Fascists embrace Cristina Odone

New Daily Patriot on Cristina Odone

The New Daily Patriot is a popular far-right Facebook page which provides links to media reports that are of interest to fascists. It supports both the English Defence League and the British National Party (while inclining more towards the latter) and happily promotes the activities of openly neo-Nazi groups like the National Front.

This non-sectarian approach extends to the sort of material that is recommended on the page, which includes articles by individuals who are not themselves racists or fascists but whose views provide support and inspiration for those who are. Today, for example, the NDP has posted a link to an appalling piece of crap that appeared on Cristina Odone’s Telegraph blog yesterday, in which she harshly criticises the elected leadership of the Muslim Council of Britain (who, as is the way with this sort of article, are inevitably described as “self-appointed”) for failing to condemn actions such as the recent reported beheading of a young Afghan woman by her in-laws for refusing to become a prostitute.

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Democrat politician takes stand against Sheepshead Bay bigots

Alec Brook-KrasnyAssemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny is breaking ranks with his Russian-speaking base by tossing his weight behind the controversial Sheepshead Bay mosque – a move that community leaders say could wreck his re-election bid because the shrine isn’t even in his district.

Brook-Krasny – a Democrat whose area covers Coney Island and Brighton Beach, as well as parts of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, but none of the bay – gave his backing to the rising, four-story structure on Voorhies Avenue between E. 28th and E. 29th streets while speaking at an Arab-American Association of New York candidate forum in Bay Ridge on Oct. 11.

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Jewish groups join coalition against anti-Muslim subway ads in D.C.

Washington subway Geller ad

Some national Jewish organizations joined a coalition of religious groups calling on the Washington Metro system to donate profits from an anti-Islam ad to charity.

“The placing of offensive, anti-Muslim ads in the D.C. Metro system is an important opportunity to affirm our commitment both to free speech and to a society that deplores hate and hate speech,” said Rabbi Batya Steinlauf, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington’s director of social justice and interfaith initiatives, and president of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. “We are all part of one community,” she said.

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CAIR unveils advertising campaign to counter Geller’s ‘savage’ ads

CAIR DC Metro ad

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today unveiled an advertising campaign designed to counter anti-Muslim “savage” advertisements sponsored by a designated hate group that are now on display in Washington, D.C. , metro stations.

CAIR’s counter ads feature a verse from the Quran stating: “Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant.” (The Holy Quran, 7:199) The CAIR 16-foot banner ads, which are scheduled to go up next week and stay up for a month in stations featuring the hate ads (Glenmont, Georgia Avenue/Petworth and U Street), also direct metro riders to the organization’s “Explore the Quran” initiative.

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Terry Jones barred from entering Canada for debate

The U.S. pastor behind “International Burn a Koran Day” said he would “possibly” try again to enter Canada after border officers turned him back Thursday as he was on his way to speak in Toronto.

“We will see,” Terry Jones said in an interview. “We were looking forward to coming there and we were looking forward to speaking. … We were definitely disappointed and we were surprised.”

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Religious groups counter anti-Muslim ad campaign in DC

The placement of Pamela Geller’s anti-Muslim “savages” ads in the District of Columbia have spurred a wide range of religious groups to counter the ads’ message. A coalition of 157 religious groups from across the DC Metro-area signed onto a letter to the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, pressing them to take stronger steps to work against hate speech.

In the letter, the coalition requested that WMATA pursue greater outreach to communities before publishing possibly inflammatory advertisements in and on the area’s public transit, add disclaimers to such ads that they do not represent WMATA’s views, and allow free ad space to counter hate speech.

Think Progress, 11 October 2012

French rightwing hijacks the pain au chocolat

A member (C) of the Collective against I

CCIF member distributes pain au chocolat in Paris

First Cornish pasties shook Westminster, now Paris faces its own baked-goods political storm after the humble pain au chocolat was hijacked by rightwing politics.

It began at a rally on the Côte d’Azur this weekend when the hardline Jean-François Copé, fighting a tough race to take over Nicolas Sarkozy’s rightwing UMP party, served a pastry-related anecdote that has been repeating on him ever since.

Having already complained of what he called “anti-white racism” on French estates, Copé said he identified with “exasperated” parents who, after a hard day’s work, got home to find their child had had his pain au chocolat “snatched” from him outside the school gates by “thugs” who said: “There must be no eating during Ramadan.” He then tweeted: “There are neighbourhoods in France where children can’t eat their pain au chocolat because it’s Ramadan.”

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Riverine Centre trustees outline development plans to Newham Recorder

NRAP Riverine Centre designThe team behind plans for Newham’s so called ‘mega mosque’ have met theRecorder for the first time to spell out their vision.

At the site of the proposed development in Canning Road, West Ham – also known as the Abbey Mills Mosque – were four of the prime proposers. Solad Mohammed, one of three trustees, was with project volunteers, including their spokesman, Yousuf Aslam, to show us around last week.

As we walked across the former industrial site, close to historic Abbey Mills Pumping Station, they explained how they hope to transform the grounds into a tranquil and peaceful place for Muslim worshippers and the wider community.

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