UKIP no longer proposes ‘burqa ban’ law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

UKIP logoUKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall has stated that his party no longer proposes a state ban on the Muslim veil in some public places.

Nuttall told the Huffington Post yesterday that “our view is pretty much that if people need to see your face, then quite frankly it should be shown” – for example in a bank – but that the party would not bring in legislation to impose a ban, because they are “libertarians”.

Not so long ago, of course, UKIP did propose to legislate for such a ban. In its manifesto for the May 2010 general election the party pledged to “tackle extremist Islam by banning the burqa or veiled niqab in public buildings and certain private buildings”.

As Nuttall points out, that was under a different leader – namely Lord Pearson, who had close connections with the likes of Pamela Geller, the US Islamophobe who was recently banned from entering the UK because of her record of anti-Muslim hatemongering.

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Progress Islam attack hurts Norway party talks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Christian Tybring-GjeddeOne of the Progress Party’s most controversial figures has warned that Norway’s immigration policy threatens to destroy the country’s culture, putting the party’s coalition negotiations under new strain.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde [pictured], who heads the party in Oslo, refused to renounce the phrase “creeping Islamization”, which was used by party leader Siv Jensen in 2009. “Creeping or not, it is Islamization that I totally renounce,” Tybring-Gjedde said. “If it is the phrase ‘creeping islamisation’ that they do not like, we can call it ‘adaptation to Islamic culture based on Sharia law.’ Maybe those are words that will make it more acceptable for the Christian Democrats to  talk to us.”

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‘Man tried to pull off my niqab,’ says 14-year-old

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 14-year-old British teenager has described her horror when a man tried to pull off her face veil in the street. She told the BBC Radio four World at One programme that it had made her nervous when out and about.

The student said it was her own choice to wear the veil and neither of her parents had encouraged her to do so. She said it meant she avoided the pressures to keep up with the latest trends and look a certain way.

She spoke to the BBC’s Sima Kotecha .

BBC News, 19 September 2013

Bristol EDL riot: The berk in a ‘burkha’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Craig OakleyA rioter told police he wore a balaclava to imitate someone in a burkha during the trouble that broke out during a march in memory of murdered soldier Lee Rigby.

Craig Oakley, 41, joined a march the judge described as little more than a “pub crawl” for men aged between 18 and 35 – some of whom were members of the English Defence League. The march was organised in Kingswood via social-networking website Facebook following the death of Drummer Rigby in Woolwich, London on May 22.

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School ends field trips to Nashville mosque after complaints

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center of NashvilleA certain kind of field trip is now off limits in one Middle Tennessee school district after students and parents complained.

Some Hendersonville High School students came to the Islamic Center of Nashville as part of a world studies class field trip. The students took a tour of the mosque and were offered a copy of the Quran, and one parent isn’t too happy about that.

“If you can’t go to one, you shouldn’t go to any. I mean, if you are going to be fair and balanced about it, that’s the way you need to handle it,” said parent Mike Conner.

Conner’s daughter refused to go on the field trip. “[The teacher] couldn’t understand why we didn’t want our children to experience different cultures. Well, different cultures is fine, but in our opinion, non-tolerant religions is not something you want to take your kids to,” Conner said.

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This ban does not bode well for Britain’s multicultural future

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A piece of cloth roughly 6″ x 12″ does not impede the ability of the witness to provide truthful evidence under oath in the courtroom. We must ask ourselves whether this court ruling is really about due process of the law, or about Britain’s multicultural future.”

Amani El Sehrawey analyses the wider implications of the judicial ruling that a Muslim woman must remove her niqab to give evidence in court.

Independent, 19 September 2013

CAIR report: Islamophobia network funded with $119 million 2008 to 2011

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CAIR Legislating Fear coverThe nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization today released a report, “Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and its Impact in the United States,” which reveals that anti-Islam groups received more than $119 million in funding between 2008 and 2011.

The new report by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also identifies 37 organizations dedicated to promoting anti-Islam prejudice in America. CAIR’s second report on the subject more fully identifies the “Islamophobia network” in the United States and exposes its funding.

“This report sheds light on the groups promoting Islamophobia in our society and reveals to the reader the impact those groups have on our nation’s discourse about Islam, pluralism and the future of the protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” said Corey Saylor, who directs CAIR’s department to monitor and combat Islamophobia.

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Tory minister jumps on anti-niqab bandwagon

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A review is being launched into health service guidelines on full-face veils to ensure that patients always have “appropriate face-to-face contact”, it has emerged.

Health minister Dan Poulter claims face coverings can be a barrier to good communication between healthcare professionals and patients. He has ordered a review of current advice and asked regulators to devise new uniform rules.

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