Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire has reported that on Tuesday-Wednesday night an individual with their face concealed under a hood broke into the grounds of a mosque at Chenôve, near Dijon in eastern France, and threw a pig’s head at the mosque. The attacker ran away after being pursued by the imam, who was sleeping in the building. The president of the mosque, Mostapha Kerkri, has since stated that there was more than one person involved in the attack.
Muslims of America sues Christian Action Network for libel
A Muslim group is accusing a Christian organization of defamation for publishing a book that accuses the Muslim collective of holding terrorist training in its enclaves.
The Christian Action Network refuses to back down, challenging Muslims of America Inc. to prove the allegations wrong in an upstate New York court.
The Muslim group has a community in Hancock, near Binghamton, N.Y., and others around the U.S. It calls the network’s accusations deliberate and damaging lies.
Return of the anti-Muslim bigots
As the GOP coalition gets frayed, Islamophobia is one of the few things that can unify the party, argues David Sirota.
Edmond, Oklahoma: mosque expansion plan backed by planning committee
EDMOND, Oklahoma — A local pastor stirred up controversy during a hearing about a proposed mosque in Edmond. Pastor Paul Blair spoke out against the mosque, making some serious allegations against the group trying to get it built. The fellowship hall will go up in a residential neighborhood in Edmond. The plan is to expand, demolishing a house and occupy an empty lot.
A proposal to build a Islamic Fellowship Hall in Edmond moves forward, but not without controversy as Pastor Paul Blair with Fairview Baptist Church fires off serious allegations about the group trying to expand their mosque. “The Islamic Society of North America, which is one of the applicants and North American Islamic Trust, which is also an owner of the property were both listed and proven by the United States Federal District Court in the Holy Land Foundation trials to be proven affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood and in particular with Hamas,” said Blair.
Teenager locked up over Walsall EDL disorder
A teenager has been locked up for his role in a riot that saw demonstrators clash with police in Walsall town centre. The 16-year-old from Brownhills, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke wooden pieces of pub garden furniture which thugs then hurled at police during a march by the English Defence League.
Stevenage Muslim speaks out after mosque hate crime
A hate crime victim has spoken out on behalf of a Muslim community whose mosque was smeared in dog faeces and pork meat.
Salman Lone from the Stevenage Muslim Community Centre features alongside fellow victims of hate crimes in a video released by Hertfordshire Constabulary last Monday to mark Hate Crime Awareness Day.
The mosque in Vardon Road was targeted earlier this year when offenders placed pork meat on the gated entrance to the building and over the handles of the front doors. The following day, dog excrement was smeared in front of the entrance to the centre, which was built in 2001 and is used by more than 1,000 people.
CAIR-WA to seek ‘maximum penalties’ for threats to Muslim family
The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) will hold a news conference today to call for maximum legal penalties for a man who allegedly harassed and threatened a Muslim family at Seattle Center last month.
At the news conference, CAIR-WA will outline why this incident appears to be part of a pattern of recent harassment of and attacks on American Muslims and will ask the FBI to look into the case for possible federal charges.
On April 27, 2013, a Muslim family visiting Seattle Center was allegedly approached by 52-year-old Gregg Michael Burtis who reportedly asked two younger women in their party how many husbands they had. When the family asked Burtis to leave them alone, he allegedly became angry and began calling the family “Muslims” and “terrorists”. Family members feared for their lives and called the police when they reportedly heard Burtis say he was going to get a gun and “shoot them all.” Burtis was arrested and booked in King County Jail on $50,000 bail. He is awaiting trial for malicious harassment.
“This vicious hate incident at Seattle Center is part of a nationwide wave of hate-motivated threats and attacks against American Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim, following the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon,” said CAIR-WA Civil Rights Coordinator Jennifer Gist. “In the wake of the Boston tragedy, Americans must unite and work to prevent any further loss of life from hate motivated attacks that threaten our nation’s security and our collective safety.”
Gist added: “All of us have a role to play. We need prosecutors to send a very strong message that those who make such threats will have to face the full force of the law. Elected officials and other law enforcement leaders should make public statements now declaring zero tolerance for this type of behavior.”
Review of Richard Seymour’s ‘Unhitched’
Bob Pitt reviews Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens, by Richard Seymour, Verso, 134pp, £9.99.
Labour Briefing, May 2013
The secularists of the British Humanist Association launched a campaign last year to have a statue of the late Christopher Hitchens erected in Red Lion Square in central London. Although this proposal for a permanent tribute to the ex-leftist who evolved into an enthusiastic advocate of George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” came to nothing, it understandably generated fierce controversy at the time. Awale Olad, a Labour councillor in Holborn & Covent Garden who was approached by the BHA for his support, replied indignantly that he “would resign before I’d ever support the bust of a pro-war Islamophobe”.
Sydney: pig’s head thrown over wall of Islamic school
A sick prank where pig heads were dumped at two religious sites in Sydney’s west last week is being investigated by police.
One head was thrown over the front gate of an Islamic school in Cecil Park while another was planted on a building spike at the front of a nearby Catholic church.
Qaradawi visits Gaza
Prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi arrived in Gaza late Wednesday, May 8, in a major blow to a crippling Israeli blockade on the strip.
“Our whole ambition is to die on the path to Allah, and for long life to Palestine,” Qaradawi said upon arrival in Gaza, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Leading a delegation of 50 scholars, Qaradawi crossed Egypt’s Rafah border terminal into Gaza. He was greeted by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and senior leaders of the resistance movement.