On Islam, Romney doesn’t have the slightest idea what he’s talking about

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Romney is a scary conspiracy theorist when it comes to the Muslim world, and his discourse in this regard is eerily similar to that of European far-right figures such as Anders Breivik…. he sees the Muslim world as in the grip of a congeries of pan-Islamic caliphate movements against which he wants to wage a Mormon jihad with trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. But in fact almost none of the movements he mentions has anything to do with al-Qaeda or a caliphate.”

Juan Cole assesses Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s understanding of Islam.

History News Network, 7 May 2012

Via Tabsir

TV documentary exposes True Finns’ links to Finnish Defence League

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Finnish Defence League speakerAnti-Islamic, far-right factions in Finland are well-connected, with influence reaching into the chambers of Finnish parliament, finds Yle’s Swedish-language investigative programme Spotlight.

The programme links several Finns Party members to the Finnish Defence League (FDL), a Finnish chapter of a far-right street movement in the UK which claims to protest against “militant Islam.”

Reporters found that several local Finns Party politicians have been active on the FDL’s website. Spotlight’s investigative journalists discovered that the Finns Party has expelled one of its members active in the FDL to prevent negative publicity.

Tampere University researcher Jussi Jalonen says that Islamophobia is also rife among Finns Party members involved with the nationalistic Suomen Sisu association, which calls for “separate but equal” treatment of cultures and races “blurred by multiculturalism.”

Last week, the Finns Party appointed the chair and founder of the immigration-critical chat room Hommaforum to head its paper and online site. This new editor-in-chief has also been associated with Suomen Sisu.

Finns Party MP Olli Immonen meanwhile says he does not see a problem with criticising Islam, stating that “Islamisation is one of the most significant challenges facing western culture.”

YLE News, 10 May 2012

Halloween mosque fire in Wichita declared an arson

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wichita mosque arsonThe fire that heavily damaged a west Wichita mosque early on Halloween morning was an arson, a fire department official said today.

The fire at 3406 W. Taft, southeast of Maple and West streets, was reported at 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 31 and caused an estimated $120,000 in damage. The damage was so extensive the congregation only returned to the mosque last Friday, Capt. Stuart Bevis said.

Test results received from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lab in Maryland ruled out the last possible accidental source of the fire, Bevis said. That only leaves a fire set “by human hand” as the source of the fire, he said.

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Germany weighs ban on Salafists after clashes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

German police and Salafists

Germany is considering a legal ban on ultra-conservative Salafist Muslim groups, its interior minister said on Wednesday after violent clashes with the police.

Last weekend, Salafists turned on police protecting far-right anti-Islam protesters during a regional election rally in the western German city of Bonn, injuring 29 officers, two of them seriously. Police arrested 109 people. The far-right protesters had infuriated the Salafists by waving banners showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

There have been similar clashes in other German towns in the past week, including in Cologne, where around 1,000 police were mobilized on Tuesday to keep Salafists and far-right activists far apart.

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South Shields woman jailed for drunken attack on Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A drunken mum is behind bars today after a shocking race-hate attack – in which she pretended her child had been killed in Afghanistan.

Michelle Eager tried to pull off Zakir Mohammed’s religious headgear before spitting at her and then hitting the 24-year-old in the face. The 41-year-old, who was hurling foul abuse, then turned on Mrs Mohammed’s 17-year-old niece, Atif Khan, and also hit her in the face.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Eager, who was drunk, yelled at the women “you are from Afghanistan – you are not in Afghanistan now”. She then told them her son had been killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan – which was a lie.

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Baby, 18 months old, ordered off plane at Fort Lauderdale airport

Posted on by Bob Pitt

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Eighteen-month-old Riyanna has been called a lot of things: cute, adorable and now … a suspected terrorist.

She was called that on Tuesday night at the Ft Lauderdale Airport. She and her parents had just boarded a JetBlue flight when an airline employee approached them and asked them to get off the plane, saying representatives from the Transportation Security Agency wanted to speak to them.

“And I said, ‘For what?'” Riyanna’s mother told only WPBF 25 News on Wednesday. “And he said, ‘Well, it’s not you or your husband. Your daughter was flagged as no fly.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?'”

Rihanna’s father was flabbergasted. “It’s absurd,” he said. “It made no sense. Why would an 18-month-old child be on a no-fly list?”

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Man arrested for attack on Muslim woman in Solihull

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Shirley man has been summoned to appear at Solihull Magistrates Court after he allegedly ripped a veil from a Muslim woman’s face in Touchwood.

Police reported that Ian Brazier, 26, had grabbed the victim, also 26, by her head and removed her face covering as she walked past the Disney store, on March 3. It’s alleged that he then threw the veil to the floor and left the shopping centre. A Solihull Police spokesman said the woman had not been physically harmed but was left severely shaken by the incident.

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