Judge issues permanent injunction on Oklahoma Sharia law ban

A federal judge in Oklahoma has issued an order putting on hold the certification of a ballot measure that forbids state courts from considering or using international laws, as well as Sharia, or Islamic law. That permanent injunction will allow the judge more time to consider the constitutional issues raised by State Question 755, which was approved by voters earlier this month.

Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange had earlier issued a temporary restraining order in favor of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which had sued to nullify the law completely.

“While the public has an interest in the will of the voters being carried out,” wrote the judge in Monday’s order, “the court finds that the public has a more profound and long-term interest in upholding an individual’s constitutional rights.”

The language of her 15-page order indicated Miles-LaGrange has initial doubts about the constitutionality of the ballot measure. She said the case goes “to the very foundation of our country, our Constitution, and particularly the Bill of Rights. Throughout the course of our country’s history, the will of the ‘majority’ has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals.”

CNN, 29 November 2010

Daniel Pipes on ‘Islamist Turkey vs. secular Iran’

'Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace': Erdogan, Peres,  Ki-moon, Moussa
Turkish prime minister Recep Erdoğan walks out of the room at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos after clashing with Shimon Peres over Israel’s attack on Gaza

Over at the Washington Times, Daniel Pipes offers a bizarre assessment of Turkey and Iran and their future political evolution.

According to Pipes, experience of an Islamic state has caused Iranians to become disillusioned with Islamism, opening up the prospect of the country eventually adopting a secular pro-western form of government. However, “while the Turkish government presents few immediate dangers, its more subtle application of Islamism’s hideous principles makes it loom large as a future threat”.

If the AKP wins the next parliamentary elections, Pipes asserts, “that will likely establish the premise for them to remain enduringly in power, during which they will bend the country to fit their will, instituting Islamic law (the Sharia), and building an Islamic order resembling Khomeini’s idealized polity”.

Pipes concludes: “Long after Khomeini and Osama bin Laden are forgotten, I venture, Mr. Erdogan and his colleagues will be remembered as the inventors of a more lasting and insidious form of Islamism.”

You can’t help suspecting that Pipes’ attempt to transform the Justice and Development Party into an Islamist bogeyman is not unconnected with the fact that under the AKP the Turkish government has emerged as a severe critic of Israel, first over the Gaza war and then over the Gaza flotilla raid.

Outpouring of community support for Oregon mosque hit by arson attack

CORVALLIS — The parking lot in front of the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Center filled Monday with community members and religious leaders uniting against the arson that charred the mosque’s office the day before.

“This shouldn’t happen here – it shouldn’t happen anywhere – but Corvallis is a wonderful, open community,” said Laurie Holst as she stopped by the mosque to drop off a potted plant and card. The gifts were part of a growing cluster of poinsettias, bouquets and cards placed in front of the men’s entrance to the mosque.

Holst has lived in Corvallis for more than 25 years. She went to school at Oregon State and now works there as an adviser for students in natural resources. “This is as abhorrent as what happened in Portland – this is just wrong, it shouldn’t happen anywhere or here,” she said, fighting back tears. “I want these folks that worship here to know that this is not Corvallis … it’s some redneck idiot.”

For Mohamed Siala, the director of the mosque, the outpouring of support served as a silver lining. “This is how the community in Corvallis is here,” he said as he spoke with Benjamin Barnett, rabbi at Beit Am, a local synagogue. “We want you to pray for us and use this opportunity to get closer to each other.”

Barnett said members of his synagogue planned to meet to discuss what they can do to best offer support – fundraising probably won’t be necessary because the damage will be covered by insurance. “The main thing we want to do is show solidarity,” Barnett said. “The news should be that the majority of us want to stand side by side.”

OregonLive.com, 29 November 2010

BNP tries to regain lost ground in Stoke by scaremongering over halal meat

Say No to IslamFar-right politicians in Stoke-on-Trent are campaigning for halal meat to be taken off school menus.

Seventeen of the 93 city schools are offering the ritually-slaughtered meat in their canteens after at least 10 per cent of parents backed the move. But the British National Party (BNP) is calling on Stoke-on-Trent City Council to ban the halal meat on animal welfare grounds.

BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman today denied the campaign is an attack on Muslims. Instead he urged councillors to stop the “barbaric method of slaughter”.

“The council tries to make out that it is just an option, but I don’t believe that is the case in all these schools. I think it is just being served up and pupils are not even aware that they are eating it. It’s against the law for me to kill an animal in that way, but it’s fine for a Muslim or a Jew to do it. It’s an unacceptable state of affairs.”

Halal meat has been provided to some city schools since 2000. It is estimated that halal meat accounts for about four per cent of the meat served in the 17 schools. All the schools offer an alternative to halal meat, except St Mark’s Primary.

Shelton Islamic Centre director Rana Tufail, said: “I am not aware of any problems caused by serving halal meat in schools in the last 10 years.” Community Voice Councillor Peter Kent-Baguley accused the BNP of “making mischief” against Muslims. He said: “The BNP are fiddling while our services burn, and are patently seeking to make trouble.”

Parents today hit out at the BNP motion which goes before the council on December 9. Sarah Richardson, whose nine-year-old son, Jordan, attends St Mark’s Primary, said: “I don’t see what the fuss is about. Jordan loves the food at school.” Jordan, of Whitmore Street, Hanley, said: “I really like the halal burgers, but my favourite school dinner is curry.”

The Sentinel, 30 November 2010


See also BNP news report, 24 November 2010

No doubt the BNP hopes this campaign will restore their political fortunes in Stoke-on-Trent, where election defeats and defections have reduced them to five councillors from a high point of nine, while in this year’s general election BNP candidate Simon Darby received a derisory 7.7% of the vote in Stoke-on-Trent Central, a seat the BNP thought it had a good chance of winning.

EMRC report shows how mosques combat political violence

Islamophobia_and_Anti-Muslim_Hate_CrimeDemonised Mosques Tackle Political Violence

Launching our new report Islamophobia and anti-Muslim Hate Crime: UK case studies at the London Muslim Centre (Saturday 27 November) and the Birmingham Central Mosque (Sunday 28 November) we highlighted the success of the East London Mosque in Whitechapel, the Masjid al-Gharaaba in Luton, the North London Central Mosque in Finsbury Park and other UK mosques in tackling political violence of two kinds: on the one hand, tackling arson attacks and intimidation by far right thugs against mosques and Muslims; on the other, tackling al-Qaeda inspired violent extremism.

Criticising a small number of lazy journalists and politicians who wrongly conflate the East London Mosque and other mosques with extremism we dedicated our report to Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, the chairman of the East London Mosque who has empowered and encourageed local youth workers involved in successful violent crime reduction initiatives in one of the UK’s poorest neighbourhoods.

At the heart of defending Park 51, the so called Ground Zero Mosque, Professor John Esposito flew in from New York to deliver a powerful keynote speech in support of UK and US mosques in the face of violence, intimidation and demonisation and in support of our research findings.

Sadly, as our report highlights, a significant number of smaller mosques and isolated Muslim communities in market towns and suburbs throughout the UK do not have the resources or support to defend themselves against political violence and anti-Muslim hate crimes of all kinds.

We therefore note with enthusiasm the formation of an overdue All Party Parliamentary Commission on Islamophobia – after a long campaign led by Dr. Bari – and call on parliamentarians to defend demonised mosques and to offer support to isolated mosques under seige.

Dr. Robert Lambert and Dr. Jonathan Githens-Mazer, co-directors of the European Muslim Research Centre, University of Exeter.

European Muslim Research Centre press release, 29 November 2010

The 224-page report can be downloaded here.

CAIR asks FBI to probe attack on Calif. Sikh mistaken for Muslim

The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) today called on the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for an attack on a Sikh taxi driver who was attacked after apparently being mistaken for a Muslim.

CAIR-SV reported that the driver was severely injured after being attacked early Sunday by two men he picked up in his taxi. He reportedly told his attackers, “I’m not Muslim.” One of the attackers allegedly shouted expletives and called the driver “Osama Bin Laden,” in apparent reference to the turban worn by Sikh men.

“No American should fear attack merely for being perceived to be Muslim,” said CAIR-SV Civil Rights Coordinator Adel Syed. “The FBI and local law enforcement authorities should investigate whether this disturbing crime was motivated by anti-Muslim hate and then bring appropriate charges when and if the perpetrators are apprehended.”

CAIR press release, 29 November 2010

See also KTXL.TV, 28 November 2010

Eric Pickles recycles ‘war on Christmas’ myth

bnp demonstrationTabloid Watch takes up the press release “Councils should take pride in Christmas celebrations“, issued by Communities and Local Government secretary Eric Pickles, which repeats the familiar right-wing nonsense about the abolition of Christmas. The press release states:

“Mr Pickles urged councils to take pride in Britain’s Christian heritage; celebrating the nativity and all the traditions that have sprung up around it from tinsel and tree lights to turkey.

“We should actively celebrate the Christian basis of Christmas, and not allow politically correct Grinches to marginalise Christianity and the importance of the birth of Christ. The War on Christmas is over, and likes of Winterval, Winter Lights and Luminous deserve to be in the dustbin of history.”

Mr Pickles explained that the Christian festival has previously been ambushed by those intent on re-branding Christmas as a bland “Winter festival”, insisting that multi-cultural Britain can enjoy Christmas without abandoning its underlying Christian heritage in a misguided attempt to appease these politically correct “Grinches”.

See also Enemies of Reason, 27 November 2010

Massive vote fraud in Egyptian elections – still no word of criticism from Harry’s Place

Members of Egypt’s largest opposition party braced for a bruising defeat in parliamentary elections Sunday amid reports that proxies of the ruling party [National Democratic Party – NDP] committed widespread fraud and prevented election monitors working for rival candidates from monitoring the polls.

Muslim Brotherhood leaders said government security forces and election officials kept their delegates from entering dozens of polling stations and prevented many of their supporters from casting ballots.

“The government has used all the means to prevent people from going to polling stations,” Muslim Brotherhood campaign coordinator Mohammed Mursi said Sunday night as the polls were closing. “It seems the regime does not want to have real opposition in parliament.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, Egyptian security forces detained hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters and disqualified many of its candidates.

Opposition politicians and human rights activists said they recorded dozens of cases of ballot stuffing, vote buying and voter intimidation. Outside several key polling stations, bands of men in civilian clothes beat back voters and supporters of opposition candidates, in some instances working in coordination with police forces, human rights activists and witnesses said.

“It’s a situation in which the ruling party has a relatively free hand to manipulate the results,” said Tom Malinowski, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, who was among the group’s representatives monitoring the situation outside polling stations Sunday. “The government’s objective seems to be to make voting simultaneously dangerous and futile to discourage everyone other than those mobilized by the ruling party from going to the polls.”

In Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city and a Brotherhood stronghold, opposition candidates described overt violations. “The ballot boxes arrived full,” Brotherhood candidate Sobhy Saleh said in an interview Sunday morning. “The will of the people is being stolen.” On Sunday night, an aide said Saleh had been wounded in clashes and was recovering at a hospital.

At the polling station at the Hoda Shaarawy School in Cairo’s upscale Dokki neighborhood, women dressed in head scarves banged on the green gate, pleading to be allowed to cast votes. Election officials held them at bay for most of the day and opened the doors only to allow in voters bused in by NDP activists.

Washington Post, 29 November 2010


We’ve already pointed to the failure of websites like Harry’s Place, who erupted in fury at the attack on democracy in Iran, to express even the slightest criticism of the attack on democracy in Egypt. Apparently it’s cause for outrage if an anti-western Islamist regime suppresses its opponents, but a matter of insignificance if a pro-western regime suppresses an Islamist opposition.

See also Newsweek, 29 November 2010

Swiss People’s Party launches anti-Islam manifesto

SVP anti-Islam manifesto

A year after Swiss voters approved a ban on the building of minarets, both pro and contra groups are launching new campaigns to put the issue back on the political agenda.

An anti-minaret movement led by Ulrich Schlüer of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party presented a manifesto on Monday against the Islamisation of Switzerland. The document underlines Switzerland’s Christian foundations and aims to prevent the creation of a parallel society inspired by Islamic sharia law.

Schlüer said the group had waited a year in vain for the government to implement the minaret ban. A sign of the lack of progress was the green light canton Bern gave in September to the building of a minaret in the town of Langenthal, the politician said. The Bern authorities argued at the time that planning permission was originally granted months before the controversial vote.

Also on Monday, an Islamic group based in Bern said it was launching an initiative to lift the minaret ban. The Islamic Central Council – which represents 13 Islamic organisations with 1,700 members – said the aim of the initiative was to restore “the constitutional right of equality of all citizens regardless of their religious faith”.

The council said it would submit a text to the federal chancellery in January for initial examination. If the group decides to go ahead, it will have to collect 100,000 signatures within 18 months in order to force a nationwide vote.

More than 300,000 Muslims reside in Switzerland. When it is completed, the Langenthal minaret will be the fifth in the country.

swissinfo, 29 November 2010

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EDL shows violent racism with ‘Burn a mosque’ chant

English Defence League supporters showed their true colours in Preston on Saturday, when a group marched down a main shopping street chanting: “Burn a mosque down, burn a mosque.”

The EDL make frequent claims that they are not racist or violent, but their deeply offensive call to burn down Muslims’ places of worship shows the reality of the organisation, which has links with the British National Party and other fascist groups.

The video shows the group of EDL supporters – who appear to have separated from the main body of up to 1,000 that descended on Preston on 27 November – chanting the offensive slogan.

UAF news report, 29 November 2010