ST. LOUIS — Governor Nixon vetoes a bill that supporters say was passed to prevent the adoption of Sharia Law in Missouri. “There are certainly problems facing our nation and state today,” Nixon said, “But the problems attempted to be addressed by Senate Bill 267 isn’t one of those problems.”
Anti-fascists should be free to stand their ground against the far right
Far-right groups tried and failed to exploit the Woolwich murder. But why are police arresting protesters trying to stop them? Daniel Trilling poses the question.
Sunderland mosque protest a damp squib
A demonstration against the building of a mosque in Sunderland turned out to be a damp squib. Just 10 people, saying they were from the Northern Patriotic Front, stood opposite the site – a former council vehicle depot in St Mark’s Road, Millfield – on Saturday.
CAIR seeks hate crime probe of Texas mosque vandalism
The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-DFW), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, tonight called on state and national law enforcement authorities to investigate a paintball attack on a mosque in that state as a possible hate crime.
Officials with the McKinney Islamic Association in Mckinney, Texas, told CAIR that up to two dozen paintballs were fired at the mosque sometime between 11 p.m. on Saturday and 5 a.m. on Sunday. A vehicle owned by a member of the mosque’s congregation was also hit by a paintball after he left the facility. Worshippers have reportedly been verbally harassed recently by young people who gather near the mosque. Local police told mosque officials that they will recommend stepped up patrols in the area.
Weekly summary 27 May-2 June
Reports and comment from Islamophobia Watch 27 May-2 June 2013
Huntingdon mosque attack: Man charged
A 45-year-old man has been charged with racial or religiously aggravated criminal damage over an attack on a mosque in Cambridgeshire.
The man was arrested on Thursday at the Islamic Education and Prayer Centre on Coneygear Road, Huntingdon.
Police in Huntingdon said they were working with the mosque and the local community to provide reassurance following the attack.
The man is due before Huntingdon Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Britain unites to warn racist thugs ‘you can’t cash in on Lee Rigby’s murder’
A far right bid to exploit soldier Lee Rigby’s murder failed today as people across Britain turned their backs on racism, the Sunday People reports.
Demos by the British National Party and English Defence League flopped – and a march in London was even outnumbered by a nearby protest against badger culling.
The scenes took place as suspect Michael Adebolajo, 28, was charged with Drummer Rigby’s murder. Michael Adebowale, 22, has already been charged.
Bigots using the atrocity to push a right-wing agenda faced a united front from people shouting slogans like “Fascist scum off our streets” and “we’re black and white and Asian and we’re Jews.”
At one rally not a single EDL supporter turned up.
BNP met by hundreds of anti-fascists at Westminster
Hundreds of anti-fascist campaigners have descended on Westminster today in protest at a planned march by the British National Party following the death of Lee Rigby.
Around 50 BNP members and supporters turned out for a march and motorcade outside the Houses of Parliament at 1pm after police stepped in to halt initial plans for a demonstration in Woolwich amid fears of it igniting community tensions.
Muslim ex-caddie sues golf club for discrimination
A Muslim man is suing the exclusive Hamptons golf club where he worked as a caddie for 13 years, claiming that he was discriminated against, and even threatened, based on his race and religion.
Song banned in Athens for ‘encouraging’ Islam
A song composed by Greek composer Manos Hacidakis titled “Kemal” has been banned in Athens following allegations that it serves as Islamic propaganda.
A complaint was received after an elementary school teacher in Greece handed 5th grade students lyrics to a song, composed by Hacidakis for a young man named Kemal whom he met in New York in 1968, so that they could read it during the next lesson.
The school received a complaint that Islamic propaganda was being pursued through the “Kemal” song. The reasoning was that “Allah” was present in three times in the song.
In her statement on social media, the teacher who was accused of spreading Islamic propaganda explained that she was called into the principal’s office after a parent complained.