A worker at the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) who told a family of Iraqi asylum seekers that their newborn baby looked like Saddam Hussein will not lose his job over the incident, the agency’s disciplinary committee has ruled.
The man, who has worked at the agency for more than 30 years, was under investigation not only for the insulting comparison, but also for physically assaulting a female colleague and making derogatory remarks about a woman wearing a headscarf.
A Penrith man who accused a Muslim of “planning bombs” has been given a conditional discharge because of his mental health problems.
Mitchell Tutty, 44, appeared before Carlisle Magistrates’ Court yesterday. He had already admitted racially aggravated harassment and using threatening behaviour.
English Defence League in Leicester, October 2010
The Leicester Mercury has a good editorial expressing well-based scepticism about the English Defence League’s assurance to Leicester businesses that its planned protest against “anti-white racism” next Saturday will proceed peacefully.
September 2010: Verhagen and Wilders shake hands on their political deal
The Dutch Cabinet moved a step closer Friday to banning the burqa, making good on an election promise that is largely symbolic but has broad public support.
Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen said the Cabinet agreed on plans to ban the head-to-toe Islamic gown along with other forms of face-covering clothing including ski masks. The legislation must still be approved by both houses of the Dutch Parliament, a process that could take months. “We are confident we have a majority,” Interior Minister Liesbeth Spies said.
Once seen as one of the world’s most tolerant nations, the Netherlands has turned increasingly conservative in recent years and is pushing immigrants more to fully assimilate into mainstream Dutch society. Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders welcomed the decision in a tweet as “fantastic news.”
Like neighboring Belgium, the Dutch government cited security concerns as a reason for the ban and framed it as a move to safeguard public order and allow all people to “fully participate in society”. “People must be able to look one another in the eye,” Verhagen said.
The Dutch decision came despite criticism of the ban from independent advisory panel the Council of State, which reportedly suggested it could amount to an attack on freedom of religion. Verhagen denied ignoring the advice and said ministers took it into account when laying out the reasons underpinning the legislation. The government is confident that by citing public order concerns, the legislation will not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
Leyla Cakir, head of Muslim women’s organization Al Nisa, said she was surprised and shocked by the decision. “You are taking away women’s right of self-determination, and it is all based on fear,” she said.
But in a statement announcing the decision, the government said it was helping women. “Having to wear a burqa or niqab in public goes against equality of men and women,” the government said. “With this legislation, the Cabinet is removing a barrier to these women participating in society.”
Associated Press, 27 January 2012
See also “Ministers vote for Dutch ‘burqa ban'”, RNW, 27 January 2012
A ban on the veil was part of the deal the VVD and CDA made with Wilders in September 2010, in exchange for his party’s support for their coalition government. However, it would be unfair to accuse Maxime Verhagen of adopting this policy out of mere political expendency. He has a record of Islamophobia going back some years.
Wilders isn’t the only person celebrating this so-called advance for women’s rights. Forbes contributor Abigail R. Esman comments:
“… for the women who have ached to be free of these constraining garments, whose daily lives are at risk simply walking in the streets (it is almost impossible to navigate safely in such vestments, which severely limit your field of vision); whose husbands have forced them to live essentially as prisoners in solitary confinement, today marks a moment of liberation. Granted, this will in no way change the mindsets of Muslim extremists. Islamist women will continue their campaigns of hate no matter how they are dressed; but they will no longer be able to force those lifestyles on their daughters. It’s a start.”
Antiracists will take to the streets to show their opposition to the racists and fascists of the English Defence League on Saturday 4 February.
The EDL thugs want to stir up racism and division among the city’s diverse community. But people in Leicester have already shown the EDL is not wanted in Leicester – thousands turned out to show their opposition to the EDL and in October 2010.
Now black, white and Asian people are set to show their unity against the EDL again at a ‘Love Leicester, Hate Racism’ demonstration organised by UAF in the city centre on 4 February.
The protest against the EDL will assemble at 11am on Saturday 4 February at the Clock Tower, Leicester City Centre.
The antiracist, antifascist event is supported by CWU Leicestershire branch, Leicestershire County Unison, PCS Leicester and Leicestershire branch, Stoneygate Labour Party, Unite 0168M branch and Leicester District Trades Council.
Please join the protest against the EDL – bring your banners!
Last week, a packed public meeting heard UAF speakers, local trade unionists, community leaders, youth activists and Labour councillors urge unity against the EDL.
A family barricaded themselves in their home as a neighbour armed with knives threatened to kill them, a court heard. Daniel Smith is said to have shouted racist abuse and English Defence League slogans as he smashed his way into the Thornhill Lees home.
Yesterday, victim Waaqas Ahmed said: “He was like a vicious animal against his prey, lunging. It’s a miracle I didn’t get hurt.”
WASHINGTON – An expert on Islam said Thursday that the United States and other Western nations are indirectly aiding the spread of radical Islamic groups abroad.
Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, international director of U.K.-based Barnabas Fund, said at a lecture hosted by Family Research Council that the “Arab Spring” is a good example of how the United States and other nations are enabling the spread of Islamism, especially in Libya and Egypt.
In Libya, he said, the support given by NATO and the U.S. to the rebel group, known as the NTC, is a matter of concern. “We had to support the NTC, which was the rebel group,” said Sookhdeo, who added that “they were a coalition of groups that included al-Qaida.” “We have removed one dictator and replaced that dictator with a political ideology rooted in a religion that wants our destruction.”
Geert Wilders’ populist Freedom Party (PVV) this week helped ensure one of its fiercest international critics got a top European job.
The PVV was so determined to block the appointment of Dutch Labour MP Frans Timmermans as human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe that it inadvertently helped Latvia’s Nils Muiznieks get the post.
A Longview resident said Thursday he is disappointed by the negative reaction from a portion of the Longview community toward a mosque being built on Amy Street.
“Quite frankly it was very disheartening to me to see that type of discussion taking place here in our community,” Vik Verma said during public comment at a Longview City Council meeting.
A controversial retired Army officer who has drawn attention worldwide for speeches against Islam will be the keynote speaker at a prayer breakfast Feb 8 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin was a top Pentagon official in 2004 when he was reprimanded for saying in uniform that Muslims worship idols and not “a real God,” and for depicting the war against Muslim radicals as a Christian struggle against satan.
Since he retired, Boykin has been on the lecture circuit, speaking more candidly about his belief that the practice of Islam shouldn’t be covered by the First Amendment because it’s “a totalitarian way of life,” and that mosques should be banned.