Category Archives: UK

EDL launches ‘European Defence League’, organises Amsterdam demo in support of Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Bradford4The English Defence League (EDL), the anti-Muslim ‘street army’ composed largely of football hooligans that burst onto the front pages of British newspapers in the last year as a result of its often violent protests, is to hold a rally in Amsterdam in October, EUobserver has learned.

The EDL is to demonstrate in support of Geert Wilders, the Dutch anti-immigrant firebrand, with a recently launched French Defence League and Dutch Defence League, modelled on the English group, to join them along with other anti-Islamic militants from across Europe.

The demonstration in Amsterdam is due to take place on 30 October, according to the EDL website. Mr Wilders heads to court at the end of next month on charges of inciting racism. The case begins 5 October, with a verdict expected 2 November.

Joining them there will be members of the recently formed Dutch Defence League and French Defence League, both modelled on the EDL. The latter draws its members from the ranks of far-right supporters of the Paris Saint Germain football club, known in France for long harbouring a far-right element among the club’s supporters, although elsewhere on the continent, according to EDL spokesman Steve Simmons, not all the defence-league-linked groups have their origins in football hooliganism.

The French Defence League, which employs both an anglophone version of its name and “Ligue Francaise de Defense,” founded in May and more latterly takes the name Ligue 732, after a group of Paris Saint Germain supporters, that, according the outfit, “tries to unify all French Casuals, Ultras and French Fans to fight against Radical Islam.”

The 732 figure references the year that the French king Charles the Hammer, the grandfather of Charlemagne, won a victory at the Battle of Tours halting Islamic expansion in western Europe.

Mr Simmons told EUobserver that militants from the “anti-Jihad movement” in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and “other European states” will join them in Amsterdam for the launch of what is termed the “European Defence League” or, alternately, the much cuddlier “European Friendship Initiative.”

“I would also like to take this opportunity to announce a new demonstration that is to take the English Defence League global,” Tommy Robinson, the pseudonym of the group’s leader, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a former member of the BNP, wrote on the EDL website in a missive in July.

“You may be aware that the great man Geert Wilders is in court for race hate charges,” he continued. “The EDL has been in contact with our European brothers and sisters and we have decided that on Saturday, 30 October the European Defence League will be demonstrating in Amsterdam in support of Geert. We hope that all of you will be able to join us for this, what promises to be a landmark demonstration for the future of the defence leagues.”

“We feel that freedom of speech is being eroded and a lot of appeasing of radical muslims and Islam in general. Geert has the courage to take this on and we want to support him,” the group’s spokesman, Steve Simmons, told EUobserver.

EUobserver, 31 August 2010

Geller defends EDL’s actions in Bradford

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Bradford3

Newsweek‘s Declassified blog reports an email exchange with Pamela Geller, who sees no reason to withdraw her backing for the far-right EDL despite its supporters’ widely reported racism and hooliganism at the demonstration in Bradford on Saturday,

Geller told Declassified: “The media has been defamatory and libelous towards any and all counter jihad activists, including the EDL, which far from being neo-Nazi and racist, is pro-Israel and has Sikh and other non-white members and spokesmen. The EDL’s own explanation of what happened in Bradford is here. As you can see from that statement, a group of Islamic supremacists and Communists actually began the violence by throwing rocks at EDL members.”

In response Declassified points out that reports by the police and even the right-wing press contradict the EDL’s fantasy account of a peaceful, patriotic event that came under attack from the Left and was otherwise only slightly marred by the unrepresentative actions of a handful of “Combat 18 boneheads”:

“The Telegraph said that as EDL protesters got off buses that had taken them to the site, they shouted slogans at locals, including ‘Allah-Pedophile’, ‘We want our country back’, and ‘We love the floods’ – a reference, the paper said, to flooding that’s now devastating much of Pakistan.

“The Daily Mail, a newspaper perhaps even more conservative than The Telegraph, also reported on the violence. The paper’s website carries photos of what it says are EDL protesters, with one caption reading, ‘Crossing the line: EDL supporters in hats, hoods and balaclavas hurl missiles at police in Bradford today’.”

But Geller will have none of it. In reply she acknowledges that some of the slogans the Telegraph attributed to EDL protesters were “in bad taste, although in saying that I am not accepting the accuracy of The Telegraph account, and also understand that words said in anger are not always words the speakers would endorse in moments of reflection”.

Indeed, according to Geller, if racist chants and violence occur at EDL rallies this is very probably part of a conspiracy to undermine the “counter jihad” movement:

“The Left and real neo-Nazis frequently attempt to infiltrate EDL rallies in order to discredit the EDL. This is amply documented. Both have an interest in seeing the EDL fail: the Left so that there will be no serious resistance to its agenda, and the neo-Nazis so that there exists no respectable alternative to them in opposing the British elite, and also because the neo-Nazis have generally aligned with the Islamic jihad that the EDL resists.”

But then, Geller also believes that the attack on New York taxi driver Ahmed Sharif was a leftist plot to discredit her campaign against the “Ground Zero mosque”.

The truly bizarre thing is that this woman is regularly featured in the US media as if she has some rational ideas to contribute to a discussion of Islam. As for the UK, faced with the example of Pamela Geller you do feel that in all fairness Melanie Phillips should perhaps now be renamed “relatively sane Mel”.

Postscript:  For more on the common ground Geller finds with the far Right, see the recent article by Heidi Beirich at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch blog.

More raving from Nick Cohen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anyone who fails to denounce Tariq Ramadan is an apologist for Islamist totalitarianism. Well, so Nick Cohen claims in Standpoint magazine. Along with his hero Paul Berman, whose writings provide the inspiration for his paranoid ravings against Islamism, Cohen shows how certain self-styled defenders of Enlightenment rationalism have in fact taken leave of reason.

‘Stealth jihad’ – a paranoid right-wing fantasy that demonises Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stealth Jihad“Here is the latest semantic assault from the party that brought you ‘Islamo-facism’ (circa 2005) and ‘Axis of Evil’ (2002). The term ‘stealth jihad’ is suddenly voguish among politically ambitious right wingers who see President Obama’s approach to terrorism as insufficient.

“If it sounds like a phrase from a military-fantasy summer blockbuster, that’s on purpose: in its cartoonish bad-guy foreignness, ‘stealth jihad’ attempts to make the terrorist threat broader and thus more nefarious than it already is. The only thing scarier than an invisible, homicidal, suicidal enemy with a taste for world domination is one who’s sneaking up on you.”

Lisa Miller at Newsweek, 28 August 2010

EDL supporters attack police at Bradford protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Bradford4Far-right activists threw smoke bombs and missiles and fought with the police as trouble flared during a protest organised by the English Defence League.

Bricks, bottles and smoke bombs were thrown at anti-racism supporters and police as around 700 EDL activists – including known football hooligans and BNP members – held a “static protest” in Bradford city centre. Mounted officers and others in riot gear were attacked as they pushed the EDL into a penned area. Skirmishes continued as EDL speakers addressed the crowd and there was more violence as its supporters were put back on coaches.

Continue reading →

Police chiefs accused of misleading Birmingham councillors over spy cameras

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two police chiefs could face condemnation and disciplinary action after an inquiry was launched into claims they deliberately misled councillors about surveillance targeted at Muslim communities in Birmingham.

The £3.5m initiative to ringfence two Muslim suburbs with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras was shelved in June after an investigation by the Guardian.

Sir Paul Scott-Lee, who was West Midlands chief constable until April 2009, and Stuart Hyde, who was assistant chief constable, stand accused of deliberately misleading councillors over the true motives behind the monitoring programme. Several councillors who attended a meeting about why the cameras were being installed in their wards say they were told they were part of a Home Office scheme targeting antisocial behaviour and vehicle crime.

A network of 169 ANPR cameras was erected this year to form “rings of steel” around Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, two largely Muslim neighbourhoods. There was no public consultation before the project, which also included the installation of additional CCTV and covert cameras.

Guardian, 28 August 2010

Update:  See also Salma Yaqoob’s website, which reproduces the presentation she made on behalf of Sparkbrook Respect party councillors to the council’s scrutiny inquiry into Project Champion.

Spectator and Stephen Pollard apologise to Islam Expo

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islam Expo press release, 27 August 2010

On 15 July 2008, the Spectator website published an article by Stephen Pollard (editor of the Jewish Chronicle) entitled “Demos and Genocide”. That article unfairly and falsely referred to Islam Expo as a racist, fascist and genocidal organisation.

As is well-known, we at Islam Expo host exhibitions which explore a wide range of issues relating to Islam and Muslims and which seek not only to educate visitors about the positive and progressive aspects of this religion, but also to provide a neutral and all-inclusive platform in which people of all races, religions and viewpoints can gather to discuss topics relating to Islam without fear of reprisal or restriction. The Directors and organisers of Islam Expo had worked, and continue to work, hard to establish a good reputation for providing a venue where people can attend our events and debate openly, building an understanding and mutual tolerance. These events are also attended by a wide range of leading academics, politicians and journalists.

Islam Expo was therefore justifiably outraged and dismayed to learn that we had been referred to in this way. As neither Mr Pollard nor the Spectator agreed to our initial request for an apology, we had no option but to seek vindication via litigation.

We are pleased to report that the Spectator and Mr Pollard have now agreed to publish an apology on the Spectator website in the following terms:

“Islam Expo: Stephen Pollard and the Spectator apologise for the unintended and false suggestion in a blog published on 15 July 2008 that Islam Expo Limited is a fascist party dedicated to genocide which organised a conference with a racist and genocidal programme. We accept that Islam Expo’s purpose is to provide a neutral and broad-based platform for debate on issues relating to Muslims and Islam.”

This appeared on front page of the Spectator today:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/all/6232858/islam-expo-apology.thtml

In addition, the Spectator and Mr Pollard have undertaken never to repeat the allegations complained of and agreed to pay damages to compensate us for the damage done to our reputation by the article. They have also agreed to pay our legal costs.

Litigation was not and is not our preferred option and we prefer to deal with everyone on an open and amicable basis. However, when false and serious allegations are published that seek to discredit and damage the reputation of Islam Expo, and the publishers refuse to apologise, then we have no option but to take legal action. We are delighted with the eventual outcome in this matter.

We hope that in future third parties intending to write about us will attend our future events which remain, as ever, open and welcoming to all, and be fair and objective in their comments.

ISLAM EXPO
(On behalf of ISLAM EXPO DIRECTORS: Mohammad Sawalha, Ismail Patel and Anas Altikriti)

Police officer found guilty of racial remark about Muslim colleague

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A policeman has been found guilty after trial of making an anti-Muslim remark to a fellow officer at a Christmas night out in Kincardine.

Gavin Ross (43), of Kirkwood Place, Coatbridge, who was a police sergeant in probation training at Tulliallan police college, Kincardine, told Dunfermline Sheriff Court that he “jokingly” called Sergeant Amar Shakoor “a f****** amusing bastard” at the meal, which was attended by 15 officers.

Ross was found guilty after trial that on December 10, at The Unicorn restaurant in Kincardine, he acted in a racially aggravated manner towards Mr Shakoor (44) by using the word “Muslim” and not “amusing” in that sentence.

Ross denied the charge and said he would not do such a thing as he had received “homophobic” abuse since the age of 14.

Mr Shakoor contacted the treasurer of the Scottish Police Muslim Association. He later gave a statement to a colleague and said he wanted the matter to be dealt with through the right procedures and wanted Ross to apologise to him personally. He also said Lesley Docherty had told him she could not believe what Ross had said.

PC Docherty told depute fiscal Benson that she was speaking to another officer when there was a lull in the conversation and she heard Ross make the remark. “After it, Gavin said, ‘Oh, you know I’m only joking,’ ” she said. “When I heard the comment I kind of gasped and my hands came up to my mouth.”

Sheriff Daniel Kelly said, “I am satisfied that the evidence given by Mr Shakoor and Ms Docherty was very precise. Mr Shakoor said that he became angry after the remark and that he did not eat his desert. Having looked at all the evidence closely I am prepared to accept the evidence given by Mr Shakoor and Ms Docherty.”

Ross was fined £500. Afterwards he said he did not wish to comment.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said, “Following the guilty verdict at Dunfermline Sheriff Court today, we can confirm that a report will be prepared for the Deputy Chief Constable for his consideration.”

Meanwhile, a Scottish Police Muslim Association spokesman said they were “happy with the result and the way it was promptly dealt with,” and a spokesman for the Scottish Police Training College said there was “no place here for anyone who behaves in a racist or bigoted fashion.”

The Courier, 27 August 2010

RUSI slammed over terrorists in prisons report

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Danny AfzalA Muslim who served 20 years behind bars has slammed a report that claims prisons are factories for hundreds of home-grown terrorists. Former prisoner Danny Afzal, who works as a researcher for the Prison Reform Trust, hit out at the Royal United Services Institute journal after it published a report warning that prisons are radicalising Muslims.

It stated that Britain has more to fear than any other Western country from home-grown terrorists. According to its estimates, one in 10 Muslim prisoners in high security jails across England and Wales are “successfully targeted” by radical jihadists.

“Perhaps 800 potentially violent radicals, not previously guilty of terrorism charges, will be back in society over the coming five to 10 years,” the journal said. It warned against British “public complacency” and stoked fears that the possibility of terrorist attacks hangs over all major sporting events including the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Mr Afzal rubbished the report and warned that it would create major tensions inside and out of prisons.

He said: “I’m very disappointed by this scaremongering report. All the hard work to improve faith relations inside and out of prison are severely jeopardised by reports such as this. When so-called experts publish these misleading figures they never think of the consequences for Muslims and their families, who will be isolated as a result.

“The report is based on unreliable secondary evidence. I’ve visited prisons first hand and spoken to enough Muslims there to know that the report’s ‘facts’ are unfounded.”

Morning Star, 27 August 2010