Man who accused Muslims of carrying bomb escapes prison because he was ‘suffering from stress’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A father-of-three working at the Torness nuclear plant sparked a security alert at Waverley Station by telling fellow travellers that two 
Muslim men were carrying a bomb.

David Rothenburg claimed innocent passengers Mohammed Shobair and Zaithoon Akhtar were terrorists as he hurled racial abuse at them. The 36-year-old, who had drunk seven pints of Guinness, followed the men around the station making the insults before being arrested by British Transport Police officers.

Rothenburg avoided a prison sentence yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after his lawyer made a “compelling argument” that his client was suffering from work-related stress. Instead, Sheriff Gordon Liddle ordered Rothenburg to carry out 200 hours of community service and pay a compensation order of £1500.

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Youths who shouted racist abuse at Dagenham football match fined and banned from game

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two teenagers involved in racist chanting at a group of boys at an anti-racism football match in Dagenham have been banned from attending games for three years.

Keith Meredith, of Holgate Road, Dagenham, and Lee Bates, of Seymer Road, Romford, both 18, appeared at Romford Magistrates Court on October 16.

They were among 25 to 30 youths seen and heard shouting abuse at the Tower Hamlets schoolboys during a Daggers Against Racism game with Bradford FC, held in Victoria Road, Dagenham.

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Lincoln mosque plans given go-ahead by city councillors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A new £500,000 mosque in Lincoln has been granted unanimous approval by city councillors.

The proposed two-storey place of worship at the old Boultham Dairy initially sparked controversy which led to a petition against the plans from Boultham Residents’ Association.

Members were concerned about the level of traffic the building would bring to the area. But the group has since come out in support of the mosque scheme put forward by the Islamic Association of Lincoln.

The City of Lincoln Council only received five letters of objection – mostly about concerns over traffic congestion – while six letters were sent in which backed the project.

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Gardai hunt Irish racists who burned the Koran

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A top Muslim has appealed for calm after a vile hate video was posted online by bigots in Galway.

Now gardai are probing the six-minute clip of racists burning the Koran. The “nationalist” nuts are anti-Muslim, anti-Jew, anti-gay and want to end all immigration into Ireland.

The book-burning has so far amassed just a few hundred hits on YouTube. But cops fear it is only a matter of time before the recording goes viral.

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Islamophobia Awareness Month launched in Europe

Posted on by Bob Pitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAAoGLAKshI&feature=share&list=UU5gtqdJOvhGdh-6WRO2CTpw

The Islamophobia Awareness Month will be hosting a series of events aiming to highlight and address issues surrounding anti-Muslim hatred. This event in East London saw the launch of the campaign that included organisations from different religious and political backgrounds.

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When did Islamophobic attacks become the norm for the French media?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Le Point coverWhen last week’s cover of normally stern French magazine Le Point appeared online, the consensus on social networks said it was a hoax. Le Point is no tabloid. It is a serious and well respected conservative magazine.

Running the headline: “Brazen Islam…in school cafeterias, hospitals, and swimming pools” the cover featured a niqab-clad woman arguing with a French policewoman. It had to be a joke, but sadly it wasn’t.

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Calls for English Defence League to be branded ‘extremist’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Labour’s Black and Asian Assembly Members have written to the head of the Metropolitan Police to urge him to revise the Met’s view about the English Defence League (EDL) not being viewed as an extremist group. Last week the Government banned the EDL from marching in Waltham Forest, Islington, Newham and Tower Hamlets for 30 days.

Assembly Members Murad Qureshi, Jennette Arnold OBE, Dr Onkar Sahota and Navin Shah signed a joint letter to Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe asking his to reconsider the EDL’s status.

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Islamophobia Studies Journal launched

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamophobia Studies JournalThe Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project at UC Berkeley announces the launch of Islamophobia Studies Journal, a a bi-annual peer reviewed academic periodical focusing on emerging research on and analysis about the nature of Islamophobia and its impact on culture, politics, media, and the lives and experiences of Muslim people.

You can download the first issue of the journal here.