Via LoonWatch we have the response of right-wing US blogger Debbie Schlussel to the killing of Osama bin Laden.
‘Al-Qaeda arrest’ whistleblower silenced by university
PRESS RELEASE
‘Al-Qaeda Arrest’ Whistleblower Silenced by University
The website of the British International Studies Association [1] has removed a whistle-blowing article written by Dr Rod Thornton [2], a former soldier turned academic who served in a counter-terrorism role in Northern Ireland. Dr Thornton’s article – ‘How a student’s use of a library book became a “major Islamist plot”’ – exposes how senior management at the University of Nottingham caused two men of ethnic minority background – Rizwaan Sabir, an MA student and Hicham Yezza, a member of staff – to be arrested and detained for six days under the Terrorism Act 2000 [3]. The removal of his article has allegedly come as a result of pressure on the website’s editors by the University of Nottingham, ahead of its general release to the public and media today.
The article details how the university reported the two men to police for being in possession of three publicly available documents, all of which were available from the university’s own library and, various academic and governmental websites [3]. Dr Thornton exposes how, in the aftermath of the men’s release, the university’s management conducted a behind-the-scenes campaign of disinformation and spin against them and their university supporters, disregarding university statutes and governmental guidance. All of this in an effort to shift blame and silence those who challenged the university’s account – i.e. that the research material was illegal and the arrests were justified.
What’s more, Dr. Thornton’s article uncovers how Nottingham University’s misinformation has seeped into policy circles. The arrest of the ‘Nottingham Two’ is now advertised as a ‘major Islamist plot’ by the Home Office [5]. Similarly, another government department calls the library books in question ‘extremist material’ [6]. His revelations arrive immediately after a cross-party parliamentary group published a report criticising universities for being hotbeds of radicalisation. Dr. Thornton’s account, however, exposes how a university’s unaccountable actions aggravate this problem.
Dr Thornton, a former counter-insurgency advisor to the British and US militaries said: “The paper is a detailed document that is carefully sourced. It tells of a very worrying incident which has serious repercussions for campus relations and for the ability of academics to fully to understand difficult issues such as terrorism. I am saddened by the removal of my paper from the BISA website. I cannot see that there is any reason for its removal other than the fact that the university is trying to prevent its secrets being publicly known, though I would hope that this was not the case.”
Now a PhD student in Glasgow, Rizwaan Sabir said: “Dr Thornton’s article proves that university management singled me out for differential treatment, despite my innocence. It is apparent that they and certain staff attempted to undermine my future at the university, perhaps because I would have been a constant reminder of their anti-terror cock up! The findings of this research, along with Nottingham’s attempts to censor it, are damning. Such cavalier behaviour should not be tolerated in British academia. I call on the government to launch an independent public inquiry into the conduct of the university.”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:http://www.scribd.com/doc/54454049/EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY-Radicalisation-by-Universities-or-Radicalisation-at-Universities-by-Rod-Thornton
BNP council candidate rejects accusations of racism, says some of her best friends are Muslims
A British National Party election candidate has provoked fury after making vile racist slurs on her Facebook page.
Nancy Shaw-Farmer, who is bidding to become a councillor in Roe Lee in Blackburn, has been described as “an absolute disgrace … living in the dark ages” whose remarks “were bad, even by BNP standards”.
The 45-year-old former Clitheroe Grammar School pupil defended her comments, insisting people who found them offensive “didn’t have a sense of humour” and refused to apologise.
Temecula anti-Islam group descends on high school
A Temecula-based anti-Islam group handed out fliers to students at a Murrieta high school. About a dozen members of Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment perched themselves on the sidewalk outside Murrieta Valley High School Tuesday, handing out fliers to students walking by.
A person unaffiliated with the group stood across the street from the high school, holding yellow signs that read, “Islam = Hate,” and, “Say No 2 Islam.”
The letter handed out was the same one the group gave to students outside Chaparral High School in January.
Seventh grade students in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District learn about the history of Islam as part of Social Studies. The letter accuses teachers of lying about Islam.
“Did you know you were subjected to some really serious brainwashing when you were in the seventh grade, and that it is continuing even today?” the flier stated. “That means you have been fed a bunch of lies. Lies can mess up your life forever. Do you like being lied to?”
The group also informed school district officials the day before that they planned to hand out the fliers, said Karen Parris, spokeswoman for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. The district sent a phone message home to parents, telling them about the outreach.
“Under the first amendment, the group has the right to express their views on Islam and the building of mosques in the United States. Our students have the right to refuse the fliers or to accept the fliers, to engage in conversation, or to continue walking,” the message stated. “School staff and Murrieta police will be on hand to ensure that this is a peaceable exercise, as promised by the Concerned Citizens for the First Amendment.”
School officials also advised the students and gave them the choice of taking an alternative route to leave the school, the message stated.
Many students crumpled up the fliers and threw them on the ground, according to a parent who was present.
Muslim mothers protest against French education minister’s demand that they leave hijab at home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbEn3hF7b_g
Angry Muslim mothers and rights groups in France rally against a controversial proposal that bans Muslim moms from taking part in their children’s extracurricular activities at school.
Protesters chanted slogans against French Education Minister Luc Chatel, who has asked Muslim mothers that want to accompany their children on field trips to leave home their veils, whether they are the version that also covers the face or the simple headscarves.
With chants of “Mothers excluded, children humiliated”, the female demonstrators criticized the French government for what they described as controlling their lives and their children’s education, a Press TV correspondent reported Monday.
In 2004, France banned students from wearing Islamic shawls but the official anti-discrimination body now says the ban applies only to students and not their parents.
There is concern that a vaguely-worded decree would ultimately prevent women that wear the Islamic headdress from even entering the school or lead to humiliations that render them second-class citizens.
The protesters argue that the proposal fuels Islamophobia and flies in the face of women’s rights. “It’s always women they point their finger at. In 2004, it was a young girl who was expelled from school and today it’s their mothers,” said N’della Paye with Feminists for Equality Collective.
The recent development follows efforts by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to pass anti-Muslim laws, including the recent burqa ban, to seek re-election by gaining the support of the National Front, some observers believe.
Most teachers welcome the participation of parents in school activities with open arms. However, many mothers wonder whether the message being conveyed is that Muslims are a bad influence on children.
School shooting threat in Bergen
A junior high school in Bergen, west Norway, was evacuated this Tuesday morning after a national newspaper received a message from a pupil claiming to have a weapon in their school bag with the intention of shooting others, “especially Muslims”.
No-one is believed to have been hurt in the incident at Gimle junior high school, during which the school was evacuated just before 11.30. Police briefly questioned two students in connection with the incident, but did not find a weapon and have made no arrests.
At 09.40, a message was sent to newspaper VG that a person at the school had a weapon on school property with the intention to begin shooting people within half an hour.
According to VG, the message reads: “today, May 3, big things will happen. In exactly half an hour it starts. A massacre at Gimle school Bergen. Everyone that stands in the way will die, especially Muslims are vulnerable. The weapon is securely placed in the bag and ready for action.”
After the newspaper passed the message on to the police, armed units and sharpshooters took up positions around the school and evacuated the buildings class by class. Ambulances were also stationed nearby, and the local university hospital was prepared for an emergency.
One student at the school told website bt.no that “we have received a message to sit away from the windows”, and added that “everyone is hysterical”. Students’ telephones and bags were searched by the police.
High court overturns acquittal, fines Lars Hedegaard for inciting hatred against Muslims
The Eastern High Court today fined Lars Hedegaard, the president of the Free Press Society, 5,000 kroner for making racially offensive comments in December 2009.
“Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins, or their fathers”, and “When a Muslim man rapes a woman, it is in his right to do so”, were among the comments Hedegaard made during a 35-minute interview at a Christmas party with the author of the blog snaphanen.dk, who subsequently published the comments on the blog.
No show from English Defence League leadership at Weymouth demonstration
The English Defence League’s march through Weymouth yesterday in protest against the supposed “entrapment of the youth of Weymouth by extremist Muslims” turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Given that Muslims comprise 0.3% of the population of Weymouth, and the EDL would be hard pressed to find an adherent of mainstream Islam in the town never mind an “Islamic extremist”, perhaps the organisers should be thankful anyone turned up at all.
No doubt frustrated by the absence of a substantial Muslim community to intimidate, the EDL called off their street protest after only ten minutes and returned to the main business of the day – getting tanked up at Moby Dick’s pub.
The demonstration had been organised by one Tim Ablitt, who you may recall was arrested last year on suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to bomb Bournemouth mosque. EDL co-leader Kevin Carroll was due to speak alongside Ablitt at the protest, but neither Carroll nor any other representative of the national leadership could be bothered to make the journey to Dorset.
Back at the pub, one participant announced his dissatisfaction: “Not happy no leadership showed. We travelled 262 miles to be here. Abt 200-250 EDL showed but where where [sic] leadership?”
Update: See “EDL march in Weymouth: Hundreds show their feelings against ‘fascists'”, Dorset Echo, 2 May 2011
Weymouth: hundreds join protest against EDL march
At the opposite end of the seafront hundreds of people gathered to oppose the EDL’s presence.
Crowds assembled at Weymouth Pavilion to hear members of the public, community leaders and political figures speak against the group. The organisers, Dan Brember, of Weymouth, and Richard Baker, of Dorchester, estimated that around 350 people were present.
Secretary of the Trades Union Council Tim Nicholls, who led the protest at the Pavilion, said the counter-group wanted to show that the EDL are “not welcome in Weymouth”. He said: “They are a racist organisation and where they have marched before they have left a wreck of racist attacks behind them.”
Mayor of Weymouth Paul Kimber, who introduced the 10 speakers, said he was pleased to see that people turned up “to show hatred” towards EDL.
One of the speakers, former South Dorset MP, Lord Knight, said: “We have a small Muslim community in the borough. These people are scared of fascism – they’re scared of what’s going on.”
Weymouth and Portland Labour councillor Simon Bowkett added that Weymouth has an Islamic population of just 0.3 per cent. He said: “It’s absurd that the EDL is here. We barely have a Muslim population, let alone an issue with radicalism.”
Weyman Bennett, from Unite Against Fascism, said it concerned him that EDL members had previously burned the Koran. He said: “When people start off burning books it’s not very far from when they start talking about burning people.”
Budmouth Technology College student Lorenzo Pagano, 17, added: “I think there always needs to be a presence where such evils arise. All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men and women to do nothing.”
Jason Cridland, from Radipole, was one of the families to join in the march with his wife Debbie, brother Richard and three children including two-year-old Mollie. He said: “EDL feed off misinformation – they’ve become very dogmatic about something they want to believe in that doesn’t reflect reality. That’s primarily why we’re here today.”
Sean Gray, 61, from Fordington, added: “I think that racism is a cancer that we can do without in this area. I don’t think there’s a basis for these sort of organisations in Weymouth or in Dorset.”
Unite Against Fascism group will be holding a meeting on Saturday at 1.30pm in the Colliton Club in Dorchester.
See also UAF news report, 30 April 2011
Pics of anti-EDL protest here
Bin Laden death inspires anti-Islam graffiti on US mosque
Portland Police are investigating anti-Islam graffiti painted onto the Maine Muslim Community Center on Anderson Street.
The graffiti included: “Osama today, Islam tomorow (sic),” “Long live the West” and “Free Cyprus”.
The letters were written in maroon paint on the mosque’s gray cement block wall. The graffiti was written sometime between late Sunday night and about 7:15 a.m. today, when it was discovered by Portland Housing Authority workers on Anderson Street.
A crew from Graffiti Busters was called in this morning to remove the graffiti, and it had finished the task by 10:45 a.m.
Officials with the community center said they recently completed purchase of the building, where they’ve been since 2007, for $1 million. They said they’re disappointed by the graffiti and concerned about the impact it will have on children.
Portland Press Herald, 2 May 2011
See also MPBN, 2 May 2011
Update: See “Anti-Islam message widely denounced; mayor weighs in”, Portland Daily Sun, 3 May 2011
