Category Archives: Right wing

Liddle explains terrorism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“I’ve always held that Islam is largely to blame for the viciousness which is periodically unleashed upon us all in the form of bombings – that it is the credo, rather than the individual, which is principally to blame”, explains Rod Liddle in the Spectator.

But the broadminded Rod is prepared to concede that there are other causal factors. And no, of course it’s not foreign policy. Young Muslims drawn to terrorism are “narcissistic adolescent halfwits”, according to Liddle, who are “simply a different side of the coin to the stabbers, muggers and thugs of young, modern Britain: over-indulged, forever demanding of respect and redress”.

I ask you, where would British journalism be without Rod Liddle’s insightful political analysis?

Anthony Browne – ‘a man of impeccably liberal views’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Well, that’s what London mayor Boris Johnson claims. Challenged by Labour London Assembly member John Biggs during Mayor’s Question Time this week over the appointment of Anthony Browne as his policy director, Johnson described Browne as “a man of impeccably liberal views on the multicultural, multiracial qualities of this fantastic city”. Yes, that’s the same Anthony Browne whose views on immigration were once described by David Blunkett as “bordering on fascism“.

Pro-McCain group dumping 28 million terror scare DVDs in swing states

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ObsessionThis week, 28 million copies of a right-wing, terror propaganda DVD are being mailed and bundled in newspaper deliveries to voters in swing states.

The 60-minute DVDs, titled Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, are landing on doorsteps in a campaign coinciding with the 7th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Funding is coming from a New York-based group called the Clarion Fund, a shadowy outfit whose financial backers are unclear.

The program was originally shown on Fox News in the days leading up to the 2006 mid-term elections, and far right-wing activist David Horowitz toured the country screening the film on college campuses during 2007. Mainstream religious groups have called Obsession biased and divisive. It cuts between scenes of Nazi rallies and footage of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers.

The DVDs were distributed last weekend in national editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal within selected swing states. These included Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Florida, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire and Virginia.

Huffington Post, 12 September 2008

‘How Britain has given in to religious fanatics’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Mohammad Sidique Khan grew up in Dewsbury, a little town where 18 years earlier the parents of 26 indigenous Yorkshire children were demonised by the chattering classes for withdrawing their children from the local primary school because it had become largely Muslim.

“Here is encapsulated the enormous fissure between the kind of people who bomb a train and the kind who want England, and Christianity, to continue as they were before mass immigration began.”

The Daily Mail publishes excerpts from A.N. Wilson’s new book, Our Times: The Age of Elizabeth II, which claims that “mass immigration and political correctness have turned Britain into a haven for Islamic fanatics”.

‘Review mega-mosque in wake of bomb trial’ say Tories

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Neville-JonesMinisters should review plans to build a “mega-mosque” in the East End in the wake of the airline bomb plot trial, the Tories urged today.

Shadow security minister Dame Pauline Neville-Jones said the case had shown that the group behind the mosque may have given cover to extremist activity.

Tablighi Jamaat, which describes itself an Islamic missionary organisation, is pushing for the mosque to be built next to the 2012 Olympics site in Stratford. But the group was revealed in court as having links to some of the terror suspects, with several having passed through other mosques run by the group.

The organisation, which has 80 million followers worldwide, insists it is a peaceful, apolitical revivalist movement that promotes Islamic consciousness among individual Muslims. But intelligence agencies have cautioned that its ability to radicalise young men could lead to jihadist terrorism

Dame Pauline, former chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, said today:

“The news that the terrorists convicted of the liquid bomb plot attended Tablighi Jamaat mosques is very disturbing. This is not the first time this has happened. Those convicted of the 7/7 bombings read Tablighi Jamaat sermons. Tablighi Jamaat claims to be solely a missionary organisation with a religious and charitable purpose.”

But Dame Pauline believes it gives cover to extremist activity. She said: “This must be taken into account when considering the planning application for the Tablighi-Jamaat mosque in east London.”

Evening Standard, 9 September 2008

Update:  See also “Patrick Mercer MP calls for investigation into orthodox religious group” in the Times, 10 September 2008

And “Airliner bomb trial: Fears raised over fundamentalist Islamic group in Britain” in the Daily Telegraph, 10 September 2008

Israeli MP forms anti-Islam coalition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Arieh EldadA new front being formed by representatives of the Israeli Right and European lawmakers is threatening to ignite flames of hatred. Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) announced Wednesday that he would be hosting a convention in Jerusalem under the banner, “Standing Up to Jihad.”

“The spread of Islam threatens the foundations of Western civilization,” he explained, and screened a scene from a film produced by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, which sparked a row in the Arab world several months ago and was banned in many places in Europe.

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MPs too scared of Muslim voters to challenge forced marriage, claims Cryer

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ann CryerPoliticians are too scared to speak out against forced marriage in case they lose valuable Muslim votes, according to a veteran Labour MP.

Ann Cryer said politicians in areas with high Muslim populations, many of which are Labour heartlands, should be at the forefront of the campaign to stop young couples being made to wed against their will by their families. Mrs Cryer said:

“There still is a nervousness to talk about this, especially those MPs in constituencies affected by these issues.They should be fighting on the front line, but they are the ones keeping quiet on the issue because they don’t want to lose votes.

“Some of the Muslim leaders in my area are doing their communities a disservice and trying to keep them in the backwoods. They don’t seem to have any understanding about the importance of having integration and cohesion, or to promote women to leadership roles in the community.”

However Mrs Cryer’s claims have been dismissed by Khalid Mahmood, the Muslim Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr. He claimed that MPs would not be so easily swayed by the perceived opinions of their constituents, and pointed out that many politicians supported the war in Iraq despite opposition from Muslim voters.

Mr Mahmood said: “In terms of being scared, I think that’s complete nonsense. Most MPs will speak their minds because that’s what they’re there for and most of them are strong enough characters. People do things because they believe in them, not because of this cynical reason. If that was the case, MPs would have stood up against the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.”

He added: “I’ve been adamantly against forced marriage and people have supported me in that. We’ve also got a rigid system with the embassy in Islamabad now and although it is an issue, it’s not an epidemic as Ann sometimes makes it out to be.”

Daily Telegraph, 2 September 2008