Antisemitic yob who sang ‘offensive song associated with the EDL’ loses prison sentence appeal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John HenninganA racist yob from Harlow who was branded a “disgrace to the values of this country” after making Nazi salutes and unleashing a torrent of anti-semitic abuse in a London pub has failed in a bid to have his prison sentence reduced.

John Patrick Hennigan (46), of Long Banks, Harlow, was caged for 21 months after he was convicted at the Old Bailey in October of breaching an anti-social behaviour order for the seventh time.

He has now lost his application to have the sentence cut when judges at the Court of Appeal ruled it was “richly deserved”.

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Plans for Chipping Norton mosque scrapped after threats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A mosque will not open in Chipping Norton after its landlord received a threat that it would be burnt to the ground.

The town’s Muslim community had been celebrating after they won permission to open the permanent home on Monday. But their 79-year-old landlord Georg Wissinter has received a threatening phone call and pulled out of the deal.

He said: “Someone rang up and said if you go ahead with the mosque then it will get very hot. They were saying they would burn it down. I have got people in the flat above [the proposed mosque]. I cannot take the risk.”

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Schools superintendent refuses to cancel meeting attacking hijab as ‘a catalyst for Islamic terrorism’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The notice in the Fairfax Station Patch on Tuesday was brief, but to Laurie Jaghlit it felt like a punch in the gut.

At the next meeting of Republican Women of Clifton, a guest speaker would discuss “the treatment of women in Islamic society and how she believes the Hijab is a catalyst for Islamic terrorism.” The Feb. 20 meeting would take place at Fairview Elementary School, five miles from Jaghlit’s house.

Jaghlit, a 52-year-old grandmother who raised nine children in Fairfax Station and Herndon, wears the hijab, or Islamic head covering. She had heard about talks like this in other parts of the country but had never confronted the issue so close to home. “If that’s not hateful and inciteful speech, I don’t know what is,” she said. “This is a diverse area. You’d think that hopefully we’d be beyond this.”

On Thursday, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations contacted Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Jack D. Dale and asked him to rescind approval for the group to use the school. In an e-mail that CAIR shared with The Washington Post, Dale denied the request, saying, “After school hours, anyone may rent the public facilty.”

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Second St. Paul cop photographed wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

St Paul police officer hijab (2)A second photo of a St. Paul police officer dressed in a Muslim hijab surfaced late this week, packing an extra wallop: The officer appears to be wearing blackface makeup.

The two pictures, apparently taken at parties in 2010 and 2012, have set off a storm of criticism from some Somali and Muslim community members who feel mocked and belittled by the images. St. Paul City Council Member Melvin Carter III called out the second image for the officer’s apparent use of blackface makeup. The first image did not include blackface makeup.

“The actions of the officers depicted in these photos are offensive and embarrassing,” Carter said in a written statement. “Mocking culture, skin color and religion for a laugh may seem trivial, but any behavior that violates the sacred, essential trust between our officers and residents is reckless and inexcusable.”

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Michigan gun shop to stop selling target of skeleton dressed as Muslim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim targetA Muslim civil rights group said Thursday that a Royal Oak gun shop will stop selling a target that depicts a skeleton clothed in traditional Muslim garb.

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Michigan, said he received a complaint last week about the image and met Thursday with the owner of Target Sports in Royal Oak, Ray Jihad, about it.

He said Jihad agreed to stop selling the target, which depicts a skeleton with a long beard wearing a robe and turban and carrying an AK-47.

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New Jersey: University investigating anti-Muslim graffiti in student center

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Montclair State University is investigating a bias incident in which someone drew a picture of planes hitting the World Trade Center on the door of a Muslim student group’s headquarters, campus officials said today.

The graffiti was found Monday outside the Office of the Muslim Student Association in the student center, said Suzanne Bronski, a campus spokeswoman.

“The university police immediately launched a full investigation, which is continuing, and the university’s Bias Response Team was appropriately alerted and has been involved,” university officials said in a statement.

NJ.com, 8 February 2013

Update:  See “CAIR-NJ seeks hate crime probe of graffiti at Muslim student group’s office”, CAIR press release, 9 February 2013

Posted in USA

MPs are not taking Islamophobia seriously enough

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Leon Moosavi has an article on the Liverpool University websitetitled “Islamophobia in contemporary Britain”. Among the points he makes the following in particular is worth highlighting:

Keith Vaz MP tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament suggesting that Islamophobia be recorded by police forces across Britain so that it can be better understood. This would be a significant step forward it understanding the way Islamophobia operates in British society.

Yet, there is still much to be done to raise awareness of the seriousness of Islamophobia, as many seem not to be convinced that it is as serious an issue as similar prejudices like anti-semitism and racism. Perhaps that is why, up until now, only 24 out of 650 MPs have signed the EDM for Islamophobia to recorded by police forces.

To put that neglect into perspective, 90 MPs have signed an EDM against turtle farming and 73 MPs have signed an EDM calling for elephant protection. The Islamophobia petition has only managed to receive as many MP signatures as a petition against dog attacks on postmen!

The point here is not that turtles, elephants and postmen don’t matter, but that it appears as though there is reluctance from the most influential figures in society to acknowledge that the 3 million Muslims living in Britain are at risk of discrimination. This attitude of denial is rather disturbing, especially since it resides with the well-educated and well-briefed elite.

You can find the EDM “Recording Islamophobia as a crime” here. If your MP hasn’t yet signed it you can contact them here.

Arson attack on Israeli football club that signed Muslim players

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Employee of Beitar Jerusalem holds up a shirt that was damaged along with other items in a suspected arson attack in Jerusalem

A suspected arson attack damaged the main club house of Israeli Premier League side Beitar Jerusalem on Friday, a day after four fans were charged in court in connection with racist incitement against the team’s recruitment of Muslim players, police said.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the fire, which caused no injuries, caused “extensive damage” to the premises next to the team’s main training grounds. Reuters television footage showed trophies and other memorabilia were destroyed.

“Initial findings show the blaze was caused by a number of suspects” and police were investigating a possible link to protests over the team’s signing up of two Chechen Muslim players last month, Rosenfeld said.

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Blue-collar support for Sweden Democrats rises

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Swedish blue-collar workers increasingly sympathize with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrat party, an opinion poll review showed on Friday.

Members of the unions within the Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO, the umbrella blue-collar union organization in Sweden, still in large part support the opposition left-of-centre Social Democrat party.

However, the Sweden Democrats have now surpassed the Moderate Party, which leads the current government coalition, to become the second most popular political party among LO members, a review of opinion polls ordered by Sveriges Television (SVT) showed.

“One in six LO members would vote for the Sweden Democrats if we went to the polls today,” Sifo pollster Toivo Sjörén commented on the findings. “Immigration has been in spotlight so we see increased Sweden Democrat support not only within LO but within other groups.”

The review looked at opinion polls conducted in the autumn of 2012 and over the holiday season. About 4,800 people were surveyed.

The Local, 8 February 2013