UK courts pave the way for British citizen to be sent to a foreign gulag

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Free Babar“The case of Babar Ahmad, jailed UK-US political prisoner, took one step closer to seeing Babar being extradited to the US, despite insufficient evidence to convict him under UK law and no evidence having been presented for his extradition. Once in the US, Babar faces the very real threat of transfer from civil to military courts under Military Order One and even torture at Guantánamo or by other governments, through a process the US authorities euphemistically call ‘extraordinary rendition’. Further, if convicted, under what would probably be a highly questionable legal process, he faces the risk of execution.”

MAB press release, 19 May 2005

See also MCB press release, 17 May 2005

Muslims view US as hostile and domineering shock

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Muslim views of the United States as domineering and hostile reflect relentless local reporting on Iraq, Palestine, and purported negative American attitudes toward Muslims, along with ignorance of U.S. aid programs to the region and U.S. support for regional reform.”

Council on Foreign Relations press release, 18 May 2005

So, nothing to do with the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, then, or the Bush administration’s enthusiastic support for Ariel Sharon. Just a product of misunderstanding and failure of communication.

Posted in USA

‘Suicidal tendencies in the West’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“… while we in the West anxiously monitor our words and deeds for even the slightest offense against Islamic sensibilities, we receive in exchange no such consideration; indeed, our eager protestations of respect merely excite more contempt. Thus even as we protest our respect for Islam, Jews continue to be vilified with anti-Semitic rhetoric redolent of Nazi Germany, Palestinian terrorists befoul one of Christianity’s most sacred churches, the Al-Aksa mosque in Jerusalem still sits on the site of the Jewish Temple, and in Istanbul Hagia Sophia, once one of Christendom’s greatest churches, is still a mosque. Worse still, a whole revisionist history in which the intolerant, imperialistic conqueror is transformed into the tolerant, peace-loving victim of Western imperialism is propagated by self-loathing Westerners whose bigotry against their own culture confirms the Islamist view that we are indeed Godless heathens and spiritual cripples.”

Bruce Thornton at Private Papers, 18 May 2005

The WPI and Islamophobia Watch

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The latest English language broadcast from the Worker Communist Party of Iran’s television station includes an interview with Bahram Soroush replying to criticisms of the WPI by Islamophobia Watch. (As regular viewers will be aware, an “interview” on WPI TV consists of Maryam Namazie feeding rehearsed questions to fellow members of the party’s central committee and then expressing enthusiastic agreement with everything they say. Jeremy Paxman it ain’t.)

Soroush’s response to accusations of Islamophobia is, essentially – guilty as charged. He declares that the WPI are indeed Islamophobes in the sense of being deeply hostile to Islam, as are many other people, and that this is a healthy reaction to the crimes of Islamism. The “interview” concludes with the bizarre allegation from comrades Namazie and Soroush that by criticising the WPI our site is setting them up for assassination by Islamists.

So the WPI broadcasts a TV programme in which they publicly proclaim their Islamophobia, while at the same time denouncing us for endangering their lives by … exposing their Islamophobia. Go, as they say, figure.

Muslim dress focus of Sydney debate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A leading Australian politician has called for an end to public debate about a high school student who has won the right to wear a Muslim garment in class.

Yasamin Alttahir, 17, was placed on detention after she refused to stop wearing an ankle-length manto to Auburn Girls’ High School in Sydney. The school eventually agreed to let her continue wearing the religious garment after she obtained a permission note from her parents.

Bob Carr, premier of New South Wales state, has supported Alttahir’s right to dress according to her faith. “Let’s tolerate the difference in our community,” he told reporters. “Young women, conservatively presented, not dressed like Britney Spears, turning up to school.”

Carr called for an end to media debate about Alttahir, an Iraqi-born Shia Muslim, who has been accused of being a troublemaker by some talkback radio presenters for defying school uniform policies.

“I just think we’ve got to be careful that we don’t traumatise a young woman who’s at school to get her education and training and set herself up for life,” he said. “I think we should give the issue a rest.”

Al-Jazeera, 17 May 2005

Terror suspect can be extradited to US, court rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A British terror suspect accused of running websites inciting murder and urging Muslims to fight a holy war today lost the first round of his court battle against extradition to the US. The home secretary, Charles Clarke, now has 60 days to decide whether Babar Ahmad should be sent to the US to face charges that he raised money to support terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan through internet sites and emails. Mr Ahmad denies the accusations.

The judge said “none of the statutory bars” applied to refusing extradition, but accepted it was a “difficult and troubling case” that was sure to go to the high court. “The defendant is a British subject who is alleged to have committed offences which, if the evidence were available, could have been prosecuted in this country,” Judge Workman said.

Guardian, 17 May 2005

Government appeases Muslims scandal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The National Secular Society has condemned the government’s declared intention to press ahead with its plan to extend race relations legislation to cover Muslims by outlawing incitement to religious hatred.

NSS new release, 16 May 2005

“The principal problem which the legislation seeks to address is white separatist groups inciting hatred on racial grounds, but using religion as a proxy,” Keith Porteous Wood of the NSS reports. “The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats tabled a joint amendment to clarify that the race hatred legislation could be used in such instances, but the government opposed the sensible solution, which carried minimal freedom of expression dangers.”

Yeah, well perhaps that was because the proposed amendment was full of loopholes and marked only a marginal advance on the present legal position.

“There have been widespread serious allegations”, Wood writes, “that the Government has been motivated in pushing through this legislation simply to appease minority religious interests.”

Why not just write “appease Muslims”, Keith?

Flushing the Koran: Newsweek got it right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“White House staffers scurried this past week to souse the flames sparked by Newsweek‘s recent story, which revealed that an internal US military investigation had found substantial evidence interrogators at Guantánamo Bay had desecrated the Koran. Newsweek‘s story led to outrage against the US in Afghanistan and elsewhere where violent protests led to at least 15 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The White House damage control team has been successful, however, Newsweek retracted their story on May 16.

“But for what? The White House claims Newsweek‘s story led to the preventable deaths that resulted from the protests. ‘People lost their lives. People are dead,’ Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld groused. ‘People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do.’ Are we really supposed to believe that Rumsfeld suddenly cares about dead Muslims? Not exactly. Rumsfeld is just attempting to hide the truth.

“Newsweek should have never retracted their story. In fact, Newsweek wasn’t the first media outlet to report on the trashing of the holy Islamic text by US military personal at Guantánamo.”

Joshua Frank argues that Newsweek withdrew its Qur’an desecration report under government pressure.

Dissident Voice, 17 May 2005

Meanwhile, Juan Cole asks “Has Newsweek retracted?” Informed Comment, 17 May 2005

‘The woman who went to war with Islam’: Guardian boosts Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“While it may appear easy to dismiss Hirsi Ali as the migrant who has reacted against her ‘traumatic’ background and become a reactionary as a result, it is only possible to do so without actually listening to her.” Alexander Linklater gives a major boost to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the right-wing Dutch MP and friend of the late racist Theo van Gogh.

Guardian, 17 May 2005

Following the media splash on Irshad Manji last week, it’s clear that there’s a booming market for Muslims slagging off Islam – for reasons that will be obvious to anyone familiar with our site.

‘Super Size Me’ director turns to TV

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The man who made a hit movie out of eating McDonald’s fast food for a month has filmed a “fundamentalist Christian” man living as a Muslim to find out what it’s like to face the prejudice that many Muslims in America deal with since September 11.

The experiment is part of “Super Size Me” Director Morgan Spurlock’s new reality TV show “30 Days,” which places people in a variety of unfamiliar circumstances for 30 days.

“One of my favorite episodes is … what’s it like to be a Muslim in America … who is seen every day as a threat to our freedom simply because of their color, their race, their religion,” Spurlock told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Reuters, 17 May 2005