Encouraging counter-subversion policies condemns peaceful Muslims while turning a blind eye to the threat of Islamophobia, David Miller argues.
Category Archives: UK
Southend: man attacked as he visits mosque
A man visiting a mosque for early morning prayers was attacked by a teenager in the street.
The 46-year-old was walking towards the Essex Jamme Masjid Mosque, in Chelmsford Avenue, when he was set on by a boy aged about 15. The boy was part of a group of four youths of similar ages.
The victim suffered cuts and bruises to his face and has been very shaken up by the unprovoked attack. It happened at about 4.15am on Tuesday August 16 and police are appealing for witnesses.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the local neighbourhood police team on 101, extension 470123, or to call the police beat mobile number, 07817 968114.
If you are calling from outside Essex, please call 0300 333 4444 or you can leave information anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Via ENGAGE
EDL supporter denies threatening behaviour at Telford protest
An 18-year-old who attended an English Defence League demonstration in Wellington has denied using threatening behaviour.
Myles Davies, of Melton Mews, Whitchurch, was at Telford Magistrates’ Court today where he pleaded not guilty to using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment or stress at Wellington Train Station on August 13. He is due in court again on August 30.
Promoting sharia hysteria down under – Maryam Namazie arrives in Australia
Maryam Namazie with Douglas Murray at an OLFA meeting in London in January
In Britain, Maryam Namazie’s campaign against sharia law has earned her plenty of hate mail. But what really bothers her is the silence of parts of the media and the inaction by the British government over what she says are sharia’s attacks on the fundamental rights of Britain’s Muslim citizens.
Her group, One Law for All, has been fighting since 2008 to stop what she describes as the rise of political Islamism in Britain.
She is in Australia for a week-long speaking tour in the hope of helping ensure this country learns from the mistakes of Britain, where sharia tribunals enjoy a form of legal recognition in family law. “You are facing quite a lot of similar issues in Australia. It might not be as entrenched as it is in Britain, but you can see a lot of similarities,” Ms Namazie said.
Ms Namazie, who is an Iranian exile, said any form of legal accommodation with sharia “is like trying to incorporate apartheid into a non-racist system of law – they are simply incompatible”.
Yet she says her message is frequently ignored by some British newspapers and broadcasters. “A lot of the media that is considered liberal does not want to touch it because it is seen to be racist.”
EDL Kingston demo cancelled due to rain
Efforts by the English Defence League to hold a “meet and greet” in Kingston fizzled out in heavy rain yesterday.
The far-right group had been due to start their first formal event in the borough at 1.30pm on Saturday. Police, who maintained a highly visible presence in town and outside Kingston Mosque, said they recognised a number of suspected EDL members around town. However, they did not deliver any leaflets after heavy rain hit the town in the early afternoon.
About 20 people from the GMB union, Kingston Green Party, Socialist Workers Party, Unite Against Fascism and the South London Anti-Fascist Alliance held their own counter demonstration.
Matthew Smith, of Kingston GMB, said: “Unlike eight EDL members stuck on a table in Wetherspoons, we were out in the rain distributing 500 leaflets. It was an effort to make sure anyone who could be suseptible to know why the EDL are wrong.”
David Gair, of Kingston police, said: “Whether their resolve was weakened by the weather I don’t know. We have seen a few suspected EDL members, but they did not come out in great numbers.”
“Fizzled out in heavy rain”? Whatever happened to “NSE”? How can the EDL hope to repel the Islamic hordes if its members bottle out as soon as they’re faced with the prospect of getting a bit wet?
EDL member admits to racist graffiti on mosque
A single mother said to be a member of the English Defence League (EDL) has admitted her part in an incident which saw racist remarks daubed on buildings including a mosque.
Charlotte Christina Davies, 19, intends to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage, Durham Crown Court heard yesterday.
The teenager, from Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, was charged after slogans were spray-painted on the Nasir mosque, in Hartlepool, and the Albert Guest House and Milko store, in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, on November 16, last year.
Ms Davies sent text messages suggesting people throw pork scratchings, leave a pig’s head and daub Merry Christmas above a door the day before the beginning of the Muslim festival of Eid, David Crook, prosecuting, told the court.
Police flood Kingston as EDL prepare to gather on streets
Police are out in force after the English Defence League said it would hold a “meet and greet”. The event, which will also include leafleting, is due to start at 1.30pm in Kingston town centre.
A group of about 15 anti-fascist campaigners from Kingston and south-west London are handing out leaflets of their own.
Last November about 60 people marched from Hampton Wick to Kingston in a protest against poppy burning. A small group of men attacked Kingston mosque later the same day.
Lutfur Rahman threatens legal action if Met doesn’t apply for ban on EDL march
The Mayor of Tower Hamlets has given the Metropolitan Police Commissioner until Monday to seek a Home Office ban on the English Defence League marching through London’s East End on September 3. Lutfur Rahman has thrown the gauntlet down and told the commissioner he will go to court unless an application is made.
“I will instruct lawyers on Monday to go to the High Court and seek injunctive relief if the Met Police fail to act,” he told a Town Hall news conference this-afternoon. “We will not let the EDL or any other bunch of extremists divide our community. The EDL just wants images of our young people fighting on the streets to show that multi-cultural Britain doesn’t work – but we stand united in the East End against hatred and Racism. The authorities must act to ban the EDL.”
He is challenging Home Secretary Theresa May to use her powers to stop the EDL coming to Whitechapel on September 3 on the grounds of public safety. He was backed at the news conference in his call for a ban by community and religious leaders who have come together under the United East End alliance.
“Fear and anxiety grows every day that passes without action from the police of Home Secretary,” the mayor added. “If no action is taken, we have no option but to protect our residents and take the police and Home Secretary to court.”
Tower Hamlets council’s legal department has written to the Acting Commissioner to demand they apply to the Home Secretary to ban the march under the Public Order Act, in the light of last week’s London riots. Legal proceedings will begin, they warn, if there is no response by Monday or if the response is not in favour of a ban.
EDL member admits spray paint attack on mosque
A member of the English Defence League has admitted taking part in a spray paint attack on a mosque. Charlotte Davies, 19, will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage.
She travelled from her home in Irving Path, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to Durham Crown Court where she indicated she admitted her part in the graffiti attack in November. The Nasir Mosque in Hartlepool, a shop and a guest house were sprayed.
The plea was not formally entered although the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be carried out and she will be sentenced in October.
Anthony Smith, 24, of Neptune Way, Easington Colliery, County Durham, and Steven Vasey, 32, of Prior’s Grange, Pittington, County Durham, are accused of the same offence and they will enter pleas next Friday.
‘We’ll burn your mosques’: Taunts of hate by an EDL supporter
A member of a far-right group threatened to burn down mosques during a drunken rant in Halifax town centre, a court heard.
Andrew Ossitt, 40, from Newquay, came to Halifax on April 2, along with around 60 other English Defence League protesters. He was part of a group who came into town after a demonstration in Blackburn. They congregated outside the Courtyard pub, Wards End, Halifax.
Another man, Dennis Farrell, 26, of High Lees Road, Halifax, also appeared at Calderdale Magistrates’ Court. He will face trial on November 3 after denying two charges of using threatening words and racially or religiously aggravated harassment.
Scores of police went to the pub at 6pm and marched the group back to the train station.
Vanessa Schofield, prosecuting, said: “Officers’ attention was drawn to Andrew Ossitt. He was walking along, slightly behind the group. He raised both arms in the air and shouted, ‘These are our streets, Muslims off the streets’.”
Ossitt admitted using threatening words to cause harassment alarm or distress and a second charge of religiously aggravated harassment and was fined £100.
Mohammed Farooq, representing Ossitt, told the court although he joined in with chanting, he was not an instigator. He said: “At no point was it his intention to be part of any demonstration outside the pub. A few members began chanting, a few more joined in. Due to him being in drink at the time he began to chant ‘You burn the poppies, and we will burn the mosques’.
“Andrew Ossitt says at the time of making these remarks he did not feel he was going to cause anyone any alarm, harassment or distress. With hindsight he said had there been members of the Muslim community there, they would have done.”
His solicitor said Ossitt felt “aggrieved” at being prosecuted. “He has been singled out from that demonstration and used as a scapegoat here in court. He has said there should be 60 or so EDL stood next to him,” said Mr Farooq. He said Ossitt has not attended any English Defence League meetings since April.
As well as the £100 fine, chairwoman Anthea Atkinson told Ossitt to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. “Our aim is to punish you, which we believe this will do. If this offence had not been religiously aggreviated, you would have paid £30 but it has been increased to reflect the religious aggreviation,” she said.