Category Archives: UK

Sleepy Cornish village kept awake by 700-strong party of Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“It is just a few days until Easter, the most important date in the Christian calendar. But for 700 Muslims who have gathered in a rural caravan park, this week has a different religious significance. And to some of their neighbours, the thrice-daily calls to prayer are proving a strain on a harmonious relationship. The Iranian Muslims have converged on the Trevelgue Holiday Park in Porth, Cornwall, to celebrate yesterday’s Persian New Year.”

Daily Mail, 20 March 2008

The original headline was “700-strong party of Muslims provoke fury after broadcasting call to prayer”.

Plans for Muslim centre withdrawn

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP Islam Out of BritainControversial plans for a Muslim community centre in Solihull have been withdrawn amid calls for greater acceptance towards minority groups.

Solihull Muslim Community Association (SMCA) applied for planning permission to establish the centre, complete with prayer hall, in Dog Kennel Lane, Shirley, with 50 parking spaces. Now the group – which has been searching for a home in the borough for 25 years – has announced that it has withdrawn the plans for “technical reasons”.

Fears were rife that racial tension could erupt in Solihull following a leaflet campaign by the BNP against plans for the centre which also included a wudu for washing before prayer. The leaflet, posted to homes near the proposed site, claimed there was an “Islamification” of Solihull and said the centre would lead to “conflict” and “discontent”.

A mother-of-three, who lives near the proposed centre and had objected to it, said she had mixed feelings about news of the application being withdrawn.

“I objected to the centre because of where it was on a busy road and I was concerned about overspill parking and I know other people objected on the same grounds,” said the woman, who did not wish to be named. “However, on the other hand I’m disappointed it’s been withdrawn and just hope it isn’t because of people with narrow minded views like the BNP. I felt sickened when their leaflet came through my door. I would hate the BNP to think it had won.”

Birmingham Mail, 18 March 2008

Meanwhile the fascists are crowing that “Solihull BNP has won a famous victory on behalf of local people”.

BNP news article, 18 March 2008

Migrants say discrimination undermines their sense of belonging in Britain

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A report published today (19 March) found that nearly half of minority ethnic residents, including Muslims, said they had experienced race discrimination and 30 per cent of recent Muslim migrants had experienced religious discrimination. This was cited as a key barrier to a sense of belonging in Britain.

The report – Immigration, faith and cohesion – published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, was written by a team at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at Oxford University. It looked at what factors contribute to, or undermine, community cohesion in three urban areas in England with large migrant and Muslim populations.

Most migrants felt there was no conflict in having a sense of belonging to both Britain and their country of origin. Sixty per cent of long-term Muslim residents born outside the UK said the people most important to them were in Britain.

Co-author Hiranthi Jayaweera from COMPAS said: “Evidence suggests that it is discrimination and the perception of being unwelcome, rather than attachment to their country of origin, that reduces migrants’ sense of belonging in Britain.”

Joseph Rowntree Foundation press release, 19 March 2008

See also Daily Mail, 19 March 2008

Sun and Mail withdraw unfounded allegations by Policy Exchange

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Following a complaint by the British Muslim Initiative to the Press Complaints Commission regarding media coverage of the disgraced Policy Exchange’s unfounded report on alleged extremist literature in mosques, the Sun newspaper has withdrawn its coverage of the report from its website and published a clarification letter by BMI.

BMI press release, 18 March 2008

‘Christianophobia comes to the East End’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A clergyman in East London has been kicked in the head by Asian youths, one of whom screamed the words ‘f——- priest’ at him. Police are treating the attack on Canon Michael Ainsworth, vicar of Hawksmoor’s magnificent St George-in-the-East, Wapping, as a ‘faith hate’ crime. But was it? A lot hangs on the answer. Does the use of a single word automatically turn a savage but common assault into a new (and essentially artificial) category of crime, or has the tide of Islamic anti-Christian persecution reached these shores?

“… Tower Hamlets houses Muslim ghettos whose fundamentalist leaders are offended by the mere presence of a Christian place of worship in their community. The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme and a friend of Canon Ainsworth, reacted to the attack by calling for ‘condemnation of this cowardly behaviour by senior Muslims in the community’.”

Damian Thompson in the Daily Telegraph, 16 March 2008

For the response of local Muslim leaders to the attack, see the East London Advertiser, 17 March 2008

Update:  See also Inayat Bunglawala, “Jihad or alcohol?”, Comment is Free, 19 March 2008

‘We need conservative clerics on our side’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Qaradawi 5Jerome Taylor takes up Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s call for the release of two Austrians, Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber, kidnapped in Tunisia by al-Qaeda. He writes:

“Qaradawi may support what he calls the resistance in Palestine and Iraq but compared to the violent extremist groups gaining in popularity throughout the Muslim world he’s a desperately needed voice of relative reason. And more importantly when he and others like him speak the wider Muslim world listens.

“The next time a Britain gets kidnapped I just hope we haven’t burned too many bridges with people like Qaradawi who may be able to help secure their release and are far better placed than our discredited governments to counter the kind of violent extremism in the Islamic world which leads to hostage taking in the first place.”

A good point, unfortunately undermined by the preceding comment: “Why would we want to let someone into the country who has said gay men and women living in countries that use Shari’a should be punished with death or that human bombs targeting civilians in Israel are acceptable?”

Of course, Qaradawi supports neither of these views.

Indyblogs, 17 March 2008

Are Muslim enclaves no-go areas, forcing other people out, asks historian

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The majority of Muslims do not kill women for running away from brutal husbands and forced marriages, nor are they terrorists, yet moderate Muslims nevertheless appear to be creating divisive enclaves within this country as a result of routine Muslim religiosity and lifestyle….  The overall picture is of cumulative assertiveness, but there is evidence too of proselytising aggressiveness … the Muslim group Tablighi Jamaat is proposing to build the largest mosque in Europe, for 12,000 worshippers at a time, close to the London Olympic site. The organisers aim to convert Britain to Islam.”

John Cornwell in the Sunday Times, 16 March 2008

White lies

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ruqayyah Collector“Last Orders promoted many racist myths unchallenged. The BNP was the party favoured by most of those who mentioned voting in the programme, unchallenged by the narrator, who failed to point out it wants an all-white Britain and has a history of leading members with convictions for inciting racial hatred and violence.

“Instead, we see myths about Asians and Muslims presented as fact, the culmination of which is a young BNP supporter in front of a union flag with a swastika saying: ‘If I saw a young Paki getting kicked and knocked over, I would not blink an eyelid, I hate them so much.’

“This was not debate, but allowing a space where such attacks go unchallenged on mainstream television. The prophesising of a war coming to Bradford would have been chilling for any Asian person watching. In my experience, debunking the myths displayed here is the first step to challenging and eradicating the racism and violence that it breeds….

“There is in reality a growing climate of hostility which blames Muslims for ‘changing the complexion’ of Britain, in much the same way that the migrant Jewish community was attacked at the start of the last century. The isolation resulting from racism is what underlies the issues, which the White season fleetingly dabbles with. It singles out Bradford, where racism in housing and poverty and economic disadvantage has created barriers…. the BBC must do more to challenge racist myths, especially as they tend to gain currency, which is exploited by the far right in the runup to elections.”

Ruqayyah Collector responds to the BBC’s “White season“.

Comment is Free, 13 March 2008

BNP campaign raises race-hate fears

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fears are rife that racial tension could erupt in Solihull following a campaign by the BNP against plans for a Muslim community centre. For 25 years Solihull Muslim Community Association (SMCA) has been searching for a home in the borough to no avail. Now the group has applied for planning permission to establish a cultural centre, which includes a prayer hall, in Dog Kennel Lane, Shirley, with 50 parking spaces. However, the plans, which also include a wudu room for washing before prayer, have resulted in the Far Right BNP posting leaflets in the area claiming there is an “Islamification” of Solihull.

Birmingham Mail, 11 March 2008