Category Archives: State Oppression

Blair considering veil ban, Mirror claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tony Blair has held secret talks about banning Muslim women wearing veils in public.

Leaked documents seen by the Mirror reveal the Prime Minister has already had meetings with Islamic scholars about the controversial issue. He is considering new measures to stop the Niqab – the full face veil – being worn in public buildings such as schools, courts and hospitals.

It comes as a survey published yesterday revealed one in three people supports a total ban on veils which completely cover womens’ faces. The BBC survey said 60 per cent of people backed a ban in airports and at passport control, 53 per cent in schools and 40 per cent in the workplace.

Zareen Roohi Ahmed, chief executive of the British Muslim Forum, said there was no religious reason for a full veil to be worn. She added: “If security is at stake, then yes, the veil should be removed.”

Daily Mirror, 30 November

Profiling Muslims is like profiling the Ku Klux Klan says Coulter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Right-wing US buffoon Ann Coulter expresses surprise that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has “piped in to complain about racial profiling of Muslims. The only reason Americans feel guilty about ‘racial profiling’ against blacks is because of the history of discrimination against blacks in this country. What did we do to the Arabs? I believe Americans are the victims in that relationship. After the attacks of 9/11, profiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan.”

Front Page Magazine, 30 November 2006

Babar Ahmad loses High Court appeal against extradition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ashfaq AhmadTwo terrorist suspects today lost their high court battle to avoid extradition to the United States.

Lawyers for Haroon Rashid Aswat and Babar Ahmad argued that, despite US assurances to the contrary, there was “a real risk” that the men would be mistreated, or tried and sentenced as enemy combatants if sent to America.

Dismissing their appeal, Lord Justice Laws, sitting in London with Mr Justice Walker, said the allegation that the US might violate undertakings given to the UK “would require proof of a quality entirely lacking here”.

The judges said they would take time to consider whether both men should be given permission to take their case to the House of Lords, the highest court in the UK, for a final ruling. They will announce their decision at a later date.

Guardian, 30 November 2006

The Islamic Human Rights Commission has stated: “The decision highlights the manifest injustice of the Extradition Treaty whereby innocent British citizens can be extradited to the US on the flimsiest of evidence. To date, not a shred of evidence has been produced against these men which would warrant charges being brought against them in the UK. In light of claims of the highest level of intelligence-sharing, IHRC finds it puzzling why evidence against the men, if it does exist, has not been passed on to British authorities in order to charge them in Britain.”

IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “Since Britain has some of the most comprehensive terrorism laws in the world, if there is any evidence against these men, they should be charged and tried in a British court. Without any evidence being produced, innocent British citizens will be subjected to an American criminal justice system which has done away with due process and legitimized torture in its ‘war on terror’.”

IHRC press release, 30 November 2006

Dutch Muslims protest against face veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

About 80 people protested outside the Dutch parliament on Thursday against a recent government decision to ban Muslim burqas and face veils, the toughest ban thus far in Europe.

Seven women clad in niqabs – a veil concealing the face except the eyes – and loose robes that covered them from neck to toes, and 20 women in headscarves gathered in front of parliament, which was to convene on Thursday for the first time after national elections were held last week. Around 50 supporters carried banners written with the phrases: “Before you judge me, try hard to know me” and “The first lesson of integration: the constitution is for everyone.”

Earlier this month, the outgoing government agreed to a total ban on burqas and other Muslim face veils in public, citing security concerns. Critics said the move was likely to alienate and victimise the country’s 1 million Muslims.

“Every time there is an election, the thing with the burqa comes up,” said Aishah Bayrat, a 41-year-old teacher and mother of five. “The burqa is a religious thing, nobody should interfere with it.”

Clad in a black and blue niqab, 17-year-old Tamara dismissed official concerns that the robe would make it hard for people to identify the wearer or serve as a cover for criminals and terrorists. “What about Santa Claus? He can go out on the streets with his long beard and we can’t recognise him.”

Reuters, 30 November 2006

‘Pray-in’ protesters decry imams’ removal from flight

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Protesting the removal of six imams from a US Airways flight last week, a group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders staged a “pray-in” Monday near the airline’s ticket counter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The six men, who had attended a national conference of Islamic scholars, were detained at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Nov. 20. Those attending Monday’s protest said the incident smacked of racial profiling because three of the men had been observed praying in the departure area.

“We are in a place in our society where xenophobia seems to win out,” said Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, after the protest. “The last time I checked, public prayer was still protected by the U.S. Constitution,” said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group.

Los Angeles Times, 28 November 2006

Meanwhile, US right-wingers have vociferously defended the decision to eject the imams from the plane. One typical contribution reads: “Anyone who’s made a habit of watching world events the past five years has had good reason to develop a healthy fear of Islam. When Islam makes the news, it’s usually because one of its adherents has blown himself up in a pizzeria, beheaded a newsman or crashed an airliner into a skyscraper.”

Hugh Hewitt at Townhall.com, 27 November 2006

One silver lining to the assault on our freedoms

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One silver lining to the assault on our freedoms

By Jeremy Corbyn

Morning Star, 22 November 2006

LAST weekend, the Stop the War coalition organised an enormous assembly linking the war and the defence of minorities and freedom of expression. Two days later, the British Muslim Initiative and Liberty came together to host a rally in Westminster’s Central Hall on the theme of Islamophobia.

Intolerance is not new in Britain. The Jews were thrown out in the 13th century and they were not allowed back until Oliver Cromwell allowed them in the 17th century. However, they suffered persecution for centuries more to come, with hysterical campaigns in the 19th and 20th centuries run by the popular media which enabled the far-right to gain ground.

Black migrants suffered racist abuse and stereotyping in the 1950s and, later, Asian and other groups suffered in the same way.

The Irish were singled out for special vilification and, after the 1974 Prevention of Terrorism Act, they had the unwelcome attention of the state itself forced upon them. The PTA was finally replaced by the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent acts, all of which have been designed to give excessive and unaccountable power to the security services.

The US may operate a blot on human existence in Guantanamo Bay, but Britain has Belmarsh and is holding dozens of foreign nationals indefinitely without trial, appeal or action date.

Ever since 2001, the vocal campaign against Islam has gained momentum. It has been given occasional puffs of credibility by public statements.

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