Time for a Parliamentary Committee to investigate Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Manchester5“Bigotry, hatred and attacks against British Muslims are nothing new. But its unchallenged growth in our country can no longer be ignored.

“The half-hearted response by the government to this growing phenomenon has been far from adequate to date. The phase for window dressing is over. Now is the time to act.

“What is urgently needed is clear leadership from both our police and the government in policy directions in dealing with Islamophobia in all its forms.

“In 2005, in response to growing levels of anti-Semitism, a Parliamentary Committee was established to combat the threat. Likewise, at a time when British Muslims are now the new target for hatred and attacks, it is high time a dedicated committee is now set up to investigate Islamophobia in our country.”

Kawsar Zaman at Left Foot Forward, 1 February 2010

Is your professor an Islamophobe?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Satoshi Kanazawa is an evolutionary psychologist and professor at the London School of Economics. Although his research as a scientist has ruffled some feathers in the past, his attempts as a “public intellectual” are indisputably inflammatory. In a recent article entitled, “What’s Wrong with Muslims” published in his blog hosted by Psychology Today, Kanazawa wrote:

Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a native-born American citizen, trained military officer, and educated MD and psychiatrist. Yet none of these things matters for him; first and foremost, he is a Muslim…They are all united in their values and goals by their singular identity of being Muslims. It’s tempting to dismiss these observations by saying that [he and others implicated in terrorism plots] are all ‘extremists’ or ‘Jihadists.’ That would be politically correct and comforting, but factually inaccurate.

In his very next article he boasts:

No, not all Muslims are terrorists, but…half of Muslims worldwide are terrorists and active supporters of terrorism, who would encourage their sons, brothers, and nephews to blow themselves up in an airplane or in a crowded market.

Kanazawa is just one in a growing number of academics using his intellectual identity to promote intolerance and xenophobia against Islam and Muslims.

Abdulrahman El-Sayed in the Huffington Post, 2 February 2010

Tory MP backs ban on veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Philip HolloboneAn MP has called the wearing of burkas the religious equivalent of “going round with a paper bag over your head”.

In a parliamentary debate, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone said it was “offensive” for women to cut off face-to-face contact with other people. The Kettering MP said he had “huge sympathy” with those who wanted a ban on face-covering veils in public.

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BNP backs National Secular Society over ‘Sharia threat’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP backs NSS

The National Secular Society (NSC) has warned that Britain is “in a race” with France to see who can be the first country to formally incorporate Sharia law into their legal systems.

Although the NSC [sic] did not point out that this headlong flight into Sharia law is caused directly by mass Third World immigration, it did warn that Britain is “rushing into law a set of new regulations that will make the operation of sharia finance easier and facilitate the issuance of corporate sukuk.”

Sukuk are a broad class of financial instruments designed to replicate the economic function of bonds, but with a structure which complies with Islamic principles. The Treasury has laid before Parliament the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, Order 2010 that will clarify the regulatory treatment of corporate sukuk, reducing the legal costs for these types of investments and removing “unnecessary obstacles” to their issuance.

The British National Party is the only political party which has consistently pointed out that if a people are replaced though mass immigration, then the culture which those people created will also be replaced. The spread of Sharia law into the financial sector is only the beginning of this process. Left unchecked, Muslim numbers will soon reach the position where they will be able to demand – and get – full Sharia law implemented in Britain.

BNP news report, 31 January 2010

See also “Sharia makes its first incursion into British law”, NSS website, 29 January 2010

And Stormfront, 30 January 2010

UK poll shows backing for limited restrictions on the veil but opposition to ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The British people support some restrictions on wearing the burka in public but oppose an outright ban, according to a new poll for The Independent. The ComRes survey found that almost two out of three people believe it should be illegal to wear a burka in places such as banks and airports. But six out of 10 people oppose a ban on wearing it in all public places.

The ComRes survey of more than 1,000 people found that 52 per cent disagreed with the proposition that there should be no legal restrictions on wearing a burka, while 43 per cent agreed. But asked if it should be illegal to wear a burka in any public place, 36 per cent agreed and 59 per cent disagreed.

Some 64 per cent of people believed it should be illegal to wear a burka in places like banks and airports, while 33 per cent disagreed. By a similar margin (61 to 35 per cent), people thought schools should be allowed to prevent teachers wearing burkas if they wish.

The most striking variation of opinion among different groups of people was by age. Only 15 per cent of 18-24 year-olds believed that wearing the burka should be banned in any public place, compared to 57 per cent of those 65 and older. Women were more opposed to restrictions than men. The South east region, including London, was the most liberal, and northern England the least. The AB social group was the most liberal, with C2 skilled manual workers and the bottom DE group the least.

Independent, 1 February 2010

Full poll here.

These results are more positive that the recent Angus Reid poll which found that 72% of respondents favoured an outright ban on the burka in public places and 66% a ban on the niqab. And the strong support for religious freedom among young people (61% of 18-24 year-olds agreed that “there should be no legal restrictions on wearing a burkha”) is a hopeful sign.

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 2 February 2010

French Catholic Church speaks out against veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The French Catholic Church warned Paris today against banning Muslim full-face veils. It said France must respect the rights of its Muslims if it wanted Islamic countries to do the same for their Christian minorities.

Bishop Michel Santier, the top French Catholic official for inter-religious dialogue, said very few women in France wore full veils and Muslim leaders agreed it was not obligatory in Islam.

“The French, including the Catholics among them, should not let themselves be gripped by fear or a ‘clash of civilisations’ theory,” he said in a statement calling for distinctions between the majority of peaceful Muslims and a minority of radicals. “If we want Christian minorities in Muslim majority countries to enjoy all their rights, we should in our country respect the rights of all believers to practice their faith.”

Daily Mail, 1 February 2010