Jon Snow gives us a foretaste of this evening’s Dispatches documentary.
For an excellent response by Sunny Hundal (and it’s not often I get to type those words) see Pickled Politics, 6 August 2006
For Osama Saeed’s comments, see Rolled Up Trousers, 6 August 2006
Dramatic new evidence that Cabinet rebel Jack Straw was sacked as Foreign Secretary as a result of pressure from George W. Bush has been revealed. Senior sources close to the US Government told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Straw’s outspoken opposition to America’s policies on the Middle East was discussed by White House aides weeks before his shock dismissal by Tony Blair in May. It follows the disclosure that the Bush Administration feared Mr Straw was in the pocket of Muslims in his Blackburn constituency. And it gives further credence to claims that he was fired because of his refusal to back America’s all-out support for Israel.
“While constantly pointing the finger at Muslims and denying any part in the spread of terrorism, this arrogant rhetoric of neoliberal militantism, which goes hand in hand with military aggression on the ground, is terrorism’s chief recruiter and the greatest threat to Britain’s national security.”
Soumaya Ghannoushi replies to Blair’s “arc of extremism” speech.
“America, awake. We are in the early stages of a war between Western civilization and the militant Islamic fanatics who control the Arab world. We have had our second Pearl Harbor on 9/11, and still we sleep. The current Lebanon-Israeli conflict is yet another instance in which radical Islam has displayed its intentions and hatred of world democracies. In the past quarter century, America has been under attack by the Islamic world. Thousands of Americans have died as a result of Muslim hatred directed against the US….
“I am not a Bush supporter, but I applaud his courage and integrity in supporting our Israeli allies during this latest Islamic outrage against Israel. We are engaged in a war with Islam regardless of the reluctance of our leaders and allied leaders to call it as it is. We won World War II by crushing our enemies, not negotiating with them.”
Mel Goldstein in the Roanoke Times, 2 August 2006
“Of course, God can change the human heart and wash away any past sins – and thus cause to emerge a completely new creature – quite separate from their past. But Islam is not in that group. Islam is a force for evil that opposes all who do not embrace it. Much like the homosexual agenda, all who oppose Islam must be silenced by whatever means. That is at the heart of Islam – convert to the worship of Allah or else slay all those who reject Islam….
“Dr. Keyes basically says that he has no illusions about the threat posed by Islam, and that Islam will remain at odds with all other religions, unless Islam is effectively held in check through ‘wise policy and action’. In my opinion, I think that such ‘action’ may well include war — if things persist. I see no other option since Islam itself urges its followers: ‘Make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them.’
“So unfortunately, it’s either kill or be killed.”
Guy Adams at Renew America, 3 August 2006
“Martin Bright says he feels ‘rather awkward’ about his newfound friends. So he should: anybody who claims to be on the left and finds their arguments being championed by a bunch of warmongering neocons should pause and reflect how they got themselves in that position.”
Salma Yaqoob replies to Martin Bright.
Guardian Comment is Free, 2 August 2006
An assault by a white neighbour on a Muslim woman in London has shown just how difficult it can be for victims of alleged racist attacks to prise open the doors of justice. Laura Smith reports.
The witch-hunt of Mockbul Ali continues.
No doubt a number of people will have noted the irony that Martin Bright’s recent pamphlet When Progressives Treat with Reactionaries, which claims to expose “the British State’s flirtation with radical Islamism”, was published by the right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange. When it comes to treating with reactionaries, Bright can evidently speak from first-hand experience.
In yesterday’s Observer, Bright tried to justify his alliance with the political Right, with whom he finds common ground in Islamophobia. He describes Policy Research as “centre right”, despite the fact that its research director on international issues is the frothing-at-the-mouth reactionary Dean Godson.
But Bright does accept that right-wingers like Peter Dobbie in the Mail on Sunday, Frank Johnson in the Torygraph and Charles Moore in the Spectator have showered him with praise for his stand against the Islamist hordes. Bright writes: “There is no doubt that it has fed into the perception in some circles on the left, encouraged by the MCB, that I am part of some Islamophobic campaign….” Yup, I think that just about summarises it. As one commentator on the Guardian website observes: “Like [Melanie] Phillips who started on the left and is now on the far right, I suspect Bright will end up there as well.”
The deputy chair of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was racially attacked in a Scottish shopping centre – and she has claimed it was directly linked to the crisis in the Middle East.
Kay Hampton, who is also the Scottish commissioner of the CRE, was verbally assaulted in The Avenue shopping centre in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, last Friday. She believes she was mistaken for a Muslim, and the attack was directly linked with the conflict in Lebanon.
Hampton told the Sunday Herald she was shopping with her daughter when she heard a man call them “pigs”. After she challenged him, the man became loud and aggressive, and followed her into a greengrocer’s. When onlookers and two security guards intervened, her attacker backed off and left the centre.
Hampton, one of the UK’s most senior race relations experts, rarely gives interviews and was initially keen to play down the incident, but she has decided to go public because she fears Scotland could become a racial and religious tinderbox.
“It was my first experience of a racial attack in 15 years of living in Glasgow, ” she said. “I was so distressed. You never know how you will respond to these things until it happens to you personally.
“I had a strong feeling it was international issues impacting on a local community – you saw it after 9/11. I think I was mistaken for a Muslim. I am concerned the crisis in the Middle East is going to have an effect on local areas.”
She added: “The face of racism is changing – it is not about black and white any more, it is much more complex than that. We assume racism happens in poor areas and is associated with young people, but this was a man in his 50s with his wife, in an affluent shopping centre. If it happened to me it can happen to anyone.”
She said she decided not to report the attack to police because she considered it more important to use the incident to raise public awareness of the pressure building on local race relations.