Labour accused of aiding extremists by its focus on Muslim issues

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ministers were accused of playing into the hands of the far right and of Islamic extremists as a Labour backlash grew against the Government’s continuing focus on Muslim issues. Senior MPs and peers signalled their alarm at the furore triggered 10 days ago by Jack Straw’s call for women to reconsider wearing face veils. They said the Muslim community felt under siege following a succession of recent headlines generated by the Government.

Mr Straw’s comments were followed by another minister calling for the dismissal of a teacher who refused to take off her veil and an attack by Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities, on moderate Muslims who “sit on the sidelines” in the fight against terrorism. It has also emerged that the Department for Education wanted lecturers to monitor “Asian-looking” and Muslim students suspected of involvement in terrorism. Several ministers believe the recent controversies show the Government is in tune with widespread concerns in the country.

But Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, warned: “There’s been a huge hype over a small number of people and the only thing this has led to is Muslim-bashing. The only people this will benefit are the far-right BNP. It will also encourage extremists from the Muslim community who will say: ‘We told you so.”‘

The Labour peer Baroness Uddin pleaded with the Government to work to help women lead the fight against extremism. She said: “We have attacked those who would be our greatest allies in meeting the current challenges of terrorism and radicalisation.” She warned that the row over veils had caused “havoc” in the Muslim community and created “a feeling of vulnerability and demonisation of Muslim women”.

Lord Ahmed, another Labour peer, said members of the Muslim community were considering leaving Britain because of the row. “People are asking: ‘What is our future here, do you think we should be taking our money and going somewhere else because this country has so much Islamophobia?'”

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Glasgow demo: Unite Against Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Unite Against Islamophobia

Called by Glasgow Stop the War Coalition and Muslim Association of Britain

Saturday 21st October, 12 noon George Square, Glasgow

There is a feeding frenzy of anti-Muslim stories in the media that has contributed to taking Islamophobia to a new level:

• Jack Straw claimed that women wearing the niqab makes him feel ‘uncomfortable’ and creates social division

• John Reid lectured Muslim parents on how to bring up their children, implying that they are responsible for terrorism

• David Cameron got the headline with ‘I’ll smash Muslim ghettos’

The up-shot of this is that Muslims are being verbally assaulted and even physically attacked. Recently, a mosque in Falkirk was fire-bombed, an Imam in a Glasgow mosque was seriously attacked and a woman in England had the veil ripped from her face.

Stop the War Coalition is proud to work with the Muslim Association of Britain to stop the war and terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. We will not allow politicians to whip up hysteria against Muslims. Everyone who is against racism, scapegoating and persecution must unite together and stand shoulder to shoulder on Saturday 21st October.

No Justice No Peace!

State snoopers turn on Muslim students

Posted on by Bob Pitt

State snoopersState snoopers turn on Muslim students

By Daniel Coysh

Morning Star, 17 October 2006

ACADEMICS and students vowed to fight “McCarthyite” government proposals for university staff to spy on Muslim and “Asian-looking” students yesterday. Lecturers’ union UCU and the National Union of Students both insisted that the proposals were unacceptable and would be vigorously opposed.

Reports said that The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is drawing up plans to ask universities and colleges to inform on students to Special Branch. As the hysteria surrounding Islamist “extremism” threatens to completely engulf British political discourse, a leaked 18-page consultation document raised fears that Britain’s universities have become “fertile recruiting grounds” for radical groups.

But UCU joint general secretary Paul Mackney pointed out that “radicalisation is not the same as violent extremism or terrorism.”

He said: “The government’s premise is wrong. Radicalisation is not the result of Islamist segregation but government policy, especially in Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq. UCU has expressed its concern to the minister that our members may be sucked into an anti-Muslim McCarthyism, which has serious consequences for civil liberties by blurring the boundaries of what is illegal and what is possibly undesirable.”

The document calls for university authorities to closely monitor campus Islamic societies, particularly if they invite “radical speakers” to address their meetings. It suggests that checks should be made on guest speakers at such meetings.

Fellow UCU joint general secretary Sally Hunt insisted: “We will not accept further government attempts to restrict academic freedom or free speech on campus. There is little point in having these nominal freedoms if they can be removed when certain people don’t like what they hear.”

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Incitement to violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daud Abdullah“Where is this political opportunism taking us? Into the dark tunnel of national strife. The corrosive effect of the political and media onslaught against British Muslims is having its impact on all sections of society. What is claimed to be an assertion of free speech and democratic rights is rapidly becoming the demonisation of a community. Once they are dehumanised, who cares for their democratic, civil or human rights?

“Since John Reid demanded that Muslim ‘bullies’ must be faced down and Jack Straw declared the veil a ‘statement of separation’, ministers have fallen over themselves to make increasingly unbridled attacks on Muslims. The shadow home secretary, David Davis, has accused our communities of creating a ‘voluntary apartheid’ and colleges have taken action against veiled teachers and students. The tabloid press has declared open season on Muslims with one hostile front-page story after another.

“In practice this has amounted to incitement to violence. In recent weeks verbal and physical attacks on Muslims have surged alarmingly. Women have had their scarves ripped off. Mosques and Islamic centres in Preston and Falkirk have been attacked by mobs and firebombed.”

Daud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the MCB, in the Guardian, 17 October 2006

‘Our failure to confront radical Islam is there for all to see’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“At long last, the debate on Islamism as politics, not Islam as religion, is out in the open. Two weeks ago, Jack Straw might have felt he was taking a risk when publishing his now notorious article on the Muslim veil. However, he was pushing at an open door. From across the political spectrum there is now common consent that the old multicultural emperor, before whom generation of politicians have made obeisance, is now a pitiful, naked sight.”

Daily Telegraph, 17 October 2006

Melanie Phillips, perhaps? No, the appalling Denis MacShane – the man who chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Semitism that issued the ludicrous report claiming that Islamists in Britain are in an alliance with the BNP.

In 2003 MacShane delivered a speech in which he said: “It is time for the elected and community leaders of the British Muslims to make a choice – the British way, based on political dialogue and non-violent protests, or the way of the terrorists, against which the whole democratic world is uniting.” In response, his constituency party passed a resolution stating: “Denis MacShane is inciting racial and religious hatred, by publicly implying in the press that the Muslim community elected members and leaders are in favour of terrorism and being anti-British.”

Guardian, 28 November 2003

PM backs veil-teacher suspension

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tony Blair has backed the local education authority which suspended a Muslim classroom assistant for refusing to remove her full face veil at school. He said he “fully supported” the way the authority dealt with Aishah Azmi at Headfield Church of England Junior School, in Dewsbury.

Mr Blair told reporters at his first news conference since MPs returned from their long summer break that a debate was needed on how the Muslim community integrates with British society. “Difficult though these issues are, I think they have to be raised and confronted and dealt with,” he said. “And then, there’s a second issue, which is about Islam itself and how Islam comes to terms with – and is comfortable with – the modern world.”

BBC News, 17 October 2006

Europe raising its voice over radical Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The newspapers are wrinkled as always, the conversations still veer toward the abstract, but tempers are riled these days in Europe’s cafes. Artists and influential leftists are warning that the rise of radical Islam is threatening the hallowed tradition of European liberalism. Theater directors, cartoonists and writers say the continent is betraying its identity with self-censorship aimed at appeasing a fundamentalist Islam they believe is determined to impose its will on free speech and provocative creativity.”

Los Angeles Times, 16 October 2006

Veil should be banned say 98% (of Express readers)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Veil Should Be Banned (say Express readers)“Britons gave overwhelming backing last night to a call for a ban on full-face Muslim veils. Ninety-eight per cent of Daily Express readers agreed that a restriction would help to safeguard racial harmony and improve communication. Our exclusive poll came as ministers stepped up the pressure on Muslim leaders to demonstrate ‘real leadership’ in the fight against extremism….

“Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly dismissed claims that the Government was ‘demonising’ Muslims, insisting everybody had a part to play in responding to the extremist threat…. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said women who covered their faces were failing to take their full place in society. ‘The veil is a symbol of women’s subjugation to men,’ she said. ‘Women who are heavily veiled, whose identity is obscured to the world apart from their husbands, cannot take their full place in society’.”

Daily Express, 17 October 2006

The veil – a woman has no right to choose

Posted on by Bob Pitt

P. Toynbee“This has been a real test of Labour politicians. It is the first time in years that there has been a hard choice about women’s rights – and many failed miserably. Here is a conflict between two principles – respect for a religious minority and respect for women’s equality…. When it comes to something as basic as women hidden from view behind religious veils, is it really so hard to say this is a bad practice? Because some racists may jump on the bandwagon to attack Muslims, that’s no reason to pretend veils are OK….

“The veil turns women into things. It was shocking to find on the streets of Kabul that invisible women behind burkas are not treated with special respect. On the contrary, they are pushed and shoved off pavements by men, jostled aside as if almost subhuman without the face-to-face contact that recognises common humanity.

“The classroom assistant in a Church of England school in Kirklees removed her veil for a job interview, but now expects to go veiled in corridors or whenever she might meet a man. What does that say to children about the role of women as victims and men as aggressors? Of course it should be banned in all places of education, and the community cohesion minister is the right person to say so. The veil is profoundly divisive – and deliberately designed to be….

“Prescott, Hewitt, Kelly, Hain and others failed the test, saying it was women’s ‘choice’: can they really believe that’s the whole story? Here is an uneasy blend of nervousness about racism and fear of already angry Muslims. It was left to Harriet Harman to make the unequivocal case for women’s rights: ‘If you want equality, you have to be in society, not hidden away from it,’ she said. ‘The veil is an obstacle to women’s participation on equal terms in society.’ No nonsense about choice.”

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian, 17 October 2006