ENGAGE has the details.
US TV networks refuse to run right-wing mosque-bashing ad
A conservative political action committee blasted the CBS and NBC networks Wednesday for rejecting its ad imploring Americans to fight the mosque proposed for Ground Zero.
Titled “The Audacity of Jihad“, the commercial intersperses graphic footage of the 9/11 attacks with armed Muslim militants and the sounds of Muslims praying.
The narrator of the 60-second spot proposed by the National Republican Trust says, “On Sept. 11, they declared war against us. And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero.”
In e-mails to the group, CBS and NBC officials said the ad did not meet the networks’ standards and guidelines for broadcast.
NRT executive director R. Scott Wheeler accused the networks of being two-faced, arguing they have run ads by such left-leaning groups as MoveOn.org.
Wheeler described the networks as “a very weak media that seems to be interested in only defending Muslims as poor victims.”
He said his group was planning to pay the networks more than $50,000 to run the ad.
CBS and NBC Universal corporate officials confirmed the ad was rejected by both networks.
Murfreesboro: anti-mosque demonstrators meet with counterprotest
Anti-mosque marchers proudly paraded their opposition for a mile along East Main Street to the Public Square on Murfreesboro Wednesday. They carried flags of America and Israel, sang, “God Bless America,” and carried many signs, including: “Mosque leaders support killing converts. Tell it!”
While the crowd from both protesters and counter protesters appeared to number 500 to 600 at its peak, protest march organizer Kevin Fisher estimated that several hundred marched in his group alone from Central Magnet School to the County Courthouse.
There, they encountered hundreds more of counter protesters carrying signs with messages such as, “All you need is love” and “Freedom for all religion” and “Tolerance.”
“Ignore their hate,” Fisher told his participants as they turned the east corner of the Square on their way to the west side of the County Courthouse.
The marchers included other people seeking public office, such as congressional candidates George Erdel, who calls himself “a tea party Democrat”, and Lou Ann Zelenik, a Republican. Many Zelenik supporters proudly displayed signs and T-shirts with her name on it.
Erdel also helped organize the march, using a bullhorn to give instructions before the parade began. He also handed the bullhorn to Dusty Ray, the pastor of Heartland Baptist Church at Walter Hill where Erdel attends.
Ray led the large group gathered on the Central Magnet School grounds in prayer about their march in opposition to the plans of local Muslims. “They are about oppression,” Ray said in his prayer. “Lord, we’re trying to stop a political movement.”
See also “Counter protesters turn out in force too”, DNJ.com, 15 July 2010
EDL’s latest provocation in Dudley condemned
Faith representatives, politicians and community leaders have spoken out against the return of the English Defence League to Dudley Town Centre.
The Bishop of Dudley said: “People in Dudley from across cultures and faiths have lived and worked together for decades. EDL, by their repeated and unwanted visits are only trying to undermine the town with its reputation and relationships. We want as many residents to show we belong together; that Dudley is home for all of us.”
A peaceful, community rally, aimed at celebrating the diversity and unity of Dudley is set to take place on Saturday afternoon. The event, which has been organised by Dudley Borough Interfaith Network and supported by Unite Against Fascism, will take place between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. It will take place at the same time as a rally by the English Defence League, which will be taking place in Stafford Street.
Steve Sparrow, Coordinator of Dudley Borough Interfaith Network, said: “Dudley is a great place to live with warm and welcoming people. This celebration event shows just how futile the EDL’s attempts to separate us are.”
See also Dudley demo assembly details on the UAF website
And “Dudley unites against the EDL”, The Stirrer, 15 July 2010
Father and son convicted over racist tirade against Muslim taxi driver
A racist dad and his son called an Asian cab driver a terrorist in a foul-mouthed drunken tirade before walking off without paying the fare.
Thomas John Walsh, 59, and his son Andrew Thomas Walsh, 28, both of Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, also asked cabbie Kamel Choudary if he was a member of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Then when asked to pay the £20 fare Thomas refused and Andrew Walsh called the driver a “P*** b******” before they both walked off.
The judge ordered Thomas Walsh to go on an “Against Human Dignity” programme to learn not to be a racist after the attack on Mr Choudary, who now has panic attacks and fears going to work.
Mr Choudary, who works for Kingsway Taxis in Burnage, had picked up the pair in Didsbury after a night out in December last year, Chester Crown Court heard on Tuesday (July 13).
Prosecuting, Martin McRobb, said: “Mr Choudary picked them up from the Royal Oak pub in Didsbury at midnight. Then a conversation began between the defendants about the September 11 attacks.
“Thomas was in the front passenger seat and became angry and abusive launching a foul-mouthed tirade at Mr Choudary and started making comments about Muslims and Pakistanis and said it was clear there was a link between all Muslims and terrorism.
“Mr Choudary tried to disengage them and said he was Bangladeshi but it didn’t work. Then when they stopped at Altrincham Road they refused to pay the fare and Andrew called him a P*** b****** and they both walked off.”
Thomas who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to racially or religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress by using words and making off without payment was sentenced to a 12 month community order with the requirement that he undertakes an Against Human Dignity programme and an alcohol activity programme. Andrew, who pleaded guilty to the same harassment offence, was given a 12-month conditional discharge.
Wilders launches ‘international alliance’ against Islam
An anti-Islam lawmaker in the Netherlands is forming an international alliance to spread his message across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries, among other goals.
Geert Wilders told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday he will launch the movement late this year, initially in five countries: the U.S., Canada, Britain, France and Germany. “The message, ‘stop Islam, defend freedom,’ is a message that’s not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world,” Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.
Among the group’s aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic Sharia law. Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.
“The fight for freedom and (against) Islamization as I see it is a worldwide phenomenon and problem to be solved,” he said.
Wilders declined to name any of the other founders of the organization he is calling the Geert Wilders International Freedom Alliance. He said he would hold speeches in the five countries where the alliance will first launch in coming months to drum up support.
Associated Press, 15 July 2010
See also “Dutch politician says UK should be part of a ‘freedom alliance’ of countries pitted against Islam”, Daily Mail, 15 July 2010
French parliament votes to ban veil
France’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly. It must now be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.
Many of the opposition Socialists, who originally wanted the ban limited only to public buildings, abstained from voting after coming under pressure from feminist supporters of the bill.
After the vote, Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said it was a victory for democracy and for French values. “Values of freedom against all the oppressions which try to humiliate individuals; values of equality between men and women, against those who push for inequality and injustice.”
“Democracy thrives when it is open-faced,” Ms Alliot-Marie told the National Assembly when she presented the bill last week.
The Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, warned in March that the law could be found unconstitutional. If the bill passes the Senate in September, it will be sent immediately to France’s Constitutional Council watchdog for a ruling. Another challenge is possible at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where decisions are binding.
See also “France vote to ban full-face veils condemned by Amnesty”,Amnesty press release, 13 July 2010
Opponents and supporters of ‘Ground Zero mosque’ clash at hearing
A city hearing yesterday on the historical significance of the downtown Manhattan site of a proposed mosque quickly turned into a raucous – and at times ugly – debate about whether an Islamic center should be located so close to Ground Zero.
About 150 people crowded into the Hunter College Auditorium in Manhattan for the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing, held to see if the 152-year-old building at 45-47 Park Place in lower Manhattan had the cultural or architectural consequence worthy of being landmarked.
Those who opposed the construction of the 13-story mosque and community center, called the Cordoba House, accused their opponents of being unpatriotic and insensitive to the thousands who died on 9/11. But attendees who want to see the $100 million project completed accused their challengers of being racist and encouraging conflict with Muslims.
One protester, shouting, “Down with this McCarthyistic witch hunt against Muslims,” was escorted out after interrupting speakers against the mosque.
Joseph Reichling of Ridgewood, Queens, said, “Our forefathers are turning in their graves. Have we forgotten what happened on 9/11? We must never forget 9/11.” Andrea Quinn echoed his sentiments. “The plan to build a 13-story mosque on that site is ludicrous,” said Quinn of Queens. “Not to preserve this building is to allow for a citadel of Islamic supremacy to be built in its place.”
Zead Ramadan – who said his wife was a first responder on 9/11 – testified for the mosque. “We are picking and choosing which houses of worship can open at which streets and we are opening a can of worms,” he said, adding, “It’s called Islamophobia.”
Rozanne Delgado said, “I’m ashamed of the racism. There’s lots of hatred here.”
Express repeats call for veil ban
Demands to ban the burkha in Britain were growing last night after France voted to outlaw the wearing of Islamic full-face veils in public.
The Government was urged to follow Paris’s example and stand up against the face and body coverings which have been condemned for creating a divided Britain.
In France, where the burkha has been described as a “walking coffin”, the new law means women will be fined or jailed for hiding their faces in public. And men who force their wives to wear a full Islamic veil will face tougher fines and up to a year behind bars.
Spain and the Netherlands are considering similar legislation and there are calls for Britain to follow suit as the veils become an increasingly common sight on our streets.
Tory MP Philip Hollobone, who has launched a Private Member’s Bill to ban “facial coverings”, said: “It is unnatural for someone to cover their face and it not a religious requirement. We are never going to have a fully integrated society if an increasing proportion of the population cover their faces.”
A ban on burkhas is supported by 99 per cent of Britons, a Daily Express poll found last month.
See also “Brits say banning the burkha is not anti-Muslim”, Daily Star, 14 July 2010
Another repulsive anti-Muslim stunt from Geller and Spencer
Following on from the “Leaving Islam?” bus ads in Miami and New York, this new campaign by Stop the Islamization of America involves adverts on Chicago taxis. As you can see, its message is that Islam inspires Muslim families to murder their daughters.