Jeff Jacoby and ‘the real Muslim moderates’

Anyone who thinks the witch-hunt against the Muslim Council of Britain is an isolated case should take a look at what’s happening over on the other side of the Atlantic, where the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has been subjected to a hostile right-wing campaign along almost identical lines.

The fact that CAIR has roundly denounced terrorist atrocities in the US and Britain is dismissed by its critics, who shift the argument onto the issue of the CAIR leaders’ position on the Palestinian resistance. They then go on to argue that the government should sideline a broad-based, mainstream, representative body like CAIR and concentrate instead on dialogue with “real moderates”, comprising individuals and groups who have hardly any influence at all within Muslim communities but have the “right” line on the Israel/Palestine question.

You have to ask – whose interests does this campaign against CAIR serve, those of American people or those of the Sharon government?

See, for example, Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe, 18 August 2005

‘Stone the gays, says Ken’s friend’

The Alliance for Workers’ Liberty takes up the now entirely discredited story (originating at Harry’s Place, and then publicised by GALHA and Outrage!) about Yusuf al-Qaradawi calling for the Crown Prince of Qatar to be stoned to death.

AWL website, 16 August 2005

For the background to this slander, see here, here and here

Plus the AWL informs us that Dr al-Qaradawi is “even worse” than Ariel Sharon! See here.

Muslim students refute unsubstantiated extremism on campuses

FOSIS logoThe Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) Saturday strongly refuted allegations of excessive ‘Islamic extremism’ on university campuses. “What we are seeing is an attack on some of the most active and respected Islamic societies across the country,” said Faisal Hanjra, head of FOSIS Student Affairs.

Articles in the British press on Friday quoted a report to be published next week claiming that extremist organizations are operating on more than 30 university campuses across Britain. The leaking of the report came after Education Secretary Ruth Kelly urged vice-chancellors to clamp down on student extremists as part of the government’s new focus in its so-called war on terrorism following July’s bombing attacks in London.

But FOSIS, an umbrella organization representing over 90,000 Muslim students, said that the allegations of “Islamism” being rife on campuses were made without either defining it or outlining any methods of research to base such claims.

IRNA, 17 September 2005

See also MAB Online, 17 September 2005

Echoes of another time and a state that lost its tolerance

“There is a climate of thinly-disguised racialism in the popular press. Every picture of a Muslim cleric or detainee depicts a sneering, leering bearded fanatic – a kind of comic-book villain straight out of John Buchan. There is a striking resemblance between these contemporary depictions of Muslims and the images of Jews circulated by anti-semitic journals in Weimar Germany.”

Iain MacWhirter in the Herald, 17 August 2005

This critique would carry more weight if MacWhirter himself avoided writing scaremongering articles about the threat of “Islamofascism”. (Read Sohaib Saeed’s response here.)

BNP launch anti-mosque campaign

Community leaders and residents have spoken out against a BNP campaign to stop plans for a £1.5 million purpose-built mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.

The British National Party yesterday began distributing 20,000 leaflets which claim the mosque, to be built in Regent Road, Hanley, will be an eyesore, with prayers heard throughout the city via loudspeakers. It also claims the 600-capacity mosque will end up being built with council taxpayers’ cash and cause traffic chaos in the city centre.

Rana Tufail, director of the Islamic Centre, in Shelton, said the far-right party was scaremongering. He believes the mosque will be a credit to the city when it is completed.

Members of the public also say they have no problem with the mosque being built and criticised the BNP’s tactics.

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CAIR’s fatwa: ‘a bogus gesture’

Steven Stalinisky – director of that well-known source of objective information, the Middle East Media Research Institute – offers his opinion on the fatwa against terrorism promoted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Surprise, surprise, Stalinsky finds himself in agreement with another equally reliable source, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project.

Front Page Magazine, 16 August 2005

Defend multiculturalism – Keith Vaz

In an interview in the current edition of the Parliamentary Monitor magazine, Keith Vaz expresses fears that “communities and not individuals” are being blamed for the attacks of July 7 and 21. Revealing that he has received scores of racially motivated “hate mail”, Vaz says that the drive for multiculturalism should continue despite growing fears about Muslim extremism.

“There is no better place to celebrate multiculturalism than Britain in 2005,” says the Labour MP.”Multiculturalism is different cultures and different religions within one society. And I would defend it right to the end. It has been a great benefit to our country – to our great cities. It has given Britain the face it has.”

ePolitix.com, 17 August 2005

Asian men targeted in stop and search

The use of counter-terrorism stop and search powers has increased sevenfold since the July 7 attacks on Britain, with Asian people bearing the brunt of the increase. People of Asian appearance were five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, according to the latest figures compiled by British Transport police. None of the stops have resulted in a terrorism charge, the force said.

Azad Ali, chairman of the Muslim Safety Forum, said: “This does not look like intelligence-led stop and search. This is disproportionate on an unacceptable scale.” He said police should record whether those stopped were Muslim or not.

Guardian, 17 August 2005

By their friends ye shall know them

The website of the Worker Communist Party of Iran seems to be down at the moment. However, a report by WPI central committee member Homa Arjomand of a meeting in Toronto on 12 August can be consulted at Butterflies and Wheels. Sharing the platform with Homa Arjomand were Irshad Manji and right-wing Dutch MP, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Comrade Arjomand reports that the meeting featured a showing of the film “Submission”. But for some reason she omits to mention the name of the film’s director – the late Dutch racist Theo van Gogh. Obviously just an oversight.