Speaking nonsense about Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In response to Anjem Choudary’s inflammatory comments on the Jewel of Medina controversy the Daily Telegraph poses the question:

“Isn’t it time that moderate Muslims spoke out loud and long against the way a tiny minority of zealots can dominate the political debate and constantly depict Islam as intolerant and bigoted, when, in reality, those words apply only to its most extreme, blinkered adherents.”

What planet do Torygraph leader writers live on? Mainstream Muslim organisations have repeatedly condemned Choudary and his minuscule sect.

The real question is this: why does the Torygraph give headline coverage to the idiocies spouted by an unrepresentative nutter like Choudhary while ignoring the reasoned and measured arguments of, say, Inayat Bunglawala – who as a leading figure in the Muslim Council of Britain actually represents a broad swathe of opinion within the UK’s Muslim communities.

If anyone is responsible for the situation in which “a tiny minority of zealots can dominate the political debate and constantly depict Islam as intolerant and bigoted” it is the journalists who produce warped media coverage like that.

Muslim graves desecrated as Austria swings to the right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police have blamed far-right extremists for the desecration of a Muslim cemetery in the town of Traun, near Linz, in the same weekend that political parties of the Far Right made huge gains in the Austrian general election.

More than 90 graves were severely damaged at some point between Friday night and yesterday. The perpetrators sprayed Jewish symbols such as the Star of David on some of the graves but detectives believe that this may have been an attempt to disguise the motives of far-right extremists driven by a hatred of Muslim immigrants.

A spokesman for the local Muslim community said that it was deeply shocked at the news of the desecration, which comes as the religious month of Ramadan nears its end.

Austria is embarking on a round of soul-searching after its swing to the right in the parliamentary elections. Polls and analysis conducted immediately after the vote, which established the Far Right as the country’s second-strongest political bloc, indicate that the change was brought about by predominately young voters who are concerned about their future in the European Union.

The two far-right parties that captured almost 30 per cent of the vote, the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria, have campaigned on a vehemently anti-immigration ticket and some of their slogans were deemed xenophobic by critics.

Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Freedom Party – which won more than 18 per cent of the vote – campaigned against headscarves and burkas and expressed his opposition to foods seen as being related to Islam.

At his final rally, in Vienna, he spoke of a “European brotherhood” to prevent the rise of Islam. Both parties seek to ban the building of mosques and minarets, arguing that they are political symbols of the “Islamisation” of Austria and Europe.

The Times, 29 September 2008

The suggestion that the graffiti was intended “to disguise the motives of far-right extremists” is unconvincing. The traditionally antisemitic European far right is now moving towards a pro-Israel position, and on the basis of a common hatred of Muslims it has even won the support of a small section of the Jewish community. The reference to “Kadim” – the name of an Israeli Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank, which was evacuated in 2005 after being attacked by Palestinian militants – suggests that Zionist extremists may well have been responsible for desecrating the graves.

Far Right makes electoral gains in Austria on anti-Muslim platform

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Strache celebratesThe far Right has made a grand return in Austria, emerging from yesterday’s elections as the second biggest parliamentary block, according to preliminary results.

The two parties that campaigned on an anti-immigrant and anti-European Union ticket have captured about 29 per cent of the vote, pushing the country’s traditional conservative party into third place.

Heinz-Christian Strache [pictured] and his Freedom Party, who were accused of xenophobia and waging an anti-Muslim campaign, won 18 per cent – a rise of 7 per cent compared with the last elections. Mr Strache’s former mentor, Jörg Haider, won 11 per cent of the vote with his new party, the Alliance for the Future of Austria.

A throaty roar filled the Freedom Party’s election tent in Vienna when the results flashed up on a screen. The crowd – mainly young and middle-aged men drinking beer – punched the air in triumph. They cheered more when Mr Strache announced that his party would only join a government that was led by himself.

Many Viennese were horrified by such a prospect, however. “It is disappointing that so many Austrians agreed to what was basically a xenophobic campaign,” said Adelheid Mayr, 39. “I am ashamed of the results and I hope none of the far Right parties will be allowed to rule the country.”

Mr Strache, 39, the biggest winner of the day, had sought to exploit fear of foreigners and Islam during his campaign. Speaking at his final election rally in Vienna’s working-class district of Favoriten on Friday, he said that people were scared to see women in burkas running around “like female Ninjas”, and added: “Many decent people have come here and they integrated: Poles, Hungarians, Croats and also Serbs. We are all European brothers because we do not want to become Islamised.”

Mr Strache’s rally in Vienna last week was marred by a violent confrontation between hundreds of left-wing opponents and his far Right supporters, some of whom were jackbooted skinheads.

Times, 29 September 2008

Meanwhile, over at the Spectator, Mad Mel offers her insights into the rise of the far Right:

“Their success is due to the enormous feeling among the people of Europe against, on the one hand, the destruction of their powers of self-government and their assimilation into the undemocratic Euro superstate, and on the other the threat to western culture from Islamist conquest…. With no democratic party addressing these concerns and instead demonising legitimate nationalist feeling as ‘racist’, ‘xenophobic’ or ‘Islamophobic’, people are turning to parties which truly are racist, anti-foreigner, anti-Muslim, anti-Jew and sometimes, indeed, neo-Nazi, but which are exploiting this political vacuum….

“The awful thing is that, as the far-right advances and social disorder increases – as it will – muddled liberals and malign leftists will blame these political and social calamities on ‘the far right’. As a result, the steady encroachment of Islamism will proceed apace – and anyone who objects will also be demonised as ‘the far right’. The rise of the neo-Nazis will thus turn the defence of democracy toxic. There is therefore a danger that the only people who will be fighting the Islamic fascists and in defence of the nation against the supranational supremacists will be the fascists.

“If this truly frightful outcome is to be avoided, it is imperative that social democratic politicians in Britain and Europe wake up from their trance and realise just what it is they have to defend, and against whom.”

Obsession: resistance mounts

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Obsession DVDWriting on his Guardian blog Roy Greenslade provides an update on the controversy over Obsession, the anti-Muslim “documentary” distributed by a pro-Israel lobby group, the Clarion Fund, in an evident attempt to boost Johns McCain’s bid for the US presidency (see here and here).

Greenslade’s piece does provide welcome evidence of hostility to the Clarion Fund’s campaign which extends well beyond the US Muslim community.

One reader responded to the Denver Post‘s decision to distribute 553,000 copies of Obsession by demanding: “If I paid you to distribute an anti-Semitic DVD, would you be so obliging?”

In North Carolina the Greensboro News & Record rejected the ad, calling the DVD “fear-mongering and divisive.” The paper’s editor wrote on his blog: “Of course it’s not free speech… Newspapers decide not to publish information every day. Most of the time we call it news judgment.”

In Portland the mayor pleaded with the The Oregonian‘s publisher not to distribute it. “The tenor of the video contributes towards a climate of distrust towards Muslims that holds the entire Muslim community accountable for the actions of a dangerously misguided few,” he wrote.

Muslim graves vandalised at west London cemetery

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Southall cemetery vandalismNearly 40 Muslim graves have been vandalised at a west London cemetery.

Several headstones were damaged or pushed over, and flower pots and ornamental fencing were broken at the cemetery in Bridge Road, Southall.

Most of the vandalism is in the Muslim area of the cemetery, but there is also damage to the Christian area, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said. Police are treating the incident as racially motivated, although no-one has been arrested.

The discovery was made after Muslims had finished praying all night for Layat Al Qadr, one of the holiest evenings of Ramadan.

“Pillars that have been embedded four feet in the ground have been uprooted, said Dalawar Chaudhry from the Central Jamia Mosque. “This has been a calculated attack. Glass smashed all over the place, two inch thick marble stones have been smashed in two with sheer determination.”

Muslim community leaders said it was possible the incident was timed to coincide with Ramadan. “Because this was the month of Ramadan we had a special evening the previous day and so I think it may have been targeted for that specific reason,” said Javed Mirza from the Muslim Funeral Society.

BBC News, 29 September, 2008

See also “Stacey attacks grave vandals”, Ealing Times, 29 September 2008

Cameron: I’ll curb Muslim fanatics

Posted on by Bob Pitt

I'll curb Muslim fanaticsA tough package is being drawn up by David Cameron to tackle Islamic extremism. One of the key proposals is to ban sharia law courts from operating in this country.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express, Mr Cameron’s security adviser, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, said the Tories were determined to “integrate” British Muslims into mainstream society.

Lady Neville-Jones, a former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee which advises the Prime Minister on terrorism, said: “We are not going to have any status for sharia courts. Absolutely not.”

She said the party would abandon the “blind alley of multiculturalism, which has deliberately gone down the road of separation for its own sake”.

The Tory plans also include:

  • Banning a string of groups blamed for encouraging Islamic extremism.
  • Working with other EU countries to change the Convention on Human Rights which has blocked the deportation of hate preacher Abu Qatada and others believed to be a threat to Britain.
  • Changing the school curriculum to encourage teaching of British values and make youngsters “proud of their country”.

The Conservatives are also looking at extending the list of Islamic groups banned from operating in this country on the grounds they foster extremism. Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which critics accuse of encouraging the killing of Jews, is a likely target. Lady Neville-Jones said the Conservatives would also look at the activities of certain charities, including the “charitable” arm of the Palestinian terrorist group Hezbollah, which operates freely here.

The major Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat, which wants to build Europe’s largest “mega mosque” near the London Olympics site, will also be examined. A spokesman for Tablighi Jamaat said: “Tablighi Jamaat is, in Muslim terms, the equivalent of the Methodist Church. The trustees do not condone terrorism of any kind.”

Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “Sharia courts operate with the blessing of UK law. As for banning organisations, we believe in a democracy it is far better to allow all organisations to operate freely, and if individuals happen to break the law then they ought to be prosecuted.”

Sunday Express, 28 September 2008

Don’t be soft on Islam, says EU terror chief

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Europe’s anti-terror chief has launched a stinging attack on the political correctness that he says is hampering the campaign against militant Islam. Gilles de Kerchove, the EU counter-terrorism co-ordinator, said last week that concern about stigmatising Muslim populations was hampering policy-making and thus prevention. “One of the problems … is that some member states are extremely reluctant to be explicit about the link with religion,” said de Kerchove.

De Kerchove’s statement comes against a background of infighting within the EU over counter-terrorism policy. The European Commission has been working for several years on a paper analysing militancy in Europe and outlining policy to combat radicalisation. The Council of Ministers is still waiting for the now long-overdue paper, on which future policy will be based.

EU officials claimed last week the delay was because Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner for justice, freedom and security, had grave reservations about the definition of terrorism in the commission’s policy paper and had delayed signing the policy document as it “went too far in blaming Muslim communities”.

Observer, 28 September 2008

‘SNP making wrong deal with Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A look at the statements from Osama Saeed, the chief executive of SIF and the SNP candidate for Glasgow Central indicates that he shares much of the world view of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) which is committed to establishing theocratic states across the Muslim world.

“It’s time for those who don’t want to see Scots forced into narrow religious postures to carefully scrutinise the SNP’s plans for Scottish Muslims. Perhaps the SNP aims to ensure that they fall under the sway of activists who make the younger generation conform to a rigid form of Islam.”

Tom Gallagher continues his efforts to provoke a witch-hunt against the Scottish-Islamic Foundation and Osama Saeed.

Sunday Herald, 28 September 2008

‘We’ve done something terrible to ourselves in Britain’ – Grieve attacks multiculturalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dominic_GrieveThe Guardian interviews Tory shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve:

“Grieve has also been thinking deeply about the ‘terrible’ impact of multiculturalism which has, he believes, compartmentalised people from different traditions and downplayed the identity of white Britons.

“‘We’ve actually done something terrible to ourselves in Britain’, says Grieve who was asked by former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith to look at community cohesion in 2002. ‘In the name of trying to prepare people for some new multicultural society we’ve told people, particularly long-term inhabitants, ‘Well your cultural background isn’t really very important, or it’s flawed, or you shouldn’t be worrying about it’. And then we’ve been shocked that far from producing the new model citizen who easily adapts to multiculturalism, people are very resistant, very fearful and very lacking in self-confidence. And we have the same problem with some second- and third-generation immigrant communities who say they don’t know what British values are and that they’re alienated.’

“The vacuum created by multiculturalism is to blame for extremists on either side of the spectrum. ‘In this vacuum, both the BNP and Hizb ut-Tahrir rise. They are two very similar phenomena experiencing a form of cultural despair about themselves and their identities. And it’s terribly easy to latch on to confrontational and aggressive variants of their cultural background as being the only way to reassure themselves that they can survive.’

“Grieve feels uneasy about the restriction of debate by what he calls ‘fundamental Islam’. ‘Our country has adapted because people have been tolerant, which has often required a lot of forbearance and acceptance of things they didn’t like. That is how Britain has evolved. When I address an Islamic audience I always point this out’.”

So Grieve buys into the myth about the damaging effects of multiculturalism, for which there exists no evidence at all. He claims that the culture of “long-term inhabitants” (read “white people”) has been ignored. And he can’t tell the difference between a peaceful if highly sectarian Islamist organisation like Hizb ut-Tahrir and a neo-fascist party like the BNP, many members of which have convictions for violence and incitement to racial hatred.

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