The Palestinian struggle between Fatah and Hamas is not about religion, argues Azzam Tamimi.
Livingstone ‘hysterical’ about mega mosque petition
Alan Craig has issued a press release backing a BNP-initiated petition against the so-called mega-mosque in Newham and denouncing London mayor Ken Livingstone’s opposition to the fascists’ campaign as “hysterical”.
A very British Islam
Joanna Sugden interviews Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain.
Outrage over BNP leaflets
BNP leaflets about Muslim extremism have been slammed as an “abominable distortion of Islam” by Croydon Mosque leaders.
The leaflets – claiming that Islam is a “threat to us all” and calling on people to join the party’s “crusade against Islamification of Britain” – were sent to residents in South Norwood last week, shortly after the attempted terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow.
After getting one of the leaflets resident Mahmood Tufail said: “There’s a lot of lies in the leaflet and I got the impression people are trying to stir up trouble – especially with what’s been going on in the past few weeks.”
Mr Tufail said people were now feeling “very nervous”. “I’ve spoken among my friends,” he added, “We don’t know what to do about this. I just hope the leaflets won’t inflame non-Muslims against us. With all that is going on, people are very nervous. This leaflet creates the wrong stereotypes. The people who carry out these extremist acts are a tiny, fringe minority. Unfortunately, this backfires on everyone else.”
A spokesman for Croydon Mosque called the leaflets “inflammatory” and said: “The vast majority of people will recognise it for the blatant scare tactics that it deploys and which have become the hallmark of the BNP.”
A BNP spokesman said: “All we’re trying to do is raise the issue that Islam is not compatible with the British way of life. We are a Christian country and Islam is destroying democracy.”
Croydon Guardian, 20 July 2007
See also BNP regional voices, 21 July 2007
Sinking to disgrace
Seth Freedman responds to an email campaign among the Jewish community calling for a ban on the so-called “mega-mosque” at Abbey Mills in East London:
“… for sections of the Jewish public not only to stay silent on the issue, but actively to jump aboard, is as abhorrent as it is absurd. For my part, I couldn’t care less one way or the other whether the mosque is built, since it has absolutely nothing to do with me and its erection wouldn’t impact on my world in the slightest. If the Jews campaigning against it can’t see that, then they’ve allowed their paranoid delusions to run away with them. It’s a mosque, for heaven’s sake, not an al-Qaida training camp. For Jews to cry wolf when a mosque is planned demonstrates how very completely they have tarred the entire Muslim community with the same demonising brush.
“And, if the tables were turned and a super-synagogue was scheduled to be built in the middle of Golders Green, you can bet that those Jews expressing outrage today would be the ones dancing in the streets when the new shul opened its doors. They wouldn’t complain for an instant that the money could be better spent on the NHS or London transport. They wouldn’t bat an eyelid at how many incoming tourists would notice the complex dominating the London skyline as their plane descended through the clouds. And they certainly wouldn’t stand idly by as a barrage of hate-filled emails raced around the country calling for the public to take up their cudgels and derail the project.”
‘Do we have to treat Muslims as Muslims?’ asks Dean Godson
“If the views of Inayat Bunglawala, its assistant general secretary – as expressed recently on Newsnight – are anything to go by, it still largely blames Western foreign policy for the discontents of the world. By underwriting these attitudes, it contributes mightily to the grievance culture that fuels violent jihadism.”
Dean Godson warns the government against re-engaging with the Muslim Council of Britain – and indeed against consulting any organisation representing Muslim communities.
‘Wearing of burkas is a threat to our way of life’
In today’s lead article the Daily Express tells its readers that the burka (they mean the niqab – but, hey, why bother with accuracy when it comes to “foreign” clothing) “is becoming the Islamic equivalent of the mugger’s hooded top or the armed robber’s balaclava. Anyone sincerely wishing to integrate into the British way of life would never wear such an alien and threatening outfit…. Make no mistake, the proliferation of burka-wearing is a direct threat to the British way of life and in all too many instances is intended to be just that”.
The front page is devoted to whipping up panic over the Al Muhajiroun demo outside the Old Bailey: “This was the extraordinary scene on the streets of Britain yesterday as burka-clad protestors demanded the release of four extremists. Swarming outside the Old Bailey, the Muslim hate mob poured scorn on the nation that guarantees their freedoms.”
Judging by the Express‘s own photographs, the “mob” that was “swarming” outside the court would appear to have consisted of about six people. And of course the Express fails to inform its readers that Al Muhajiroun is a tiny and irrelevant group whose supporters these days can probably be numbered in dozens.
Check out the comments following the article for the sort of far-right racists who are encouraged by this disgraceful, irresponsible excuse for journalism.
See also Five Chinese Crackers, 19 July 2007
Islamophobia – alarming statements
Sheila Musaji provides an update of anti-Muslim bigotry in the USA.
Judge asks woman to lift her veil in court
A judge asked a woman to lift her full Muslim veil, three weeks after a Manchester magistrate walked out of her previous hearing because her face was covered. District Judge Diana Baker allowed Zoobia Hussain, aged 32, to give evidence from behind a screen in her trial at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on a charge of criminal damage.
Judge Baker said: “I understand the importance to a Muslim woman of being able to wear her veil because that is an important part of her cultural and religious identity. But when I make an assessment of people giving evidence I look at their facial expressions and I can only see Mrs Hussain’s eyes. My view is that when giving evidence it is important for me in my judicial decision-making role to be able to see her face.”
She said Hussain could sit behind a screen so that the male prosecutor and clerk could not see her face. Prosecutor Nicholas Vitti said he accepted the need for special measures, but made clear he was “not happy” he could not see Hussain’s face.
A malicious campaign
Amid alarmist and misleading stories, more than 260,000 people have signed a petition against a so-called “mega mosque” in East London. Inayat Bunglawala examines a piece of BNP-inspired scaremongering.
See also BBC News, 17 July 2007 and the Guardian, 19 July 2007