Category Archives: Right wing

Am I the demoniser… or is it Ken’s ‘experts’? asks John Ware

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John Ware 2Poor sensitive John Ware complains that he’s been “demonised” – by the Muslim Council of Britain and by the recent report on Islamophobia commissioned by the Mayor of London, which included a detailed analysis of Ware’s 2005 Panorama documentary on the MCB. “Who were the three ‘experts on Islam’ who helped to produce the report?” Ware writes. “Surprise, surprise: they all turn out to be from the MCB.”

Sunday Telegraph, 18 November 2007

The nine experts who helped to compile the publication The Search for Common Ground: Muslims, Non-Muslims and the UK Media in fact included Robin Richardson, editor of the famous 1997 Runnymede Trust report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All and Chris Allen, co-author of Islamophobia in the European Union after 11 September 2001, published by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia – both of whom, most of us might think, qualify as “experts on Islam” – along with people with a specialist knowledge of the media, such as Julian Petley, Hugh Muir and Laura Smith.

John Ware’s capacity for manipulating the evidence to suit his polemical purposes, which was such a notable feature of his Panorama documentary atttacking the MCB, has evidently not deserted him.

Muslim alienation caused by multiculturalism, claims Boris

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“… here is how John Reid could prove that he was really tough. Here is the bravest thing he could possibly say. He should say that the real problem in our society, and the reason we have so many disaffected and alienated Muslim youths, is that for a generation he and people like him supported the disastrous multicultural agenda. The reason that 40 per cent of British Muslims would like some form of Sharia law in this country is that the Left has traditionally deprecated British institutions and even the teaching of English. A truly brave John Reid would now publicly grovel to Ray Honeyford, the Bradford head who called for teaching in English and who was vilified and persecuted by the Left.”

Boris Johnson in the Daily Telegraph, 16 November 2006

In a notorious article published in the Salisbury Review in 1984 Honeyford claimed to expose “the real educational consequences of the general acceptance of the notion that multi-racial inner cities are not only inevitable but, in some sense, desirable”. Reporting on a meeting with Bradford Asian parents at his school, he wrote: “The hysterical political temperament of the Indian sub-continent became evident – an extraordinary sight in an English School Hall.” He denounced as “totalitarian” the proposals that “Schoolbooks with a racist content should be scrapped. Racist teachers should be dismissed.” And this is the man Boris Johnson acclaims as a hero!

‘Comparisons with the 1930s’ – MCB replies to Torygraph

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Following the Secretary General’s interview with the Daily Telegraph on 10 November, the Muslim Council of Britain releases the following transcript for the discussion relating to comparisions with the 1930s.

Dr Bari: “Muslims are in the centre of discussion that is accepted by everyone. There is a disproportionate amount of discussion surrounding us. The air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community; it is not good for the society. I think it is creating a scare in the community and wider society. It probably helps some people who try to recruit the young to terrorism. Muslim young people are as vulnerable as any others. Under this climate of fear they will begin to feel victimised. Every society has to be really careful so the situation doesn’t lead us to a time when people’s mind can be poisoned as they were in 1930’s. If your community is perceived in a very negative manner, and poll after poll says that we are alienated, then Muslims begin to feel very vulnerable. We are seen as creating problems, not as bringing anything good for the society.”

The account as published only included selections,which is understandable given the limitations of space on the printed page. However what is inexcusable is an editorial insertion which has upset many and led to the MCB receiving abusive calls and hate mail. The Daily Telegraph insertion was a statement never made by Dr Bari: “Britain must, he warns, beware of becoming like Nazi Germany”.

MCB news release, 15 November 2007

Islam and Europe – there really is a conspiracy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“One rain-soaked evening, in a bus stop on the road leading to a castle overlooking the picturesque German town of Marburg, an especially frank piece of graffiti caught my eye: ‘To hell with Islam!’ In this remote, pastoral setting, the words at first appeared out of place. But in today’s Europe, and in Germany in particular, this sort of attitude toward Islam should come as no surprise. Since the September 11 attacks in America, and the subsequent terrorist attacks by al Qaeda on European soil, the Continent has witnessed a rising tide of hostility toward Muslims living there, from violent rhetorical outbursts to physical attacks on mosques and businesses….

“It is hard to avoid comparing this new animosity toward Muslims to the traditional manifestations of a much older hatred – anti-Semitism. The fear of a minority that practices an unfamiliar form of worship and is believed to be worming its way into Christian or Western culture, undermining its values, shaped the relationship between Europe and the Jews in its midst for hundreds of years….

“The temptation to draw parallels between past and present is unquestionably strong – but is it justified? There are certainly some notable points of similarity between prewar European anti-Semitism and the enmity directed toward the Muslim immigrants living in Europe now. However, there is a quintessential difference between the two: The fear of a Jewish conspiracy against European civilization had no basis in fact, whereas fear of the expansionist ambitions openly expressed by senior figures in the Muslim-Arab world, and shared by some ordinary Muslims, is not groundless….

“Egyptian born Muhammad al-Ghazali, one of the most outstanding contemporary Muslim scholars, conceives of the possibility that hundreds of thousands of immigrants ‘will not only keep their faith but will become pioneers in spreading it, if the Muslim nation wants this and will work toward achieving it’. Hamdi Hassan, who lectures on communications at al-Azhar University in Cairo, perceives the Muslim presence on European soil as proof that the spread of the Islamic faith has graduated from the defensive stage of the 18th and 19th centuries to a new phase of dissemination. And Muhammad al-Hanni, chairman of the Dar al-Ri’aya al-Islamiyya organization in London, believes Muslim immigrants represent the potential for establishing an ‘alternative civilization’ in the West, the decline of which we are now witnessing.”

Uriya Shavit in Azure, Autumn 2007

Reprinted in the Wall Street Journal, 14 November 2007

London’s PC despot

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“What kind of leader launches an open assault on the press, accusing it of jeopardising public safety and demanding that it put its ‘house in order’? What sort of ruler proposes ‘guidelines’ to the press on what stories it should cover, and even worse, what kind of language it should use to cover them, what kind of people it should employ, and what kind of values it should uphold and communicate to the mass of the population? Kim Jong-il, perhaps? Saddam Hussein, before he was chased into his hole in the ground and later executed? How about Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London?

“This week, ‘Red Ken’, as some people insist on calling him, launched a report on British media coverage of ‘Muslim issues’. Titled The Search for Common Ground: Muslims, Non-Muslims and the UK Media, the report was commissioned by Livingstone’s Greater London Authority. It explores the alleged rise of Islamophobia in the media. And in the name of tackling the apparent spread of prejudice through the papers (especially tabloid ones), Livingstone and his supporters have crossed a line normally only transgressed by despots: they’re using their political clout to try to shape the media in their own image. Strip away all the PC lingo about ‘protecting Muslims’, and the London mayor’s latest initiative comes across as an intolerable attack on press freedom.”

Brendan O’Neill continues the ex-RCP’s journey from ultra-leftism to right-wing “libertarianism”.

Spiked, 15 November 2007

Brown is just a pathetic liberal says Michael Burleigh

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Michael BurleighMichael Burleigh isn’t impressed by Gordon Brown’s latest proposals to combat terrorism:

“Toughness is not really Brown’s thing; he prefers ‘values’ and ‘hearts and minds’. The most striking aspect of his proposals was the sheer number of agencies he was hoping to engage in preventative measures designed to pre-empt the radicalisation of young Muslims…. It conjured up a vision of a vast army of the public sector; good, ready and willing to aid Ahmed or Ayman get over the murderous rage that seems to derange a minority of Muslim adolescents….

“The dread word ‘deportation’ (surely a welcome prospect to any sincere Islamist fed up with life in Sodom-by-Thames) was touted, with a few figures rolled out to suggest that evil people are being expatriated. In reality, all attempts to deport foreign nationals are aggressively frustrated by human rights activists exploiting the European Human Rights Act that his predecessor signed into law…. Mr Brown also intimated that he will be seeking to persuade senior media figures to tone down reporting that allegedly gives rise to ‘Islamophobia’. This is sinister….

“Nor did Mr Brown have anything to say about organisations such as Hizb-ut Tahir – which function as sectarian totalitarian parties bent on dominating institutions they manage to infiltrate – beyond the pathetic assurance that they would not receive grants from local authorities….

“There was nothing in Brown’s speech about the plans to build a 25,000-capacity mega-mosque near the 2012 Olympic stadium in West Ham, which is intended to serve as a Muslim quarter for athletes and spectators during the Games, in flagrant violation of everything the Olympic Games represent.”

Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2007

Yes, this is the same Michael Burleigh who featured in this week’s “Is Islam good for London?” debate hosted by the Evening Standard … and he was one of the speakers who was supposed to be putting the case in favour! Although, to be fair, Burleigh did distance himself from Rod Liddle: “I have to say I agree with Mr Liddle that Islam is masochistic and homophobic, but I’m not sure I could agree with the accusation of fascism.”

Is Islam good for London?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Is Islam good for LondonThe Evening Standard reports on yesterday evening’s discussion, organised around this question.

Rod Liddle is quoted as saying: “Islam is masochistic, homophobic and a totalitarian regime. It is a fascistic, bigoted and medieval religion.” He and Joan Smith argued the case for the negative. However, when you see that those presenting the case in favour included Ed Husain and Michael Burleigh, it would appear that Inayat Bunglawala was the only voice of reason in this skewed debate.

Video links here.

See also Inayat’s post at Comment is Free.

‘Undesirables’ debate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Problem of the AlienPete Tobias takes issue with last night’s Evening Standard debate, “Is Islam good for London?”

“… the issue is not so much the outcome as the title of the event itself. How would any minority group feel if it were to find itself the subject of such a public debate? What might be the response if the Evening Standard invited readers to consider the question ‘Is Hinduism good for London?’ or question the value of the contribution made by any other minority group to the capital’s well-being? The problem lies in the fact that the question is being asked at all, and the improbability of any other religious or ethnic group having the same question asked about it should set a number of alarm bells ringing.

“I suppose we should be grateful that the Evening Standard was at least kind enough to frame its prejudice as a question. Just under 100 years ago, the same newspaper ran a series entitled ‘Problem of the Alien’, assuring its readers that the city was being ‘overrun by undesirables’ who had set up ‘vast foreign areas’ and were ‘a growing menace’. They were referring, of course, to the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, among them my great-grandparents.”

Comment is Free, 14 November 2007

No-Goh policy on mosques and Islamic immigration

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 10-year ban on Islamic immigration to Australia and on the construction of any Islamic schools or mosques is the main election policy for one of Macarthur’s federal election candidates.

Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) candidate Godwin Goh said his party, if elected, would also lobby the NSW Government and Federal Government to change any anti-vilification or anti-discrimination laws that could make such a proposal illegal. Mr Goh said he wanted: “No Muslim immigration for 10 years, no setting up schools and mosques, too.”

The Liberal MP for Macarthur, Pat Farmer, rejected Mr Goh’s proposal. “Immigration requests need to be analysed on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “You can’t throw a blanket over the top of everybody and say they’re all terrorists and all incite violence. That’s wrong and that’s not the Australian way.”

When asked to respond to Mr Goh’s proposed 10-year ban on Muslim immigration, schools and mosques, the Labor candidate for Macarthur, Nick Bleasdale, said: “Let me make it clear. I’m totally opposed to the development of the new Islamic school and the community has my full support on the issue. Make no mistake, this issue has nothing to do with race.It’s based on the fact that such a large development will undoubtedly have an impact on our semi-rural way of life….”

Mr Goh is opposed to all Islamic schools because, he claims, they teach extreme versions of Islam. He cited as an example an Islamic school in Victoria. “The teacher asked the students who their hero was and they all said Osama binLaden,” he said. “The teachers are brainwashing. Can’t you see it’s brainwashing? What about Australian heroes? Sport heroes? Such brainwashing, this is when these children have been taught this kind of teaching in their formative years. When they grow up they’re going to idolise the greatest of all terrorists….”

Camden Advertiser, 14 November 2007