Portrait of Tariq Ramadan in the New York Times, 6 October 2004
Poll: 1-in-4 Americans holds anti-Muslim views
According to a poll released today by a prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group, 1-in-4 Americans believes a number of anti-Muslim stereotypes and negative images of Muslims are 16 times more prevalent than positive ones.
SEE: http://www.cair-net.org/downloads/pollresults.ppt
The poll, sponsored by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and conducted by an independent research firm, was designed to understand what Americans think about Muslims, identify variables associated with anti-Muslim prejudice and to seek out ways in which to combat the Islamophobic prejudice that often leads to discrimination or even hate crimes.
Blink editorial: Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi should be congratulated, not branded “extremist”.
Speech by Abeer Pharaon at Labour Party fringe meeting
“This is about the fundamental freedom to choose. Those who chose not to wear the Hijab have joined forces with those who chose to wear it.”
Speech by Abeer Pharaon (Coordinator of Assembly for the Protection of Hijab) at the fringe meeting organised by National Assembly Against Racism at the 2004 Labour Party Conference.
From the Pro-Hijab website.
The fight against oppression and Islamophobia
Letters from the Mayor of London and anti-racism campaigners in the Guardian, 30 September 2004
Is Cat Stevens a terrorist? Pretty much, says Stephen Schwartz
“On Tuesday, US authorities diverted a United Airlines London-Washington flight to Bangor, Maine, where the ex-pop singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, now as Yusuf Islam, was questioned by federal security agents, and then ordered deported back to Britain. Yusuf Islam, it turns out, is on the official ‘no-fly list’.
“This action will doubtless provoke loud and prolonged guffaws from those who consider American security policies to be excessive. But a look at the career and associations of Yusuf Islam since he became a Muslim in 1977 shows that the decision was correct.”
Stephen Schwartz in Front Page Magazine, 23 September 2004
The Front National and the hijab ban
It was ironic that the French government’s attack on the right of young Muslim women to observe their religion while pursuing their education met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the extreme right-wing Front National. FN leader Jean-Marie Le Pen commented at one point that he supported the wearing of the veil … because it meant he didn’t have to look at ugly women: “Le voile musulman: il nous protège des femmes laides” (Le Monde, 22 April 2002). Some on the Left have used the FN’s semi-opposition as an argument in favour of the hijab ban.
However, the following article by FN general secretary Carl Lang, “Vous avez aimé l’immigration? Vous allez adorer l’islamisation” (You liked immigration? You’ll love Islamicisation), from Le Pen’s publication Français D’Abord! (15 December 2003), shows that the main reason the FN failed to throw its weight behind the hijab ban was that the measure failed to deal with what the FN argues is the real problem – the encroaching Islamicisation of French society arising from an influx of Muslim migrants.
It is also worth noting that, as the French press pointed out, the overwhelming majority of FN voters supported the hijab ban. They presumably took a more pragmatic view, reasoning that while the measure fell short of a complete block on Muslim immigration and the extirpation of Islam from France, it was at least a step in the right direction.
US jet sent 600 miles to keep Cat Stevens away
American officials diverted a transatlantic flight 600 miles in the belief that the presence of Yusuf Islam, the charity worker and pop star formerly known as Cat Stevens, posed an imminent threat to national security, it emerged yesterday.
The 56-year-old was escorted off the plane by FBI agents after customs officers realised that his name was on a “watchlist”. He was due to be deported to the UK last night after questioning. His daughter, 21, was allowed into the US.
Mr Islam, who is best known for hits such as Morning Has Broken, Wild World and Peace Train, last visited the United States in May. His name was added to the list subsequently and a US government source said he was refused entry because of fears that he had financially supported Hamas.
“He was placed on the list because of concerns about activities that could potentially be related to terrorism,” said a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.
It is not clear why officials chose to divert the flight – at substantial cost and delaying other passengers for six hours – rather than detain Mr Islam on his arrival in Washington.
Muslim leaders on both sides of the Atlantic condemned the US decision, with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) describing it as “a slap in the face of sanity”.
MCB raises Yusuf Islam detention with FCO minister
MCB Deputy Secretary General Dr Abdul Bari met today, with Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister of State Douglas Alexander to raise the grave concerns of the Muslim community about the detention of Yusuf Islam in the US.
Dr Abdul Bari said “Yusuf Islam is a deeply respected and very popular British Muslim figure and his detention by the US authorities is completely unacceptable.”
Mr Alexander assured Dr Abdul Bari that the British Government were taking these concerns seriously, and the Foreign Secretary, who is currently in the US, raised the issue with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Minister further stated that he understood from the US Authorities that Mr Islam would be departing from the US later today.
Muslim scholar barred from US preaches tolerance
“If the US government is serious about winning hearts and minds in the Muslim world and avoiding a clash of civilizations, it might consider sitting down for lengthy discussions with Tariq Ramadan, rather than barring his entrance.”
Jane Lampman in the Christian Science Monitor, 21 September 2004