Category Archives: UK

Judge waits for medical report on racist who threatened Salma Yaqoob

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The mental health of a racist extremist who harassed a Birmingham city councillor will be assessed before he is sentenced.

Stuart Peter John Collins, of Mill Lane, Bartley Green, targeted Respect councillor Salma Yaqoob, who later spoke of the distress it caused.

Collins, aged 50, made offensive phone calls about the councillor to the emergency services claiming she was spreading racial hatred. He pleaded guilty to making offensive phone calls. It puts him in breach of an 18-month suspended jail sentence after he previously bombarded Ms Yaqoob with a series of offensive and racist emails.

Judge Trevor Faber bailed him, after adjourning sentence for a mental health assessment.  He told Collins: “I want to make it clear that I am not giving any indication of sentencing but I am prepared to make a short adjournment so that the psychiatric team can prepare a report for the benefit of the judge who will sentence you.”

In the latest attack, Ms Yaqoob was repeatedly targeted by Collins who said he was “sick of extremists in the UK”.

Ms Yaqoob said: “I am surprised that he is up in court again. I would have thought he would have learnt that it’s not a good idea to send abusive and racist messages, that’s why he was in court last time and having been on the receiving end, it’s not very pleasant.

“But part of me is also concerned that he has mental health issues and I don’t know whether that has been taken into account, but it does sound bizarre going on such rants. I hope he gets the help he needs.”

Birmingham Post, 25 May 2011

‘Peacefully protesting against Islamic extremism’ – another EDL member is charged with affray

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man from Birmingham has been charged with affray following ugly clashes at an English Defence League demonstration in Aylesbury in May last year.

Stuart Bates, aged 41, of Lazyhill, Kings Norton, was charged with affray by Thames Valley Police on May 5. He was bailed and appeared at Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court on Monday where he entered a not guilty plea to the charge. The case was adjourned and the next hearing will be at Aylesbury Crown Court in July.

Bucks Herald, 25 May 2011

According to Searchlight Stuart Bates is a regular participant at EDL demonstrations. He is also a trusted member of the BNP West Midlands security team. “In fact Bates is so highly regarded that he was drafted in to provide security for Griffin at the BBC Question Time fiasco and at his High Court appearance.”

Bates has stood as a BNP candidate for Birmingham City Council on a number of occasions. Contesting the Quinton ward in this year’s elections he got 267 votes (3.62%).

It has also been claimed that Bates acted as a bodyguard for Stephen Lennon (“Tommy Robinson”) at the EDL demonstration in Luton in February.

Qur’an ‘desecrated’ in Chorley mosque attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Chorley mosqueA Quran was “desecrated” and racist graffiti daubed at a mosque, it has emerged. Two teenagers have been charged with racially aggravated criminal damage connected with the incident in Chorley.

Police said intruders entered the Dawat Ul Islam Masjid, also known as Chorley Mosque, in Brooke Street, before causing interior damage and damaging various items, including a Quran. Officers added that racially-abusive graffiti was found on walls at the building during the incident.

Police said that their investigations had not linked the attack to any organised anti-Islamic group.

Coun Hasina Khan, who lives nearby and represents Chorley east on the borough council, said many Muslims in the town were shocked by the incident. She said: “Every religion and all places of worship should be given the greatest of respect by all members of the community.” She added: “Chorley is a place of cohesion between the communities and incidents like this are very rare.”

Sergeant Kevin Mountain, from the Chorley neighbourhood police team, said: “We treat incidents of this nature with the utmost gravity. I would urge anyone who feels they have been subjected to a crime because of their race or religious beliefs to contact us immediately and we will investigate fully.”

The £500,000 mosque, which opened five years ago, has a capacity for more than 500 worshippers and was the first purpose-built mosque in Chorley. Its facilities include a wash room and two large prayer rooms on each floor.

The incident happened on April 16 but police have only just released details after charging two people.

Daniel Barrow, 18, of Berkeley Close, Chorley, has been bailed to appear before Blackburn magistrates on July 15 charged with racially-aggravated criminal damage. A 17-year-old youth has been bailed to appear before a juvenile court in Chorley on July 5 charged with two counts of racially aggravated criminal damage.

Lancashire Telegraph, 25 May 2011

Posted in UK

EDL threatens to gatecrash European anti-racist meeting in Luton

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stephen Lennon with anti-mosque placard2A Euro MP says a bid by the English Defence League to hijack an anti-racism meeting in Luton today (Thursday May 26) will not derail the event. Richard Howitt will be joined by other members of the European Parliament to discuss racism and extremism, as part of his campaigning against far right groups across Europe.

But the EDL says it is angry at the politician’s criticism of their organisation. EDL leader Tommy Robinson says he plans to try to enter a meeting planned at Luton Town Hall to put questions to Mr Howitt.

He said: “I want to get in and talk to him. Are they going to talk about militant Islam? They need to wake up and not be afraid to talk about the real problem. The EDL hasn’t got a stall outside Don Miller’s in the town centre every week. We’re not the ones they need to stop. It’s just a political stunt by Richard Howitt so he can say that he’s stopped racism.”

Mr Howitt says the MEPs, from five European countries, have “hands-on”experience in tackling extremism, and that the aim of the visit is to show that Luton is a “centre of excellence” for combating racism and extremism. During the visit they will speak with faith leaders, councillors, trade unionists, Unite Against Fascism, Searchlight and join with the Luton Town FC Managing Director and players.

Commenting on the possibility of an EDL protest during today’s event, he said: “The demonstration against me is a typical example of the EDL shouting and screaming from the sidelines and causing upset and fear while ordinary people just want to get on with living peacefully and happily in Luton.

“My European MEP colleagues were saddened to see people from France, Germany and Denmark joining the ranks of the EDL march in Luton earlier this year. The significance of the EDL spreads far beyond the UK’s shores which is why we need a Europe-wide response and I think the EDL must be running scared if they feel they need to hold a protest on Thursday.

“Luton is resilient and Lutonians won’t let racists and extremists dictate to them. I am confident threats and intimidation by the EDL aimed at stirring up panic, racial hatred and fear will never succeed in dividing Luton.”

Luton Herald & Post, 26 March 2011

South Shields churchgoer denies hate campaign against Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John WhiteA church stalwart accused of leaving rashers of bacon outside a mosque and Muslim homes has denied running a religious hate campaign. John White was arrested as police investigated a spate of incidents in South Shields earlier this year.

He pleaded not guilty at Newcastle Crown Court to five offences of religiously aggravated harassment, alarm, or distress. The charges all involve the deliberate targeting of Muslims on different days between January 2 and 29. White, who has been attending the same church for 30 years, also faces a string of racially-aggravated offences. But those were not put to him during his brief plea and case management hearing.

Tom Moran, prosecuting, said: “We are likely to nail our colours to the mast because really this case is about religious aggravation rather than racial. It may be a decision is taken not to try him on those other counts but I can’t confirm that today.”

White, 63, of Homestall Close, South Shields, will now go before a jury in the week beginning July 25. He was further remanded on bail with a number of conditions. One of those – an exclusion area – is to be challenged by White’s lawyers. Stuart Graham, defending, said: “One condition is not to enter Baring Street. That causes difficulty for the church he has gone to for 30 years.”

White’s arrest followed a series of disturbing attacks in South Shields. Bacon and pork was thrown at the homes of Muslim families around the town centre. A slab of bacon was also left outside one of the community’s most popular mosques – the Jam-E-Masjid Bangladeshi Muslim Culture and Welfare Association in Baring Street.

Evening Chronicle, 20 May 2011

Via London Muslim

Posted in UK

How the Terrorism Act is used to bully Muslims into spying on their communities

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vikram Dodd examines evidence that the police and MI5 are abusing Schedule 7 stop and search powers to try and turn innocent people into informers.

Guardian, 24 May 2011

See also “Asian people 42 times more likely to be held under terror law”, Guardian, 24 May 2011

And “Black and Asian people unfairly targeted by anti-terror law”, FOSIS press release, 23 May 2011

FOSIS quotes Lord Ahmed as stating: “Ten years after it was first introduced, Schedule 7 is having an extremely damaging impact on community relations. This government has failed to adequately investigate and regulate Schedule 7 in the way that it has with other stop and search powers such as Section 44. That’s why I think it’s time we had an independent review into the use of Schedule 7.”

The FOSIS and StopWatch briefing paper on Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 can be consulted here.

Islamophobia and the media

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pointing the FingerPress TV reports on the launch of Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the Contemporary UK Media, the collection of articles edited by Julian Petley and Robin Richardson.

Julian Petley, who is a professor of Screen Media and Journalism at London’s Brunel University, said that newspapers in Britain are more inclined toward right-wing perspectives than TV and radio.

Petley said among the British newspapers only the Guardian and the Independent are “to some extent” liberal though the two have a tiny circulation compared with right-wing papers.

Petley added that while TV and radio are generally more liberal than the print media the situation is changing as the private sector – especially media linked to Rupert Murdock – takes hold in the industry.

He said that even the BBC is joining the rightists as TV and radio networks are rapidly moving toward Islamophobic content in line with the shift in the media atmosphere.

He stated that based on their findings, published as part of Pointing the Finger, the Islamophobic content in British media centres on four common clichés about Muslims.

Petley said the four beliefs are: all Muslims are the same, all Muslims are under the influence of religious teachings, all of them are lower than other people in moral, human, cultural and political terms and “all of them are considered a threat”.

The launch meeting also featured a speech by AbdoolKarim Vakil, joint editor of Thinking Through Islamophobia: Global Perspectives, who described Islamophobia as effectively a new form of racism that tries to reduce Muslims to a race. He added that such attitudes are to be expected from right-wingers yet even leftists in Britain hold racist anti-Islamic views.

Amir Khan: ‘They took the p*** because I’m a Muslim’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Boxing star Amir Khan has hit out at US customs for keeping him in a holding room for more than two hours.

Amir flew out to Los Angeles on Saturday to start training for his next fight. But the Bolton boxer was not happy at being held in a holding room and being asked about his relatives. He tweeted:

“They took the £!@%*£ because I’m a Muslim. Kept me in some holding room for over 2hours asking y my uncles with me. They where so arrogant and unprofessional. Didn’t know how to talk to pple, well I’m out now an it can’t get any worse.”

Asian Image, 23 May 2011

Mail gives more free publicity to irrelevant nutter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Daily Mail continues its campaign to boost the profile of Anjem Choudary’s tiny group of supporters and provide ammunition for far-right racists like the EDL. The latest report is headlined: “The Bin Laden backlash: Angry Muslims demonstrate outside Downing Street as Obama visits Britain.”

The original version of the report began: “Today a handful of protesters from Muslims Against Crusades demonstrated outside 10 Downing Street in London during Barack Obama’s visit.”

But that obviously wasn’t good enough for the Mail‘s editor. The amended version now begins: “Muslim activists descended on Downing Street today in protest at Barack Obama’s state visit to London.”

And the report has been beefed up with a collection of photos that have been carefully cropped to avoid revealing how few MAC supporters actually participated in the Downing Street protest.

(For another recent example of the right-wing press’s irresponsible coverage of Choudary and MAC, see ENGAGE.)

Update:  The Mail‘s report has been reproduced on mad Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugs blog. This the sort of vile anti-Muslim propaganda that the UK media’s promotion of Anjem Choudary is assisting.

Organiser of EDL mosque protest: ‘we are not racist, we are not right winged and we are not hooligans’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Shotton protest May 2011More than 100 members of the English Defence League marched through Shotton on Saturday to protest against attempts to convert a former social club into an Islamic cultural centre. Shotton Lane Social Club, which was destroyed by a suspicious fire in February, had been earmarked as a potential site for a new multi-cultural centre by Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society.

The march was organised by EDL Deeside division member Graeme England to oppose what the group describes as “militant Islam”. Protestors met outside The Clwyd pub and marched to the site of the former social club, where speeches were made.

The group, which refers to itself as a “human rights organisation”, first marched through Shotton in protest against the planned cultural centre in January – just weeks before the social club site was torched in a suspected arson attack. No one has ever been caught in relation to the incident.

On Saturday an anti-EDL event was also held at Connah’s Quay Civic Hall, organised by the Deeside Trades Council.

Flintshire Chronicle, 23 May 2011

See also “Hain slates nationalist march against Muslim culture centre bid site as ‘poison'”, Wales Online, 22 May 2011

Expose draws our attention to a post on the Flintshire Chronicle discussion forum by Graeme England, the organiser of the EDL protest, who insists that “we are not racist, we are not right winged and we are not hooligans”.

England then goes on to assert that “Islam hates the western world and our way of life, Sharia law is already starting to infect our society, its happening because nobody will stand up and say NO!!! there are streets in our country where no non muslim would dare to walk…. i have spoken to many muslims in the country and they all say the same ‘ITS NOT YOUR COUNTRY ANYMORE… ITS OURS!’.” But then, don’t you see, “Islam isnt a race its a religion”. So how can inciting hatred against Muslims be racist?

As for not being “right winged”, the EDL’s leaders are former BNP members while their PA backs the British First Party, an openly neo-Nazi organisation. And Graeme England himself was happy to announce that the Shotton demonstration was supported by the North West Infidels, a group who make no attempt to conceal their links with organised fascism.

And to describe the EDL as mere “hooligans” errs on the side of mildness. The EDL Casuals United blog followed up the latest march in Shotton by celebrating the arson attack on the social club that was to serve as the premises of the new mosque.

In short, the EDL is a far-right racist organisation that doesn’t just engage in hooliganism but openly promotes violence. This only serves to reinforce the view that there is indeed a two-tier legal system in this country – because, if a Muslim group behaved in the way the EDL does, it would have been banned long ago.