Category Archives: UK

BNP member fined over racist mail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lockhart KneenAn internet trader who put racist stickers on packages has been fined after they were spotted by Muslim postal workers. The stickers, which had the statement “no more mosques” and a cartoon figure of a Muslim with a bomb exploding from his head, were found at the Royal Mail Centre, on Green Lane, Stockport.

Lockhart Kneen, of Braemore Drive, Hyde, was fined £150 and ordered to pay £115 costs for racially/religiously aggravated harassment. Kneen, 39, who sells political magazines for the BNP, claimed he put the stickers on the packages in protest against a “Tameside Super Mosque”.

The court was told Kneen became extremely aggressive when arrested and shouted racist abuse. He claimed was advised by a BNP leader that the stickers were not racist, but were illegal if put on public property.

“These parcels are my property and I live in a free country, so I decided to stick them on my property,” he said. “They’re going to move the war graves in Ashton and build a super mosque. There are people in Tameside bricking windows of mosques. I was protesting peacefully and I’m the one in court. I would have been better off throwing bricks.”

Mr Lake, defending, said: “It was an expression of freedom of speech. Freedom to express your views should not only include the inoffensive, but also the contentious, providing it does not provoke violence. And a freedom of speech that does not include the contentious is not worth having.”

Sentencing, District Judge Tim Devas, said: “I believe the defendant was aware of the distress his comments could have caused.”

Manchester Evening News, 15 October 2008

BBC put Muslims before you

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daily Star BBC Puts Muslims Before YouThe BBC supremo caused a storm last night by saying he would not allow jokes about Muslims.

Director-general Mark Thompson announced the ban, saying they were “more sensitive” than Christians. He said the network should not make fun of Islam because Muslims were a minority group in Britain.

But his comments were slammed by Christian groups, and comics including Ben Elton. He accused the network of being “too scared” to joke about Islam.

Daily Star, 16 October 2008

See also Daily Mail, 15 October 2008  And BNP News

This is one of those reports where it is instructive to replace Muslims and Islam with Jews and Judaism. You can imagine the outcry if a daily paper carried a piece attacking the BBC Director-general for arguing that making jokes about Jews was not the same as making jokes about Christians, under the headline “BBC put Jews before YOU!”

Salma defends Global Peace & Unity event

Posted on by Bob Pitt

GPU eventSalma Yaqoob defends the Global Peace & Unity event against an attack from the increasingly demented David Toube at Harry’s Place:

“The Global Peace & Unity event has an exemplary record of promoting peace and harmony between Muslims and non-Muslims and this event will be no different than previous ones.

“The real intention behind the attacks on it by the rabidly pro-Israeli Harry’s Place website is to further restrict freedom of speech for the British Muslim community.

“These follow similar attacks on the IslamExpo event. Any Muslim gathering which discusses the disastrous impact of Western foreign policy now finds itself accused of promoting ‘grievance politics’, and a ‘victim mentality’.

“The impression is created that all Muslims who are critical of the impact of foreign policy – and certainly any Muslim who recognises the rights of those in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq to resist the occupation of their countries – are aiding those who preach the language of violent extremism here.

“The kind of politics motivating these attacks on the GPU and IslamExpo events is highly dangerous. If, inside the Muslim community, the public space to even discuss concerns and distress over foreign policy gets squeezed, a dangerous vacuum is created. This can be filled by the real extremists who will claim to share our genuine concerns about the injustice at the heart of British foreign policy, but promote only violent solutions and reject peaceful and democratic routes as pointless.

“There is a dangerous hypocrisy in the way those criticising the GPU event uphold the sanctity of western lives but deny the humanity of those people dying abroad as a consequence of the policies of our governments. They claim Muslims need to condemn more vociferously the atrocities against Western innocents whilst remaining silent themselves in the face of thousands slaughtered in the name of Western governments. I have been consistent in condemning both. We should seek to ensure the safety and the human rights of all people – be they in Baghdad or Birmingham.

“We should also challenge and seek to eradicate hateful ideologies which seek to divide us, whether this is Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or any other form of racism. My commitment is to a politics that unites all those in favour of peace, justice and equality, irrespective of their race or religious belief. I am proud to be able to use the platform and global audience the GPU event provides to that end.”

Socialist Unity, 15 October 2008

Shari’a law called ‘racist, backward’ at meeting of ex-Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Council of ex-MuslimsLondon — Sweeping legal challenges must be made against the creeping introduction of Islamic law (shari’a) in the United Kingdom, the head of a new body of former Muslims said here Friday. The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, a group bringing together former adherents of the Islamic faith as well as humanists, held its first international conference in London. Several speakers decried the rise of what they called “political Islam” across Europe.

CNSNews.com, 13 October 2008

That would be this so-called Council of Ex-Muslims. Its conference brought together members of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran (who were responsible for launching the organisation) along with militant atheists and secularists. With the exception of Ibn Warraq, there was scarcely an ex-Muslim in sight.

Update:  See also the Guardian, which for some reason has given space to A.C Grayling to promote this fraud.

Row over £215k ‘terror-link’ festival

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Alex Salmond agreed to hand over £215,000 for an Islamic festival in Scotland following a meeting with a former military commander of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal Salmond approved the grant following the meeting between culture minister Linda Fabiani and Mohammed Sawalha, who is alleged to have directed terror operations in the West Bank.

The meeting, in January, was also attended by Osama Saeed, founder of the Scottish Islamic Foundation (SIF) and an SNP activist who is expected to contest the Glasgow Central seat at the next Westminster election. Sawalha was invited to take part in the meeting to discuss the funding of IslamFest in Glasgow next year.

The event, being organised by the SIF, is modelled on London’s IslamExpo, run by Sawalha. IslamExpo was boycotted by UK ministers earlier this year because of its links to Hamas.

Sunday Times, 12 October 2008

See also Scotland on Sunday which reports:

A spokesman for Fabiani said: “The former Labour London mayor Ken Livingstone suggested meeting the official organisers of IslamExpo, and Ms Fabiani met with them in that capacity to hear about their experiences of running this highly successful inter-community event. It would be totally inappropriate to have such routine matters determined by unproven allegations against any individual, who has not been questioned in this country for any wrongdoing.”

He added: “Scotland has strong inter-faith and inter-community relations, mercifully free of much of the internet-based smear and slander that goes on elsewhere. In any event, IslamFest will be a specifically Scottish event, with its own distinct focus, and is being organised by the Scottish Islamic Foundation. The previous administration had agreed funding for an IslamFest event in Scotland, which was progressed by this Government.”

Pair who forced their Muslim colleague to eat bacon lose appeal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Kingstanding man who subjected his “vulnerable” Muslim colleague to a 10-month bullying campaign saw his appeal against a jail sentence for racially aggravated harassment thrown out by the Appeal Court this week.

Sean Martin Melaney, 29, of Streatham Grove, along with two other road maintenance workers, admitted to harassing colleague Amjid Mehmood. All four worked for a road maintenance firm in Walsall. The three were each sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court in April to three-years imprisonment.

The workmates had bullied Mr Mehmood by:

 ■ Pulling his trousers down and exposing him to passing motorists while working on the M6.

■ Force-feeding Mr Mehmood bacon, which it is against his religious beliefs to eat.

■ Dropping him off in Lozells at the time of the Asian/Afro-Carribean race riots in 2005 and then driving off, telling him the residents would come and get him.

■ Tied Mr Mehmood to railings with duct tape, stripping him and dousing his clothing in dirty water.

Despite the Crown Court’s findings Melaney and Lee Paul McDermott, 31, of Blue Stone Walk, Rowley Regis, appealed the three-year jail term.

Mr Justice Pitchford, sitting in the criminal appeal court with Lady Justice Hallett and Judge Nicholas Cooke QC, said the conduct of the pair had been “appalling”.

Refusing the appeal he said Mr Mehmood was: “A man who was vulnerable in his workplace, by virtue of his personal qualities, his minority race and in the troubled times in which he was living. We have considered the matter of these men’s conduct, its persistence over a prolonged period and its traumatic effect on their victim. We conclude that the sentences were both principled and appropriate.”

Sutton Coldfield Observer, 10 October 2008

Footballers support DVD campaign to combat Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ShowRacismRedCardShow Racism the Red Card will be launching their brand new DVD and education pack “Islamophobia” at Newcastle United FC grounds. The launch will take place on Monday at St James’ Park with over 100 teachers, head teachers, council officials and voluntary sector workers who are interested in educating against Islamophobia.

The video has been produced by Autonomi in conjunction with Show Racism the Red Card and features professional footballers and managers including Thierry Henry, Mido, Ryan Giggs, Frederic Kanoute, Gareth Southgate and Niall Quinn speaking out on the issue alongside the personal experiences of young people.

The National Union of Teachers, Northern Rock Foundation, and Newcastle City Council Unity Programme have sponsored the work which will also include a programme of workshops on the subject delivered by Show Racism the Red Card into local secondary schools.

Throughout the day there will be key speeches from funders and experts; during the morning there will be a carousel of workshops which will educate about the resources, provide an opportunity to ask members of the Islamic Diversity Centre in Newcastle questions about Islam and hear the experiences of some local young people.

During the afternoon the film will be screened and there will be an opportunity to ask questions about the resource.

Asian News, 10 October 2008

‘Teenage Trotsky is Cabinet’s new adviser on radical Islam’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A teenage Muslim enlisted to advise ministers on combating extremism is herself a member of a Trotskyist revolutionary party. Sabiha Iqbal, 18, the privately educated daughter of a civil servant, belongs to the Socialist Workers Party, which is dedicated to the overthrow of parliament, the state and capitalism.

The appointment of the law student from Bradford to the Young Muslim Advisory Group was greeted with incredulity by intelligence experts yesterday. Miss Iqbal herself described the decision to bring her in as a consultant to Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Families Secretary Ed Balls as “very odd”. But Mrs Blears said: “If you don’t want to change the world at 17, that’s a shame.”

Miss Iqbal insisted yesterday that she was not an extremist, saying “I am Left-wing about some things and Right-wing about others. I agree with the equality ideas of socialism.”

Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said: “Ministers should be picking democratic leaders and people with experience, not people they think will bring in the ‘yoof’ vote. To go for somebody like Miss Iqbal is appalling.”

Daily Mail, 9 October 2008

DCLG announces PVE funding

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Department of Communities and Local Government has published a list of organisations that will receive financial support from the Community Leadership Fund, under DCLG’s Preventing Violent Extremism initiative. No funding for the Muslim Council of Britain, of course, but £125,000 over the next two years for much smaller and far less representative British Muslim Forum. Which only serves to underline the accuracy of Salma Yaqoob’s criticisms of PVE.

Vicar could be disciplined for blog slurs against gays and Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter MullenA Church of England vicar could face disciplinary action for saying gay men should have “sodomy” warnings tattooed on their bodies. The Rev Peter Mullen, who is a parish priest and rector in the City of London, made the remarks on his blog, which has since been removed from the web under an agreement with diocesan officials.

Mullen, 66, wrote it was time for religious believers to recommend the discouragement of homosexual practices in the style of cigarette packet warnings. “Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan sodomy can seriously damage your health and their chins with fellatio kills.”

In a previous posting Mullen anticipated an “agreeable carnage” at the start of the annual Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. “They usually manage to stampede and slaughter quite a few hundred of their co-religionists. Just imagine for a moment what a field day the BBC and the leftwing press in England would have if anything even remotely as bad as that happened in Vatican Square at Christmas or Easter.”

Mullen criticised the lack of jokes about Islam in the media, remarking that adherents “certainly lend themselves to ridicule: sticking their arses in the air five times a day. How about a few little choruses, ‘Randy Muslims when they die/Find 70 virgins in the sky’?”

Guardian, 6 October 2008