Paris protest: campaigners demand repeal of Chatel circular

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sticker MTELe Figaro reports that the campaign has been stepped up for the withdrawal of the “Chatel circular” – the policy introduced in 2012 by the then UMP education minister Luc Chatel which proposed, in the name of defending secularism, that Muslim women who wear the hijab should not be allowed to accompany their children on school trips.

The policy has been maintained under the present Parti Socialiste government, despite a ruling by the Council of State last December that the ban was outside the law.

On Tuesday, for the first time, a delegation of Muslim women involved in the campaign against this oppressive policy met with a representative of current education minister Benoît Hamon to discuss the issue. And yesterday a demonstration was held near the ministry of education in support of the demand for an end to the ban.

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Seventh OIC Annual Report on Islamophobia released

Posted on by Bob Pitt

OIC 7th Report on IslamophobiaThe OIC Observatory on Islamophobia released its Seventh Annual Report covering the period from October 2013 to April 2014 today at the commencement of the 41st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Report illustrates that Islamophobia continues to manifest itself through different forms of prejudice and discrimination against Muslims both as individuals and as a community.

The Report includes five chapters that have identified contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia acknowledging both the negative trends as well as the good practices monitored by the Observatory over the reporting period.

In his foreword to the Report, the Secretary General, Mr. Iyad Amin Madani, while stressing the importance of pursuing the well acknowledged path crafted to address the issue of Islamophobia through HRC Resolution 16/18, he states, inter alia, “The OIC is of the view that pluralism and diversity constitute an opportunity for cultures and civilizations to open up, respectfully interact and better understand and enrich each other. Maintaining an open, respectful and constructive debate of ideas is key to our understanding of various forms and manifestations of intolerance as well as finding appropriate solutions to better address their negative impact. International community must cooperate at all levels to address this rising trend of discrimination based on religion or belief, which is also a threat to the values of pluralism, global peace and harmony.”

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Woman killed in attack may have been targeted because of Muslim dress, say police

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A woman who died after being attacked on a footpath may have been targeted because of her Muslim dress, police have said.

The woman, who was in her early 30s, was walking on the Salary Brook trail in Colchester when the incident happened at 10.40am on Tuesday. Paramedics tried to save her but she died at the scene from head and body injuries.

Essex police confirmed she was wearing a dark navy blue abaya, or full-length robe, and a patterned multicoloured hijab headscarf.

A 52-year-old man from the Colchester area was arrested on Tuesday night in connection with the incident. DS Tracy Hawkings said officers were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack.

However, she added: “We are conscious that the dress of the victim will have identified her as likely being a Muslim, and this is one of the main lines of the investigation. But, again, there is no firm evidence at this time that she was targeted because of her religion.”

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Muslim leaders demand action over fascist mosque invasions

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Britain First Luton mosque invadedMuslim leaders urged the police to take action yesterday amid a rising tide of fascist “mosque invasions.”

Senior members of Luton’s Islamic congregation warned that far-right group Britain First’s inflammatory tactics were provoking younger Muslims and could end in deaths.

The fascist party posted a video of leader Paul Golding – a former British National Party councillor – and heavies forcing their way into mosques to hand out racist leaflets and Bibles to intimidate worshipers. The video ends with the message: “Are you sick of sitting on your hands and doing nothing?”

Luton Central Mosque president Mohammed Shafait told the Star: “People are fed up. He is going around all over the country abusing people.”

“I say he’s the one who is a terrorist”, argued Mr Shafait in response to the video’s description of the 40,000-strong Muslim community as “Luton extremists”.

“It’s pretty disgusting”, said anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate spokesman Simon Cressy, “They are intending to whip up racial and religious hatred.”

Britain First’s insignia describes the organisation as a “defence force” and includes the Latin motto nihil obstat – nothing stands in the way.

According to Mr Shafait, the police has been called several times but no action was taken. “I don’t want anyone to take the law into their own hands,” he added in despair. “It doesn’t matter who you are – Muslim, Christian, all faiths – stay within the law,” urged Mr Shafait. “This guy doesn’t — he makes a video then he shows to other party members that he is doing this. He is a terrorist. He’s a coward.”

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Why we shouldn’t be surprised by Heritage Foundation event’s Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation hosted an event on Monday asking (already answered) questions about what happened in Benghazi during the September 11, 2012 terror attack on American diplomatic facilities there. But aside from promoting debunked claims and advancing further conspiracy theories about the attack, the event took an ominous turn when a panel of anti-Islam activists, and many of the event’s attendees, openly jeered a Muslim woman at the event.

When Saba Ahmed, a young Muslim law student, wondered why Muslim-Americans were underrepresented at the event, things got ugly. The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank has some of the details and Media Matters posted video of the exchange:

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Benoit Assou-Ekotto condemns racism and Islamophobia in France

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Benoit Assou-EkottoBenoit Assou-Ekotto chose not to play for France because he claims that the country blames “black players and Muslims” when the team is not performing well.

The Tottenham Hotspur full-back was born near Calais, but opted to represent Cameroon at international level, as he qualified to do so through his father.

Assou-Ekotto, who spent last season on loan at Queens Park Rangers, has revealed the reasoning behind this decision to be his refusal to play for a nation that he perceives to have a racist agenda.

He said: “When the national team get a bad result, they start to say there is a little bit too many black people, Muslim people and this kind of stuff. I don’t like it. There is no point for me to play for this kind of country.”

The 30-year-old, who has been capped 23 times by Cameroon since debuting in 2009, is expected to start when the Africans face Croatia in their second World Cup Group A game on Wednesday.

Sports Mole, 18 June 2014

Ex-Birmingham chief: Trojan Horse designed to stir antagonism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The letter at the centre of the Trojan Horse affair was “designed to stir up racial and religious antagonism” and the reaction to it has been “disproportionate”, according to Birmingham City Council’s former chief executive.

Writing for LGC, Stephen Hughes, who left the authority in March, says the Trojan Horse letter, which alleged an Islamist plot to take over some Birmingham schools, “wove together different issues in different schools that in the main the council’s education department was aware of and was dealing with.”

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Park View School vice principal: We did not tolerate extremist views

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A senior teacher at a Birmingham school accused of failing to protect children from extremism has told MPs staff never tolerated any extremist views. And Lee Donaghy, Vice Principal of Park View School in Alum Rock, hit back at a damning Ofsted report by insisting the Trojan Horse controversy came from “plain old Islamaphobia, either witting or unwitting”.

Ofsted last week placed five schools – including three in the Park View Academy – into special measures after a series of snap inspections following claims of a takeover plot by hardline Muslims. Inspectors said they discovered a “culture of fear and intimidation” in some schools, with some governors accused of exerting “inappropriate influence” over how they were being run.

The Commons Home Affairs Committee is conducting an inquiry into the Trojan Horse allegations.

But today MPs also heard evidence from Councillor Brigid Jones, Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services at Birmingham City Council, who insisted she had seen no evidence of extremism in city schools. She said: “Any direct evidence of extremism has yet to be presented to me.”

And Mark Rogers, Birmingham City Council’s Chief Executive, questioned the authenticity of the Trojan Horse document. He said: “I have yet to be convinced that it is an authentic letter from one plotter to another. I think what it sets out is a set of issues that somebody had some concerns about and wanted action over.”

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Douglas Murray links up with Christian fundamentalist homophobe to smear Newham ‘mega-mosque’ supporters

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Alan Craig and press release

Two weeks ago a public inquiry opened into Newham Council’s rejection of a plan by the Abbey Mills Riverine Centre to build a so-called “mega-mosque” on the site it occupies in West Ham.

Supporting the plan, and the right of the Riverine Centre to continue to run a smaller mosque on the site, is Newham People’s Alliance. Leading the charge against the proposal is the MegaMosqueNoThanks campaign headed by right-wing evangelical Christian and former Christian Peoples Alliance councillor Alan Craig.

One of Craig’s main witnesses at the inquiry was supposed to be Tehmina Kazi, director of British Muslims for Secular Democracy, who was expected to denounce Tablighi Jamaat, the conservative Islamic proselytising organisation who run the Riverine Centre, for its allegedly discriminatory attitude towards women. What better way to deflect charges of Islamophobia than to have a young Muslim woman making Craig’s case for him?

We have had some harsh words to say about Kazi’s role in the “mega-mosque” controversy in the past, pointing out that while she has been very ready to denounce “fundamentalism” within the Muslim community she saw nothing wrong in allying herself with a Christian fundamentalist like Craig. However, to her credit, Kazi has evidently had second thoughts about this dubious alliance. On the eve of the opening of the public inquiry, the anti-mosque campaigners found themselves wrong-footed when Kazi announced that she would not be appearing as a witness.

Craig immediately issued a press release (text below) claiming that Kazi had withdrawn because she had been “intimidated by misogynist mosque supporters” and “harried and pressured by members of Muslim-run Newham Peoples Alliance”. Craig demanded: “Why do Islamists always pick on women? Like misogynist bullies NPA intruded on Tehmina’s holiday abroad last weekend. By phone and email they harassed her, intimidated her and then on behalf of the Tablighi Jamaat mosque trustees gave her assurance that their future treatment of women at the site will improve.”

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Great resume, too bad about your religion

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Job discrimination statsSara Korvel has a lot to offer prospective employers: a recent graduate of a major university, she made the dean’s list in seven of eight semesters and belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa honors society. Fluent in four languages, she landed prestigious internships at an international bank and a state public broadcaster, and held down a job as a Starbucks shift manager for most of her college career.

Sara has one significant factor working against her as she searches for her first post-college job, though: she’s a Muslim.

A pair of studies by University of Connecticut researchers have discovered that employers are demonstrably less likely to respond to a job application if that resume includes evidence of membership in a faith group. And far and away, the faith group employers least want to engage is Islam.

“What we found is that, when applying for a job, it’s better not to mention religion at all – but employers really don’t want you to mention being a Muslim,” said professor of sociology Michael Wallace, who conducted the studies along with Bradley Wright, an associate professor in the sociology department.

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