Muslim group attacks ‘irresponsible MI5’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim youth organisation the Ramadhan Foundation expressed concern on Monday after MI5 director-general Jonathan Evans claimed that there are “at least 2,000” individuals at large who “pose a direct threat to national security and public safety.”

Speaking at the Society of Editors conference in Manchester, Mr Evans said that the threat of “al-Qaida-style” terrorism was “the most immediate and acute peacetime threat in the 98-year history of my service.” Making no mention of British militarism in Iraq and Afghanistan, which many believe is a catalyst for the radicalisation of young Muslims, he asserted that “the root of the problem is ideological” and “is the expression of a hostility towards the UK which existed long before September 11 2001.”

But Ramadhan Foundation spokesman Mohammed Shafiq complained that Mr Evans had “failed to accept that 2,000 people out of 1.6 million is a very small problem.”

He said: “This sort of language is inflammatory and we urge all those involved to speak responsibly. There is a real and present threat to the nation from terrorism. Only together can we defeat it. Terrorism is evil and anyone who is involved must be engaged and convinced of why their path is wrong and bring them back to the mainstream.”

But Mr Shafiq stressed: “We are ready to talk to the police and security services about how we should move forward, but we have to be honest about why this threat has appeared, mainly foreign policy. Only then will we be able to defeat terrorism.”

Morning Star, 6 November 2007

For right-wing press coverage of Evans’ speech see for example “Suicide bombers in our schools”, in the Daily Express, “Al Qaeda grooming British children to carry out terror attacks in UK”, in the Daily Mail, and “MI5: Al-Qa’eda recruiting UK children for terror” in the Daily Telegraph.

PM is ‘playing cheap politics at the expense of Canadian Muslims’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Canadians could be forgiven for thinking veiled Muslim women pose an urgent threat to the integrity of our electoral system after Prime Minister Stephen Harper made one of his first priorities in the fall sitting of Parliament a bill to force voters to show their faces at the polls.

“But there is not one shred of evidence that such a problem existed in the first place. Even Harper’s Conservative government has admited ‘there was no apparent case of fraud’ in three federal by-elections that were held in September in Quebec, when unjustified hysteria over veiled Muslim women first boiled over. Yet that has not stopped Harper from trying to fix this imaginary problem by proposing changes to the country’s election law that would require voters to show their faces before they cast their ballots….

“Harper has tried to dress up the bill as a means to ‘enhance public confidence in the democratic process’. But it has nothing to do with electoral integrity and everything to do with pandering to narrow-minded fears about minorities…. Harper and other federal politicians are shamefully playing cheap politics at the expense of Canadian Muslims.”

Toronto Star, 4 November 2007

Suspend Muslim immigration: Hanson

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pauline Hanson (2)Senate hopeful Pauline Hanson has accused the Federal Government of opening up the immigration floodgates to people “who have no intention of being Australian”.

Ms Hanson, who is running in the federal election under the banner of Pauline’s United Australia Party, was campaigning on similar policies to those that won her international notoriety a decade ago, including calling for a moratorium on Muslim immigration.

Campaigning in NSW, the right-wing firebrand told website www.federalelection.com.au she was worried about the loss of Australian values, particularly as a result of Muslim immigration.

“I’ve seen the destruction of our industry, manufacturing, our farmers, everything that is Aussie and to be proud of … that’s been lost,” she said. “They’ve just opened up the floodgates to allow people here that have no intention of being Australian or being proud Australians. I’ve actually now called for a moratorium on Muslim immigration because I believe it’s not for reasons of religious or any other reason. But I think it is a cultural difference to us as Australians and we must protect our own culture.”

The Australian, 4 November 2007

Via Austrolabe

The threat of the ‘mega-mosque’ – part 687

Posted on by Bob Pitt

You might have thought that we were already suffering from media overkill on the subject, but the New York Times carries yet another article on the proposed so-called mega-mosque in Newham.

We get the usual stuff about Tablighi Jamaat being “a fertile recruiting ground for terrorists” and we’re told yet again that there is some significance in the report that “two of the suicide bombers who attacked the London transit system in July 2005 had attended Tablighi Jamaat gatherings”. Christian People’s Alliance councillor Alan Craig is trundled out once more to tell us that “We don’t want this mosque in East London. It will be disastrous.”

Over at Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer expresses his distaste for the role of the British National Party in whipping up hysteria over the issue (rather unfairly, given that he and the BNP have so much in common) and opines: “If the major parties in Britain were worth anything at all, they would be leading the fight against this mega-mosque, and exposing the Islamic supremacist agenda of the Tablighi Jamaat.”

Maryland town opposes construction of Ahmadiyya mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A local politician is seeking to prevent the Ahmadiyya Community USA from building a mosque and recreation center on 224 acres of farmland at Walkersville, Maryland. Chad Weddle, a lawyer and a town commissioner, has proposed a zoning amendment that would prevent the construction of places of worship on land zoned for agriculture there. “Agriculture shouldn’t have buildings on it,” Weddle said.

Walkersville, 56 miles northwest of Washington, has 5,800 residents – 90 percent white and mostly dairy farmers. Many members of the community are opposing the group’s plans to build. Some residents are “apprehensive of Muslims”, Mayor Ralph Whitmore says. “Tensions are still there. We have a lot of people here who haven’t forgotten 9/11”. Whitmore says people who have loved ones fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan have reservations about Muslims in the community. “We’re not a very diverse community.”

Fox News, 2 November 2007

The ‘bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric’ of US Republicans

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Juan Cole argues that the aspiring Republican candidates for the US presidency “have taken their cues from Bush and his Administration. They have continued to vastly exaggerate the threat from terror attacks (far more Americans have died for lack of healthcare or from hard drugs) and have demonized Muslims”. He concludes: “The Republicans are playing Russian roulette with America’s future with their bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric.”

The Nation, 1 November 2007

‘Britz’ – yet another negative protrayal of Muslims and Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Britz“This is just the latest in a seemingly never ending torrent of negative portrayals of Muslims and Islam. Both films and television will claim to tackle any number of difficult issues, yet they find it impossible to show Muslims in a realistic manner. If there is no room for our reflection in their media mirror, then it’s time we made our own mirrors.”

A Muslim blogger responds to the Channel 4 drama Britz.

Outlines via Indigo Jo Blogs

Met faces new armed police allegations

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Forest Gate press conference (2)Scotland Yard yesterday faced fresh controversy after it emerged that the man accidentally shot by police during an anti-terrorism raid in east London last year has claimed armed officers again threatened to shoot him and subjected him to racist abuse during a second recent incident.

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot in the shoulder during a raid by police on his home in Forest Gate in 2006, says he and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, were stopped by armed police with one officer shouting “shoot him, shoot him”.

According to their account they were on a motorbike near their home two months ago when they stopped to watch a police operation at a pizza takeaway. As they drove off, they were followed by police and ordered to stop. According to the brothers, one officer emerged from the car carrying a handgun. A second officer allegedly shouted “shoot him, shoot him, put him down.” Mohammed Kahar said that he then replied: “Don’t shoot me, my hands are in the air.”

The brothers say they were manhandled off the motorcycle and one was pushed to the ground while the other was handcuffed. They claim that they were called “Paki”, “tossers” and “wankers”. Mohammed Kahar said he heard one officer say “that’s the two brothers” and another asked “how many millions do you get?” – presumably a reference to compensation to be paid to the men over last year’s raid. Their sister, who was passing by on a bus, intervened and was charged with a public order offence for which she has been issued with a fixed penalty notice.

Guardian, 3 November 2007