Category Archives: UK

Ban The Veil

Posted on by Eddie Truman

expressveilJack Straw’s playing of the racist Islamophobia card in pursuit of his career ambitions has resulted in a renewed deluge of anti Muslim poison.

The Daily Express is happy to further up the tension with a front page clearly calculated to incite hatred.

“Concerned Britons gave massive backing last night to calls for Muslim women to ditch the veil. An astonishing 97 per cent of Daily Express readers agreed that a ban would help to safeguard racial harmony. Our exclusive poll came a day after Leader of the Commons Jack Straw spoke out against the veils.”

Already the BBC has reported an attack on a Muslim woman because of the remarks of the Leader of the House of Commons. We shudder to think what the effect of the Daily Express front page will be on the racist morons just waiting to be incited by this.

Beneath contempt

Posted on by Bob Pitt

None of Straw's BusinessThe attempts by Jack Straw’s apologists to pass off his comments on Muslim women who wear the full face veil as an attempt to initiate a discussion are beneath contempt.

Mr Straw knew exactly what he was doing and why.

The Leader of the House had seen John Reid stage a political stunt in east London, using Muslim community leaders as a backdrop for TV cameras and enlisting the involvement of a seriously unwell convert to Islam to rant and rave at him for primetime news coverage.

Mr Reid then took full political advantage of the stunt to flaunt his “courage” in declaring that there would no no-go areas for his campaign against Islamist extremism.

Most of the media came along for the ride in the latest example of government ministers lecturing Britain’s Muslims on how to conduct themselves and how to ensure that their children behave.

All of a sudden, the Home Secretary was a statesman waiting to happen and, on the basis of telling Muslims where to get off, a possible candidate for Labour leader.

Put bluntly, Mr Straw saw this and wanted his turn in the spotlight, possibly as a prelude to standing for Labour Party deputy leader.

What a condemnation it is of the current state of politics today that the best way of gaining media attention and plaudits is by putting the boot into a religious minority that is based, largely, on ethnic minorities.

Editorial in the Morning Star, 7 October 2006

Incitement to hatred

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Watching the news or reading the papers, you’d think that Muslims were Britain’s No 1 problem. Everyone, it seems, is frantically racing to offer magic cures for this chronic disease. Islam and Muslims are only ever invoked as objects of fear and horror: terrorism, forced marriage, honour killing and fanaticism. Over the past few days, hostility to Muslims has dominated the media: from the saga of the Muslim policeman excused guard duty outside the Israeli embassy to the violent attacks on a Muslim-owned dairy in Windsor and Jack Straw’s complaints about Muslim women who cover their faces. An ominous climate is being created.”

Soumaya Ghannoushi in the Guardian, 7 October 2006

‘Veil is a banner of political Islam’, ultra-left sectarian claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The veil is not merely a piece of ‘cloth’, but a sign of the oppression of women, control over their sexuality, submissiveness to the will of God or a man. The veil is a banner of political Islam used, to segregate women born by historical accident in the so-called ‘Islamic World’ from other women in the rest of the world….

“Jack Straw’s government has always been proud of its ‘multicultural society’, in which all kinds of backward and anti-human cultures are respected and given space by the state…. Celebrating ‘different cultures’ the existence of mosques and religious schools is a place for brainwashing the young people with Islamic values which can only produce political Islamists.”

Houzan Mahmoud at the Guardian’s Comment is Free, 7 October 2006

I note that comrade Mahmoud’s profile states that she is an activist in the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, but avoids mentioning that she is a member of a bizarre ultra-left sect called the Worker Communist Party of Iraq, of which the OWFI is just a front.

A wave of Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John McDonnellJohn McDonnell MP writes:

“If anyone doubted that Islamophobia existed in our country they should be in no doubt after reading and listening to the torrent of bigotry and prejudice pouring out of some of our national press and from our main media outlets over the last 48 hours….

“We are clearly in the middle of one of those regular episodes, launched by the unsavoury alliance of media and politicians, of attacking the latest vulnerable minority.

“The historical parallels with the persecution of the Catholic minority in this country three centuries ago and the Jews even further back in our history are striking.

“This week saw the commemoration of the ‘Battle of Cable Street’, when socialists, trade unionists and people of good faith stood up to the emerging Nazi threat in this country and stood in solidarity with the Jewish community against the despicable attacks on it by Mosley’s fascists.

“It is now our time to stand up in solidarity with Muslim members of our community.”

John McDonnell’s blog, 6 October 2006

‘Whatever happened to free speech in Britain?’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“With the ink hardly dry on his words, Jack Straw is plunged into a maelstrom of denunciation for daring to suggest that Muslim women should discard the veil. Many of his constituents in Blackburn are vociferous in their dismay.

“The Lancashire Council of Mosques says he is ‘very insensitive and unwise’. The Islamic Human Rights Commission accuses him of ‘selectively discriminating’. The Muslim Public Affairs Committee attacks his ‘headline-grabbing’….

“But if this is the reaction to a calm and measured critique of Islamic culture – and one that is intended to open up a dialogue – what hope can there be of mature debate between the communities? Whatever happened to free speech Britain?

“Sadly, the pass was sold long ago. For years, this Government has actively promoted multiculturalism, encouraged Muslim ‘ghettoes’ and set its face against greater integration. Anyone who dared to question this new apartheid was routinely denounced as a ‘racist’.

“Britishness? Who cares? For New Labour – yes, including Mr Straw – it became an article of faith for the ethnic minorities to celebrate their own languages, culture and traditions, at the expense of shared values. There could hardly be a more effective recipe for division.

“Is it really surprising that some Muslims are now pressing for Sharia law in their own communities? Or if they see Mr Straw’s views on the veil as a juddering reversal of all that has gone before?”

Daily Mail, 7 October 2006

It’s selfish to wear the veil, says Straw aide

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Government was plunged into disarray as a senior Minister accused Muslim women of being “selfish” by refusing to stop wearing veils. Amid growing signs that the controversy is causing civil disorder, Commons Leader Jack Straw’s deputy Nigel Griffiths claimed that women who cover their faces in public are ignoring the feelings of others.

The row came as a 49-year-old mother’s veil was torn from her at a bus stop in Liverpool. Her daughter Ilham Ali said: “The man was shouting, ‘Pull that scarf off your head, you Muslim’. I’m 100 per cent certain the racist attack on my mum was a direct result of the comments Jack Straw made.”

Seventy people from the Stop The War Coalition, including 20 women in veils, staged a protest against Mr Straw in his Blackburn constituency. But he stood by his claim that veils were a “visible statement of separation and difference” and harmed community relations.

Mr Griffiths went a step further, saying: “It’s all very well for Muslim women to say that they feel comfortable wearing the veil but it is important that other people feel comfortable, too. The fact is that the veil does not make other people feel comfortable. In that way it could be said that they are being selfish. We live in a society where we applaud people for thinking about other people’s feelings.”

Evening Standard, 7 October 2006

Muslim woman in veil attack: Liverpool hate crime comes 24 hours after Straw comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim woman has had her veil snatched from her head and was racially abused as she stood at a Liverpool bus stop. The “despicable attack” came the day after former foreign secretary Jack Straw caused controversy by revealing he asked Muslim women to remove their veils. Merseyside Police are treating the incident, which occurred at 10am yesterday morning, as a hate crime.

The family of the a woman and community leaders in the city last night criticised Mr Straw, saying his remarks were to blame. Ilham Ali, the daughter of the victim of the attack, who has not been named, said: “He was saying ‘take that scarf off your head, you Muslim’ and using abusive language. I am 100% certain that what happened to my mum is a direct result of the comments Jack Straw made.”

The chairman of the Liverpool Mosque and Islamic Institute, Mohammed Akbar Ali, last night said the attacker had “taken advantage of Jack Straw’s statement to take the law into his own hands”.

The 49-year-old victim was standing at a bus stop at the junction of Kensington and Holt Road when a man shouted racial abuse at her and ripped her veil from her face. The woman, who lives in Toxteth, was said to be left “extremely distressed” by the unprovoked attack.

The offender is described as a tall white man in his 60s, with a slim build and silver-grey hair. He was wearing a light khaki jacket and grey trousers.

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Arson at Falkirk Islamic Centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Falkirk Islamic CentreA fire that caused 10,000 worth of damage to Falkirk’s Islamic Centre is thought to have been started deliberately. Officers are investigating the cause of the blaze in the doorway of the Burnhead Lane premises, but don’t believe it to have been an accident.

The fire was discovered at around 2.30 a.m. on Monday by a Muslim taxi driver, who then raised the alarm. The Fire and Rescue Service attended, but the the blaze was extinguished before they arrived. Islamic Centre member Shoeb Farooqui made the call to the emergency services after the taxi driver alerted him.

Mr Farooqui said the man, who did not wish to be named, saved the centre from burning to the ground. “He normally works the night shift and was visiting the centre for a night prayer,” Mr Farooqui explained. “He just opened the door and saw the fire – it was in the early stages and if he hadn’t gone there at that time it could have burned down the whole building. It was very brave of him and lucky for our community that the fire was caught in time.”

Shaken members of the Muslim community said the Islamic Centre had been located in Burnhead Lane for 13 years and had never been targeted in this manner before. Several representatives of the centre gathered outside later on Monday morning to assess the damage, which they believed could exceed the £10,000 estimate.

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