Another right-wing Islamophobic attack on the Lib Dems

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Following on from the disgraceful attack on Nick Clegg by the Daily Express, we now have Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson denouncing Simon Hughes’ “sick-making” speech at the 2008 Global Peace and Unity event (Thompson can’t even get the name right):

“Thanks be to Allah!” declared Simon Hughes, the then president of the Liberal Democrats, as he addressed a London conference in 2008, before going on to quote from the Koran: “Then [Allah] will assemble you on the Day of Resurrection…” He added: “Friends, it is our job to teach those who do not have faith of the deep truths of the faith of God’s justice and God’s presence.”

Hughes didn’t ask (à la Harold Wilson) “And why do I stress the truths of the Koran?” But, if he had, the correct answer would have been: “Because you’re talking to thousands of Muslims.”

Ed West blogged yesterday about Hattie Harman’s pathetic attempts to suck up to black voters. But that’s nothing compared to Hughes’s sickening performance at the “Global Justice and Unity event” (GPU), a gathering of 60,000 Muslims in London Docklands.

EDL stages rooftop protest in Dudley

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Reports are coming in that the English Defence League has occupied the rooftop of a derelict building in Dudley earmarked for a mammoth [sic] new mosque.

The group staged a daytime protest in the town on Easter Saturday to show their objection to the planned new place of worship – and almost immediately afterwards supporters said a return visit was already being planned.

Around 20 EDL members, with their faces covered, are reportedly involved in the protest, which has been advertised on the group’s page on social networking site Facebook. An eyewitness said: “They’re waving England flags and blaring out Islamic music from a loud speaker.”

Continue reading →

Wot, us – racists? EDL is ‘not opposed to Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL placards Dudley

“The EDL were formed in June 2009, after demonstrations by a group of radical Muslims, at the homecoming parade, in Luton, of some of our troops, the Royal Anglian Regiment, returning from a tour of duty in Iraq. It is a rapidly growing movement, whose main Facebook group has over 15,000 members to date. The EDL has tried to make clear that it is not opposed to Muslims, but to radical Islam, against which they hold protests all over Britain.”

Casuals United Blog, 30 April 2010

What’s threatening about European attacks on Muslim veils

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“The anti-burqa cause is sweeping Europe. In addition to Belgium and France, Italy and the Netherlands are considering bans. Yet the targets of these measures are virtually nonexistent. Mr. Bacquelaine estimates that a couple of hundred women in Belgium wear a full veil. In France, one study estimated that there are 1,900 burqa wearers in a Muslim population of 5 million.

“The idea that this poses a criminal or cultural threat is ludicrous. Those who say they are defending women’s rights have it exactly backward: They are violating fundamental rights to free expression and religious freedom…. Muslims, including the devoutly religious, are in Europe to stay. Banning their customs, their clothing or their places of worship will not make them more European. It will only make Europe less free.”

Editorial in the Washington Post, 1 May 2010

MI5 ‘tried to recruit Muslim spies’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cageprisoners

A human rights organisation has condemned the intimidation, profiling and attempted recruitment of members of the Muslim community by Special Branch and MI5. Cageprisoners specifically cited the case of Asif Ahmed, who it said was recently detained under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in Edinburgh airport along with his wife.

Schedule 7 allows police to stop and question travellers at ports and airports “for the purpose of determining whether they are a person who is or has been concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.” Failure to answer questions is a criminal offence.

The Ahmeds were allegedly questioned in detail and an attempt was made to coerce Mr Ahmed into becoming an informer for Special Branch to spy on the Muslim community.

Cageprisoners also published a report titled The Horn of Africa Inquisition, which detailed how the community from the Horn of Africa and those travelling to the region have allegedly been harassed by MI5 and Special Branch through profiling techniques.

Cageprisoners executive director Asim Qureshi said:

“The last seven years of the war on terror have seen the profiling and criminalisation of the Arab and Pakistani communities by UK authorities around the world. The policies that have been implemented through counter-terrorism legislation and Prevent have only been counter-productive as Muslim communities feel marginalised from British society. It is an unfortunate reality that many Muslims feel besieged at this time and the policies of government have done nothing to temper that.”

Morning Star, 1 May 2010

See also “British Muslims on safari ‘stopped by MI5′”, Independent, 1 May 2010

FIFA lifts ban on Iranian girls football team

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) overruled an earlier verdict banning Iran’s female footballers from observing Islamic code of dressing in the Olympic Games in Singapore, and allowed Iranian women footballers to wear Islamic dress during the competitions.

Earlier in March, FIFA had banned the Iranian women football squad wearing Hijab from participating in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) which will be held from August 14 to 26 in Singapore.

Following the announcement, Head of Iran’s Football Federation Ali Kaffashian along with Member of the Federation’s International Relations Omid Jamali travelled to Switzerland to meet FIFA President Sepp Blater and FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke on April 14.

The Iranian side could convince Blater and Valcke that the Iranian girls’ new wearing would not violate FIFA rules, noting that the entire world should respect Muslims’ rights and consider Islamic rules and values as a crucial factor when dealing with the Muslim countries’ women football teams.

Following the discussions in Switzerland, FIFA wrote a letter to Kaffashian, announcing its agreement with the Iranian girls’ Islamic code of dressing.

In its letter, FIFA said that if the hat covers the hair without violating the game’s rules and the girl footballers can use it, participation of the Iranian girls in the Olympic competitions in Singapore will be unimpeded.

FIFA also ordered the relevant bodies to take all the requirements to register the Iranian under-15 female footballers, stressing that there is no problem for the participation of the Iranian girls in the Singapore Olympic games.

FARS news agency, 1 May 2010

Stop Islamophobia: Defend the Muslim Community

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stop Islamophobia

One Day Conference Saturday 5 June 10am to 5pm
Camden Centre London WC1H 9JE

Muslims are under attack in this country as never before. Government policies and the media have created an atmosphere in which all Muslims are portrayed as reactionary and anti-western.

Young Muslims in particular are subject to surveillance in colleges, schools and mosques in the name of combating “extremism”. Those who exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully have been subject to arrest and heavy sentencing.

Meanwhile, the racist “defence leagues” have been focussing their attacks on Muslim communities, with provocative marches in towns and cities inciting racial hatred and bigotry.

From its founding in 2001, Stop the War has been committed to combating racism. We recognise that Islamophobia is a direct consequence of the “war on terror”. We believe it is vital that the anti-war movement acts in conjunction with other campaigns and organisations to stem its tide.

The Stop Islamophobia: Defend the Muslim Community conference on Saturday 5 June, organised by Stop the War and the British Muslim Initiative, will bring together a wide range of opinion united in concern over the escalating demonisation of Muslims in our society.

Organised by Stop the War Coalition and British Muslim Initiative

Supported by CND, Cordoba Foundation, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Islam Channel, Islamic Forum of Europe, Islamophobia Watch, London Muslim Centre, Muslim Welfare House, National Union of Journalists, North London Central Mosque, Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Book here

German MEP calls for Europe-wide ban on veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Koch-MehrinAfter Belgium’s parliament voted to ban Islamic full-face veils, the German vice-president of the European Parliament has called for a ban of the burka throughout Europe.

Silvana Koch-Mehrin called the full-body veil an attack on the rights of women in a guest editorial in the Bild am Sonntagnewspaper. “I would like to see all forms of the burka banned in Germany and in all of Europe,” wrote the politician, a member of Germany‘s pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP).

She called the burka a “mobile prison,” saying that those who veil women take away their faces and therefore their personalities. “The complete veiling of women is a blatant acknowledgement of values that we here in Europe do not share,” she wrote.

The Local, 1 May 2010