Category Archives: UK

The Hounding of Inayat Bunglawala

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Inayat_BunglawalaOne of the recurring themes of Islamophobia is the idea that there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim or that there are as many and varied strands of thinking amongst Muslims as there is with the rest of humanity. The mere fact of being a Muslim is enough to make you a supporter of suicide bombings, an anti-semite, a threat to “Western Civilisation” and of course a potential terrorist.

When the racists and Islamophobes come across Muslims who are not sword wielding Mad Mullahs out to establish a world caliphate their reaction is not to temper and refine their own views but instead to attack, smear, denigrate and falsify in order to portray their target as being a reflection of their own caricature of Muslims.

We have seen this repeatedly in the past 2 years in relation to Yusuf al-Qaradawi and even Tariq Ramadan.

Inayat Bunglawala is Media Secretary for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and is an extremely eloquent and intelligent spokesman for that organisation.

An intelligent and articulate Muslim? Now there’s a thing to get the Islamophobes ranting and foaming at the mouth.

Inayat is now 36 years old and the best that the right wing press can offer as proof of his extremism is an article he wrote for a Muslim youth magazine 14 years ago in 1992 when he was 22 years old. I don’t know about anybody else but I held some views when I was 22 that I’d wish to refine somewhat in the cold light of 14 years more experience of the world.

The fact that Inayat contributes to the Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ website clearly infuriates the racists and Islamophobes and an absurd attempt to smear Inayat developed in the comments section of hislatest posting.

Regular readers of Islamophobia Watch will be aware of the vile “little green footballs” blog and it was through this site that an absurd allegation regarding a death threat Inayat is supposed to have made to that site was published.

Apparently the threat came from someone with a Reuters account and because Inayat works in the media, ipso facto it was him. Absolute hysterical nonsense of course but ludicrous claims and smear attempts are par for the course for the Islamophobes, as they have once again proved.

The inconsistencies of Nick Cohen

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The Satanic Verses, Behzti, Theo van Gogh’s Submission, Jerry Springer: The Opera, the Danish cartoons of Muhammad … now we can add the London exhibition of the work of Maqbool Fida Husain to the rapidly expanding list of works of art and satire targeted by militant religion…. Asia House closed the show on Monday after threats of violence from anonymous Hindu fundamentalists.”

Nick Cohen in the Observer, 28 May 2006

Not only does Cohen lump together a number of different cases, all of which have to be assessed on their own merits and in their social context, but he also omits to mention another recent example of a minority ethno-religious community calling for the suppression of offensive material, as described by Gary Younge:

“In January 2002 the New Statesman published a front page displaying a shimmering golden Star of David impaling a union flag, with the words ‘A kosher conspiracy?’ The cover was widely and rightly condemned as anti-semitic. It’s not difficult to see why. It played into vile stereotypes of money-grabbing Jewish cabals out to undermine the country they live in…. A group calling itself Action Against Anti-Semitism marched into the Statesman‘s offices, demanding a printed apology. One eventually followed. The then editor, Peter Wilby, later confessed that he had not appreciated ‘the historic sensitivities’ of Britain’s Jews.”

I don’t recall Cohen defending the right of the New Statesman to publish anti-semitic illustrations, or condemning members of the Jewish community for invading the magazine’s office to protest. Presumably, in this case, he was capable of distinguishing between freedom of expression and racism. Perhaps he should consider making the same distinction in cases involving other ethno-religious communities.

New Humanist justifies Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Yusuf Smith has picked up on an article in the latest issue of New Humanist magazine (a sponsor of the “March for Free Expression”) by one Ben Marshall, which defends Islamophobia as “an entirely reasonable and honourable intellectual position”. According to Marshall, high levels of unemployment among British Muslims are nothing to do with racism but are the result of their religious beliefs. Marshall has a go at Islamophobia Watch, describing it as “a shady confederacy of Islamists, woolly-headed, well-meaning dunces and Marxists” and he goes on to accuse us of condoning anti-semitism.

Indigo Jo Blogs, 28 May 2006

Islam ‘fused with an agenda of murder’ – Mad Mel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Melanie Phillips claims that after the Satanic Verses controversy “the promotion of Islam in Britain became fused with an agenda of murder”.

Observer, 28 May 2006

You might wonder why a liberal newspaper gives space to a hard-right journalist like Phillips to promote her vile opinions about Muslims. But Phillips’ views are not that far removed from those expressed on a weekly basis by Observer columnist Nick Cohen, and the paper has given prominence to Martin Bright’s campaign to depict maintream Muslim organisations in Britain as supporters of violent extremism. As we never cease to point out on this site, when it comes to Islamophobia the differences between liberals and the racist right have become increasingly blurred.

Muslim homophobia the main threat in Moscow, Tatchell claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Russian ‘nationalists’ managed to draw first blood at Moscow Gay Pride last night when they disrupted a lecture on Oscar Wilde given by the author and playwright’s grandson Merlin Holland. The lecture was at the State Library of Foreign Literature where the nationalists managed to breach security to gain access to the lecture theatre. Merlin Holland was minutes into his talk when he was heckled in Russian. Others in the audience then joined in as police and stewards rushed to restore calm. ‘No faggots in Russia’, was the cry of the nationalists, who also called for gays to be removed from the country. As they were being removed, the nationalists threw vials of an irritant gas in the auditorium, which then had to be evacuated.”

UK Gay News, 26 May 2006

It’s probably the same rightwingers who attacked a gay and lesbian party at a Moscow nightclub earlier this month, shouting “Down with pederasts” and “No perverts here”. See Gay.com, 1 May 2006

Note that the religious component to this upsurge of violent right-wing homophobia derives, as you would expect, from Orthodox Christianity. This hasn’t prevented Peter Tatchell from attributing to Islam the primary place in the anti-Pride campaign in Moscow and suggesting that Russian Orthodox Church is merely following the lead of the chief mufti! He writes:

“Much of the anti-gay sentiment that is sweeping Russia has been whipped up by religious leaders. Threatening violence against Moscow Gay Pride, the chief mufti of Russia’s Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims, Talgat Tajuddin, said: ‘Muslim protests can be even worse than these notorious rallies abroad over the scandalous cartoons. The parade should not be allowed, and if they still come out into the streets, then they should be bashed. Sexual minorities have no rights, because they have crossed the line. Alternative sexuality is a crime against God,’ he said, calling on members of the Russian Orthodox Church to join Muslims in mounting a violent response to Moscow Gay Pride. Russian Orthodox leaders responded by lobbying Mayor Luzhkov to ban the parade….”

Guardian Comment is Free, 24 May 2006

‘Islamofascist’ backs Brett

Posted on by Bob Pitt

I see that Osama Saeed of the Muslim Association of Britain has welcomed a post at Harry’s Place by Brett Lock of OutRage!, attacking the hysteria over “foreign criminals”. No doubt Lock will soon reciprocate with a favourable comment about Osama’s blog. Or perhaps not. Last year Osama posted a piece applauding a New Statesman article by Peter Tatchell on asylum rights, and as yet there hasn’t been any noticeable warming of Tatchell’s attitude towards the “Islamic fundamentalists” of MAB.

‘Economic jihad well underway in UK’ – BNP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“That Britain is facing a terrorist jihad is already widely known; this morning’s headline news that police have arrested seven terrorist suspects in raids in Greater Manchester and Merseyside reinforces that concern. What is less well-known, is that we are also facing an economic jihad, one that the perpetrators proudly admit to. The ideological basis of economic jihad is the same as that of terrorist jihad: the Koran’s commandment that every Moslem wage war upon non-Moslems for their forcible subjection to Islam.”

Another paranoid rant from the fascists.

BNP news article, 24 May 2006

500 pack meeting over plan to build mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hundreds of people opposed to an application to build an Islamic community centre and mosque on greenbelt land packed out a public meeting last night.

More than 500 people turned up for a community council meeting which would normally attract about 20 residents to discuss the proposals for the new mosque in Newton Mearns, near Glasgow.

One resident said: “Plans have been lodged for a huge floodlit building that would be more at home in Mecca than Newton Mearns. Obviously the local residents are up in arms about this.”

The Herald, 23 May 2006

Osama Saeed was at the meeting and reports: “Speaking to Muslims in attendance afterwards, there was a feeling of intimidation from an almost baying crowd. Time after time, mosque opposers claimed they favoured the building of a mosque in the local authority area – just not in their back yard. They would have been as well saying that ‘We are in favour of Asians, just not in this country’.”

Rolled Up Trousers, 23 May 2006

More on Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Posted on by Bob Pitt

There’s a pretty dreadful article on Ayaan Hirsi Ali in today’sObserver by Jason Burke, who you’d have thought would know better, and a no less one-sided comment piece by Isabella Thompson. Hirsi Ali is described as a “radical liberal” (!) in the headline to Burke’s article and neither he nor Thompson bothers to address the appalling role she has played in stoking up anti-Muslim hysteria in the Netherlands.

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