Category Archives: UK

EDL leader is banned from protest activity

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stephen Lennon with police

The leader of the English Defence League has been banned from organising or taking part in any of the group’s protests as part of bail conditions.

Stephen Lennon, of Layham Drive, Luton, pleaded not guilty to a public order offence, which is alleged to have happened at an EDL rally in Luton town centre on May 26 against Euro MEP Richard Howitt.

At Luton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the 26-year-old was granted conditional bail to reappear before magistrates on October 31 for a trial. As part of his conditions he must tell Luton police, within three days, if he is to move addresses.

He must also not knowingly organise, travel to, or participate in any march, demonstration, protest or similar within ten miles of Luton. In addition he must not send any article, letter, fax or email that seeks to promote or publicise any match, demonstration or protest in the open air within ten miles of Luton.

At a hearing at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on June 24 in relation to an assault, he has been granted the same bail conditions, which also ban him from the above but which occur more than ten miles from the centre of Luton.

He was also ordered by Blackburn magistrates to report to Luton Police station every Saturday between midday and 2pm, but he was unable to do so yesterday as he was on holiday. If he breaks any of his bail conditions he can be imprisoned. He is due to stand trial at Preston Magistrates’ Court for the assault charge on September 29.

Luton on Sunday, 3 July 2011

Halifax: unity event called to oppose racist EDL, Saturday 9 July

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Support is growing in Halifax for the antiracist unity event opposing the racists and fascists of the English Defence League on Saturday 9 July.

The EDL is coming to the West Yorkshire town on that date in its latest attempt to stir up racist hatred against Muslims in the area. The EDL’s planned demo in Halifax is part of a summer of hate.

Halifax Labour Party, the Central Jamia Mosque Madni, the Calderdale branch of the National Union of Teachers and the Calderdale and Kirklees branch of the PCS union have all thrown their weight behind the antiracist unity event organised by Halifax UAF.

Halifax MP Linda Riordan and Calder ward councillor Dave Young have also signed a statement backing the unity event and opposing the EDL’s attempts to organise in Halifax. NUT reps from across the area unanimously backed the antiracist statement at a meeting to discuss the pensions strike this week.

The unity event starts at 12 noon on Saturday 9 July, at People’s Park, King Cross Street, Halifax.

There have been a series of racist incidents involving EDL members around the town – earlier this month an EDL thug who theatened two elderly Asian men was given a suspended jail sentence. Other EDL members sang racist songs when the EDL staged a demo in Halifax in April.

Local antiracists are determined to show that the EDL thugs are not welcome in their town.

UAF news report, 2 July 2011

Hundreds turn out for North London Central Mosque open day

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NLCM open day 2011Hundreds turned out for the open day at the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park on Sunday.

A history of Islam, a chart of British-Muslim celebrities, and Muslim contributions to academic achievement were all on display in the mosque’s main reception hall. MP Jeremy Corbyn and Islington Council leader Catherine West were all in attendance.

Imam Ahmed Saad, who took over leadership of the mosque in 2006, gave visitors a tour of the building including the men’s and women’s prayer rooms. He said: “It’s good that people come and see what Islam is about. We just want to pray in peace. We are associated with a certain history, but the management and leadership have changed and we have no connections to anything all, but peace.”

The former Finsbury Park Mosque, in St Thomas’s Road, was first opened in 1994 by Prince Charles. It gained notoriety when its members appointed extremist cleric Abu-Hamza al-Masri as Imam. But it now attracts a diverse range of worshippers, and plays an important part in successfully integrating Muslims into north London life.

Islington Tribune, 1 July 2011

Posted in UK

Vet comments on Dutch ritual slaughter ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Yesterday’s vote in the Dutch parliament to ban the no-stun slaughter of livestock could halt production of kosher and halal meat in the Netherlands, and is likely to inspire similar campaigns in other European countries.

The argument seems straightforward: if we have scientifically proven standards for animal welfare that we believe in, we should stick to those standards. And indeed, it would be a simple argument if the people affected by the ban were a random mix of a wide variety of the population.

The problem with the outright ban is that the only people affected are religious minorities: in the Dutch case, one million Dutch Muslims and 40,000 Jews. This makes it easy to claim that anti-minority sentiments are the hidden reason for the legislation. When far right anti-Islamic parties like Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party strongly support the ban, it’s easy to believe that the motivation may not always be just to protect animal welfare.

Our society is becoming increasingly secular, with the mainstream regarding religious faith as unproven and therefore unsupportable: the atheistic viewpoint dominates. How far do we want this to continue? Do we want to live in a state where people are jailed for their religious beliefs?

Qualified vet Pete Wedderburn writes in the Daily Telegraph, 29 June 2011

Brighton mosque targeted in wave of hate crime

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Brighton Al Quds MosqueA Sussex mosque was targeted in a nationwide wave of hate attacks. The Brighton Al-Quds Mosque in Dyke Road received a suspicious package in what police are treating as a racially or religiously motivated crime.

It was one of several Islamic centres to be targeted in London, Dorset, Merseyside, Birmingham and Gloucestershire since June 9. In Birmingham the package contained what was reported to be bags of white powder – triggering fears of an anthrax attack. None of the parcels contained any dangerous substances.

Police were called to Dyke Road on June 11. Officers in protective clothing removed the package. A spokesman for the force said it was “suspicious but non-hazardous”.

The Metropolitan Police, which is investigating the packages, said in a statement: “We are investigating malicious communications sent to a number of addresses in London and other parts of the UK. Inquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made.”

The Argus, 27 June 2011

Via ENGAGE

Posted in UK

East London Mosque replies to Andrew Gilligan’s latest smears

Posted on by Bob Pitt

East London Mosque Statement Concerning Homophobia Stories

Following on from the recent corrections that The Telegraph newspaper had to issue over its London editor’s erroneous reporting of the Ashraf Miah paedophile story, we once again note that Andrew Gilligan is twisting facts and editing context in order to attack our institution. Considering his London-wide brief, his fanatical interest in us seems to border on obsession.

In his blog of 27 June ‘East London Mosque breaks its promise on homophobic speakers after just eight days‘ and follow-up report of 28 June ‘The lies go on‘ Mr Gilligan disingenuously tries to link a local parental campaign over sex education with our institution ‘apparently’ campaigning for active homophobia.

The story Mr Gilligan presented was that of an extremist sect coming to our mosque, with our blessing, to campaign against homosexuality and promote homophobia in ‘clear breach’ of undertakings he claims we have made.

If Mr Gilligan bothers to read the local newspaper, he can see a rather more mundane (and accurate) version of events, with no attempt to hijack the story.

The facts are these:

  • A set of local Muslim parents have been concerned about aspects of sex education in their children’s primary schools.
  • Specifically, they have objected to animated scenes of (heterosexual) intercourse being shown to their children as part of science education lessons. They want to exercise their right to excuse their children from those particular lessons and feel their concerns have not been listened to.

Mr Gilligan did not present these facts. Instead, he attempted to turn a small local story into a national story, by editing the facts to whip up the gay community’s fears over apparent rampant homophobia in Tower Hamlets. (As has been pointed out elsewhere, the number of homophobic incidents has actually risen higher in areas such as Islington and Westminster than in Tower Hamlets.)

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EDL members leave pig’s head on a pole at mosque site

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A member of the English Defence League (EDL) in Notts has pleaded guilty to being involved in an anti-Muslim “hate crime”. Christopher Payne helped a group of EDL members put a pig’s head sprayed with an anti-Muslim message on a 4ft yellow pole in Collington Way, West Bridgford. Payne, 25, of Beardsmore Grove, Hucknall, also spray-painted “No mosque here EDL Notts” on the pavement.

Payne appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to two charges of racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage and causing racially or religiously aggravated alarm, harassment or distress by words or writing.

Daniel Pietryka, prosecuting, said: “Payne had been in a pub in Clifton with other EDL members when he received a text message from a friend who had the pig’s head. It was brought to the pub in a bin liner.”

The court heard there are plans to build a mosque on the site in Collington Way, off Rugby Road.

Payne was arrested on Saturday and told police under interview that he was a member of the EDL who had responsibility for arranging meetings and events in Notts.

District Judge Morris Cooper warned Payne that “all sentencing options are open at this stage” before adjourning the case for a pre-sentence probation report. He said: “You were involved in a course of conduct with others which involved the display of this pig’s head on a stake with grossly offensive comments written on it.”

Payne was granted bail despite police concerns about his involvement with the EDL. The bail conditions include a curfew between 10pm and 5am, that he stays away from West Bridgford and doesn’t go within 200 metres of a mosque. Payne also must not meet with other EDL members.

Payne is next due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on July 21.

Three other men are due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates Court today in connection with the incident. Wayne Havercroft, 41, of Bestwood Village, Nicholas Long, 21, of Arnold, and Robert Joseph Parnham, 19, of Clifton, are each charged with causing religiously aggravated alarm, harassment or distress by words/writing and religiously aggravated criminal damage.

Wayne Havercroft is also charged with causing religiously aggravated alarm, harassment or distress by words/writing in Nottingham city centre on Saturday 25 June.

Nottingham Post, 28 June 2011

Update:  See “Pig’s head on pole: Three plead guilty to hate crime”,Nottingham Post, 29 June 2011

Poll shows widespread Muslim support for gay rights

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A new survey documenting ethnic and religious attitudes in Britain has discovered a startlingly liberal approach to gay rights in the Muslim community.

The poll, conducted by think tank Demos in preparation for a forthcoming essay collection, shows that Muslims are more likely to strongly agree with the statement “I am proud of how Britain treats gay people” than people of no religion. Only Sikhs were more likely to strongly agree.

“British Muslims are far more enlightened and proud of our liberal values than they are often given credit for,” Max Wind-Cowie, head of the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos, commented.

Overall, fewer than one in four British Muslims disagreed with the statement.

The poll found a high degree of pride in being British among Muslims, with four in five saying they were proud to be a British citizen and two-thirds saying they were proud of Britain’s culture. Only one in five said they were not proud of Britain’s role in the world.

The findings mark a significant change since a Gallup poll in 2009 found that zero per cent of British Muslims were tolerant towards homosexuality.

politics.co.uk, 27 June 2011

However, as Sunny Hundal points out at Liberal Conspiracy, the findings in the Demos poll are not necessarily in conflict with the 2009 Gallup poll. It is possible to believe that homosexuality is morally wrong according to the tenets of one’s faith while at the same time opposing oppression and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. This is a distinction that was lost in at least one report of the Gallup poll results, which asserted that “Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance of homosexuality”.

The details of the Demos poll can be found here.

Posted in UK