Potential US presidential candidate infuriated by Christian church allowing Muslims to pray there

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Devout Christian Mike Huckabee is having a hard time understanding the concept of charity. The former Arkansas governor and potential 2012 hopeful visited Fox and Friends to discuss a small church that had allowed Muslims to worship when mosques in the area proved too small or were under construction, something he considered shocking and the beginning of a slippery slope: “Should the church be rented out to show adult movies on the weekend?”

Huckabee was clearly incensed with the news that Muslims were worshipping in a church. “As much as I respect the autonomy of each local church, you just wonder, what are they thinking?” he told the Fox and Friends crew. “If the purpose of a church is to push forward the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then you have a Muslim group that says that Jesus Christ and all the people that follow him are a bunch of infidels who should be essentially obliterated, I have a hard time understanding that.”

Mediaite, 19 February 2011

‘Islam is a totalitarian political and religious ideology’, Australian senator claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cory BernardiOpposition Leader Tony Abbott has been forced to dissociate himself from controversial remarks by his shadow parliamentary secretary Cory Bernardi, who said he was ”against Islam”.

Senator Bernardi, one of the party’s most prominent rightwingers, said on radio that, in the past decade or two, there had been ”an increasing indulgence of people who are pursuing an ideology and a values system that is at complete odds with Western society and with Western culture”. If he said he was against Islam, Senator Bernardi said, ”I’m called a racist or a bigot.”

Asked whether Mr Abbott had tried to stop him from expressing his views, Senator Bernardi said: “He certainly hasn’t”.

He said that “Islam is the problem – it’s not Muslims. Muslims are individuals that practise their faith in their own way. But Islam is a totalitarian political and religious ideology. It tells people everything about how they need to conduct themselves, who they are allowed to marry and how they are allowed to treat other people.”

Mr Abbott said last night: ”There are Islamic extremists just as there are other extremists that are a problem in a tolerant and pluralistic society. In suggesting that Islam itself is the problem, Cory does not represent my views.”

The latest embarrassment follows a damaging week for the opposition, which started with a furore over comments from its immigration spokesman Scott Morrison objecting to the government flying relatives from Christmas Island to Sydney for the funerals of asylum seekers who drowned late last year.

This was followed by a leak alleging Mr Morrison had suggested at a shadow cabinet meeting that the opposition capitalise on public sentiment against Muslim immigration.

The Age, 19 February 2011

Update:  See the Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 2011

‘Don’t let anyone steal this revolution from you’, Qaradawi tells huge rally in Tahrir Square

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Tahrir Square 18 February 2011

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a leading Egyptian Islamic theologian popularized by Al Jazeera, returned to Cairo today to deliver a stirring but overtly political sermon, calling on Egyptians to preserve national unity as they press for democratic progress.

“Don’t let anyone steal this revolution from you – those hypocrites who will put on a new face that suits them,” he said, speaking to at least 200,000 who gathered for Friday prayers in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt’s uprising. “The revolution isn’t over. It has just started to build Egypt … guard your revolution.”

The massive turnout and Mr. Qaradawi’s warning that the revolution is not complete demonstrate that if the military drags its feet on reform, another uprising could begin. And while his sermon was nonsectarian and broadly political, the turnout was also a reminder that political Islam is likely to play a larger role in Egypt than it has for decades.

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Marine Le Pen anticipates boost for Front National from Sarkozy’s Islam debate

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Front National demonstration

France’s far-right National Front said on Friday that a planned national debate on Islam and secularism would boost its support and improve its chances in the presidential election next year.

Party leader Marine Le Pen, who took over last month from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, mocked the planned debate as a new opinion poll showed she could score a strong 20 percent in the first round of the presidential vote.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government wants the debate, due in April, to discuss whether France’s five-million-strong Muslim minority supports the official separation of church and state.

Le Pen said it could end up backfiring on Sarkozy and his ally Jean-Francois Cope, the UMP party leader who announced on Wednesday that the debate would start in April.

“The last time (Sarkozy) used that, there was a debate about national identity and the National Front scored 15 percent in the regional elections,” she told France Info radio. “So keep it up, Mr Cope – a little debate here, a little blah-blah about Islam and secularism there, and I think we’ll end up winning 25 percent in the presidential election.”

Critics said Sarkozy’s government-sponsored debate on national identity in 2009-2010, which led to a ban on full face veils in public, turned into a public forum to air complaints about Muslims and make the minority feel stigmatised.

The Ifop poll published on Friday showed Le Pen could win 20 percent in the first round, which would put her in third place behind Sarkozy but in striking distance of Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, the main opposition candidate.

Reuters, 18 February 2011

The perils of being drunk and thick: after intimidating Dagenham residents and shopkeepers EDL man falls under train

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL in Green Lane2A man who had been protesting against a Dagenham mosque died on his way home after he was hit by a train at Chadwell Heath Station.

The 19-year-old, who has not been formally named by police, was struck by an oncoming train at around 3pm on Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man had been at an English Defence League (EDL) demonstration against a planned mosque and community centre in Green Lane, Dagenham. The protest began at around 12.30pm and finished shortly before 3pm.

Members of the EDL paid tribute to the man they called a “fearless lion”. Police believe the man may have been drinking, but this is yet to be confirmed following a toxicology examination.

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72 per cent of Americans say Congressional hearings should not single out Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

At the beginning of February a coalition of more than 50 Muslim, human rights and faith organisations sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi objecting to the planned hearings on the “radicalization” of American Muslims initiated by Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Arguing that “singling out a group of Americans for government scrutiny based on their faith is divisive and wrong”, the coalition urged: “If Chairman King wishes to address violent extremism, then we hope you will ensure that he examines violence motivated by extremist beliefs, in all its forms, in a full, fair and objective way.”

King’s response to the proposal was: “I totally reject that. That, to me, is political correctness at its worst. If we included these other violent events in the hearings, we’d be sending the false signal that we think there’s a security threat equivalency between Al Qaeda and the neo-Nazi movement, or Al Qaeda and gun groups. There is none…. I’m not going to dilute the hearings by including other extremists.”

However, over at The Plum Line, Greg Sargent draws our attention to a new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute which reveals that, while a majority of Americans think that King’s hearings are a good idea, an even larger majority agrees with the coalition’s proposal that the hearings should not single out Muslims.

PRRI survey

It’s not all good news, though. As Sargent points out, 46% of respondents agreed that US Muslims have not done enough to combat extremism within their own communities, which is one of the assumptions underpinning King’s initiative. Sargent summarises:

“While a huge majority rejects King’s insistence on focusing the hearings just on Muslims, the public just might receptive to their obvious, if implicit, intent: To put you on notice that ordinary Muslims in your midst just might be looking the other way while evil ones are plotting to kill you.”

Now, where do you suppose non-Muslim Americans might have acquired this distorted view of their Muslim neighbours? The Public Religion Research Institute reports:

“The survey findings also show a significant correlation between trust in Fox News and negative attitudes about Muslims. Americans who most trust Fox News are more likely to believe that Muslims want to establish Shari’a law, have not done enough to oppose extremism, and believe investigating Muslim extremism is a good idea.”

(For more on King’s hearings, see LoonWatch.)

Jewish Chronicle returns to witch-hunting ENGAGE

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Martin Bright and Simon Rocker weigh in with a piece entitled “Islamists get a key role in parliament“, while an editorial headed “Beyond the pale” (evidently the JC‘s concern for the sensitivities of the Jewish community doesn’t extend to the Irish community) calls for a boycott of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Islamophobia and follows Paul Goodman in extending the witch-hunt by proposing that supporters of ENGAGE should be disciplined by their respective political parties.

Predictably, that other voice of Zionist hostility towards politically engaged Muslims, the appalling Harry’s Place blog, has joined in the campaign (see here and here).

For the background, see “Pro-Israel lobby continues smear campaign against ENGAGE”, Inayat’s Corner, 16 February 2011

Zakir Naik doesn’t preach hate shock

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Zakir Naik2Controversial Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik addressed the Oxford Union on Friday despite the exclusion order against him entering the UK.

Naik gave a speech and answered questions via video link from India to a crowd of students and other onlookers at the event, organised by the famous debating society.

In his speech, Naik blamed the “virulent propaganda” in the media for the “misconception of Islam” and for his own ban on entry to the UK. He claimed the media printed portions of his speeches “out of context” and so portrayed him as a “preacher of hate”.

Home Secretary Theresa May excluded Naik from the UK last June after his “unacceptable behaviour”, referring to comments he made in speeches, which were then posted as YouTube videos. Naik defended himself during his address, declaring himself on a “mission is to spread peace”.

“Unfortunately today the media portrays Islam as a religion which promotes terrorism”, Naik said. “The media picks up on the black sheep of the Muslim community and portrays them as though they are exemplary Muslims.”

Despite the ban – a decision made as Naik’s presence in the UK “might not be conducive to the public good”, according to the Home Secretary – the controversial preacher was confident it would be temporary. “I have full faith that very shortly this exclusion order will be reversed”, he said. “I hope that I will have the chance to meet the Home Secretary personally and explain to her the peaceful message of Islam.”

During the hour-long talk, Naik referenced the Koran and Islam’s message of peace, and declared: “The only solution to the problem of humanity is peace. Irrespective of the differences, one common factor between all the people of the world is that all want peace.”

Naik was blunt in his statement that “Islam and I, too, condemn all forms of terrorism” and said: “Islam condemns the killing of any human being irrespective of caste colour or race, irrespective of nationality.”

Oxford Student, 17 February 2011

Cf. “Ofcom investigation into Peace TV”, Jewish Chronicle, 17 February 2011

Right-wing US media exploit attack on Lara Logan to justify anti-Muslim bigotry

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In the wake of the brutal and devastating sexual assault committed against CBS News international correspondent Lara Logan by an Egyptian mob, many in the right-wing media have used the attack to fuel their anti-Muslim agenda.

Media Matters, 17 February 2011

See also Rachel Newcomb, “‘Blame the Muslims’: violence against women in Egypt”, Huffington Post, 16 February 2011