Race crime prosecutions up by 29%

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Iqbal SacranieRace hate crime cases rose by almost a third in England and Wales in 2004-05, latest figures from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have shown.

The CPS prosecuted 4,660 defendants for racially aggravated offences, up by 29% from 3,616 for the previous year. The CPS said better co-ordination with police and lawyers had increased the confidence of victims to prosecute.

Religiously aggravated cases dropped to 34 from 49 the previous year, with 23 of the victims’ actual or perceived religion being Muslim. It was Jewish in five cases, Christian in four, Hindu in two and Mormon in one. In four cases the religion was unknown.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said the CPS figures were “obviously very troubling”.

“What adds to our concern is that they refer to race hate incidents prior to the July 7 atrocities after which we saw a large number of ‘revenge’ attacks against Muslims. We would urge people from all communities to report these kinds of racist attacks to the police immediately. There must be no toleration at all of race hate or faith hate crimes.”

BBC News, 11 November 2005

Gay people urged to reject racism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Racism has no place in the Lesbian and Gay Community

We are deeply concerned that the autumn issue of The Gay and Lesbian Humanist magazine includes a number of statements which can be interpreted as racist, including support for the now deceased gay Dutch racist, Pim Fortuyn.

One article demonised immigrants stating: ‘our major towns and cities being for ever changed by huge numbers of foreign settlers’, referred to as: ‘the often poor, ill-educated and culturally estranged Third Worlders’ many of whom ‘are criminals of the worst kind.’ (p.11)

Another article denounces all Muslims, stating: ‘what does a moderate Muslim do, other than excuse the real nutters by adhering to this barmy doctrine?’ (p.6)

The magazine endorses views of the deceased far right Dutch leader Pim Fortuyn, saying: ‘the warning of popular gay politician Pim Fortuyn were tragically snuffed out by a left wing assassin before he could sufficiently alert people to the damage the influx of Muslims is doing to his own native land.’ (p.12)

This attitude to Fortuyn is consistent. As long ago as 2002, the editor wrote of him approvingly: ‘his “crime” in the eyes of many was that he said his country could take no more immigrants.’

We believe that the lesbian and gay community has nothing to gain from racism. On the contrary, we pledge to work with the Black and Asian communities to tackle racism and the far right which threaten all of our human rights and indeed our very lives.

We differ with the leaders of most religions in their all too often bigoted attitudes to lesbian and gay rights but rather than demonise any one religion or race or immigrants, we will work with lesbian and gay Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, people of all religions and none, to promote respect for our human rights.

Denis Fernando, Lesbian and Gay Coalition Against Racism
Ubaid, Secretary, Imaan, The LGBT Muslim support group
Dennis Carney, Chair, Black Gay Mens Advisory Group
Takhsin Begum,  Black representative, NUS LGBT Campaign
Black Lesbians UK
UNISON LGBT Committee
Kirsten Hearn, Chair of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board of the Metropolitan Police Authority
Peter Herbert, Chair, London Race Hate Crime Forum and Spokesperson, Society of Black Lawyers
Reeva Bell, Chair, National Black Crown Prosecution Association
Simon Wooley, Chair, Operation Black Vote / Director, Black Londoners Forum
Pav Akhtar, NUS Black Students Officer
Brenda Ellis, Regard Executive Committee member
Pam Burrows, Satori Diversity and Training

UK policy ‘key factor’ in extremism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

British foreign policy is a “key contributory factor” in driving UK Muslims to extremism, official Home Office advisers have concluded.

Working groups set up in the wake of the July 7 atrocities said the Government should learn from the impact of its foreign policies, particularly in the Middle East. The working groups’ final report said “radical impulses” among the Muslim community were often triggered by “perceptions of injustices inherent in western foreign policy”.

The report, compiled by seven committees appointed by the Home Secretary, said: “British foreign policy – especially in the Middle East – cannot be left unconsidered as a factor in the motivations of criminal radical extremists. We believe it is a key contributory factor. The Government should learn from the impact of its foreign policies on its electors.”

The Scotsman, 10 November 2005

What a pity these groups didn’t bother to consult Nick Cohen, that well-known expert on Islam. He could have told them that all Islamists are members of “psychopathic movements that are in the end beyond rational explanation”. See here.

‘Good luck, France’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“This time, they are on their own. We saved them in World War I, we fought for their towns while they declared Paris an ‘open city’ in the Second World War, and we bailed them out in Vietnam. Yet again, the French resort to a policy of appeasement which, for decades, has gotten them nothing but problems, the burden of which has often been carried by America. Now that they are dealing with jihadists in their streets, we should sit back, put our feet up, grab a few beers, and watch as our predictions materialize.

“We knew this would happen. When lax immigration rules allow a young, fresh-off-the-boat Muslim community to reach almost 10 percent of your population, you should expect nothing less than what is taking place in the streets of France…. the French government thought it necessary to vehemently oppose the U.S.-led war on Iraq in order to placate its large Muslim population. Its continuous disparagement of Israel and simultaneous accommodation of Yasser Arafat, a brute which the Bush administration had rightly chosen to ignore, can also be seen as an obvious reflection of the French’s fear of their Muslim immigrants.”

More gibbering nonsense from the US Right.

Cornell Daily Sun, 9 November 2005

Qaradawi appeals for calm

Posted on by Bob Pitt

YusufalQaradawiDoha-based religious scholar Dr Sheikh Yousuf al-Qaradawi yesterday expressed his sorrow over the riots in Paris suburbs and other French cities having Muslim and African communities.

“We are vehemently sorry for the deterioration of the situation to the point which led to burning of cars, public utilities and harming interests of the people and the French state,” Qaradawi said in a statement to Qatar News Agency.

“While we are passing through such blessed days, we would have wished people exchanging peace, amity, felicitations with Eid al-Fitr,” he added. “We, as Arabs and Muslims, wish France and its friendly people security and safety, especially as France’s stand on Arab and Islamic causes is characterised by fairness, justice and liberation, to a reasonable degree, from the US subordination.”

He called upon the Muslim community in France to resort for calmness and tackle the situation with wisdom and rationality and urged Muslim religious and political leaders to intensify peace efforts.

He also called upon the French government not to deal with the situation from the security point of view but through dialogue with the country’s religious and political leaderships and try to find a common degree of understanding to resolve problems.

Gulf Times, 8 November 2005

And how does David T summarise Qaradawi’s statement? “So, here’s the deal. If Qaradawi approves of your country’s stand on Arab and Islamic causes abroad, he’ll use his influence to call for calm. In parallel, the Government should partner with the Muslim Brotherhood leadership in seeking a solution to France’s social problems at home.”

Harry’s Place, 9 November 2005

The worst thing about Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“To me, the worst thing about Muslims, aside from their longing to be returned to the good old days of the eighth century, and to drag the rest of us, kicking and screaming, along with them, is the fact that far too many politically correct imbeciles feel compelled to accommodate them and to find rationales for their violence. Two such enablers who come to mind, I’m sad to say, are George Bush and Condoleezza Rice. Both have promoted the lie that Islam is a religion of peace and good will. Perhaps in some parallel universe where day is night, up is down, and love is hate, it is so. But here on planet Earth, Islam is a religion whose mullahs preach sermons of death to the infidels. And just in case you haven’t noticed, that includes everybody who doesn’t spend several minutes every day bowing down to Mecca.”

A message from Burt Prelutksy, who evidently inhabits his own parallel universe, one in which the architects of the war on terror are politically correct Islamophiles.

World Net Daily, 9 November 2005

Robert Spencer enthusiastically endorses this racist diatribe. Jihad Watch, 9 November 2005

Yes, that the same Robert Spencer who indignantly rejects CAIR’s accusation that he is among those responsible for “the growing level of Islamophobic rhetoric in American society [which] prompts some individuals to turn their hate-filled views into violent actions”. Jihad Watch, 9 November 2005

The season of jihad

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The worldwide Islamic jihad has begun. The riots in France are not isolated incidents of ‘disenfranchised Muslim youths’…. Whether it will acknowledge it or not, Europe is now at war with Islam. It is already patently evident that Islam is at war with Europe. President Bush and his supporters saw this early on…. Many believe that this is the beginning of the final war on the planet. If so, it is one that free societies must win over suppressive and despotic barbarism. The alternative is truly and unequivocally the end of civilization.”

Sher Zieve in the National Ledger, 8 November 2005

‘Seeing Islam through Condi-colored glasses’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Last month, during a speech given at the annual Iftar dinner at the White House (Washington’s recognition marking the end of Ramadan), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to Islam as ‘a religion of peace and love’.

“In a GrassTopsUSA Exclusive Commentary, Don Feder said of Rice’s speech: ‘In all of existence, there is no greater dichotomy than between the way Islam is portrayed by western admirers and the way it’s practiced by its more enthusiastic adherents. Wherever large numbers of Muslims come in contact with “infidels”, all jihad breaks loose. That’s as true on the West Bank as it is in the Kashmir, as much a reality in the Philippines as the Balkans and as sure in West Africa as it is in Indonesia …. Yet, reality notwithstanding, western elites insist on seeing Islam through Condi-colored glasses. No amount of suicide bombing, anti-Semitic agitation, rampant misogyny, persecution of Christians or slaughter of innocents is allowed to penetrate this mindset.’

“Certainly every Muslim is not a terrorist – every Arab or Pakistani convenience store clerk is not plotting the overthrow of America. But neither has a tiny minority of extremists hijacked Islam. The fact of the matter is that violent jihad warfare against non-Muslims is at the heart of Islamic theology. And it is the mother of all politically correct myths to believe otherwise.”

The Rev. Mark H. Creech at Agape Press, 8 November 2005