Justin Trudeau defies critics in speech at Islamic Spirit conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Justin Trudeau (2)Liberal leadership contender Justin Trudeau told an Islamic conference Saturday that groups who attacked his decision to attend the gathering only work to divide Canadians.

Trudeau told a crowd of thousands at the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference in Toronto that his critics attempted to tap into “fears and prejudices” that sap the acceptance of others.

“It is short-sighted to pit groups of Canadians against one another. It may make some feel good for a little while, or even work politically in the short term, but it is no way to build a country,” Trudeau said in a keynote address. “It is not who we are.”

Trudeau was criticized earlier this month by some Jewish groups and media outlets for agreeing to address the conference because of allegations of a link between one of its sponsors, IRFAN-Canada, and the militant group Hamas.

Canadian Press, 22 December 2012

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Florida Muslim businessman sues Homeland Security over harassment

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Central Florida Muslim businessman detained by authorities at airports and border crossings more than 30 times since June has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

It’s the second such lawsuit Sadique M. Jaffer has filed in Orlando against the federal agency in almost four years, in response to what he says are baseless and harassing detentions.

Jaffer, who lives in Windermere and works in real estate and computer sales in multiple states, claims he has been detained more than 50 times since 2007 as he has traveled domestically and internationally.

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Qur’an-ripping case jury discharged at Leicester Crown Court

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The jury in the trial of a man who staged an anti-religion protest by ripping out pages from the Koran in front of Muslims has been discharged.

The eight women and four men on the jury at Leicester Crown Court failed to agree on a verdict. They sent a note to the judge saying there was no prospect of them reaching either a unanimous or a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them agreed.

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Michigan: Anti-Islam law denied

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Last week, Muslims nationwide were urged to take action against HB 4769, better known as the Anti-Islam Legislation.

State Legislator Dave Agema, a Republican from Michigan, was the state representative behind this bill, and actively pushing for it to pass during Michigan’s lame duck session.

CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, had their state-wide chapters calling on “all people of conscience” to urge their state governors “to veto the biased bill which is among those that seek to impose government-sanctioned discrimination on followers of a minority faith.”

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Muslim family taking school to High Court over hijab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

St Cyprian's schoolA Greek Orthodox school is being taken to the High Court for banning a Muslim pupil from wearing a headscarf.

The nine-year-old girl’s parents were so incensed at the decision they have pulled her out of St Cyprian’s Greek Orthodox Primary Academy, in Thornton Heath. Now they have applied to the High Court in an attempt to force the school – the only one of its kind in the country – to reverse its ban on their daughter wearing a hijab.

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Another French mosque desecrated with fascist graffiti

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tomblaine mosque graffiti

The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports that on Thursday-Friday night four swastikas along with racist slogans riddled with misspellings were sprayed on the wall of the As-Salam de Tomblaine mosque in the Lorraine region of north-east France. (The slogan “Bougnoulle de mourt” would appear to mean something like “death to wogs”.)

The CCIF notes that only a few months ago the mosque at Vandoeuvre, five kilometres from Tomblaine, was also the target of a graffiti attack, although in that case the graffiti were of Kahanist rather than Nazi inspiration.

See also ICI-C-NANCY, 21 December 2012

Putin opposes headscarves in Russian schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

President Vladimir Putin spoke against the wearing of hijabs at Russian schools Thursday saying that the practice runs counter to Russian traditions. “Why should we adopt outside traditions?” Putin said during a marathon question-and-answer session with Russian and foreign reporters on Thursday.

A test case of Russia’s hijab policy emerged in October, when Muslim parents in a village in Russia’s southern Stavropol Region complained to prosecutors over a ban on headscarves at their daughters’ school. The parents said the ban violated their daughters’ constitutional rights to receive an education and practice their religion.

Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported on Tuesday that Stavropol governor Valery Zerenkov signed regulations banning school students from wearing headscarves as well as “immodest” dress such as shorts and low-cut dresses.

Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov had previously said wearing headscarves did not violate any law on education.

It was not immediately clear whether the headscarf ban applies to all educational institutions in the district or only state-run schools.

RIA Novosti, 20 December 2012

Court of Appeal quashes the wrongful conviction of Ahmed Faraz

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One year on from his imprisonment, the quashing of Ahmed Faraz’s conviction for the dissemination of terrorism publications, is a great victory for freedom of expression in the UK.

In a damning judgement, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that no causal link could be presented that publications produced by the Maktabah bookshop would inspire acts of political violence or terrorism. They said that it was incorrect of the trial judge to permit evidence that those who had carried out acts of terrorism had owned copies of the books or DVDs and that it was a short cut to a conviction.

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Muslim family taking school to High Court over hijab ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

St Cyprian's schoolA Greek Orthodox school is being taken to the High Court for banning a Muslim pupil from wearing a headscarf.

The nine-year-old girl’s parents were so incensed at the decision they have pulled her out of St Cyprian’s Greek Orthodox Primary Academy, in Thornton Heath. Now they have applied to the High Court in an attempt to force the school – the only one of its kind in the country – to reverse its ban on their daughter wearing a hijab.

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Melbourne: Plan for mosque draws anti-Islam sentiment

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anger at plans for a mosque and evangelical church to be built side-by-side in Melbourne’s east has spilled over amid claims Islam ”directly contravenes our freedom values”.

It was standing room only at the City of Casey chambers in Narre Warren on Tuesday night at one of the last meetings before the council debates a proposal to build a mosque and community centre on a vacant industrial lot in Green Street, Doveton.

The mosque would be next to the church and headquarters of Catch the Fire Ministries, run by controversial anti-Islam Pastor Danny Nalliah who was acquitted of a racial vilification charge brought by the Islamic Council of Victoria in 2006. The church has already been approved by council and construction is expected to begin within weeks.

Residents at the meeting cited traffic concerns, noise pollution, and fears the mosque would be used to preach hate speech.

Mayor Amanda Stapledon repeatedly asked the gallery of about 50 people to be quiet amid booing, cheering and heckling.

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