Category Archives: UK

Islamophobia is a threat to democracy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The following letter appears in today’s Guardian:

We are concerned by the rise of Islamophobia, the negative coverage of Muslims in the media, the violent street mobilisations of extreme rightwing organisations like the English Defence League, and the rising electoral support for the British National party (The battle for Barking, Weekend, 13 March). Following Channel 4’s recent inflammatory documentary, Britain’s Islamic Republic, which saw concentrated attacks on the East London Mosque, the English Defence League marched through central London with placards including the demand “Close the East London Mosque now”.

The East End of London is not new to having its communities attacked by fascists and the media. The 1930s saw the Battle of Cable Street when Oswald Mosley’s blackshirts attempted to march into the Jewish community in the area. We cannot allow this terrible history to repeat itself. Further, the documentary, and articles since, have attacked the participation in politics by the Muslim community. We cannot stand by and watch this continue without remark or action.

In the runup to the general election, all parts of the population should be actively encouraged to exercise their votes. That is democracy. We welcome the work of organisations who work to this end. We call for solidarity and support for those organisations that work to encourage political participation from all sections of society, including Muslims, and condemn those who seek to undermine it.

Ken Livingstone
Bonnie Greer
Dr Abdul Bari Secretary general, Muslim Council of Britain
Brendan Barber General secretary, TUC
Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC
Dr. Edie Friedman Executive director, Jewish Council for Racial Equality
Diane Abbott MP
Neil Jameson Executive director, London Citizens
Jagtar Singh Sikh Secretariat
Tony Woodley Joint general secretary, Unite the Union
Bruce Kent
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Professor Eric Hobsbawm
Louise Christian Christian Khan solicitors
Billy Hayes General secretary, Communication Workers Union
Rabbi Lee Wax
Anas Altikriti Spokesperson, British Muslim Initiative
Caroline Lucas MEP
Professor Avi Shlaim
Lord Nazir Ahmed
Kate Hudson Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Andrew Stunell MP
Ismail Patel Co-ordinator, YouElect
Claude Moraes MEP
Rev. Alan Green Chair, Tower Hamlets Interfaith forum
George Galloway MP
Musleh Faradhi Central president, Islamic Forum Europe
Jean Lambert MEP
Salma Yaqoob Leader, Respect party
Jenny Jones AM
Steve Hart Regional secretary, Unite London Region
Andrew Murray Chair, Stop the War
Bell Ribeiro-Addy NUS black students officer
Sabby Dhalu Joint secretary, Unite Against Fascism

Update:   Response from EDL here.

Leeds: police probe as yobs desecrate Muslim graves

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police are investigating claims that a Leeds graveyard wrecking spree which damaged 15 graves could have been racially motivated.

The plots in Harehills cemetery in Leeds were targeted by vandals, who smashed one headstone and damaged many more.

Police are looking into whether the vandalism was the work of racists as all the affected plots are in the Muslim section of the graveyard.

Yorkshire Evening Post, 22 March 2010

The battle of Bolton and the media

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Bolton

Anti-fascist protesters emerged victorious on Saturday after holding Bolton’s central Victoria Square against the racists from the English Defence League. But mainstream national media reports are presenting it as a contest between two violent groups – and blaming the anti-fascists for the violence.

Anti-fascists faced brutality from police with dogs and on horseback. There were over 60 arrests – 55 Unite Against Fascism and 9 EDL, according to Sky news – including UAF leader Weyman Bennett “on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder”. The police commander made disgraceful allegations about the protesters.

Video on the Bolton News website makes it clear, however, that the violence was not coming from the anti-fascists. It shows an elderly veteran of World War 2 who had joined the protest, and UAF stewards can be heard urging protestors to stay calm in the face of apparent police efforts to provoke a riot.

Continue reading →

The JC and Osama Saeed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Scotland UnitedIn this week’s edition of the Jewish Chronicle, under the headline “Hunting the SNP’s Islamist”, Martin Bright complains that Osama Saeed, SNP parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central, is unenthusiastic about being interviewed by Bright for the JC. Now, why do you suppose that might be?

I was intending to report this under the heading “Muslim declines interview with Islamophobe shock”. However, Bright’s article can’t be found on the online edition of the JC, which instead carries … yes, an interview with Osama Saeed.

In what is clearly a swipe at the hypocrisy of attacks on himself as an Islamist, Osama points out that sitting Glasgow Central MP Mohammed Sarwar, father of his Labour opponent Anas Sarwar, is on the management committee of the Finsbury Park Mosque alongside a supporter of Hamas (presumably a reference to Mohammed Sawalha). And how does the JC report this? Under the headline “SNP candidate attacks opponent’s Hamas ‘support’“!

Given that the JC is edited by Stephen Pollard, and has Bright as its political editor, it would seem wise for any politically active Muslim to avoid talking to the JC in future, or at least until there is a change in editorial line, as at present there is clearly no possibility of being reported fairly or accurately by that paper.

Bolton mosque attacked

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Racists have attacked a Bolton mosque on the eve of the mobilisation by the English Defence League in Bolton tomorrow.

Four people with knives jumped out of a car and attacked people coming out of Friday prayers at the Makka mosque in Grecian Crescent, near Bolton university. They also targeted activists leafleting for the anti-fascist protest. No one is believed to have been hurt and all four were arrested.

Shortly before 2.15pm on Friday 19 March 2010, police at a mosque on Grecian Crescent received a report of a man with a knife. A local man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article and breaking into a vehicle.

Sergeant Rachel Bedford said: “Two men noticed a man trying to break into a car some 500 yards away from the mosque, detained him and presented him to officers.

“This man was in no way linked to the English Defence League protest in Bolton tomorrow. We understand that there are heightened concerns in communities about this protest, and in an effort to reassure communities we have stepped up our patrols.”

Socialist Worker, 20 March 2010

‘Pawn of Islamists’ – now Gilligan witch-hunts a Tory parliamentary candidate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Andrew Gilligan 2Witchfinder General Andrew Gilligan shifts his attention to Tim Archer, Tory PPC for Poplar and Limehouse, who is speaking at an IFE meeting “Confronting Anti-Muslim Hatred in Contemporary Britain” on 30 March at the London Muslim Centre.

According to Gilligan, this demonstrates that “Mr Archer is perfectly willing to allow himself to be used as a pawn by Islamists if he thinks there might be a few votes in it”.

In fact, if you read the leaflet advertising the IFE meeting, you’ll see that the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Respect candidates for Poplar and Limehouse have all agreed to speak there. The only candidate who has not accepted his invitation is Jim Fitzpatrick, the Labour candidate.

What this would seem to indicate is that, with the obvious exception of Fitzpatrick, none of the main candidates in that parliamentary constituency has bought into Gilligan’s campaign of smears against the East London Mosque.

This is not the first time that Tories have been condemned by right-wing Islamophobes over their links with the mosque. London mayor Boris Johnson has been attacked by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens of the Centre for Social Cohesion on this issue, as has London Assembly member Andrew Boff.

We hesitate to give advice to our opponents, but if Gilligan or Meleagrou-Hitchens possessed a grain of tactical sense they’d see how counterproductive this is from their own witch-hunting standpoint.

Denunciations of Ken Livingstone or George Galloway as pawns of Islamism might find traction in some quarters. But Boris Johnson, Andrew Boff, Tim Archer? In attacking these individuals Gilligan and Meleagrou-Hitchens destroy any shred of credibility they might have left.

‘Muslim police club nets £10,000 public cash’, Express reports

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An exclusive association for Muslim police officers, backed with £10,000 from the SNP Government, was extended across Scotland’s eight police forces yesterday. Despite having only 46 members, with just another 90 Muslims among more than 17,000 officers in the country, the association could get more taxpayers’ cash.

Black and ethnic minority officers already have their own organisation, Semper Scotland, which has around 130 members – many of them Muslims – and receives £51,000 a year from the taxpayer. But the Scottish Police Muslim Association (SPMA), launched at the police training college at Tulliallan, Fife, is the only faith-based police group to get Government funding.

Harry Pearson, Strathclyde Police branch leader of the Scottish Christian Police Association, which has around 200 members, said: “There is a clear disparity between the way we are treated compared to Muslim colleagues. It would be nice if the Scottish Government treated us even-handedly. We have to manage on donations from our members.”

Laura Midgley of the Campaign Against Political Correctness said: “I don’t see why separate groups are needed. The police should be there to catch criminals, as simple as that. Setting up groups such as these simply creates tensions and division. Equality should mean equality. It flies in the face of everything politicians lecture us about.”

Daily Express, 18 March 2010

City University lecturer calls for ban on niqab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“I was particularly disturbed by the sight of Muslim female students wearing the niqab, a dress statement I find offensive and threatening. Don’t they value the rights and freedoms they enjoy in Britain? In Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan they are forced to cover up and denied an education. One of my journalism students, who is a Muslim woman, interviewed four British-born Muslim girls who said they began to wear the niqab only after coming to City and joining the Islamic Society. They found it ‘liberating’, they said. I think the niqab should be banned at university.”

Rosie Waterhouse in the Independent, 18 March 2010

Ask your MP to sign EDM 1079

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Please ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 1079 – Muslims in Britain.

You can do this easily by clicking on this link. It takes less than two minutes.

The motion follows rising concerns about negative portrayal of Muslims in sections of the media and anti-Muslim demonstrations by extreme right wing groups such as the English Defence League, which recently marched on Parliament demanding the closure of the East London Mosque. If they had singled out a Church or Synagogue, there would rightly be an outcry.

We believe the targeting of communities in this way is creating a climate of fear and division, and undermines civil liberties and the right to freedom of expression. The motion welcomes the contribution of Muslim communities and their full participation in British society, including in politics.

EDM 1079 – Muslims in Britain:

“That this House opposes the increased demonisation of Muslims in sections of the media; expresses its deep concern at the recent visit to the House of Lords by the far right politician Geert Wilders; condemns the English Defence League demonstration outside Parliament in support of Geert Wilders and their slogans and placards inciting hatred, such as their demand for the closure of the East London Mosque, that will only lead to a climate of fear, division and disharmony; welcomes the participation and contribution of Muslims in British society, including in politics; believes that the full participation of all communities in the forthcoming general election is in the interests of democracy.”

Take action and click here to urge your MP to sign this important motion.