Hizb ut-Tahrir issues death threats against George Galloway (not)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An article in the new freesheet, the London Line, on Ulil Abshar-Abdalla of the Indonesian organisation Jaringan Islam Liberal, contains a major blooper. Apparently London is “home to Hizb ut-Tahrir, one of Islam’s extreme voices … its members recently issued death threats against Respect candidate George Galloway”.

London Line, 28 April 2005

Don’t they read the papers? Over a week ago the Evening Standard – and Galloway himself – were threatened with legal action when they falsely reported that he had been attacked by members of Hizb ut-Tahrir (see here and here). London Line better hope that their lawyers are more competent than their fact-checkers.

Official policy behind anti-Muslim cyber racism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The spiraling rate of cyber-racism against Dutch Muslims is the direct result of policies adopted by the government and politicians against the Muslim minority in the country, said a Muslim activist.

“What else would you expect in a country whose rulers ignite hatred and discrimination both directly and indirectly?” asked Abdel-Rahim Kajouane, the director of the multicultural forum center in The Hague. “The policies sponsored by the Dutch government and politicians against Dutch Muslims, especially over the past few years, largely contributed to mounting discrimination,” he told IslamOnline.net.

The recent report by the Dutch monitoring center on racism and xenophobia indicated that incidents of cyber racism against ethnic minorities in the Netherlands went up to 1800 in 2004 from only 1300 in 2003. The report, released on Monday, April 25, said that Dutch Muslim bore the brunt of cyber racism, which spiraled to 409 incidents last year from 231 in 2003.

It maintained that the killing of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, blamed on a Muslim extremist, contributed to fueling racist attacks against the Muslim minority in the country. Van Gogh was widely known for his criticism of Islam and caused an uproar with his short film “Submission” about Islam and women. Dutch Muslims, who expressed disgust and outrage at the hatred-inciting 11-minute clip, swiftly condemned the killing of the filmmaker.

Kajouane, of Moroccan origin, accused several ministers and leading politicians of propagating discrimination through the media. “They are practicing discrimination by giving racist remarks and mobilizing citizens against certain “ethnic” groups,” he added.

This, said the activist, is being done as part of the government’s campaign against “radicalism and extremism,” for which the state allocated 900 million euros. Last January, Dutch authorities adopted new security measures to prevent Muslims from joining courses of diving, aviation, throwing and shooting under claims of “terror-combat”.

Kajouane warned that such government policies would undermine tolerance in the country. He further urged the Dutch politicians to avoid racist remarks against ethnic minorities in the country.

Islam Online, 28 April 2005

Jailed candidate begins campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vote BabarAn alleged terror suspect yesterday launched his bid to become an MP from within the walls of Belmarsh high security prison. Babar Ahmad is fighting an attempt by the US government to extradite him to face charges that he raised money over the internet to support terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan.

The former IT worker, 30, is standing in the London seat of Brent North for Peace and Progress, the human rights party founded by the actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave. His election literature calls for a tightening of extradition rules and an end to “police brutality and torture”.

At a press conference to launch Mr Ahmad’s campaign, Mr Redgrave said: “Electing Babar would be the most powerful message on human rights and justice that could be given. Just let the Americans try to say that an elected MP should be extradited.”

Guardian, 27 April 2005

For the Free Babar Ahmad website, see here.

American border secrets

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“What steps should Western border agencies take to defend their homelands from harm by Islamists? In the case of non-citizens, the answer is simple: Don’t let Islamists in. Exclude not just potential terrorists but also anyone who supports the totalitarian goals of radical Islam. Just as civilized countries did not welcome fascists in the early 1940s (or communists a decade later), they need not welcome Islamists today.

“But what about one’s own citizens who cross the border? They could be leaving to fight for the Taliban or returning from a course on terrorism techniques. Or perhaps they studied with enemies of the West who incited them to sabotage or sedition….. America finds itself at war with radical Islam not just in Afghanistan but in Buffalo, Boston, Boca Raton, and Baltimore. Controlling the border flow, therefore, has paramount importance.”

Daniel Pipes, the man who applauded the exclusion of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) and Tariq Ramadan from the US, outlines his philosophy on border controls.

New York Sun, 26 April 2005

Fortunately, other US commentators take a different view of the suppression of Muslims’ civil liberties. See “Muslims’ lawsuit upholds liberties for all”, CAIR news brief, 26 April 2005

Or, for favourable coverage of democratic reformer Khaled Abou El Fadl, see “Are Islam and democracy compatible?”, CAIR news brief, 25 April 2005

Khaled Abou El Fadl has, of course, been denounced by Daniel Pipes as a “stealth Islamist” and is presumably exactly the sort of US citizen who deserves to suffer harassment when crossing the US border.

Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2004

‘The hypocrisy of Islam’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Islam means peace and love and Muslims only want to be left alone to practice their beliefs – in peace. This is one of the greatest lies of the last century but many Muslims continue to say it, over and over, like a mantra, perhaps more to convince themselves than the rest of the world.”

FaithFreedom.org, 26 April 2005

Elsewhere on this revolting right-wing site an article can be found on Islam and women. It begins:

“The situation of women living in Islam-stricken societies and under Islamic laws is the outrage of the 21st century. Burqa-clad and veiled women and girls, beheadings, stoning to death, floggings, child sexual abuse in the name of marriage and sexual apartheid are only the most brutal and visible aspects of women’s rightlessness and third class status in the Middle East.

“Apologists for Islam state that the situation of women in Iran and in Islam-stricken countries is human folly; they say that Islamic rules and laws practiced in the Middle East are not following the true precepts of Islam. They state that we must separate Islam from the practice of Islamic governments and movements. In fact, however, the brutality and violence meted out against women and girls in nothing other than Islam itself.”

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Abu Ghraib only the ‘tip of the iceberg’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The crimes at Abu Ghraib are part of a larger pattern of abuses against Muslim detainees around the world, Human Rights Watch said on the eve of the April 28 anniversary of the first pictures of U.S. soldiers brutalizing prisoners at the Iraqi jail.

“Abu Ghraib was only the tip of the iceberg,” said Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch. “It’s now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over – from Afghanistan to Guantánamo Bay to a lot of third-country dungeons where the United States has sent prisoners. And probably quite a few other places we don’t even know about.”

Human Rights Watch called this week for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the culpability of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and ex-CIA Director George Tenet, as well as Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, formerly the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba in cases of crimes against detainees. It rejected last week’s report by the Army Inspector General which was said to absolve Gen. Sanchez of responsibility.

“General Sanchez gave the troops at Abu Ghraib the green light to use dogs to terrorize detainees, and they did, and we know what happened, said Brody. “And while mayhem went on under his nose for three months, Sanchez didn’t step in to halt it.”

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USA and political Islam are two sides of one coin (says crazed sectarian)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Another classic of left Islamophobia from Maryam Namazie of the Worker Communist Party of Iran:

“It is political Islam that hangs the likes of sweet 16-year-old Atefeh Rajabi for ‘acts incompatible with chastity’ in city centres, stones Maryam Ayoubi for adultery, throws acid in the faces of those who refuse to veil, beheads prostitutes, and legally permits sexual apartheid and misogyny.

“All of you will have become uncomfortably familiar with this right-wing reactionary political movement from September 11 onwards when it went about its business as usual but this time outside its zone of influence and power. Political Islam and its ruling class would also turn this world into another Iraq if it could.

“This vile movement may make many claims as the USA does in order to legitimise its barbarity – from people’s liberation to democracy to rights – but they are only claims to dupe and legitimise. It cares as much for the liberation of the people of Palestine and Iraq as the USA does – not more, not less.

“Both will indiscriminately maim and slaughter the very people they claim to defend. One will behead Westerners feigning defence of women prisoners in Iraq with one hand whilst killing Iraqi women who refuse to veil with another. The other will feign a defence of rights through indiscriminate bombings whilst its soldiers’ boots are trampling over tortured naked bodies.”

Iranian.com, 26 April 2005

As usual, no distinctions are made between different tendencies within the broad category of “political Islam”, some of which are of course democratic-reformist in character, and an equals sign is placed between the world’s major imperialist power and the likes of Al-Qaida. I think most of us know which is the main threat to world peace. Evidently the WPI doesn’t.

‘Atomic Iran’ TV ad rejected

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Atomic IranA TV commercial warning Americans that Iran intends to launch a nuclear terror attack in the U.S. has been rejected by several stations due to fears it might inflame Muslims.

Titled “An Atomic 9-11: When Evil is Appeased,” the spot, sponsored by the Iran Freedom Foundation, is based on a scenario described in the new WND Books release “Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians,” by Jerome R. Corsi, co-author of the best-selling “Unfit for Command.”

The ad, which can be viewed on the IFF website, began a month-long run last Tuesday in 17 markets nationwide. It was rejected, however, by independent stations in Chicago, Dallas and Roanoke, Va., according to the company that produced and distributed it, Fargo, N.D.-based TVAI, or Timeless Video Alternatives International.

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US tilts towards accepting Islamists’ political role

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A chorus of voices demanding the Bush administration to listen and talk with popular Islamists in Arab and Muslim countries has reached a crescendo with senior officials recognizing the faulty policy of giving the cold shoulder to a more representative current. Media reports have suggested that the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) will seek to meet with leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood during its upcoming visit to Egypt. The commission advises the US president, Congress and the State Department on international religious freedom worldwide.”

Islam Online, 26 April 2005

See also Islam Online, 13 April 2005 and 3 April 2005

Marc Lynch has also noted a rapprochement between the Bush administration and the Saudi monarchy, terming this “a pretty big setback for the neo-cons and hard-liners who have long identified Saudi Arabia and its export of Islamism as the premier threat to America in the region”.

Abu Aardvark, 26 April 2005

Or for a right-wing take on the change in US tactics, see David E. Kaplan’s article reporting that: “The White House has approved a classified new strategy, dubbed Muslim World Outreach, that for the first time states that the United States has a national security interest in influencing what happens within Islam. Because America is, as one official put it, ‘radioactive’ in the Islamic world, the plan calls for working through third parties – moderate Muslim nations, foundations, and reform groups – to promote shared values of democracy, women’s rights, and tolerance.”

US News, 25 April 2005

For an earlier indication of the shift in policy, see Condoleezza Rice’s speech to USIP on 19 August 2004, where she argued that the US government should “do everything that we can to support and encourage the voices of moderation and tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim world”.

US Consulate Mumbai press release, 20 August 2004

This prompted the question: “why is it that in the three years since 9/11 you haven’t given this kind of a speech to a Muslim audience in one of the five largest Muslim countries, nor has any senior administration official?” Rice replied: “That’s a very good question, maybe we should.”

Of course, this merely represents the adoption of a more pragmatic approach on the part of US imperialism. However, it does make things rather more difficult for the Islamophobes, right and left, who reject dialogue with any Islamists at all, or indeed with any Muslims less liberal than Irshad Manji.

Posted in USA