Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Leo Kretzenbacher of the University of Melbourne takes on Angela Merkel over her “cynical and dangerous” attack on multiculturalism.
Monthly Archives: October 2010
German far right emerges from shadows as anti-Muslim campaign gathers force
In today’s Observer Kate Connolly reports on prospects for the far right in Germany following the merger between Austria’s FPÖ and the anti-mosque campaign turned political party Pro Cologne.
She points out that it is the anti-Muslim mood whipped up by more mainstream political figures that provides the conditions for Pro Cologne to win support, and quotes Alexander Häusler of Düsseldorf’s University of Applied Sciences as saying:
“The anti-immigration utterings of Sarrazin, backed up by the comments by Merkel and Seehofer, are like a gift to the far right. They have had a door opened to them that has previously been closed, because it is now socially acceptable to say things that before nobody dared to voice.”
Neville-Jones repeats attack on multiculturalism, says Livingstone used it to ‘buy votes’
BigPeace.com, the website run by prominent Tea Party supporter Andrew Breitbart, carries an approving report of a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington by the Con-Dem coalition’s minister for security, Pauline Neville-Jones. It quotes her as saying:
“Multiculturalism in its original form meant you were entitled to dignity, to fair treatment and equality, irrespective of your origin. It turned into, well, because you’re Sikh we’ll give you some money so you can be a bit more Sikh; you’re Muslim so we’ll give you a bit more money so you can be a bit more Muslim – more mosques, more this, more that.”
Multiculturalism was “a mistaken policy, and what it’s done on the whole is to entrench difference and compound it”, Neville-Jones stated, adding that “the then mayor of London was an exemplar of this, Livingstone would buy votes that way. Not literally, but certainly to curry favour”.
For an earlier attack on multiculturalism by Neville-Jones see here.
In Denial? Racism, Islam and the Media event
EXPOSE the BNP are hosting:
In Denial? Racism, Islam and the Media
With speakers:
Hugh Muir, Guardian journalist
Steve Bird, reporter for The Times
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, columnist and broadcaster
Guy Smallman, photojournalist
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary Unite Against Fascism
Monday 1st November, 7pm
Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
235 Shaftesbury Avenue
London, WC2H 8EP
All welcome!
Pia Kjærsgaard calls for ban on Arab TV channels
The leader of Denmark’s populist Danish People’s Party, on which the government relies for support, said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday that pan-Arab television channels Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya should be stopped from broadcasting to the country.
Pia Kjaersgaard, leader of parliament’s third-biggest party, accused the channels of sowing hatred against Western society in immigrant communities. The centre-right governing coalition said it did not support her views about the stations.
Kjaersgaard said she would look into reporting the TV stations to Danish regulatory authorities with the aim of getting their broadcasts blocked.
“My aim is merely to promote integration here which in certain residential areas has gone completely wrong, and that is to a large extent due to the inhabitants getting their news from these two TV stations only,” she said in an interview with the daily Berlingske Tidende. Their broadcasts are very full of hatred… They contribute to inculcating hatred against Western society.”
Update: See “Proposal to ban Arabic stations meets resistance”, Copenhagen Post, 2 November 2010
It’s not easy to build a mosque in Brooklyn, either
Forward reports on the controversy over the proposed new mosque in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.
Kentucky school principals will not be disciplined over anti-Muslim email
CARLISLE COUNTY, Ky. – With a simple click of the mouse, an e-mail was sent on its way Sept. 16. It went from the high school principal to the elementary school principal, then to an entire school faculty. One of the readers, who declined to share her name, remembers reading it, “I was just appalled that school e-mail would be used to send something so hateful.”
It was a forwarded e-mail that read, in part, Muslim women were “slaves” who were “hit” by their husbands. It also claimed Muslims were planning an attack on Americans. “The Muslims are planning a great jihad against America. Arise, be viligant and don’t let it happen,” the woman shared, reading from the e-mail. She read it over and over, each time a new sentence catching her eye like this one: “They have an Army that is willing to shed blood in the name of Islam.”
The Carlisle County School District has anti-discrimination policy. But Superintendent Dr. Keith Shoulders said the e-mail did not violate school policy because the women in question were not the authors and had simply forwarded it. “The real thing it violates is our technology policy that school e-mail should be used for school work,” Shoulders said Thursday.
No disciplinary action will be taken against the two principals.
The woman we talked to has contacted the ACLU. The group’s William Sharpe confirmed they sent an open records request to the district to obtain the e-mail. Superintendent Shoulders said he had received the request. Sharpe told Local 6 the ACLU wants to investigate further before deciding whether to press on with the case.
Finland: Christian Democrat calls for discrimination against Muslim refugees
Christian refugees coming to Finland should be given first preference over Muslims, according to Christian Democratic Party Chair Päivi Räsänen.
In a recent interview with Finnish university student magazine “Ylioppilaslehti”, Räsänen reasons that Christians adapt to Finland better than Muslims because of commonalities in religion and culture. Muslims are at greater risk of becoming isolated in Finnish society. This can lead to radicalisation, Räsänen says.
In response to the remarks, Green Party MP Jyrki Kasvi accuses Räsänen of discrimination against members of different faiths. Writing in his blog on the Green Party website, Kasvi sees Räsänen’s stance to be in violation of international human rights, which forbid discrimination on the basis of religion.
EDL’s pro-Wilders demo in Amsterdam flops
Members of the English Defence League travelled to the Netherlands in support of far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders. The European Freedom Initiative group organised a rally against what they claim is the “growing Islamisation” of Europe.
Authorities moved the demonstration from a central Amsterdam location to an industrial site on the outskirts of the city for fear of violence. Hundreds of people were expected to attend, but the rally drew far more police and journalists than marchers.
US TV host fears Western world will taken over by Islam
http://youtu.be/IBAG58aHwOo
Those who accuse the once libertarian Bill Maher of becoming too much of a liberal apologist might want to clean their ears. Maher made a Juan Williams-esque confession on his program when he apprehensively noted that Mohammed has just become the most popular baby name in Britain.
“Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that?” Maher asked his panel. “Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years?”
“If you’re with NPR,” the conservative Margaret Hoover chimed, “You’d be fired.” Hoover further stoked Maher by claiming that the U.K is saddled with a “far bigger problem” than baby names: Sharia law, which she said is creeping into England.
“Then I’m right,” Maher said, taking her for her word. “I should be alarmed. And I don’t apologize for it.”