Extradition law debate in Commons next Monday

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENGAGE draws our attention to the welcome news that the Backbench Business Committee has now reversed its earlier decision and scheduled a full debate with a vote on the current extradition laws, to be held in the main chamber of the House of Commons on Monday 5 December.

The shocking case of Babar Ahmad has received some media attention, and it is thanks to the campaign organised by his supporters that next week’s parliamentary debate is taking place. But Babar Ahmad is not the only London Muslim to have fallen foul of the Extradition Act 2003. A less publicised case, which hopefully will feature in the House of Commons debate, is that of Talha Ahsan, who also faces the prospect of extradition to the United States.

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Minneapolis man who assaulted Muslim gets six months prison sentence under hate crime law

Posted on by Bob Pitt

George ThompsonA Minneapolis man who lost his job with the Transportation Security Administration for an off-duty assault of an elderly Somali man has been sentenced to six months in prison for the hate crime. George Thompson, 64, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Thompson’s case was the first prosecuted under the act, which was signed into law in October 2009 and named after Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teen who died after being kidnapped and beaten in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was dragged to death in Texas that same year.

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Queensland: deputy premier denounces Q Society on behalf of Labor government and calls on opposition parties to join him

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Q Society SOS campaign

Queensland’s Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser has called on Liberal National Party (LNP) and Katter’s Australian Party MPs to denounce a group spreading anti-Islamic propaganda in the state.

Mr Fraser’s west Brisbane electorate is being letterbox dropped by a group called the Qsociety, which is concerned with the “erosion of Western values and the Islamisation of Australia”. The flyers say “it’s time to say no” to the Halal food industry, “whitewashed Islamic content” in state schools, Sharia finance and “segregation and apartheid” such as prayer rooms. They direct readers to a website and a Victorian address.

Mr Fraser on Thursday told parliament the flyers presented a chance for MPs who voted against his bill on same sex civil unions to take a stand on another human rights issue. The bill passed on Wednesday night, with Labor MPs given a conscience vote and the LNP voting against it. Mr Fraser said they should denounce Qsociety.

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BNP leader applauds rejection of Blackpool mosque planning application, boasts that he advised mosque opponents on their campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP Islam Out of BritainYesterday the Blackpool Gazette reported that there had been “relief and delight” when the council’s planning committee rejected an application by the Noor-A-Madina Mosque.

As is usual in such cases, formal objections had centred on supposed parking problems, and opponents claimed that their campaign against the mosque had “nothing to do with race or religion”. But there was evidence to suggest otherwise. It was also clear that the English Defence League was involved in whipping up fear and hatred over the issue (see here and here).

The British National Party MEP for North West England, Nick Griffin, has now posted a statement on his website hailing the planning committee’s decision as “a victory for the people”. The statement claims:

Nick Griffin MEP was contacted earlier by a number of concerned residents following a meeting of over 100 people opposed to the mosque. Responding to their appeal for assistance Nick advised: “I believe that it is imperative that the building of new mosques is halted in order to prevent Britain being further colonised by Islamists. It is in the power of the residents of South Shore to stop this one by lobbying Blackpool Council to refuse this planning application.”

In a letter to residents in October, Nick’s Constituency Office explained to the public how to voice their opposition. His office urged people to contact the council and present their concerns, “It is highly likely that the Council will approve the mosque’s planning application unless the opposition campaign is of sufficient strength to ensure that they have no choice but to listen to the will of local residents. It is important, therefore, that as many people as possible make their objections known to Blackpool Council. Anyone can send in their views about a current planning application via Blackpool Council’s on-line planning application pages.”

See also Griffin’s earlier report “New mosque will change the face of Blackpool”.

Update:  See “‘It can be done’ – Local opposition blocks Blackpool mosque”, BNP news report, 1 December 2011

Update 2:  The EDL are also claiming credit for the planning committee’s decision:

EDL LGBT Blackpool mosque

Court to rule on Muslim prayer in German schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a landmark case, Germany’s Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig will rule on Wednesday whether schools need to provide practicing Muslim pupils with a place and the opportunity to pray.

The case revolves around Yunus M., who was 14 years old when he was barred from observing midday prayers in the corridor of his school in Berlin. Although Muslims have been praying in German schools for decades, his case marks the first time German courts have had to rule on the issue.

“I think the case has been hyped from both sides. Now, we have almost reached the final legal stage and that’s why it’s now turned into a political debate,” said Aiman Mazyek, of Germany’s Central Council of Muslims. “In the past, schools have been more pragmatic and laid-back about the issue, but now that has been pushed back.”

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BFP links up with Australian far-right racists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

British FreedomHaving formalised its alliance with the English Defence League, the British Freedom Party is now keen to reinforce its international links. The BFP has posted an extended interview with Andrew J. Philips, chairman of the Australian Protectionist Party, who claims that the APP is a “sensible, moderate but uncompromising nationalist party”. It is in fact a far-right group specialising in anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim propaganda.

The APP’s politics can be judged by the fact that their website has reproduced material by the British National Party and featured a video of a speech by South African white supremacist Arthur Kemp, author of March of the Titans: a History of the White Race, at a time when Kemp was a leading figure in the BNP (“Another one of Arthur Kemp’s excellent speeches…not to be missed”).

You can understand why the BFP and APP might enjoy a warm relationship, because the two organisations certainly have a lot in common. The BFP’s new chairman Paul Weston has written an article entitled “The ethnic cleansing of the English”, which warns that due to “mass immigration” the “indigenous race” will be reduced to “ethnic minority status in their homeland within twenty years”.

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