Halal hysteria reaches Quebec

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Parti QuebecoisThe Parti Quebecois is sounding the alarm bell over an Islamic food ritual, calling slaughter for halal meat an affront not only to the rights of animals but to the values cherished by Quebecers.

The pro-independence party declared its concerns Wednesday about halal animal-rights standards, and is worried that mainstream companies are selling the meat, without any labelling, to unsuspecting Quebecois customers. The PQ is now demanding a report on the halal situation from the provincial government, by March 23.

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Leeds University Jewish Society cancels pro-Wilders speaker

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Brooke GoldsteinAn invitation to an American lawyer who specialises in fighting Western lawsuits by Islamic extremists has been withdrawn at 48 hours’ notice by Leeds University Jewish Society over fears that she is “too controversial”.

New York-based Brooke Goldstein, director of the Lawfare Project, has been touring Britain this week with UK Lawyers for Israel, speaking about the ways Arab dictatorships and Islamist leaders use “lawfare” to sue those who publish articles against radical Islam.

Students were said to be concerned about her association with right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whom she gave legal advice after he was sued for anti-Muslim remarks.

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Milwaukee: Islamic Society faces hostile questioning over proposed mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A crowd gathered at the Brookfield Public Library raised questions Tuesday not just about a proposed mosque in the area, but about the faith and ideology of those who plan to use it.

“We’re not fighting against a religion, what we’re fighting against is a tyrannical ideology,” said Janet Spiewak of the conservative Eagle Forum, which hosted the discussion.

She urged residents to raise concerns about the mosque’s traffic impact and other zoning issues at the city’s upcoming meetings on the project, presumably as a way of stopping it from being built. “We can, through public pressure, force the aldermen and the mayor to acknowledge where the majority of Brookfield stands,” she said.

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Edinburgh: council orders Scottish Defence League to rethink route of march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Scottish Defence League 2Far-right extremists have been told they must change the route of a planned march through the Capital.

The Scottish Defence League (SDL) had proposed its members and supporters would march from St Giles’ Cathedral to the Grassmarket later this year. However, the city council has now told the SDL to submit an alternative route before a decision on whether to permit the demonstration on Saturday, May 26 is taken.

A council spokesman said: “The application has been continued to the next licensing committee for the organisers, council and police to consider alternative routes.” The matter will be considered again on April 20.

Edinburgh Evening News, 15 March 2012

EDL member’s anti-‘mosque’ Facebook page ‘filled with racist and anti-Muslim comments’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A community has distanced itself from a Facebook group opposing a bid for a Muslim community centre after it was filled with racist and anti-Muslim comments.

English Defence League (EDL) member Peter Lynch set up the group Residents Against Chessington Jamatkhana Community Centre (Mosque) in response to plans to convert a two-storey office by the A3 in the Chessington Industrial Estate into a resource for the Ismaili Muslim community.

Since then, other people have left comments on the group’s message wall ranging from planning questions and complaints about parking to threats of violence, swearing and anti-Muslim statements.

Kingston Guardian, 14 March 2012

Mad Mel as dance

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“This is Islamophobic shit,” cried an angry spectator two-thirds of the way through DV8’s investigation of multiculturalism. I was later told that the intervention was a “staged performance”. If so, it was both exceptionally convincing and dangerously counterproductive, since I spent the rest of the evening wondering whether it contained a measure of truth.

Michael Billington reviews “Can We Talk About This?”, a show at the National Theatre in London created by Lloyd Newson.

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Alan Craig and fellow bigots leaflet West Ham against ‘mega mosque’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

More than 3,000 leaflets were delivered to homes in West Ham last week by campaigners opposed to plans for a permanent mosque at the Riverine Centre.

Alan Craig, from Newham Concern, recruited 20 volunteers to help with the literature handout. He reiterated his fears over the motives of Tablighi Jama’at, which he said was isolationist and sexist. He said:

“The aim was to raise awareness among local people, their views are important. I am not anti-Muslim at all but the inappropriate size, the fundamentalist nature of the mosque backers and the proposed creation of a custom-built Islamic enclave are all good reasons to stop this project in its tracks. We don’t want West Ham to become their global headquarters. This will do harm to the local community.”

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Florida: Muslim cab drivers claim employer barred them from praying

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Star Taxi logoEight Muslim cab drivers in Orlando, Fla., claim their employer prohibited them from praying during work hours, and even assaulted and fired one of them for doing so. Now they’re filing complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that they were discriminated against on the basis of their religion and national origin.

The eight Arab-American employees worked for Star Taxi, a member of the Transtar Transportation Group, which provides taxi, luxury SUV and limousine services in the Orlando area. They allege that various supervisors told them that they would be fired if they were caught praying at any of the company’s service stations, even though employees of other faiths regularly prayed and read religious material.

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EDL supporters banned from football ground for shouting racist abuse at children

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nine people have been banned from Dagenham and Redbridge FC’s ground after hurling racist abuse at a group of Bangladeshi children during a match.

The men, along with others, were heard shouting racist remarks at the group of 300 youngsters during a Daggers match against Bradford City on Saturday – the same day the club held an anti-racism day.

Following the disorder fifteen people were ejected from the Victoria Road stadium by police and one was arrested for public disorder and bailed to return to a police station at a later date.

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