We mustn’t allow Muslims in public life to be silenced

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Have you ever been called an Islamist? How about a jihadist or a terrorist? Extremist, maybe? Welcome to my world. It’s pretty depressing. Every morning, I take a deep breath and then go online to discover what new insult or smear has been thrown in my direction. Whether it’s tweets, blogposts or comment threads, the abuse is as relentless as it is vicious.

You might think I’d have become used to it by now. Well, I haven’t. When I started writing for a living, I never imagined I’d be the victim of such personal, such Islamophobic, attacks, on a near-daily basis.

Mehdi Hasan writes at Comment is Free, 8 July 2012

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‘Henk and Ingrid’ turn out to be violent racists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

As the Netherlands heads for a general election, barely a day passes without a mention of “Henk and Ingrid“, or Mr and Mrs Average, in a political debate that has revolved around the economy and the euro zone debt crisis.

The invention of populist politician Geert Wilders – who heads the anti-immigration, anti-euro Freedom Party – this mythical couple attracted a different kind of notoriety after a real Dutch Henk, with a wife called Ingrid, killed a Turkish immigrant, prompting commentators to warn that populism can backfire.

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Colorado State Senator on banning mosques: They’re not ‘places of worship’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kevin GranthamLast weekend, the Dutch Islamphobic politician Geert Wilders spoke to a conservative conference hosted by a Christian university in Colorado. The anti-Muslim firebrand served up his usual fare: Islam is not a religion but a “totalitarian ideology,” multiculturalism must be stopped, U.S. courts must end immigration from Muslim countries and mosque construction must be banned.

According to a report on the event in the Colorado Statesman, conservatives at the conference took Wilders’s words to heart, as well as those of fellow anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney.

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Canberra: key figure in anti-mosque campaign is Christian Zionist who lives miles away from site

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A key figure in the opposition to the Gungahlin mosque is a Christian fundamentalist activist who lives at least 15 kilometres away from the proposed site.

The secretive participants in the campaign against the mosque have consistently told media and government that they are concerned with local planning issues including traffic and noise.

But The Canberra Times has established that the spokesman for the group “Concerned Citizens of Canberra” describes himself as a pastor with Olive Tree Ministries and hosts fortnightly meetings at a prayer house in Yarralumla.

Irwin Ross, a Higgins resident who lives a 20-minute drive from the proposed mosque site, hosted last Sunday’s closed meeting at Gungahlin Library, but it is unclear whether or not he organised the meeting. The meeting was held after the Concerned Citizens of Canberra distributed anonymous anti-mosque flyers to homes in the northern suburb.

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Former councillor for Wilders’ PVV active on neo-nazi Stormfront website

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Monica Nunes Stormfront

A former councillor for the anti-immigration PVV in Noord Holland has close ties to the neo-nazi group Stormfront and submitted 2,200 items to the organisation’s website, the Noord-Hollands Dagblad reported on Friday.

Monica Nunes is one of three provincial councillors who left the PVV earlier this year to go it alone.

In her writings on the site, which ended around three years ago, Nunes says all Muslims should be sent back to their country of origin and “Jews have a good nose for money”, the paper said. Nunes used the name Doubt while active on the site. Her role was uncovered by anti-facist research group Kaftka.

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EDL thug gets 9 years in prison for racist attack on neighbours

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daniel Smith EDLA man who wielded knives, broke down his neighbours’ front door and threatened to kill them, has been jailed.

Leeds Crown Court heard how Daniel Smith [on left of photo] had 167 previous convictions before he was locked up for 10 further offences today.

The 39-year-old was not present for his sentencing because he was taken back to Armley prison from the court at lunchtime after destroying two toilets in the court cells.

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South Carolina: vandals smash Islamic centre’s window with ashtray

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Someone threw a large outdoor, concrete ashtray through a window at the Islamic Center of South Carolina on Cherry Road in Rock Hill, causing $1,200 in damage.

The center’s director told police that sometime between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday, someone threw the outdoor ashtray at the front of the business into a storm window, according to a Rock Hill police report.

Most of the mess was cleaned before officers arrived, the report states. Officers saw that the window was badly damaged, but still holding together.

Police did not find the ashtray but did notice the ashtray’s sand sprinkled in front of the window. There were also several cigarette butts scattered along the window, the report states.

Herald Online, 6 July 2012

See also CAIR press release, 6 July 2012

French Football Federation bans hijab despite green light from FIFA

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FFF logoThe French Football Federation (FFF) said Friday that it would “not authorise players to wear a veil” while playing for France or in organised competitions, a day after world footballing authorities said the hijab could be worn on the pitch.

“Regarding the participation of female French national team players in international competitions on one hand, and the organisation of national competitions on the other, the French Football Federation reiterates its duty to respect the constitutional and legislative principles of secularism that prevails in our country and features in its statutes,” declared a statement from the FFF.

The FFF’s announcement came after a French MP had urged the government earlier on Friday to ban the Islamic headscarf for women soccer players.

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