Britain’s ruling Conservative Party is reportedly seeking Jason Kenney’s help with an outreach effort among the U.K.’s ethnic minorities, longtime backers of the Labour party.
British news reports have quoted Conservative officials saying the party’s bid to achieve a parliamentary majority will only succeed if, like Canada’s Stephen Harper, Prime Minister David Cameron can broaden the Tories’ appeal among immigrants from India, Pakistan and elsewhere.
Last September the mosque in the Welsh town of Llanelli was attacked. Thugs racially abused a group of elderly women who were entering the mosque and kicked the door in. As a result, extra CCTV cameras were installed.
We are told that there was a second attack on the mosque in February, when the windows were smashed while someone was praying inside. As you can see from the photo, the building has now been fitted with a window grille in addition to the existing steel gate in front of the door (cf. earlier photo here).
Swiss Islamic intellectual Tariq Ramadan laid into French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a speech to the annual meeting of a major Muslim organisation Saturday. His call to “unite France” and not “divide it” came after government ministers criticised the Union of Islamic Organisations of France’s (UOIF) invitation to him to speak.
Before the UOIF meeting at Le Bourget near Paris this weekend Interior Minister Claude Guéant said he regretted the fact that Ramadan was on the speakers’ list.
He may regret it even more after Ramadan’s speech, which did not name him or the president but clearly targeted their rhetoric during the presidential election campaign and their reaction to the killing spree of “lone-wolf” Islamist Mohamed Merah.
Speaking Saturday in front of the biggest mosque in Michigan, the Florida pastor known for burning the Quran blasted Islam and called upon Americans to take back their country. “Islam has one goal: That is world domination,” said Pastor Terry Jones, wearing sunglasses, jeans and a faded black leather jacket. “It’s time to stand up.”
Holding signs in English and Arabic that read “I Will Not Submit,” about 20 supporters cheered as Jones and his assistant spoke outside the Islamic Center of America, a Dearborn mosque that sits off Ford Road. Framed by the mosque’s minarets, Jones said he’s concerned that the growth of the Muslim population in metro Detroit and the U.S. will lead to the oppression of non-Muslims. “Muslims, no matter they go around the world … they push their agenda on the society,” Jones said. “We must take back America.”
Demonstration outside Royal Courts of Justice in support of Raed Salah last July
Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has won an appeal against his deportation from Britain, according to the group that invited him to the country.
Mark Ockelton, the vice-president of the UK’s Upper Immigration Tribunal, ruled that the government’s decision to deport Salah “appears to have been entirely unnecessary”, and upheld his deportation appeal, a statement from the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) said on Saturday.
The Arab American News reports on Pamela Geller’s shameful hijacking of Jessica Mokdad’s death in order to promote her own agenda of anti-Muslim hatred.
The attorney for the Quran-burning pastor who plans to protest this afternoon outside the biggest mosque in metro Detroit said that Islam and Dearborn are threats to Christians.
Speaking Friday on a Christian radio station, Richard Thompson, President of the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, said that unless Islam is confronted “they will destroy Christianity and hold Christians to second-class citizenship.”
Thompson is representing Terry Jones, a Florida pastor known for burning the holy book for Muslims, the Quran. Jones plans to protest today from 1 to 3 p.m. outside the Islamic Center of America, a Dearborn mosque. He tried to rally there last year, but was prevented by a Dearborn judge who banned him for three years. A Detroit judge later overturned that decision.
Speaking on the Bob Dutko show on WMUZ-FM (103.5), Thompson said that “Islam is more than a religion.” He said it’s a political ideology that could destroy Christianity.
If you live in Middle Tennessee, get ready for another four months of overheated rhetoric about Islam. On Thursday, tea partier and anti-Shariah activist Lou Ann Zelenik announced that she’s challenging incumbent Rep. Diane Black (R), setting up a rematch of a 2010 GOP primary that focused heavily on the question of whether Muslims in Murfreesboro should be allowed to build a new mosque.
Hundreds of Muslims began a four day Islamic congress in Paris on Friday, as fears grew of a religious backlash following the Toulouse killings.
More than 200 organisations from all over France are taking part in the four-day event which comes just weeks after Al Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah shot dead seven people.
Many think the tragedy has led to French Muslims being marginalised further and feel there is a need to reassure the wider French community. 22-year-old Sara Taharaoui from a south-eastern Paris suburb said: “The whole Muslim community condemns what happened with Mereh. Terrorism isn’t part of the Islamic religion and we are here to condemn his acts.”
Some Muslims said they felt increased scrutiny after the French government decided to ban several foreign Muslim clerics from entering France. The men were due to give speeches at the conference.
Some political analysts think President Nicolas Sarkozy is playing up fears ahead of first-round leadership elections in a fortnight. Many think he’s not done enough to distinguish between the radical few and the mainstream Muslim community.
Yusuf Smith comments on the BBC Newsnight interview with Babar Ahmad.