing Islam as a totalitarian ideology “full of hate, violence and submission.”

“Europe is in the process of ‘Islamization.’ We need to fight it,” Wilders said. “We have to win the war against Islam. If we don’t … we will lose our cultural identity, our rule of law, our liberties and our freedom.”

Continue reading →

Blind man’s guide dog barred from restaurant for offending Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A blind man has been turned away from a fashionable Indian restaurant because his guide dog offended Muslim staff”, the Telegraph reports.

Except that, when you get to the end of the article, you find the following:

“Shamin Ahmed, a partner in the restaurant, said that he had written to Guide Dogs for the Blind to apologise for the incident. He said that although the owners of the venue are Muslim, he insisted religion was not a factor in the decision to refuse Mr Elder-Brown. ‘We were worried about the hygiene, that is what happened, it was a mistake,’ he said. ‘I have had a letter from Guide Dogs for the Blind, I have sent a reply apologising about that…. we found out afterwards that guide dogs are allowed, I didn’t know that’.”

Still, never let facts spoil a good anti-Muslim story, eh?

See also the article “Prison chapel not to have a crucifix” which  reports: “A new prison chapel has been stopped from having a crucifix in case it offends Muslims.”

Has the Telegraph decided to try and outbid the Daily Star and Express in the promotion of “Muslims are taking over” shock horror stories?

Mohamed Ali Harrath – Littlejohn leaps on the anti-‘terrorist’ bandwagon

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Richard Littlejohn“For some unfathomable reason, the Government has the notion that if it embraces Muslim extremists they’ll help us win the war on terror. Assorted headbangers are given lavish grants and seats on ‘anti-terrorism’ committees. Ministers have got it into their heads that if we put our arms around them and cross their palms with silver, they won’t blow us up.

“The rest of the world thinks we’re stark, staring bonkers. And not without reason. So it didn’t come as any surprise to learn that a man wanted by Interpol in connection with terrorist offences has been hired as an adviser to Scotland Yard.

“Mohammed Ali Harrath was convicted in Tunisia of numerous criminal and terrorism offences and sentenced in his absence to 56 years in prison. Interpol has him subject to a ‘red notice’ (the highest level of alert) and is urging all countries, including Britain, to arrest and deport him. Yet in addition to advising the Yard on ‘best practice’ in combating terrorism, he also runs his own TV station, which pumps out Islamist propaganda to 1.6 million viewers in this country.”

Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail, 16 December 2008

Meanwhile, over at the Times, the appalling Pauline Neville-Jones is calling for Mohamed Ali Harrath to be sacked from his position as an adviser to Scotland Yard and even, it appears, to be deported: “The FCO must be aware that the Tunisian Government, an ally in the fight against terrorism, has asked for the extradition of this man.”

And Mad Mel (“Lunacy at the Yard“) has added her ten cents to the debate:

“It’s all because of this extraordinary belief by the higher echelons of the British security world that Islamist extremism is the antidote to Islamist terrorism – that the Muslim Brotherhood are useful allies against al Qaeda. That utterly false belief derives in turn from the refusal by the establishment to accept that what we are facing is an Islamic jihad, a religious war against the non-Islamic world.”

For a response to the witch-hunt see Islam Channel press release, 16 December 2008