Yusuf Smith has posted a thoughtful and well-argued article at Indigo Jo Blogs replying to the recent Murdoch-press-inspired moral panic about underage marriage in the UK Muslim community and offering some critical comments on Hasnet Lais’s article in the Independent on the weaknesses of Muslim leadership at mosque level.
Category Archives: UK
Multiculturalism ‘past its sell-by date’ claims Cantle
The Daily Telegraph reports that Ted Cantle, author of a notorious 2001 report into riots in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley, will deliver a speech at a National Secular Society conference next week in which he argues that the idea of multiculturalism in Britain is now “well past its sell-by date”.
Cantle calls for a halt to all state funding for projects and services aimed at or run by religious groups or individual ethnic communities. He asserts that such projects are turning Britain into a divided society and amount to a form of state-sponsored segregation.
Appearing along with Cantle at the NSS conference will be Richard (“Islam is the greatest man-made force for evil in the world today”) Dawkins, the Islamophobic drunk Nick Cohen, and Maryam (“terrorism is justified and encouraged in Islam”) Namazie. So he’ll be in good company.
English Defence League leader offers views on ‘Innocence of Muslims’ film
Islam is ‘the most extensive and complete despotism that ever warred against civilisation and the interests of humanity’ claims Christian bigot
Peter Mullen draws the lessons from the crisis provoked by The Innocence of Muslims.
Sunderland Muslims fear arson attacks on cars were carried out by racists
His car a burnt-out shell, student Usman Chaudhry fears he is the target of racist thugs. The 28-year-old’s Nissan Micra was one of two cars destroyed by arsonists in one weekend. He woke up at 5.30am to see his car on fire outside the house he shares with friends in Pensher Street, Millfield.
Police were first on the scene, but firefighters were already dealing with another blaze in the next street.
Mr Chaudhry, who has lived in the city for 11 months, said: “I was up early because I was preparing for a project. I heard a noise outside and saw my car was on fire. I called the police and woke up my friends who I live with and they extinguished the fire.”
Takeaway shop worker Hussain Mohammad was woken by fire crews putting out a blaze in his Peugeot 306 in Offerton Street. The 27-year-old Iranian national said: “I got up at about 6.30am and the fire engines and police were there. The whole engine was burnt-out.”
Azhar Ahmed convicted of offensive Facebook message
A teenager has been found guilty of posting an offensive Facebook message following the deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan.
Azhar Ahmed, 19, of Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, was charged with sending a grossly offensive communication.
10 myths of the UK’s far right
Daniel Trilling, author of the new book Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain’s Far Right, lists 10 dangerous misconceptions about the far right.
Teenager in veil robbed in Blackburn street
A teenager who had just left a mosque was punched in the face by a thief who stole her handbag. The 17-year-old has been left with a suspected fractured eye socket, swelling and bruising to her face after the incident on Saturday.
At the time the girl was wearing full Asian dress including a veil. She described the experience as “terrifying”.
Planning application submitted for so-called ‘mega-mosque’ in Newham
The Architects Journal reports that NRAP Architects have submitted an outline planning application for a 9,500-capacity mosque at the Riverine Centre in Newham and provides “exclusive images” of the plan. Unfortunately, to subscribers only.
However, the Riverine Centre website has been updated with details of the plan. You can consult an overview of the proposals here.
It would obviously be too much to ask that the right-wing press should cease referrring to the development as a “mega-mosque”, but perhaps they could bring themselves to stop publishing references to and illustrations of the old Mangera Yvars design for a 12,000-capacity mosque that was scrapped five years ago.
We Are Waltham Forest plans huge demonstration against second EDL march in Walthamstow
Campaigners have sworn to flood the streets of Walthamstow with demonstrators if an English Defence League (EDL) march planned for October goes ahead.