San Antonio Muslim family targeted on Fourth of July

Posted on by Bob Pitt

San Antonio 'terrorist' graffitiSAN ANTONIO, Texas — It was America’s birthday but for one family July Fourth was no party. It was a nightmare for a Muslim family who said someone spray-painted the word “terrorist” on their home Wednesday morning and it didn’t stop there.

The family said on Wednesday night someone rang their doorbell and started banging on the front door. The family told police they also heard fireworks being thrown at their door.

San Antonio police are investigating the incident as criminal mischief, but the family, who is of Pakistani heritage, wants more done. They are asking for the FBI to get involved.

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EDL firework thug gets suspended sentence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anthony Crawford EDL

An EDL thug who stormed a peaceful protest before hurling a lit firework has walked free from court.

Anthony Crawford sparked pandemonium when he lobbed the explosive at anti-jubilee protesters as they gathered for a rally in Newcastle city centre.

It landed in the hood worn by Barnaby Drew, from Byker, Newcastle, who was left with burns after it exploded on his shoulder and set fire to his hair. The 19-year-old’s pals patted down his body to stop it spreading, and the force of the blast burned a hole in his jumper. He was left partially deafened when the firework perforated his eardrum.

But now, after admitting one charge of assault by beating, Crawford, 22, of Elmway, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, has escaped a prison term after magistrates handed him a 15-week suspended sentence.

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Is Jesus Christ reaching out to Muslims through their dreams?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

More Than DreamsWell, according to a report posted at Glenn Beck’s The Blaze he is. Apparently there’s even a book about it – Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? by Pastor Tom Doyle – and a DVD entitled More Than Dreams.

The Blaze reveals that one Muslim had set out for Mecca to perform Hajj when Christ appeared in a dream and persuaded him of the error of his ways. Happily, he has now converted to Christianity. And there is the case of a “radical Egyptian terrorist” who also accepted Jesus as his saviour after a similar visitation. Indeed The Blaze directs us to “a number of other examples” that are featured in the More Than Dreams DVD.

I have to say, I don’t find this entirely convincing as a weapon in the struggle against Islamisation. According to a Pew report, the world Muslim population stood at 1.6 billion in 2010 and the number is expected to rise to 2.2 billion in 2030. If Christ is going to make a serious dent into those figures he needs to put a bit more effort into this.

Jews, Christians and Muslims back bar on Geller

Posted on by Bob Pitt

As Jews, Christians and Muslims united together to find paths to peace, we the participants and friends who are part of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative, are grateful for The Jewish Federation’s decision to cancel the speaking engagement of Pamela Geller (“Federation Bars Anti-Muslim Activist From Speaking“, June 29). The last thing this or any other community needs is a hate and fear promoter “shouting fire in a crowded theater” in the name of “free speech” or “balanced debate.” Ms. Geller’s record of vitriol and venom speaks for itself, and her appearance, like her other talks, would have been a deliberate, hate-filled provocation. Her words of anger and panic would not have contributed to an honest, respectful expression of a contested viewpoint, but instead would have inflicted significant damage upon any fragile bridges of true understanding that we and others have been trying to build for years.

Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
Rabbi Jonathan Klein
Rabbi Steve Jacobs
The Rev. Ed Bacon
The Rev. Carissa Baldwin-McGuiness
The Rev. Paige Eaves
Pastor Ryan Bell
Hussam Ayloush
The Rev. Dr. Art Cribbs
The Rev. Frank Alton
Father Chris Ponnet
Dr. Steve Wiebe

Letter in the Jewish Journal, 5 July 2012

Attack on Missouri mosque part of national pattern

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Joplin Globe has a good article placing the recent suspected arson attack on the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque in the context of a general rise in anti-Muslim bigotry and hate crime.

The report quotes an ACLU spokeswoman as stating that the fact that the incident took place on 4 July is particularly troubling: “On Independence Day, we should be celebrating all of our freedoms, including freedom of religion.”

Why the attacker should have chosen that date is as yet unclear. Perhaps they’d been fired up by reading Robert Spencer.

FBI investigates possible arson at Missouri mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Joplin Islamic Center arsonJOPLIN, Mo. — A fire early Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque is being treated as suspicious, according to police and fire officials.

Capt. Kelly Stephens of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department said the FBI has been called in to join the investigation, and that tapes from security cameras on the property are being reviewed by authorities. Stephens said footage from the tapes is helping direct leads. He would not say what the tapes revealed.

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FIFA lifts ban on women wearing headscarves

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FIFAFootball chiefs agreed on Thursday to lift a ban on women wearing headscarves during games, clearing the way for the participation of many Muslim nations in top-flight competition.

Until the vote by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) here, players were prevented from wearing a headscarf, or hijab, at the sport’s highest level for safety reasons and on religious grounds. Critics said the ban promoted inequality at the highest level of the world’s most popular game.

AFP, 5 July 2012

See also “FIFA lift ban on Islamic headscarves”, Reuters, 5 July 2012

Update:  And “AFC says ‘right’ to lift headscarf ban”, AFP, 6 July 2012

Bristol: council rejects calls for ban on EDL march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bristol protest against EDL march

Councillors will not be calling on the Home Secretary to ban the English Defence League from marching through Bristol.

Campaigners gathered at the Council House last night to protest at the far-right group being allowed to stage the event in the city on July 14. About 20 people rallied outside the College Green building ahead of the meeting of the council’s cabinet.

They held placards and banners bearing the words “defend our multicultural city of Bristol” and “No to racism, EDL is not welcome here”. Some chanted slogans against the EDL, which describes itself as an anti-Islamist organisation.

Paulette North, one of the organisers of the rally, was armed with a megaphone during the protest, shouting: “We should be saying the EDL are not welcome here and if they do come they should be concentrated in the open area behind Temple Meads, do whatever they want there and then go home. That’s what Tower Hamlets and Milton Keynes did and that is what we are asking this council to do – but they have done very little and really need to do more.”

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Nazi found guilty of harassing councillor in mosque protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kieren TrentThe leader of a racist BNP protest has been found guilty of disturbing public order outside a former councillor’s house.

Kieren Trent pleaded not guilty to four counts of public disorder when he appeared at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court for his part in causing former Councillor Mike Galloway “undue distress and alarm” as he and a group of others protested outside Mr Galloway’s home in Wolverton. [See here and here.]

Mr Galloway, former cabinet member for planning at the council, was at his Wolverton home on Sunday, April 24 2011, when the gang arrived with racist banners and a megaphone.

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Photographer accused of assaulting Muslim woman and calling her a terrorist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cinnamon Heathcote-DruryA portrait photographer to the stars shoved a pregnant Muslim woman to the floor and called her a terrorist during a row in Tesco, a court heard yesterday.

Cinnamon Heathcote-Drury also branded the hijab-wearing woman’s family suicide bombers, it was alleged.

The 41-year-old, who has 11 portraits hanging in the National Portrait Gallery including exhibits of London mayor Boris Johnson and Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman, denies racially-aggravated assault.

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