Norway’s problem with immigration

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Terrorist Ander Behring Breivik expressed political motives for his atrocities on July 22 2011, claiming they were acts of “self-defense” against an “Islamic colonisation” of Europe. He elaborates on his world view in a 1500 page, largely plagiarised manifesto. Breivik is now in prison.

The man’s sanity was a pivotal topic in the public debate which followed, but so were possible influences on his extreme right-wing ideology. Breivik was a member of the anti-immigrant and politically populist Progress Party in his young adulthood, but quit in 2007.

A recent study suggests that xenophobia is strong in Norway.

In 2011 Norwegian politicians became acutely concerned about how they might have influenced the terrorist and agreed to tone down the rhetoric in debates on immigration, but as the 2013 general election is fast approaching, it is politics as usual.

“They didn’t do as promised,” says Mette Wiggen, Teaching Fellow at the University of Leeds. Her study of xenophobia is based on careful reading of academic literature, mainstream media and online discussions in blogs and on news sites, before and after July 22, 2011.

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Women charged over racist graffiti in Woking

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two women have been charged after graffiti was sprayed near a mosque in Woking.

The two 19-year-olds, from Woking and Addlestone, are accused of five counts of racially aggravated criminal damage and four offences of criminal damage.

It follows incidents last November when graffiti was sprayed in a shop, on a wall outside the Shah Jahan Mosque and outside residential properties.

Surrey Police said the pair were due to appear before magistrates in February.

BBC News, 26 January 2013

See also “Two charged with racially aggravated criminal damage”, Surrey Police news report, 25 January 2013

Via ENGAGE

Posted in UK

Man sentenced for throwing missiles on EDL march in Bristol

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL in Bristol (3)

A businessman who hurled missiles as he marched through Bristol with the English Defence League handed himself into the authorities when he realised he was a wanted man.

Barry Johnson was one of hundreds of marchers who took part in the high-profile demonstration through the city centre in July last year.

Bristol Crown Court heard how he was caught on film by a cameraman and images were later posted online by Avon and Somerset police in a bid to track him down. When he saw the images Johnson travelled from his home in Peterborough to admit his involvement in the incident.

The 29-year-old from Poplar Avenue, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to affray when he appeared in court.

Judge Martin Picton told him: “Throwing missiles is clearly dangerous. Someone could have been hurt.”

The judge handed Johnson a three-month prison sentence which was suspended for a year. He also fined him £250 and ordered him to pay £85 towards court costs.

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Brighton: call for unity against racist march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Brighton Organisations and Leading Figures Launch Unity Statement Ahead of Far Right March

People of Brighton should show unity against a racist march according to leading local politicians, unions and other individuals and group who are supporting a Unity Statement, that is now online for members of the public to sign.

Supporters include Brighton Trades Council, the Brighton University branch of the UCU union, Brighton and Hove NUT,  University of Sussex Students Union, Brighton Unite Against Fascism, Brighton Love Music Hate Racism, and Sussex Labour Representation Committee. Individuals who are supporting it include Caroline Lucas MP, and ten Green and Labour members of the council; as well as Simon Burgess, the former Labour leader of the council, James Ledward, the editor of Gscene magazine and Itch, the lead singer of the band King Blues, who is a Brighton Resident.

The March for England march, organised by members and supporters of the racist organisation the English Defence League, has met growing opposition when it has attempted to parade through Brighton in the past few years. It has stated it will return in April 2013.

The march’s opponents are now calling on residents of the city to add their support for the statement which concludes by saying: “In Brighton we all stand together. And when someone tries to threaten our community we must stand together even more firmly.”

The full statement can be read at brightonuaf.org, where there is also a link to sign it.

Roland Ravenhill of Brighton Love Music Hate Racism said: “The diversity and unity of Brighton is something worth supporting, and racist marches do not sit well here. We encourage people to read and sign the statement.”

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Knesset speaker Rivlin slams Beitar soccer fans’ anti-Muslim racism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Beitar JerusalemKnesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) castigated fans of the soccer club he supports, Beitar Jerusalem, after three were arrested at the capital’s Teddy Stadium Saturday night for calling out racist chants during a match against Bnei Yehuda.

The chants were aimed at two Chechen players who are slated to become the first Muslim players to join the team: Dzhabrail Kadiyev and Zaur Sadaev.

“Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Imagine the outcry if groups in England or Germany said that Jews could not play for them,” said Rivlin. He said he would work to put an end to the club’s anti-Muslim discrimination.

Club coach Eli Cohen, also condemning the fans’ behavior, initially said Saturday night that these were friendly European Muslims not Arab Muslims; he later clarified that he opposed all racist sentiments.

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Wilders launches anti-mosque website

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MoskNee

Geert Wilders has launched a new website, MoskNee (MosqueNo), which aims to offer advice to non-Muslims who want to mount a legal challenge to plans for a new mosque in their area. The site claims:

“The Netherlands is not an Islamic country and should never be. Yet we see the influence of Islam increase hand over hand…. Under the influence of the fast-growing Muslim population – around 1 million people in 2013 – the number of mosques has increased sharply. The Netherlands now has more than 450…. What would be nice is a Netherlands without mosques. The PVV therefore says: enough is enough. As far as we are concerned there will be no more mosques in the Netherlands.”

In an interview with Algemeen Dagblad Wilders states that “the mosque is a symbol of an ideology of hatred, violence and oppression” and that ideally the PVV would like to ban mosques from the Netherlands altogether. However, this has proved legally impossible, so the PVV has adopted a different approach. The purpose of the initiative is to promote “more resistance to the Islamisation of the Netherlands”, Wilders explains. He also admits that MoskNee has been set up in conscious imitation of Gavin Boby’s Law and Freedom Foundation (aka Mosquebusters) in the UK.

CAIR, ACLU praise Oklahoma Bankers Association’s headscarf clarification

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) on Thursday expressed appreciation to the Oklahoma Bankers Association for clarifying a security policy commonly referred to “no hats, no hoods, no sunglasses” used by many of the state’s banks.

The two groups along with the Oklahoma Conference of Churches recently requested a meeting with the OBA following an incident in which a Muslim woman was initially denied access to a branch of Valley National Bank in Tulsa and asked to remove her religious head scarf, or hijab, before entering. The bank cited the “no hats, no hoods, no sunglasses” policy to justify its actions.

“Our goal in meeting with the OBA was to use this unfortunate incident as a teaching moment about the different types of head coverings worn by Muslim women and by individuals of other faiths,” said CAIR-OK Executive Director Adam Soltani, in a written statement.

Roger Beverage, president and CEO of the OBA, said: “There was an effort on the part of the association to clearly understand what had happened and why that was such a big issue…. Once we understood that, it was easy to go the next step, which is to make reasonable choices when you’re in those kinds of situations.”

Tulsa World, 25 January 2013

SDL supporter fined for racist abuse and threats of violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A racist teenager who directed a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse at a Paisley shopkeeper has been fined after admitting the offence in court.

Chelsea Lambie, who was just 16 at the time, claimed she was offended when challenged over her conduct at the Keystore shop, in Glenburn Road, on August 6 last year.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard that, when shop manager Shafqat Mahmood followed her and a companion into the street to talk to them, “the red mist descended” as he placed his hand on her. Drunken Lambie, of Fereneze Drive, Glenburn, then launched foul verbal abuse as she called Mr Mahmood a “Paki b*****d” and told him to “go back to his own country”.

When the startled shopkeeper went back inside, Lambie followed him and continued to hurl abuse his way. She also pushed Mr Mahmood and warned him he would get his throat cut.

Even when Mr Mahmood threatened to call the police, Lambie paid no heed as she called him a “black b*****d”, lashed out at him and tried to kick him. She also pushed a National Lottery machine from the counter, causing it to crash to the floor, before fleeing.

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