Immigration control advocate rallies GOP activists

US congressman Tom “nuke Mecca” Tancredo continues his anti-migrant campaign, the East Valley Tribune reports.

“Tancredo has … called for a reduction in legal immigration, saying American culture is in danger of being overwhelmed and washed away by a tide of foreign residents who aren’t assimilating quickly enough. And he has actively encouraged the Minuteman Project and other unauthorized civilian groups who claim to be helping the federal government by conducting their own border patrols. ‘The situation on the border is tinderbox with some people armed to the teeth who are racists or affiliated with hate groups and who are being urged on by elected officials such as Tancredo’, said Mark Potok, director of a Southern Poverty Law Center project that tracks hate groups.

“Tancredo added fuel to the criticism in July when he told a Florida radio station the U.S. would have to consider using nuclear weapons against Islamic holy sites such as Mecca if Muslim terrorists ever detonate a nuclear device in an American city. Even many fellow immigration control advocates said Tancredo had gone too far. But Tancredo refused to apologize, as his statements fit into his belief the war on terrorism is fundamentally a fight against a religion that desires the destruction of Western civilization, instead of a battle against a small, radical element at the edges of mainstream Islam.”

Bush aide slams anti-Muslim hatred

Karen HughesA close aide of US President George Bush told an annual convention of American Muslims that hatred directed at Muslims was no more acceptable than violence done in the name of Islam.

“As we want Muslim voices to speak out against terror and violence and extremism, it is equally important that we be mindful of speaking out against all voices of hate and incitement including those raised against Muslims themselves,” Karen Hughes told the opening of the annual meeting of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on Friday, September 2.

Hughes, one of Bush’s closest communications advisers, urged people of all faiths to speak out against the “backlash and widespread demonization of Islam and Muslims” that followed the 9/11 attacks and the London bombings, blamed on Muslim extremists.

Islam Online, 3 September 2005

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Telegraph boosts Fallaci

Reprinting an article that originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Sunday Telegraph devotes a whole page to boosting the Italian racist Oriana Fallaci, recently in the news after her “supporters” leaked the information that she had held a private discussion with the pope.

Sunday Telegraph, 4 September 2005

Given that Brett Lock of Outrage! recently attacked this site for criticising right-wing Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, it can only be a matter of time before he and Peter Tatchell declare their solidarity with Fallaci too.

Indy stitches up Hizb

The lead story in the Independent on Sunday is headlined: “Islamic group in secret plan to recruit UK students.” Yes, it’s the Independent pursuing its vendetta against Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The article seeks to make an amalgam between Hizb and the now defunct al-Muhajiroun, stating that they “both deny supporting violence”. This was clearly not true of al-Muhajiroun, who under Omar Bakri’s buffoonish leadership held provocative rallies celebrating 9/11, whereas Hizb has repudiated terrorism.

The article, which mixes in references to al-Qaida and the London bombings, is clearly intended to present Hizb as some sort of terrorist threat – a charge rejected even by those, including the MCB, who strongly oppose Hizb’s sectarian interpretation of Islam – and to provide backing for the government’s undemocratic plans to proscribe the organisation.

Update:  Read Hizb ut-Tahrir’s response here.

Straight talk about Tariq Ramadan

Re Tariq Ramadan’s appointment to a government taskforce on tackling extremism (Blair backs banned Muslim scholar, August 31): we feel it is important to make clear there are a multiplicity of views in the UK Jewish community. More importantly, a multiplicity of views are what is required on a task force.

Professor Ramadan’s views appear to concentrate on the complexity of issues, rather than alleged extremism. In his book Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, he argues for a new understanding of Islamic principles within a western context, calling for dialogue with non-Muslims. Following the London bombings, Professor Ramadan published an opinion piece in the Guardian entitled “Living together takes effort” (July 9).

We agree. In particular, we urge leaders of all communities to avoid hearsay and to renew efforts to seek common ground, thereby opening avenues for honest dialogue. The effort is worth it.

Jonathan Colman
Dr Edie Friedman
Reva Klein
Dr Brian Klug
Francesca Klug
Tony Lerman
Jewish Council for Racial Equality

Letter in Guardian, 2 September 2005

Western view of Islam: A troubled history

“Why are negative images of Islam more prevalent than any others? Why is it still acceptable to say things about Muslims that would simply be deemed unacceptable of Jews, Christians, or Buddhists? That years of inter-faith dialogue have done little to advance a better understanding of the Islamic faith in the western world is an indication of how profoundly entrenched in the Western psyche crude misrepresentations and vulgar stereotypes of Islam are.”

Soumayya Ghannoushi examines the historical origins of Islamophobia.

Aljazeera, 1 September 2005

‘Moslems censor American speech’

“Recently, the Mohammedans won a coup getting a conservative talk show host, Michael Graham, fired from WMAL-AM, an ABC Radio affiliate…. The Muslims got Graham for telling the truth. It’s going to get a lot worse. More Americans must speak in public with a lot more of the painful truth of Islam. This historical truth is so politically incorrect it shouts down the public pandering from the President down to not dare offend oh-so-sensitive Muslims. Like, Islam is a (or do they insist it is ‘the’?) Religion of Peace. If Islam is a Religion of Peace then Aztec Paganism was the Religion of Mercy…. Muslim armies killed, raped, and destroyed more in their conquests against Christians, Pagans and Hindus than all the Crusades put together…. And Islamic Civilization is 800 years behind Western Civilization. By any measure that you mark Islam is as far behind the West as the Germanic Tribes were behind Rome. Islamic Civilization is barbaric compared to West. Truth isn’t Islamophobia.”

James A. Bowden rallies to the defence of poor victimised Michael Graham. Mind you, on this evidence he probably regards Graham as a bit of a liberal Islamophile.

MichNews.com, 31 August 2005