Muslim leaders probe reported attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim leaders in Swansea are investigating a claim that a woman ripped a headscarf from a Muslim schoolgirl amid claims that a mosque in the city has been stoned and death threats received.

Political and religious leaders in Wales have issued calls for restraint amid concerns that Muslims could become targets for racial attacks following the terrorist attacks in the US.

South Wales Police have refused to confirm or deny that the incidents have been reported to them. However, on Tuesday the force issued a statement which said it is recording an increase in the number of racial attacks.

Omar Williams, who runs a social welfare group in Swansea, said he was investigating claims Muslim pupils in the city have been abused. It is alleged an adult tore off a Muslim girl’s headscarf in one incident and Kayfer has referred the incident to the police.

Muslims have also received malicious telephone calls and windows and mosques have been vandalised.

BBC News, 19 September 2001

Scottish Muslims describe fears

Posted on by Eddie Truman

The leaders of Scotland’s Muslim community have been meeting to assess the extent of racist threats and attacks suffered since terrorists struck at the heart of the US.

Around the world many followers of Islam have reported heightened hostility since hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The American authorities have named Osama Bin Laden, who is a Muslim, as their prime suspect and that has triggered a backlash against followers of Islamic religions.

World leaders, including the US President George W Bush, have condemned violence against Muslims and have appealed for calm.

However, Muslim leaders met in Glasgow on Wednesday evening to discuss the situation in Scotland where some abuse has been reported.

They also drew up an action plan to help change the attitudes of those who hold them responsible for the terrorism.

BBC News, 19 September 2001

Muslims targets in terror backlash

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Graffiti on a wall near a mosque in South Shields, northeast England, confirms a chilling reaction to last week’s terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington. “Avenge U.S.A.” is the scrawled message in red paint. “Kill a Muslim now.”

Terrorism in the United States has prompted an upsurge in anti-Muslim attacks all over Europe. Mosques and Muslims have been targeted in The Netherlands, Britain, Denmark and Poland in apparent retaliation for last week’s mass murders by suicide teams.

CNN, 19 September 2001

This is war

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren’t punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That’s war. And this is war.”

Ann Coulter’s response to 9/11.

National Review, 13 September 2001

Some people will believe anything

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“For quite a few years now, there has been a sustained effort on the part of the British media to present Islam – even after the Rushdie affair and now during the Taliban’s reign of terror – as something essentially ‘joyous’ and ‘vibrant’…. Not a mention of the women tortured, the Christian converts executed, the apostates hounded, the slaves in Sudan being sold into torment right now. Call me a filthy racist – go on, you know you want to – but we have reason to be suspicious of Islam and to treat it differently from the other major religions.”

Julie Burchill in the Guardian, 18 August 2001

“Julie Burchill’s article could very well have been written by Nick Griffin of the British National Party, who has also declared that Muslims are a problem”, Bilal Patel points out.

Guardian, 25 August 2001

Old hatred, new style

Posted on by Eddie Truman

“English exams are a red herring. But more worryingly, Cryer’s comments are an illustration of how nakedly some liberals are prepared to exploit mainstream anti-Islamic sentiments, especially at a time when they are converging with those of the far right as it tries to convince the country that it does indeed have a ‘Muslim problem’.

“Not that the far right needs any encouragement. Its rediscovered swagger partly owes itself to a new strategy that is soft on race and hard on Islam. If you missed hearing BNP leader Nick Griffin saying so on BBC’s Newsnight, take a moment to visit the National Front website.

“It was only a matter of time before the far right tapped into the western world’s latent, if largely unfounded, fear of Islam. Its problem with Islam stretches back at least 1,000 years to the time of Pope Urban’s first crusade, finding expression in art, literature, popular culture and, most perniciously today, in the mass media.”

Faisal Bodi in the Guardian, 27 July 2001

Calls to reprimand race row MP

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Calls to reprimand race row MP

By Vikram Dodd

Guardian, 14 July 2001

A member of Labour’s ruling body yesterday called for the withdrawal of the whip from an MP who called for a curb on Muslim immigrants who cannot speak English. Shahid Malik accused Ann Cryer of “doing the BNP’s work” after she yesterday repeated remarks that Asian immigrants who could not speak English were “importing poverty”.

Mrs Cryer is Labour MP for Keighley, near Bradford, which was hit by riots last weekend.

Mr Malik, the only ethnic minority member of Labour’s national executive committee, said there was outrage among the Asian community at Mrs Cryer’s demand. His call for her suspension from the parliamentary Labour party was backed by the Muslim Council of Great Britain. Labour’s leadership yesterday refused to be drawn on the controversy.

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MP calls for English tests for immigrants

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Labour MP has called on the government to consider introducing restrictions on immigrant brides and grooms who cannot speak English. Ann Cryer, who represents Keighley in West Yorkshire, said many UK Muslims were held back economically and educationally by language difficulties.

But the MP’s views were described as “sinister” by Shahid Malik, who is a senior member of the Commission For Racial Equality and a Labour Party National Executive Committee member.

BBC News, 13 July 2001