As their own contribution to the softening up of public opinion in preparation for a US attack on Iran, Peter Tatchell and OutRage! are gearing up to commemorate the hanging of two young Iranians in Mashhad in July last year. Yoshie Furuhashi is not impressed.
Category Archives: USA
‘Britain’s Muslims at Alton Towers’
“On 17 September this year Alton Towers is to be handed over to the Muslims for a day. There will, therefore, be no music, no gambling and of course no alcohol. The rides will be segregated between men and women and your usual ten quid botulo-burger’n’fries will be prepared in accordance with halal practice. There will be prayer mats scattered around, so that you can give thanks to Allah for not having been thrown head first out of the big dipper. Who knows – perhaps they will adapt some of the rides for the day: maybe the chamber of horrors will be full of Hasidic Jews wreathed in sinister smiles.”
Rod Liddle in the Spectator, 8 July 2006
US pastor slammed for anti-Islam rant
A prominent US pastor and a former advisor to President George W. Bush has drawn fire from leaders in the Muslim minority, rights activists and politicians for calling Islam a “dangerous” religion.
“It appears that he doesn’t have that much knowledge about Islam,” Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, told The Miami Herald on Saturday, July 8. He said he has tried unsuccessfully to meet with Dozier.
Appearing on the Steve Kane Radio Show, The Rev. O’Neal Dozier, a Broward clergyman and an ally of Governor Jeb Bush, criticized Islam as a “cult” religion.
“The Islamic religion in my view is a cult,” Dozier told the Herald Friday, July 7, when asked to recap the controversial comments he made earlier on the show. “On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion,” he added, refusing to disavow his comments.
Out of a cycle of ignorance
“Islamophobia is a threat to our democratic way of life. This cancer should be as unacceptable as anti-semitism. Pluralism and tolerance demand greater understanding and respect from non-Muslims and Muslims alike. The more we learn about each other, the more we will see beyond our differences to a reservoir of common concerns, values and interests.”
John Esposito in the Guardian, 7 July 2006
Severed pig’s head thrown into mosque during prayer session
LEWISTON, Maine — A group of Muslim men praying at a Lewiston mosque were thrown for a jolt when somebody threw a severed pig’s head into the mosque. Police arrested a man on Tuesday who said he thought it was a joke.
A frozen pig’s head slightly larger than a basketball was rolled into the Lewiston Auburn Islamic Center on Lisbon Street at about 10:15 p.m. Monday, witnesses told the Sun Journal of Lewiston.
Pigs are considered unclean by Muslims, who are barred from eating pork, and the act was viewed as a deliberate insult upon the religion. “We cannot eat it. We cannot even sit next to someone who is eating it,” said a man who identified himself as Omar S.
When the incident occurred, about 40 men were bowed down as part of their prayer ritual. When the pig’s head rolled in, the men got up and ran outside but were unable to locate anyone. None of the men were hit by the animal head.
Lewiston police bagged the head as evidence and took it to the police station, witnesses said. Police Lt. Mark Watson said the head was then disposed of.
Brent Matthews, 33, of Lewiston, came to the police department on Tuesday, told a detective he had thrown the head and was charged with desecration of a church, a misdemeanor. The charge is considered a hate-bias crime, so Matthews’ case will be referred to the Attorney General’s office for further investigation, Lt. Don Mailhot said.
Matthews, who was out on bail, “admitted to doing it,” Mailhot said. “He thought it was funny; it was going to be a big joke. The police department doesn’t take anything like that lightly.”
See also CAIR press release, 4 July 2006
Daniel Pipes and ‘Islamist Watch’
“If Daniel Pipes is not diverting attention from Israeli murder of Palestinian schoolchildren, is not attacking Arabs and Muslims, or is not intimidating university professors in Middle Eastern studies, one would find him exercising his racism and extremism in his most recent project, Islamist Watch. The Middle East Forum website has been carrying a job announcement – the director for the forum’s new ‘Islamist Watch’ project. This project will add new weapons to Pipes’ long campaign against Islam and Islamists…. Given the years of campaigning against Islamists by Pipes, this suggests that Muslims in the US and the West are in for more hate campaigns and targeting. It is a recipe for increased paranoia, which may be what Pipes wants.”
Jihad Khazen in Dar Al-Hayat, 1 July 2006
‘Muslim Brotherly Hate’
“Today, the radical Islamist community stands strong in Texas and Connecticut as one unified force, under the aegis and aura of the Muslim Brotherhood, ready to assist the coming generation in its future quest to become even stronger. Unfortunately, the unity that brings these groups together is also the same unity that will attempt to destroy us from within – all along, while America provides them with a platform to express their anger and assist in our demise.”
Joe Kaufman at Front Page Magazine, 30 June 2006
Substitute “London” for “Texas and Connecticut” and “Britain” for “America” and it could be David T of Harry’s Place writing, couldn’t it?
‘Inconveniencing Muslims’
“Police have no right to rush into action on dubious intelligence, say most Muslims in poll”, a headline reads in today’s Guardian. Sounds reasonable to me. Not to Robert Spencer, though. He comments: “So it’s better to be blown up than risk inconveniencing innocent Muslims. I see.” We suspect that if Spencer himself were shot by police while walking down the stairs of his own home in his pyjamas, he might view this as rather more than a mere inconvenience.
Media campaign in US to dispel Islamophobia
A survey conducted by Cornell University recently found that around half of Americans have a negative view of Islam and would like the US government to curtail the political activity of Muslims in the US.
Addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Paul Findley, a former US Congressman, said that the cancer of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiments was spreading in American society and requires corrective measures to stamp out this malaise.
It was also announced that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) would be launching a massive $50 million media campaign involving television, radio and newspapers as part of its five-year program to create a better understanding of Islam and Muslims in the US.
Referring to the anti-Islamic sentiments in the US, Findley said that the campaign was being spearheaded by a tiny but influential section of society, including some politicians, academics and opinion-makers.
Global warming – a diversion from the threat of Islamic terrorism
A correspondent writes: “This is bonkers even by FrontPage standards – global warming is a conspiracy promoted by liberals in order to distract us from the threat of Islamic Fascism! Of course! Why hadn’t I noticed that before?”
See Dennis Prager’s article in Front Page Magazine, 20 June 2006