Meanwhile the Guardian‘s Viral Video Chart reveals that the YouTube posting of Channel 4’s Dispatches programme Undercover Mosque “has been leapt on by anti-Muslim bloggers, and the weight of traffic even threatened to bring down the infamous Little Green Footballs for a while”.
Category Archives: UK
31% back MCB over ‘Genocide Day’
Remember how Islamophobic commentators attacked the Muslim Council of Britain because it argued that Holocaust Memorial Day was too narrow and instead advocated commemorating a wider “Genocide Day”? Melanie Phillips claimed that this was proof of “the open anti-Jewish hatred of supposedly mainstream Muslims“, while Peter Tatchell declared that the MCB’s stance “reeks of prejudice and hypocrisy“.
Well, a YouGov poll (pdf) commissioned by the Jewish Chronicle has found that 35% of respondents agreed that “the main focus of Holocaust Memorial Day should be to commemorate the victims of Nazi persecution”, while 31% said that “the day should be renamed ‘Genocide Day’, and be used to commemorate the victims of all persecution throughout the world”.
So, there’s evidently an awful lot of anti-semites reeking of prejudice and hypocrisy out there.
Postcript: I should perhaps add that personally I think the MCB (who reportedly are currently discussing their position on this issue) are mistaken in boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day. My point here is that their motivation is not anti-semitic.
A far-right Christian warns against Islam
Should one offer unlimited love on all occasions to the neighbour who seeks your destruction? Surely not! This is not the Biblical message as far as I am concerned. Yet this is precisely what the Church is doing by embracing Islam. It is holding to its naked bosom the viper that has reaffirmed its dedication, down the centuries, to the total destruction of our Christian Church. Its mission of oblivion for our Church, first formulated on the sands of Arabia and reaffirmed a million times since – even up until the present day – has not been moderated or even modified, far less rescinded at any time since!
The fact that the viper hasn’t bitten on the first occasion, or the second or, indeed, the hundredth is no guarantee of reciprocated brotherly love, anymore than it is a safeguard against that fatal bite – which will inevitably be struck – if that religion is to be true unto itself. For the Church to embrace Islam, even in its “moderate” form – which is, after all, merely the reverse of the same coin struck bearing its founding image of fundamentalism and intolerance – is to embrace its own destruction and constitutes folly, may I say, of biblical proportions.
The devil takes shapes in many ways to deceive those who believe in God.
A BNP-sympathising Christian reacts to Channel 4’s Dispatches programme.
MP presses for forced-marriage law change
A Bradford MP has vowed to ignore any allegations of racism and Islamophobia as she takes her campaign to put an end to “evil” forced marriages to Home Secretary John Reid. Keighley MP Ann Cryer tabled an early day motion demanding the Government take action to end the “rape and false imprisonment” of women and girls, and make forced marriage a criminal offence.
This is Bradford, 18 January 2007
Cryer, of course, has never been constrained by the thought that she might be inciting racism or Islamophobia (see, for example, here and here).
For the Muslim Council of Britain’s views on forced marriage, see (pdf) here.
Muslim preacher defends TV comments
The hardline preacher at the centre of an explosive TV documentary into extremist lectures delivered at a Birmingham Mosque today insisted: “I have nothing to hide.”
Abu Usamah At-Thahabi was secretly taped for months by undercover reporters, appearing to deliver hate-filled lectures at Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath. He is now being investigated by West Midlands Police.
But today he described the Channel 4 Dispatches programme as “a poor attempt at fair journalism because every one of my statements were taken out of context – without any explanation.”
The cleric said he welcomed the police investigation and would provide them with all the DVDs of his lectures. “I totally embrace and encourage a police investigation because I do not believe that the security forces will have any hidden agenda in which they will allow themselves to be swayed by Channel Four’s sensationalist journalism.”
Responses to Dispatches
Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain responds to Monday evening’s Dispatches programme “Undercover Mosque”:
“Following the 7/7 bombings it was always inevitable that Muslim organisations and mosques would be placed under the spotlight. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Documentary makers have an important responsibility though to do their research properly and carefully identify those who actually incite hatred. They must take great care to avoid unfairly stigmatising whole institutions and groups of people. The Dispatches team may have partly succeeded with the first bit, but I believe they failed quite badly with the second.”
Guardian Comment is Free, 17 January 2007
Osama Saeed has written: “… you will not find me defending the bigoted comments made on last night’s programme. They were out of order, full stop. In fact we did not see the people that made them finding much defence either. There were some inaccurate criticisms in the film, but this does not take away from the fact that there are some objectionable people who say seriously objectionable things in speeches. Muslims who hear these things must take them to task.”
See further comment from FOSIS, IHRC, Indigo Jo Blogs, Yahya Birt and Eteraz.
Sun admits ‘Muslim yobs’ story was baseless
Pickled Politics reports that the Sun has apologised for the story that it published last October, accusing “Muslim yobs” of hounding four soldiers out of their house in Windsor. The Sun now says:
“Following our report ‘Hounded out’ about a soldiers’ home in Datchet, Berks, being vandalised by Muslims, we have been asked to point out no threatening calls were logged at Combermere Barracks from Muslims and police have been unable to establish if any faith or religious group was responsible for the incident. We are happy to make this clear.”
See also Lenin’s Tomb, 18 January 2007
Even Mad Mel has been forced to (sort of) retract (scroll down to the bottom of the article).
Reflections on ‘Undercover Mosque’
“… the programme-makers repeatedly interspersed the ugly material emanating from a handful or so preachers from one wing of the Wahhabi sect with material which is more mainstream but is simply distasteful to western ears and images of women wearing niqab … the programme is likely to cast more suspicion over the Muslim community generally, not just the small group involved, while much of the Muslim youth get defensive and accuse Channel 4 of taking their words out of context and the profile of Uncle Tom pseudo-Sufis is raised further.”
Yusuf Smith assesses yesterday’s Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosque.
Indigo Jo Blogs, 15 January 2007
And for those of you who missed it, the fascists of the British National Party have helpfully provided links to a recording on YouTube.
BNP news article, 16 January 2007
Meanwhile would-be führer Nick Griffin has written to the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, urging them to prosecute some of the speakers featured in the programme … for inciting violence and racial hatred. Satire itself stands disarmed.
Call for an to end to ‘demonisation’
Muslim groups are to come together at a special event in Manchester. The emergency meeting of the alliance of Mosques and Muslim organisations will take place at 7pm on 16th January at the Saffron Restaurant, Cheetham Hill Road.
The meeting is being arranged to highlight the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim life in the UK and to open debate and dialogue about the causes of terrorism and social disharmony. The event also hopes to bring to the fore the importance of responsible journalism and mature political discussion.
Representatives of various organisations, including from UK Islamic Mission, Muslim Association Britain, Hizb ut Tahrir, Centre for Muslim Affairs, MCB, Islamic Society of Britain, Islamic Forum Europe, other organisations and respected Imams have been invited.
See also Manchester Muslim Forum press release, 11 January 2007
Channel 4 accused of creating mischief over portrayal of Black Muslim
A Muslim mosque in Birmingham which features in Dispatches at 8pm tonight has accused Channel 4 of “creating mischief” and “engaging in sensationalism” for claiming that it harbours extremists. The documentary shows secretly-filmed footage of an African American preacher, Imam Abu Usaamah, from Queens in New York, who studied in Saudi Arabia and who preached at the Green Lane Mosque in Birmingham. The programme accuses the preacher of promoting an extreme view of Islam.
The Saltley Gate Peace Group (SGPG), a multi-faith community organisation based in Birmingham is made up of representatives from the Muslim and Christian community. It issued a press statement on Friday giving its “undiminished support” for the Green Lane Mosque. SGPG said that Imam Abu Usaamah “is accepted by much of his congregation and the wider interfaith community to be a peaceful man and is known to promote peace to his congregation”.