Category Archives: USA

Pat Condell acquires another admirer

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pat Condell Bare Naked Islam

Pat Condell, the National Secular Society’s favourite comedian (he has been repeatedly nominated for their Secularist of the Year award, although he has yet to win it) has long had a fan base among the Islamophobic right in the United States. He has recently acquired a new admirer. It’s none other than Bonni Benstock-Intall of the hate site Bare Naked Islam, which achieved notoriety last year for its promotion of violence against Muslims and attacks on mosques. Over the past year or so Bare Naked Islam has repeatedly posted Condell’s videos and hailed him as a fellow anti-Muslim bigot.

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NYPD did no wrong in secretly surveilling N.J. Muslims, Attorney General report says

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A review by the state Attorney General into the New York Police Department’s secret surveillance operation targeting Muslim businesses and mosques in New Jersey found the NYPD did nothing wrong.

The three-month probe, ordered by Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa, concluded there was no evidence to show the NYPD’s activities in the state violated New Jersey’s civil or criminal laws.

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Prominent Islamophobes identified as ‘heading up the radical right’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gaffney with GellerIncreasing anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. has shown enormous growth in the past two years, leading the Southern Poverty Law Center to mention three notorious Islamophobes on their list of “30 new activists heading up the radical right.”

The SPLC finds that “[a]n anti-Muslim movement, almost entirely ginned up by political opportunists and hard-line Islamophobes, has grown enormously since taking off in 2010, when reported anti-Muslim hate crimes went up by 50%.”

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Muslims detained by FBI for spending too long in lavatory

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A group of Muslims was detained Wednesday at Orlando Sanford International Airport, apparently because of a misunderstanding over an Islamic cleanliness ritual, authorities said.

The captain of Allegiant flight No.625 from Allentown, Pa., radioed ahead and asked airport police to meet the plane when it landed about 8:30p.m., said Larry Dale, airport director and commander of its 11-member police force.

Members of the group were lingering in the lavatory and asked for a cup, arousing suspicion, Dale said. An FBI agent was interviewing three men late Wednesday, but it appeared that the travelers were detained because of a religious custom dictating cleanliness and that they would be released.

“In today’s world, we’d rather be cautious,” Dale said.

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Muslims to gather to combat anti-Shariah movement

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ICNA-MAS conventionSome 15,000 Muslims are expected at this weekend’s 37th annual convention of the Islamic Circle of North America in Hartford, where the theme of “Defending Religious Freedom: Understanding Shariah” reflects the worry that anti-Muslim activists are fanning fear of Islamic law to marginalize U.S. Muslims.

The May 26-28 gathering, which is also sponsored by the Muslim American Society, is the second-largest Muslim convention in the U.S., behind only the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, which draws between 30,000 and 40,000 people.

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Orange County Republicans remove notorious Islamophobe from post as vice chair

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Last night, the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee voted 47 to 16 in favor of removing Deborah Pauly from her post as First Vice Chair of the OCGOP.

The motion to remove Pauly was brought on by OCGOP Chairman Scott Baugh stating that Pauly’s behavior has been divisive, vulgar and has caused much distraction and division within the Republican party. At 9:28pm, the votes were announced and Pauly was officially removed as First Vice Chair.

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EDL and BFP leaders hold ‘strategy meeting’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL BFP press conferenceBritish Freedom (as the British Freedom Party has been renamed, because BFP is “too closely sounding to BNP”) reports that its executive council has held a meeting with the English Defence League leaders to discuss future political plans.

BF chairman Paul Weston will be attending an “SIOE (Stop the Islamisation of America)” event in New York on 11 September along with newly appointed vice-chairmen Stephen Lennon and Kevin Carroll. Presumably this is the SION conference to “fight blasphemy laws under the Sharia Islamic supremacist war on free speech” announced by Pamela Geller a couple of months ago, at which “English politician and freedom fighter Paul Weston” is an advertised speaker. According to the BF report: “This will be a high-profile visit with excellent opportunities to publicise British Freedom internationally.”

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New Jersey: Muslim woman told to remove niqab in mall

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wakeelah Salaam had been shopping by herself for less than ten minutes at the Bridegwater Commons Mall when a security guard approached her and told her to remove her traditional Muslim face covering.

“He said, ‘ma’am, I’m telling you, you cannot wear that mask in here. He came as close to me as though he was going to kiss me, and then he made the hand gesture like he was going to lift it up for me,” Salaam said.

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DMV wants ‘ICUHAJI’ license plate back

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ICUHAJI plateA Chesapeake man says the Department of Motor Vehicles is violating his right to free speech.

The DMV asked Army veteran Sean Bujno to return his vanity license plate, which displays the message “ICUHAJI.” Many read the message as “I see you, Haji.”

The dictionary defines “haji” as “one who has made a pilgrimage to Mecca.” But the word can also be used as slang, often to describe people of Arab descent in a derogatory way. The popular website Urban Dictionary suggests “haji” is “offensive slang; disparaging term for Arabs, especially those of Islamic faith.”

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