http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CDyGpJXsKQ
John L. Esposito talks about the tsunami of hatred and bigotry in the wake of the Park51 episode, and how the ignorant perception of Islam and Muslims doesn’t hold up to the facts and reality.
Man who ripped off Muslim woman’s veil spared jail
A man who ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a shopping centre because he thought she was “just another illegal immigrant” has been spared jail.
Ian Brazier, from Shirley, Solihull, was given a six-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete a diversity awareness course by magistrates in the town. The 26-year-old had admitted racially aggravated assault at an early hearing.
The court heard that he tore Farhana Chughtai’s niqab from her face and threw it on the floor in Solihull’s Touchwood complex on March 3 as she shopped with family.
Employment tribunal finds ‘no evidence of wrongdoing or misconduct’ by Muslim airline pilot … but says British Airways were entitled to sack him
A Muslim airline pilot sacked after he was linked to two suspected terrorists has lost his case against British Airways.
Samir Jamaluddin, a senior first officer who flew Boeing 747 jets, was arrested by counter terror police in 2007 before he was dropped by the airline three years later. He launched a claim for racial discrimination and unfair dismissal but this was rejected by an employment tribunal which found in favour of BA.
The ‘Olympic terror plot’ that wasn’t
Last week the right-wing press made a big splash over the arrest of two Muslims who had been reported to the police for “acting suspiciously” while sailing a dinghy on the River Lea at Waltham Abbey in Hertfordshire, near to the Olympic canoeing venue.
While articles in the Guardian and the Evening Standard were quite measured, the Daily Telegraph reported this under the shock-horror headline “London 2012: Two Muslim converts arrested over Olympic terror plot”.
The Daily Mail did at least refer to the plot in inverted commas (“Muslim converts who ‘plotted to attack Olympic canoeing venue’ arrested after police see them acting suspiciously in a dinghy”), but as you can see, the Telegraph didn’t even bother with that formality. In any case, the two individuals had been arrested on suspicion and had not been charged with an offence. So, in the absence of actual evidence, talk of any kind of plot was premature to say the least.
New study of Islamic headscarf controversy
The most controversial article of clothing of the early 21st century may be the headscarf.
In her new book, The Headscarf Controversy: Secularism and Freedom of Religion, UCSB professor Hilal Elver tackles the issue currently affecting Muslim women – and courtrooms – around the world.
Elver, a global and international studies scholar, explains the legal and historical background of wearing headscarves in public places, specifically in Turkey but also in Germany, France, and the United States.
Elver believes that due to the recent “war on terror” in the Middle East, many Western countries have banned public use of the headscarf, supposedly in the name of women’s rights. But rather than helping women, she argues, the ban has had the disastrous effect of excluding pious Muslim women from society.
Bristol EDL man claims to have received death threats over city march
The leader of the Bristol branch of the English Defence League (EDL) has claimed he is getting death threats over plans to march in the city.
Micky Bayliss said he had received “numerous threats” and had also had a concrete slab thrown through his car windscreen while out campaigning. “I’ve also been actively tearing down various stickers and posters put onto my car,” he said.
FOSIS: empowering Muslim students
Reyhana Patel reports from the 2012 conference of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies.
It might be an idea if Theresa May read this.
Petition calls for EDL march in Bristol to be banned
A petition with more than 2000 signatures calling for a ban on the English Defence League’s march next weekend, will be handed in to Bristol City Council tomorrow.
It includes names from trade unionists and faith groups across the city, asking to prevent the march taking place on the 14th of July .
Similar EDL marches in Telford and Luton have been banned. There will also be a lobby outside of the Council House, College Green at 5.30pm before the Cabinet meeting.
Update: See also “Campaigners lobby for Bristol EDL march to be called off”, Bristol Post, 4 July 2012
Islamophobia: a bipartisan project
Deepa Kumar, author of the new study Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, argues that the demonisation of Islam is nothing new and that “the ‘Muslim enemy’ is inextricably tied to a long history of US imperialism”.
Nor is it just the Republican right that views the Muslim world as a potential threat to US interests. The author argues:
“Liberal Islamophobia may be rhetorically gentler but it reserves the right of the US to wage war against ‘Islamic terrorism’ around the world, with no respect for the right of self-determination by people in the countries it targets. It is the ‘white man’s burden’ in sheep’s clothing.”
Observer publishes partial correction to its inaccurate report of Rowan Williams’ views on Muslims
ENGAGE draws our attention to a short notice that appeared in Sunday’s Observer:
Our coverage last week of Faith in the Public Square, a forthcoming book by the archbishop of Canterbury (News), contained this quote, supplied to us by the publishers: “To suggest that the Muslim owes an overriding loyalty to the international Muslim community (the Umma) is extremely worrying. Muslims must make clear that their loyalty is straightforward modern political loyalty to the nation state.” This is a representation of a view that the archbishop does not hold. It was drawn from a lecture he gave in October 2004 in which he went on to deconstruct the argument, maintaining that religious loyalty and political loyalty should not be seen as being in direct competition.