Osama Saeed replies to Martin Bright.
Category Archives: UK
Fascists sideline anti-semitism in favour of Islamophobia
“The BNP has moved on in recent years, casting off the leg-irons of conspiracy theories and the thinly veiled anti-Semitism which has held this party back for two decades. The real enemies of the British people are home grown Anglo-Saxon Celtic liberal-leftists who seek to … impose multiculturalism on a reluctant indigenous population, and the Crescent Horde – the endless wave of Islamics who are flocking to our shores to bring our island nations into the embrace of their barbaric desert religion.”
BNP news article, 28 July 2006
In an accompanying article, fascist “theoretician” Lee Barnes outlines the BNP’s position in relation to Israel’s war on Lebanon:
“As a Nationalist I can say that I support Israel 100% in their dispute with Hezbollah. In fact, I hope they wipe Hezbollah off the Lebanese map and bomb them until they leave large greasy craters in the cities where their Islamic extremist cantons of terror once stood. The 21st Century is the Islamic Century. Unless we start to resist the threat of Islamic extremism then within 100 years the West will have become Eurabia.”
A matter of life and death
“Hatred of Muslims resulting in abuse and vicious murderous attacks is not a new phenomenon. Contrary to popular belief 9/11 (and later 7/7) did not create Islamophobia as it has always existed. Rather it can be said to have been ‘outed’ since 9/11 when it could no longer be denied.
“In some quarters Islamophobia has been accepted as an element of racism but others do not believe it exists at all. While there remains ambivalence to recognising and understanding Islamophobia and its institutional manifestations we will not be able to address it strategically and institutionally. There is no doubt that discrimination and attacks are sometimes motivated by a combination of racism and Islamophobia but quite often they are simply inspired by a pure hatred of Islam and Muslims.”
Khalida Khan on the BLINK website, 27 July 2006
Mosque for all
Letter from Ali Mangera, Mangera Yvars Architects, in the Evening Standard, 25 July 2006:
“REGARDING your report on the Islamic Centre project at Abbey Mills, we would like to make clear that it has nothing to do with any radical group, including the London bombers (17 July). Those men could have attended any number of mosques, but certainly did not attend our Abbey Mills site. The building is designed as a prototype for sustainable development and a community resource with exhibition spaces, restaurants and public gardens. Our aim is to create dialogue between peoples and provide an inclusive centre open to all faiths, which is particularly relevant to London today.”
London Islamic Centre designed as inclusive project for all faiths
Architects at the London Islamic Centre have hit out at allegations linking the centre with the 7/7 bombers. In a stinging letter to the Evening Standard newspaper, Ali Mangera of Mangera Yvars Architects said that no links could be made between the centre and the London bombers. Mangera said:
“We would like to make clear that our project has absolutely nothing to do with any radical group whatsoever including the London bombers. The bombers could have attended any number of mosques in their lifetime, but they certainly did not attend our site at Abbey Mills. As architects working closely with our clients, we have gone to great lengths to provide an inclusive project open to all faiths. It is inconceivable that a public building and landmark project of this type could be built by any radical group.”
The Islamic Centre, based in Abbey Mills, will initially provide 10,000 prayer spaces, and a maximum of 20,000 in phase two of the project.
Developers Illyas Mosqu say that the scheme will provide access across the site to the Olympics Stadium from West Ham Station, the second station for Olympics visitors after Stratford.
Support for the project has already come in from London mayor Ken Livingstone, the London Development Agency, Newham Council, and Thames Gateway.
Muslims ‘boycott’ Glasgow airport
Muslim business travellers are boycotting Glasgow airport, according to a leading Scottish figure. Bashir Mann, from the Muslim Council of Great Britan, complained of heavy-handed and humiliating searches by anti-terrorist police officers.
Strathclyde Police said it was looking at training to raise awareness of cultural and religious sensitivities. Mr Mann said: “I’d never experienced anything like that before in Scotland. This was a show of sheer discrimination, victimisation of certain sections of the community in Scotland.”
BNP backs Bright
Predictably, the fascists are full of admiration for Bright’s Channel 4 documentary, Who Speaks for Muslims?, which of course fitted in neatly with their own propaganda about the threat posed by mainstream Muslim organisations in Britain: “Martin Bright of the New Statesman illustrated how the MCB which purports to be a ‘moderate’ organisation actually represents the most extreme and militant Islamic fundamentalists with links to the Jamaat al Islami [sic] and the Muslim Brotherhood which is itself linked to terror groups and has defended them.”
Bodi bashes Bright
Faisal Bodi trashes Martin Bright’s recent Channel 4 documentary. He points out that Bright falsely attributes to democratic reformist Islamist organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood “a position at the beginning of a continuum of Islamist terror”.
Over at the National Secular Society’s website, a link to Bodi’s article has been posted under the heading “We must listen to the murderous Islamic militants”. And there are still people who deny that the NSS is Islamophobic!
For further informed criticism of Bright, see Indigo Jo Blogs, 16 July 2006
Media blamed over Islam’s image
UK Muslims blame Islamophobia on the portrayal of their religion in the media, a survey has revealed.
The research found that 40% of Muslims blamed anti-Islamic feelings on the media, while 74% of non-Muslims blamed Islamophobia on the 9/11 bombings.
The internet survey of 1,360 people was carried out by Global Market Insite, Muslim Voice UK, Queens University in Belfast and the University of Liverpool.
The report by Shaista Gohir, from online forum Muslim Voice UK, stated: “The Muslim-West relations have become increasingly strained due to a string of events such as the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Afghanistan war in 2002, the Iraq war, the London bombings in 2005 and the Danish cartoon row.
“In this current climate, it is essential to gauge Muslim and non-Muslim attitudes with a view to resolving differences.”
The research found that both sides agree that Muslims and non-Muslims “don’t understand each other” but have different concerns about the cause of the culture clash.
She sets out recommendations including action by the Muslim community and police; breaking down barriers to integration and misunderstandings; tackling discrimination and Islamophobia; measures to deal with extremism; reviewing foreign policy; protecting human rights and more responsible reporting by the media.
She said: “It was striking that Muslims feel more strongly about international issues than say, their treatment by police or discrimination in the UK.
“It also appears that Islamophobia, Western foreign policy and human rights abuses of Muslims are contributing substantially to the alienation of UK Muslims.
“On the other hand, non-Muslims are concerned about extremism, the lack of integration, Muslims not being proud to be British and the lack of tolerance by Muslims. However, the biggest threat to good Muslim and non-Muslim community relations is the misinformation on Islam in the media.”
‘Terror link group to build London’s biggest mosque’, Gilligan reveals
Terror link group to build London’s biggest mosque
By Andrew Gilligan
Evening Standard, 17 July 2006
PLANS for a giant “Islamic village” next to the London Olympic site, including Europe’s largest mosque, have moved a major step closer after Ken Livingstone’s London Development Agency and Newham council said they were “very much in favour” of the scheme.
The group behind the massive project is the Tablighi Jamaat movement, which has been accused by the FBI of being a recruiting ground for al Qaeda. Two of the London bombers are believed to have attended another mosque run by the organisation. Tablighi Jamaat itself says it is apolitical.
According to the website of the architects, Mangera Yvars, the Abbey Mills Islamic Centre will occupy 50,000 square metres of the lower Lea Valley at West Ham.
The first phase of the mosque alone will accommodate 10,000 worshippers, with further expansion later, said Abdul Kalik, project director for Tablighi Jamaat. “The original plan was for 40,000, but we need to be realistic,” he said. “If the requirement increases, we’ll increase the figure.”
Ultimately, it is envisaged that the mosque and surrounding buildings could accommodate as many as 70,000 visitors, only 10,000 fewer than the capacity of the Olympic stadium next door. The total project cost is put at £100 million, which will be funded by donations.
The mosque, intended as a new “Islamic landmark” in Britain, will be prominently visible from the Olympic site and to many travellers arriving in London by air. It will not be a traditional structure with domes and minarets, but a long, undulating building borrowing ideas from “nomadic structures and tented cities”. It will be illuminated at night by millions of translucent tiles and surrounded by an “Islamic garden, transposed on to modern-day London”, according to the architects.