Category Archives: UK

Usama Hasan finds a new friend

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Any sympathy Quilliam’s new senior researcher Usama Hasan may have won within the wider Muslim community last year, as a result of the threats to which he was subjected over his views on evolution, has no doubt evaporated following his disgraceful campaign against Leyton’s Masjid-al-Tawhid.

Still, I suppose it’s a case of swings and roundabouts. You squander the goodwill of some, only to earn the approbation of others. Judging by an exchange of tweets last Friday that followed the publication in the Evening Standard of a hysterical article claiming that the mosque where he formerly served as imam poses a terrorist threat to the Olympics, it appears that Dr Hasan has now formed a mutual admiration society with none other than Hasan Afzal.

Continue reading →

Posted in UK

Bournemouth councillor ordered to make apology after EDL Twitter comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sue AndersonA Bournemouth councillor has been ordered to make a public apology for her controversial online comments about the English Defence League.

Conservative Cllr Sue Anderson has been told she needs to apologise at next Tuesday’s full council meeting, send a written apology to the complainant and undertake equality and diversity training.

Those were the recommendations of Bournemouth’s standards committee, who discussed the issue at a private meeting last month. They concluded that Cllr Anderson had potentially breached the council’s code of conduct with her comments on Twitter late at night on Saturday, May 5.

Continue reading →

Eleven arrested during EDL rally in Rochdale

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Rochdale June 2012

Eleven men were arrested by police today during a rally by the English Defence League in Rochdale.

More than 400 members of the far-right organisation gathered for around two hours outside the town hall. The majority were brought into the town centre on buses and coaches from a nearby retail park at 1pm.

Many gathered outside pubs on Packer Street amid a heavy police presence before they were escorted by officers to a pen on the car park outside the town hall. Officers dealt with a handful of minor skirmishes as the group marched the short distance to the car park from Packer Street.

Two fireworks, believed to be bangers, later exploded at the feet of crowds stood outside the pen near to the Post Office on The Esplanade. No one was injured.

Continue reading →

EDL get ready to descend on Rochdale

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL paedophile sex gangs placardRochdale shop owners are preparing ahead of tomorrow’s English Defence League march. The far-right movement will descend on the town at 1.30pm to demonstrate against what they see as an expansion of Muslim extremism.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk urged the town to continue as usual. He said: “Tomorrow’s ‘protest’ is nothing more than an attempt to stir up racial tensions and incite violence. The police are fully prepared to deal with this and the protest will be outside of the town centre, which will be open for business as usual. I would urge everyone to continue to support local shops and businesses.”

Continue reading →

Evening Standard warns of ‘terror’ threat to Olympics … from Leyton mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Evening Standard has latched on to the allegations against Masjid-al-Tawhid in Leyton, carrying a report in today’s issue titled “Mosque near Olympics site in ‘terror link’ investigation”. The aim of this scaremongering headline, which is based on a quote provided by the mosque’s former imam Usama Hasan, is obviously to suggest that the forthcoming Olympic Games face a threat from Masjid-al-Tawhid.

Interestingly, the nature of this supposed “terror link” has changed. According to the Standard, the Charity Commission’s investigation, launched in response to a complaint by Usama Hasan, is now “understood to centre on sermons delivered at the mosque between 2004 and 2010 by Haitham al-Haddad, a preacher by whom notorious ‘underpants bomber’ Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab claims he was influenced”. Indeed, to underline this point the report is illustrated with a photo of Abdulmutallab.

Continue reading →

EDL supporter fined for racist rant at Asian police officer in Huddersfield

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Bradley man has admitted racially assaulting an Asian police officer. And a court heard he then made an English Defence League salute after he was arrested.

Laszlo Michael Lankovits, of Elder Road, Bradley, pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence on May 21.

Kirklees Magistrates were told yesterday that the remarks were made when Lankovits was arrested at his mother’s address for breaching bail conditions.

Prosecutor Astin Bill told the court Lankovits said to the female officer: “I am British. I’ve served in the army. Where are you from? Go back to your own country.”

He told the court that once in custody Lankovits then shouted out EDL before putting his hand to his chest and making a salute.

Defence solicitor Jonathan Slawinski told the court that his client deeply regretted his actions and was not a member of the English Defence League.

Huddersfield Examiner, 7 June 2012

Via ENGAGE

Suffolk man who threatened that mosque would ‘be burned down’ gets community order and fine

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man posted a racially offensive comment on Facebook during a group discussion about a Bury Free Press front page, a court has heard.

Luke Janzen joined in a debate started by one of his friends about The Falcon pub, in Bury St Edmunds, being converted into a mosque, saying if that happened it would “be burned down”.

When he appeared at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’ Court on Friday, the 22-year-old, of Clay Road, Bury, pleaded guilty to sending an offensive message by public communication network.

Prosecuting, Colette Griffiths said the case was “an unusual matter” which stemmed from Janzen posting a comment on March 17. She told the court he wrote: “If there’s going to be a mosque in Bury then the f*****’s going to be burned down.”

Janzen was arrested 10 days later after police researched the social networking site following complaints about abusive comments that had appeared on it. He told police “well, we have all got our own opinions,” said Mrs Griffiths.

She added: “He said it was a silly thought, that he was thinking if there was a mosque there, someone was bound to burn it down and not that he intended to burn it down.”

Continue reading →

Police called to ‘large scale disorder of EDL’, court told

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Michael Rafferty and Ricky Burley (2)A court heard how police called to a “large scale disorder” were forced to use pepper spray and brandish Tasers to tackle a “very aggressive” crowd.

Two men, Ricky Burley, aged 43 [on right of picture] and 34-year-old Michael Rafferty [on left] both appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court to face trial on charges of resisting police officers in Exeter Street on August 31 last year. Burley, of High Street, Stonehouse, also faces a charge of threatening behaviour. Rafferty, of Woolwich, London, but formerly from Devonport denies the charges, as does Burley.

Continue reading →

‘Mosque’s terror links’ investigated by Charity Commission

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Masjid-al-TawhidAn east London mosque is being investigated by the Charity Commission over potential links to terrorist and extremist groups.

In a letter seen by BBC London, the commission says it is beginning a statutory inquiry into the Masjid-al-Tawhid mosque in Leyton. It comes as liberal Imam Dr Usama Hasan resigned from the mosque following death threats for teaching about evolution and women’s rights.

In the letter, the Charity Commission states the investigation will look at whether the Masjid-al-Tawhid Trust “allowed individuals with potential links to terrorist organisations to use the charity to promote and/or express extremist views; and/or the trustees have taken appropriate steps to safeguard the reputation of the charity.”

Continue reading →

Sikhs, Muslims and the EDL – an account from Luton

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In an update on last week’s protest by Luton’s Sikh community, the Turban Campaign has reproduced an account by Peter Adams from St Mary’s Church in Luton. As they point out: “The account confirms the opportunistic actions of the EDL leadership and the very public disapproval by the local Sikh leadership as previously reported.”

Adams was at Luton Magistrates’ Court the day after the main protest and reports:

“Soon after 10.30 when I arrived it was confirmed that the Muslim lad had been charged and hearing would be in the afternoon. Kevin Carrol turned up soon after and not long afterwards community leader Jaswinder Singh Nagra. He told Carrol EDL were not welcome. When asked who had invited him to be there he could name no names. He withdrew and called Lennon. He hung around and then left.”

Which possibly explains why this EDL appeal was followed shortly after by this one.