Nick Clegg sets out vision of multiculturalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nick CleggDeputy PM Nick Clegg has set out his vision of what multiculturalism means in a speech in Luton.

He backed David Cameron over the need to end “segregation” of communities. But, in contrast to the prime minister, Mr Clegg stressed in his speech the importance of multiculturalism to “an open, confident, society”.

Mr Cameron grabbed headlines around the world with his call last month for an end to “state multiculturalism”. In a speech in Luton, Mr Clegg said the prime minister was “absolutely right to make his argument for ‘muscular liberalism'”, and “to assert confidently our liberal values”. But he also attempted to strike a different tone to the prime minister on the issue of multiculturalism.

He said: “Where multiculturalism is held to mean more segregation, other communities leading parallel lives, it is clearly wrong. For me, multiculturalism has to seen as a process by which people respect and communicate with each other, rather than build walls between each other. Welcoming diversity but resisting division: that’s the kind of multiculturalism of an open, confident society.”

BBC News, 3 March 2011

See also the Economist, which points to Clegg’s defence of participation by Lib Dem MPs Simon Hughes and Andrew Stunell at last year’s Global Peace and Unity event. Cameron, it will be recalled, banned Sayeeda Warsi from speaking at the GPU.

Pete King, America’s new McCarthy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter King protest“Let us call this what it is: bigotry draped in the American flag – nothing more than a fear-mongering attempt, drenched in political theatrics, laced with reactionary hatred, and deceptively packaged in an incredulous label of national security.”

Seema Jilani addresses an open letter to the chairman of the homeland security committee over the House hearings on “homegrown Muslim terrorism”.

Hate comes to Orange County

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Last month a crowd of right-wing anti-Muslim bigots demonstrated outside a charity fundraiser organised by the Islamic Circle of North America in the city of Yorba Linda in Orange County, California. The Council on American-Islamic relations have released a video of these events. American Muslims, including families with young children, are subjected to shouts of “go back home” and chants of “Mohammed was a child molester”, while Republican politicians give speeches in support of the protest.

A local councillor named Deborah Pauly, referring to the ICNA meeting, states: “What’s going on over there right now, make no bones about it, that is pure unadulterated evil….  I know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in Paradise.”

Melbourne: civil libertarians slam anti-Islam group

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Q Society logoAn anti-Islamic group’s opposition to a weekly Muslim prayer session being held in Melbourne’s inner suburbs has been condemned by a civil liberties organisation, Liberty Victoria.

Q Society opposes what it calls the “Islamisation of Australia”, saying accommodating Islamic custom and law threatens Australia’s basic freedoms. It has started a petition against a planning amendment at Melbourne’s Port Phillip Council that would formalise an existing weekly hour-long prayer session at a St Kilda community house.

Muslims have been praying at the weekly Friday session for years.

Liberty Victoria president Spencer Zifcak said Q Society’s campaign “bears all the hallmarks of a deliberate attempt to deny to one religion the freedom of religious belief accorded to every other religion”.

With a large Jewish community living in the St Kilda area, Professor Zifcak said Jewish groups in the area had welcomed the planning application but Q Society was arguing that allowing more Muslims to pray in the community house “would be contrary to social cohesion in the area where people of the Christian and Jewish faiths are in a majority”.

Prof Zifcak said the Islamic prayer group had been meeting without incident or concern for years.

A spokesperson for the Q Society has described it as “a group of individuals from varying backgrounds, of different cultural and religious persuasions who are committed to safeguard and promote Australia’s free, open and democratic society”.

AAP, 2 March 2011

Indicative of the Q Society’s politics was their response to the proposal (later adopted) that Marrickville Council in New South Wales should join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. The Q Society organised a petition claiming that the councillors responsible for this initiative had “formally aligned their municipality with terrorist organisations seeking to overthrow the State of Israel” and were “supporting the worldview of totalitarian Islam”.

Two men sentenced for spraying racist graffiti on mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hudson mosque graffitiHUDSON — Two of three young city men accused of spray-painting a mosque in September were sentenced Tuesday in Columbia County Court.

An anti-Muslim epithet was sprayed in red, 6-inch block letters on the back wall of the Hudson Islamic Center, a community center and mosque on North Third Street.

Christopher Osborne, 20, was convicted of first-degree aggravated harassment, a felony, and creating graffiti, a misdemeanor, according to Beth Cozzolino, district attorney for Columbia County. He was sentenced to six months in jail with five years probation and 100 hours of community service.

James Glover, 20, was convicted of two misdemeanors: fourth-degree criminal facilitation and creating graffiti. He was given 60 days in jail with three years probation, Cozzolino said.

The third man involved with the crime, Roy Francis, 21, is set to be sentenced on April 5 in Columbia County Court, Cozzolino said. He was not sentenced Tuesday because he and the others pled on different dates.

Albany Times Union, 1 March 2011

Posted in USA

Fox’s favourite ‘Muslim radical’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hannity and Choudary (1)

On Thursday, the radical Muslim and veteran provocateur Anjem Choudary plans to hold a demonstration in front of the White House calling for an extreme form of sharia to reign in America.

Whether the protest actually goes forward – there’s a real chance it won’t, if Choudary’s past stunts are any guide – doesn’t really matter. Choudary, who is known for applauding terrorism and calling for stonings of gay people and the overthrow of democratic governments, has already logged several appearances on Fox and CNN, generated a bunch of articles in the right-wing press, and even prompted a member of Congress to demand that he be banned from the country. All that in the last month.

Continue reading →

Scottish Defence League protest flops

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paisley was on alert on Saturday when a far-right political group arrived in town to demonstrate – but the protesters were outnumbered by cops.

Scores of riot cops lined the streets of the town centre to keep watch on the Scottish Defence League after speculation that their supporters were coming en masse. But the rally caused little more than a stir when only around 50 turned up and the protest petered out after a few wayward shouts to passing shoppers.

The controversial group, an offshoot of the English Defence League, spread their message against Muslim “extremists and jihadists”, with organisers claiming that ministers are making a stand against the “Islamist assault” which they claim is threatening British culture.

As well as being outnumbered by police, the SDL rally was also dwarfed by a counter rally by the Paisley and District Trades Union Council. Duncan Macintosh, spokesman for the trades union council, said:

“The Scottish Defence League’s small meeting in Paisley was met by our larger counter demonstration. News of their visit to the town leaked out only days beforehand, but local people responded quickly to calls to gather from Unite Against Fascism and Paisley and District Trades Union Council.

“The visitors were told clearly that they were not welcome in Renfrewshire by leaders of the SNP, Labour and Lib Dem groups of Renfrewshire Council, and spokespersons for the SSP and Solidarity. Derek Mackay, speaking as leader of the council, affirmed that ours is a tolerance and inclusive society in which the SDL’s divisive race hatred had no place.

“The large contingent of police brought in for the morning easily contained the aggressive behaviour of the visitors, and they soon left the town on a hired coach.”

Paisley Daily Express, 1 March 2011