English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (“Tommy Robinson”) has appeared on Michael Coren’s Canadian TV show, discussing the recent attack on him in Luton by what he claims was a gang of local Muslims. Richard Bartholomew examines some of the contradictions in Lennon’s account of events.
Alleged Queens firebomber wanted to massacre Muslims in mosque, prosecutors say
The unhinged Queens pyromaniac who unleashed a scary New Year’s Day firebombing spree had planned to take out “as many Muslims and Arabs as possible” by lobbing Molotov cocktails at worshipers inside a mosque, prosecutors said.
Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, allegedly told cops he had planned to inflict “as much damage as possible” by hurling all five of his firebombs from the balcony of Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center onto the crowd below. The hateful bomb-hurler, who is under psychiatric observation at Bellevue Hospital center, flat-out told detectives he did not like Muslims or Arabs, prosecutors said.
Florida: Muslim shopper attacked with stun gun
The woman was walking through the housewares aisle at the Walmart store on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in New Tampa shortly before 9 p.m. New Year’s Day. She was dressed in ashalwaar kameez, a tunic traditional in her native Pakistan.
As she reached over to pick up an item, she saw a woman holding what looked like a portable device used to scan items. The next thing she knew, according to her daughter, the woman in the tunic felt a sharp pain in her back. She let out a scream and had to hold on to a rack to keep from collapsing.
EDL ‘Angels’ to face trial over attack on kebab shop
Two women who have denied a religiously-motivated assault on a Kurdish woman at a city centre takeaway will face trial later this year.
Hayley Wells, aged 27, and Kelly Watterson, aged 29, both appeared at Plymouth Crown Court on the joint charge of religiously aggravated common assault on Sawda Kurdo at the Istanbul Kebab shop in Exeter Street on August 31 last year.
New South Wales: fear of escalating violence after mosque attack
An attack on a Newcastle mosque, trapping seven worshippers inside, has been caught on security camera.
The attack happened only minutes after a group of children had finished a scripture class and is the latest in a series of incidents that have left the city’s Muslim community feeling “vulnerable and scared”.
In the security footage, which has been provided to police, two tattooed men are seen to approach the Wallsend mosque about 9.30pm on Monday. One man, with a large tattoo of a cross on his neck, kicks through the fence gate and hurls an object at the mosque’s front door. Then he runs and smashes a flying kick into the door. More objects are thrown at the building and one of the men is seen to shout what appears to be abuse.
Greek group appeals against plans to build mosque in Athens
A group of Greeks that includes bishops, academics and military officers have appealed against a parliamentary bill that will allow the construction of a mosque in the Greek capital.
According to the Greek press, a petition submitted to the Council of State in December was signed by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, as well as a university professor, naval officers and five residents of the area in which the mosque is planned to be built. The appeal argues that the construction of a mosque would be in violation of the constitution and harmful for national unity. It also cites the high cost of the building project in the face of Greece’s financial crisis.
Known for his far-right views, Seraphim said the bill constituted an anti-Christian action and described it as disrespectful to Christian martyrs. He went on to condemn the Greek parliament for approving such a bill.
Quebec mosque target of arson and vandalism
Representatives of a Gatineau, Que., mosque say they are concerned about vandalism after someone tried to set fire to two cars in their parking lot early Monday morning.
Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. a person attempted to set fire to two cars parked at the mosque but was unsuccessful, according to Amadou Thiam, the secretary general for the Outaouais Islamic Centre. Two windows at the mosque itself were also broken.
Hijabs don’t hinder prison guards
Last week, Quebec moved to allow Muslim women prison guards to wear hijabs on the job, but it only did so as part of a settlement of a human rights complaint filed four years ago. If the issue arises in other provinces, governments should not wait for a human rights commission ruling before permitting the wearing of hijabs.
The Quebec complaint was filed by a Muslim woman in training to be a prison guard, and although permission was granted as part of a settlement between Quebec’s Public Security Department and the human rights commission, the woman’s victory is rather a hollow one – she has long since dropped her guard training and is pursuing a different career.
However, the decision will hopefully pave the way for other Muslim women interested in correctional careers, in Quebec and in the rest of Canada. Accommodating the hijab as part of a guard’s uniform is no different than allowing Sikh RCMP officers to wear their turbans instead of the regulation hats. Turbans have never interfered with the ability of a Mountie to do his job, and it will be the same for the hijab, as long as women guards wear head scarves with Velcro fastenings that allow for quick removal in an emergency.
Editorial in Calgary Herald, 2 January 2012
Anti-Muslim leaflets distributed in Canberra
Leaders of Canberra’s Muslim community were surprised and saddened by offensive anti-Islamic pamphlets distributed to homes throughout Queanbeyan over the Christmas holidays.
Householders in Queanbeyan received the material depicting a Muslim man physically abusing a woman and a child and an Islamic elder condoning the violence as acceptable to his faith.
One local Muslim leader has questioned the legality of the material and said it was un-Christian to distribute such offensive literature.
‘Only’ six veiled women fined since April, says French interior minister
France’s interior minister says that since a ban on face-covering Islamic veils took effect in April only six women have been convicted and fined.
Claude Gueant said in an interview with the daily Le Monde published Monday that no woman has been sent to a citizenship class – another potential punishment.
Controversy surrounded the law. Muslim leaders, most of them opposed to burqa-style veils, say it stigmatizes all followers of Islam.
Gueant says police cited a total of 237 women but only six were convicted. He expressed surprise that nearly a quarter of the women police questioned had converted to Islam.
Backers say the law is aimed at ensuring France’s secular values and gender equality and nipping radical Islam in the bud.
Associated Press, 2 January 2012
In reality, one French Muslim woman – Hind Amas – has been sentenced to 15 days’ “citizenship service” after being convicted of wearing the veil, and faces a possible two years in prison and €30,000 fine because she has refused to accept the sentence.
In the Le Monde interview Gueant stated that in 2012 there would be neither controversy nor rows over Islam or the presence of Muslims in France. He described Islam as “open, tolerant, vibrant, fully integrated into our society” and claimed that he was opposed only to “radical Islam”.
Presumably Gueant was tailoring his message to the readers of a liberal newspaper, but the actual practice of the Sarkozy government towards Muslims and other communities of migrant origin is very different. Cf. “France stiffens citizenship requirements”, Los Angeles Times, 2 January 2012
(Admittedly, Gueant’s measures don’t go far enough for some critics.)