The English Defence League have been responding to news that a disused pub in Preston may be re-opened as an Islamic education centre.
Category Archives: UK
Cameron considers ‘Class B’ extremism plan to restrict Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir
The Prime Minister is to launch a fresh bid to place new legal curbs on radical Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir, to quell concerns the group sees British campuses as a fertile recruiting ground.
Laws designed to restrict the activities of the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir are being drafted but David Cameron’s aim to outlaw the group entirely has been dismissed because no proof exists that the group has any involvement in terror activities.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has thousands of members in Britain. Tony Blair also attempted a ban in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings, but was warned by police and security advisors that driving the group underground could backfire with no proof of violent activities. The Tories pledged to ban the group in their election manifesto, saying the advocated “the violent overthrow of our society”.
Cameron is now considering creating a “Class B” of hardline groups, which would restrict their activities, short of an outright ban, the Times reported. The job of devising such a system will go to the anti-terrorism taskforce set up after the brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in an alleged Islamist-motivated attack in Woolwich. One possibility is that Hizb ut-Tahrir would be banned from holding meetings in public buildings such as universities, the Independent claimed.
Another Muslim-bashing story from the Mail
“Teachers ‘denied schoolboy, 10, water on the hottest day of the year to avoid upsetting Muslim pupils during Ramadan'” – that’s the headline to a report in yesterday’s Daily Mail. The story, which is of course just the latest episode in the “Islamisation of the West” narrative promoted by the right-wing press, was also taken up by the Daily Express (“Teachers deny water to schoolboy, 10, on the hottest day of the year”).
Coverage was not restricted to right-wing newspapers. The story appeared in the Daily Mirror (“Mum claims son was REFUSED water at school in heatwave as it was ‘unfair’ on fasting Muslim classmates”) and also featured in the National Secular Society‘s daily media round-up (“Schoolboy forced to observe Ramadan fast – even though he isn’t a Muslim”).
It provoked the usual frothing at the mouth from the likes of Pamela Geller (“This speaks to the supremacism of Islam”) and Robert Spencer (“Easy to see which group is in charge in Britain”), along with the British National Party (“What kind of loony left teacher can actually think it is right to deny a child a drink of water on one of the hottest days of the year. She can only face the sack”).
EDL thugs must be prosecuted for threats to journalist – NUJ
Members of the English Defence League have been strongly condemned for harassment and threats of violence targeted at a young reporter.
Sarah Marshall, a trainee reporter on the Doncaster Free Press, was threatened on the Casuals United website, over an incident at an EDL rally in Sheffield six weeks ago. The website has a picture of her and the threat: “If Miss Marshall is not dealt with we will be outside Doncaster Free Press until she is.” The site gave contact details of the Doncaster Free Press.
Police investigate suspected ‘nail bomb’ outside Tipton mosque
Police have sealed off an area around a West Midland mosque and evacuated local residents after a loud bang was heard. No injuries have been reported but officers say they have closed off the area around Binfield Street as a precaution.
Eyewitnesses at the scene claim a bomb went off in the car park of the mosque at 1.15pm. Some residents have reported finding debris in the area – including nails. This is being investigated by forensic officers at the scene.
Manic Street Preachers take legal action against EDL
Manic Street Preachers are taking legal action against the English Defence League for using their song ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ to promote an upcoming demonstration in Birmingham.
Ironically, the song – taken from the band’s 1998 album ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’ – took its name from an anti-fascist slogan used during the Spanish Civil War and has now been used by the far-right group in a video about one of their demos. The song famously features the lyric: “So if I can shoot rabbits/Then I can shoot fascists”.
Michael Wongsam, the Chair of West Midlands Unite Against Fascism said in a statement: “We are appalled to discover that the racist and fascist English Defence League has used the anti-fascist song ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’ by the band the Manic Street Preachers…This song takes its title from an anti-fascist slogan used during the Spanish Civil War where anti-racists and anti-fascists from all over Europe tried to stop Franco’s fascists from taking over the country.”
Another inflammatory lie from the EDL
Footballer jailed over anti-Muslim tweets
Merseyside footballer Shaun Tuck was jailed after sending a string of anti-Muslim tweets in the wake of the Woolwich murder of Drummer Lee Rigby.
Tuck, 26, a former Marine FC striker who now plays for Witton Albion, in Northwich, admitted using the social network to call for mosques in the UK to be “gassed out or bombed”. The drink-fuelled online tirade also referred to beheading Muslim children and called for a riot in response to the tragedy.
Liverpool magistrates’ court was told Tuck, of Mollington Avenue, Norris Green, had been drinking after hearing the news of Drummer Rigby’s death on May 22. He tweeted the offensive messages over a number of hours on that day and in to May 23.
Guardian welcomes expansion of East London Mosque
A month after a mosque in north London was destroyed in an arson attack, it is heartening to see that East London Mosque in Whitechapel is expanding. When it gets fully under way, the Maryam Centre will offer a range of projects and services for women in the community – a prayer hall, counselling, a gym – as well as house a school and a visitor centre for non-Muslims. The centre will make the mosque very much more than just a provider of religious services. With 25,000 worshipers attending a week, and that is outside Ramadan, the mosque has already become a key hub for the community. Its original purpose in 1910 was as a place of worship for sailors and travellers who came to Tower Hamlets. It took most of the last century to establish a permanent base in Whitechapel. Today it is the living and growing answer to those on the extreme right who vilify mosques as the home of fundamentalists.
Editorial in the Guardian, 11 July 2013
A welcome two fingers to the likes of Andrew Gilligan and Harry’s Place.
Three charged for attack on elderly man walking to Islamic Centre
Three men have been charged with grievous bodily harm following an attack on a elderly Muslim man on Saturday night. A fourth has been bailed by police pending further enquiries.
The three are Daniel Giles, 39, of Wendell Court, Uxbridge; Ryan Newman, 19, of Iris Court, Nursery Road, Pinner; and a 17 year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons. They appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court yesterday. All three were denied bail and remanded in custody to Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, July 23.