Category Archives: Right wing

Has the veil been banned?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain argues, that while “there does appear to be a shift in the advice the government is giving to our schools and while a signal is being sent that those schools which, following a consultation with parents and governors, decide to forbid the niqab will be supported, the Sun is wrong to suggest that there will be a blanket ban.”

Inayat continues: “The fact is, however, there are fewer than a dozen schoolgirls who actually wear the niqab out of half a million state school pupils. Still, it will no doubt have helped Mr Johnson – a contender for the post of deputy leader of the Labour party – to look as if he was being just as tough on this issue as his rival, Jack Straw.”

Comment is Free, 20 March 2007

Sun backs Johnson over niqab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Veil Ban on KidsVeils will be banned in schools to help pupils learn and to keep them safe, Education Secretary Alan Johnson has ruled.

His decision will affect thousands of Muslim girls who wear clothing like the full niqab. He will publish details of his guidance to headteachers in the Commons today. The wearing of full-length robes may also be affected.

A source said: “Veils mean teachers can’t see the face. It’s a problem for security and it’s also a problem for learning because the teacher can’t see whether or not a child is understanding what’s being taught. A full face veil means you can’t see who the person is.”

Ministers will say it is also dangerous under health and safety regulations. A Bunsen burner could easily set light to a face veil in a science lab, Mr Johnson will point out.

School heads will be told to consult parents before going ahead with the ban. They will tell parents they CAN uphold religious traditions provided they do not put security and learning in jeopardy. The rules will also apply to faith schools.

But Mr Johnson is convinced there will be no serious opposition to the move.

Sun, 20 March 2007

In an editorial comment the paper welcomes a ban, asserting that the niqab is “divisive” and “provocative”.

The Guardian reports that this news was “leaked in advance to the Sun by Mr Johnson” – which gives you some indication of the audience he hopes his policy will appeal to, and how he wants to spin it. He’s certainly won the admiration of one BNP blogger, who hails Johnson’s proposals as “Some good news for once!”

See also the BBC poll on whether the veil should be banned in schools.

Conferences to look at ‘threat’ of Islam in New Zealand

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The time is ripe for the Church to face up to the threat of Islam in our country, to understand Islam’s agenda and to respond with the love of Christ, says Middle East Overseas Outreach New Zealand director Murray Dillner.

That organisation, Open Doors NZ, Interserve and Asian Outreach are combining to host Mosque and Miracles conferences for the first time in New Zealand. They will be held in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in July, and are endorsed by Vision Network and Missions Interlink.

“Those who work with Muslims estimate there are about 40,000 of them here,” said Mr Dillner. “The politicians estimate about 20,000 but others believe there are many more. Islam is having an impact.”

Mr Dillner said he has become very aware that time is short before the pressure of ideologies such as radical Islam will “take away the freedoms we have in New Zealand and we will no longer have freedom of speech”.

“The politicians will tell you Islam is a peaceful religion, but any former Muslim will tell you otherwise,” he said. “Wherever in the world Muslims have taken over, democracy no longer exists.”

Mr Dillner said many Muslims came to New Zealand to find a better life, but many others came with a “missionary zeal” to take over the country. Muslims may in future, for example, promote the idea of instituting the call to Islamic prayer in their neighbourhoods.

In many freezing works halal killing had become standard and a group of South Island farmers was considering starting up their own freezing works to avoid that religious practice. “They are saying, ‘Why should New Zealanders bow to Islam?’ Islam has an agenda which is subtle and behind the scenes.”

Challenge Weekly, 19 March 2007

FBI invite to Robert Spencer condemned

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jihad Watch dhimmitude billboardThe decision by the FBI’s Indianapolis office to bring in author Robert Spencer to talk to its anti-terrorism task force has a Plainfield-based Muslim organization concerned that the bureau is listening to an “Islamophobe” who distorts its faith.

The FBI had planned to bring in Spencer this week to speak to Indiana’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. His appearance was postponed because he had a scheduling conflict. Both Spencer and the FBI hope to reschedule.

Louay Safi, director of leadership development with the Islamic Society of North America, said bringing Spencer in to talk of Islam is akin to bringing an anti-Semite to talk about Jews or a Ku Klux Klan member to talk about race.

Indianapolis Star, 18 March 2007

Florida bus driver fired over Muslim jokes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ORLANDO, FL (AP) – A bus driver was fired after a Muslim couple complained that he insulted members of their religion over the loudspeaker.

The driver, whose name was not released, was fired Thursday after Hilal Isler of upstate New York said she and her husband, Volkan Isler, were offended. The Turkish-American couple say he launched into a monologue after they boarded the I-Ride Trolley bus March 5.

Hilal Isler said he greeted passengers, told a blonde joke and then one about Muslims.

“And now they’re telling us we’re supposed to be nice to these Muslim terrorists who are trying to kill us all,” Hilal Isler recalled him saying. “Here in America, we call them ‘rag-heads’ or ‘towelheads,’ but that’s not right. What they wear on their heads is more like a sheet. We should be calling them sheetheads.”

After returning to New York, Hilal Isler, who is Muslim but does not wear a traditional head scarf, reported the incident to the Orlando Sentinel and the International Drive Master Transit and Improvement District, which owns I-Ride.

Luann Brooks, executive director of the transit company, told the Sentinel that the driver had been identified on Thursday and dismissed. Brooks said while the driver’s “conduct is not going to be tolerated,” drivers for the service are encouraged to interact with passengers and play the role of ambassadors to the area.

Associated Press, 16 March 2007

Why no media boost for Belgian racists, Diana West wants to know

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vlaams Belang“Without attracting much attention, representatives of the Belgian political party Vlaams Belang recently visited Washington, D.C. Frank Vanhecke and Filip Dewinter hoped to meet members of Congress; but Congress was in recess. They hoped to engender some understanding of their program to reverse the Islamization of Belgium; but the media were strip-mining the tinsel life and tawdry times of Anna Nicole Smith.

“Maybe they should have known that Tabloid America doesn’t care about the likely transformation of Europe into an Islamic continent, let alone the fate of a French- and Dutch-speaking country of 10 million people.”

Diana West bemoans the failure of the US media to give favourable coverage to the far-right VB, a political party whose origins are to be found among Belgian fascist sympathisers who collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of 1941-44. In the course of that occupation 25,000 Jews (44% of Belgium’s Jewish community) were deported to concentration camps and killed. But, what the heck, the VB now direct their hatred against Muslims rather than Jews, so they’re alright with Diana West.

Washington Times, 16 March 2007

Three little piggies win a reprieve

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Telegraph reports that organisers of a children’s performance have given the Three Little Pigs a reprieve after they were originally ditched from the show “for fear they may offend Muslims”.

The article appears to be lifted largely from yesterday’s Daily Mail which, unlike the Torygraph, did at least have the honesty to include a lengthy quote from Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra of the MCB, who described the original ban as “bizarre”. He said:

“The vast majority of Muslims have no problem whatsoever with the Three Little Pigs. It’s always been the traditional way of telling the story and I don’t see why that should be changed. There’s an issue about the eating of pork, which is forbidden, but there is no prohibition about reading stories about pigs. This is an unnecessary step.”

Islamophobia comes to Driffield

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Wolds vicar has penned a controversial column warning local Christians about the rise of Islam. The Rev Tony Kidd, vicar of the Beacon Benefice which includes Burton Agnes with Harpham, Lowthorpe and Ruston Parva, has spoken out in the latest issue of The Parish Magazine which is circulated throughout the Driffield area.

Vicars from all the area’s churches contribute to the magazine and tend to use it as a way of keeping parishioners up-to-date with church news and upcoming events. However, Mr Kidd has used his column to record his feelings on Islam and to try and rally local Christians.

Mr Kidd said he is concerned that the UK has abandoned Christianity and the gap that has been left is being filled by Islam. He writes:

“We are sleep-walking into problems through our own carelessness. There can be no justification for blind tolerance of a faith which sees itself as divinely inspired, righteous and true, namely Islam, when too often its expression of that belief conflicts directly with the hopes and aspirations of the majority of the population.

“But equally we can not be surprised by the progress that Islam is making. Our lack of national standards, beliefs and convictions give rise to a host of social problems, unsafe streets and increasing inequality. As a result the clear-sighted objectives of militant Islam are thriving and no appeal to moderation is likely to succeed while our own decadence is so obvious.”

He adds: “Is it not time for us, as Christians, to put our own house in order by making clear what we believe and why?”

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Tatchell complains he has been ‘smeared as anti-Muslim’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Outrage“Allegations of ‘Islamophobia’ and ‘racism’ are increasingly manufactured and manipulated to stop debate, silence critics and discredit opponents. I have been on the receiving end of this mud-slinging by the Mayor of London and his Socialist Action apparatchiks, the National Assembly Against Racism, the Muslim Council of Britain and the notorious Islamophobia Watch website.

“The unprincipled, sectarian ‘left’ colludes with right-wing Islamists, such as the sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic fundamentalist cleric, Dr Yusuf al-Qaradawi. When I, and others, dared condemn Qaradawi’s support for suicide bombing and female genital mutilation, we were denounced as ‘Islamophobes.’ The idea was to marginalise our critique by smearing us as anti-Muslim. These dirty tricks are the copy-book tactics of the far right. They have nothing in common with humanitarian or socialist values.”

Poor picked-on Peter Tatchell has a whinge in Democratiya, Spring 2007

For a recent critique of Tatchell on the notorious Islamophobia Watch website, see here.

For an example of the support Tatchell has attracted in the right-wing blogoshere see here.