Muslim Brotherhood website takes on Islamophobes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ikhwanophobia

Supporters of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood are squaring up to Western “Ikhwanophobes” via a new watchdog website.

Ikhwanophobia.com highlights articles and statements by prominent Western media and political figures that are critical of the Brotherhood and Islam.

In a section called Meet the Smearcasters, the site takes aim at Fox News personality Sean Hannity, televangelist Pat Robertson and far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, among others.

The manager of the website, Omar Mazin, told the BBC that the site was launched in June to address Ikhwanophobia in the West – Ikhwan being the Arabic word for brotherhood.

The website defines Ikhwanophobes – another term it coined – as those who believe Muslim Brotherhood members are religious fanatics, violent towards non-Muslims, and contemptuous of values such as equality, tolerance and democracy.

The site operates without censorship or direct supervision from the Brotherhood’s leadership, Mr Mazin told the BBC, and is managed from Egypt and abroad in consultation with Arab and Western intellectuals and academics.

“We monitor the Ikhwanophobes and their allegations and republish their material and comment on it in order to expose the Islamophobes and Ikhwanophobes,” he says.

BBC News, 6 September 2010

Reject Islamophobic myths about ‘honour killings’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gender equity and violence against women are two issues rightfully attracting more attention in the mainstream press, but in the court of public opinion, Islam is seen as an instigator of women’s oppression. Studies show that gender equity is cited as a reason for the public’s mistrust of Islam. Mass media message and biased campaigns – such as the one Ms. Pamela Geller waged in Chicago in August – that link so-called honor killings to Islam miss the opportunity to address what is truly intolerable: Gender-based violence. Such violence refers to crimes committed against females and cuts across numerous faiths, cultures and societies.

According to the 2009 United Nations Human Development report, approximately 5,000 people – the vast majority of them girls and women – fall victim to so-called honor killings annually. So-called honor killings are murders, usually committed against female family members accused of impugning the family honor. These crimes are symptomatic of highly patriarchal systems, where women are held responsible for maintaining personal, family and community honor.

These murders occur in the Islamic World; but, they also take place in other countries, such as India and Pakistan, and victims can be Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Sikh. The killings are often treated as a family matter and become extra-judicial. Even in rare cases in which perpetrators are prosecuted, sentences are often disappointingly light.

When so-called honor killings are linked to Islam, they ignore non-Muslim victims and ascribe the issue to “Islam” when these crimes are a cultural phenomenon with a past that pre-dates Islam. So-called honor killings occurred in ancient civilizations, including Babylonia, Biblical Israel and Rome.

In fact, there is no justification for so-called honor killing in Islamic law or religion. Similarly, there is no scriptural reasoning for these crimes in Hindu or Sikh sacred texts.

John Esposito and Sheila Lalwani at the Huffington Post, 4 September 2010

Dallas pastor says Islam is ‘a religion that promotes paedophilia’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wfb9p3qSRqA

It’s hard to know where to start in expressing dismay with the Rev. Robert Jeffress – for being uninformed, un-Christian or un-American. The pastor of Dallas’ First Baptist Church managed to squeeze all three into a recent rant against Islam.

On Aug. 22, First Baptist’s Sunday evening service featured the annual “Ask The Pastor” event. One of the written questions that Jeffress took that night asked about comparisons between Muslim jihad and the Christian Crusades.

Jeffress acknowledged terrible misdeeds by Christians, although he said many have been “overblown.” He went on to say that Christian atrocities were always contrary to the teaching of the New Testament. “But Muslims, when they commit violence, they are acting in accordance with what the Quran teaches,” he said.

He was just getting started. He went on to talk about Islam’s oppression of women and how it is “a violent religion.”

“And here is the deep, dark, dirty secret of Islam: It is a religion that promotes pedophilia – sex with children. This so-called prophet Muhammad raped a 9-year-old girl – had sex with her,” he said. “Around the world today, you have Muslim men having sex with 4-year-old girls, taking them as their brides, because they believe the prophet Muhammad did.”

Finally, his finger jabbing the air, he proclaimed: “I believe, as Christians and conservatives, it’s time to take off the gloves and stand up and tell the truth about this evil, evil religion.”

Dallas Morning News, 4 September 2010

Eighteen percent of Germans would vote for a political party led by Sarrazin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sarrazin at book launchNearly a fifth of Germans would vote for a political protest party headed by Thilo Sarrazin, a poll revealed on Sunday, as mainstream politicians argue about how best to react to his statements on Muslims, immigration and Jews.

The survey, conducted by Emnid pollsters for the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, showed that 18 percent of Germans would vote for a political party headed by the Bundesbank board member.

He has created a furore in Germany with assertions about Muslim immigrants to Germany failing to integrate, and what he insists is a genetic element to intelligence – and the astounding proposal that people of a common religion are genetically related.

Continue reading →

Dutch coalition talks collapse as Wilders walks out

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Negotiations to form a coalition in the Netherlands have collapsed after the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, walked out.

Mr Wilders said he did not trust some members of the Christian Democrats to adhere to any agreement reached.

Some Christian Democrats have expressed deep reservations about any deal with Mr Wilders because of his strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigration views.

“The negotiations did not succeed,” Mark Rutte, leader of the centre-right Liberal Party (VVD), told a news conference at the Hague.

BBC News, 4 September 2010

Update:  See also “‘Relief’ as Wilders-backed Dutch coalition fails”, AFP, 4 September 2010

German doctor refuses to treat Muslim women wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rainer_Peters_noticeA doctor based in the south German city of Waechtersbach has banned his female Muslim patients from wearing the hijab in his office, the daily Gelnhäuser Neue Zeitung reported on Friday.

Doctor Rainer Peters justified his discriminatory policy by alleging he had always what he called difficulties with Muslims.

He also initiated a series of other rules in his office deemed insulting and discriminatory to Muslims migrants, according to the report.

ABNA, 4 September 2010

See the notice in Peters’ surgery, above. He also refuses to treat patients who do not speak German and Muslim familes with more than five children.

Bradford: more charges against EDL thugs possible as police examine CCTV footage

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL rioters BradfordPolice have vowed to bring the full force of the law against anyone involved in violence during a far-right demonstration in Bradford last Saturday. West Yorkshire Police are to scrutinise CCTV footage of the English Defence League’s demonstration in the city centre following a string of arrests for disorder.

So far two men have been charged as police made a total of 14 arrests after outbreaks of violence at the static protest. A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police, said: “We will be reviewing the CCTV footage for the day and looking to bring justice to anyone who was causing trouble on the day.”

Trouble briefly flared during the protest in Bradford’s Urban Garden as police attempted to keep hundreds of EDL supporters in check. Smoke bombs, stones and bottles were thrown towards the group’s opponents, forcing mounted police and officers wearing riot gear to move in.

A group of the protesters managed to break free from the police cordon, clambered over hoardings at the Westfield site and ran towards Bolton Road. A police officer suffered minor injuries during the demonstration.

Arshad Ali, a spokesman for We Are Bradford, said those found guilty of taking part in the violence should receive “significant” sentences, in line with those handed out after the Bradford riots nine years ago. He said: “Asian youths involved in the 2001 disturbances were meted out heavy long-term sentences for similar offences. We hope there will be equality and parity in the way justice will be done.”

Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 3 September 2010

‘Islamization’ of Paris a warning to the West, claims Pat Robertson

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network makes its contribution to the hysteria surrounding the Park51 development with a scaremongering report about how Muslims are taking over Paris. Following the report, Robertson helpfully explains that Islam isn’t just a religion, it’s “a political system that is meant to achieve world domination”.