Category Archives: Analysis & comment

Islamophobia and free speech in Denmark

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Martin Krasnik DeadlineThe Copenhagen Post reports on the case of Martin Krasnik, a journalist on the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s (DR) current affairs programme Deadline who is noted for his combative interviewing style.

Last month Krasnik subjected the notorious anti-Muslim bigot Lars Hedegaard to a grilling on Deadline, in the course of which he pointed out that there is an obvious parallel between Hedegaard’s paranoid fantasies about a Muslim plot to take over the West and the antisemitic conspiracy theory promoted in The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. Hedegaard was furious, claiming that he had been led to expect a friendly, sympathetic interview and instead was given a hard time by Krasnik.

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EDL anti-mosque protest in Plymouth

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Plymouth EDL anti-mosque protest (2)A protest by a right-wing group and anti-fascist campaigners passed off peacefully this afternoon.

Members of the English Defence League (EDL) from across the South of England descended on Plymouth after the owner of the Dance Academy claimed he was thinking of handing the property over to a charity to be turned into a mosque.

About 25 EDL members from as far away as Bournemouth and Weymouth staged a two-hour protest outside the former New Palace Theatre in Union Street. They were confronted by a about 25 members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

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Fears of Muslim 
tensions in high 
security prison

Posted on by Bob Pitt

HMP Full Sutton (2)That’s the headline to an article in yesterday’s Yorkshire Post. It is based on a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick, of an inspection carried out in December at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire.

The report found: “Black and minority ethnic and Muslim prisoners reported much more negatively about their treatment and conditions across a range of indicators than white and non-Muslim prisoners.”

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University of Nottingham stands up to far-right intimidation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENR Nottingham University protestThe EDL/NEI protest in Sunderland wasn’t the only far-right anti-Muslim demonstration on Saturday. A number of fascist groups gathered outside the University of Nottingham to protest against the Family Retreat event being held at the conference centre over the Easter weekend, at which Haitham al-Haddad was an advertised speaker.

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EDL and Infidels hold anti-mosque protest in Sunderland

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL NEI Millfield March 2013There was yet another far-right protest yesterday at the site of the planned mosque at Millfield in Sunderland. This one was organised by the English Defence League and the North East Infidels.

The Infidels, you may recall, originated in a split from the EDL two years ago. The EDL leadership, who at that point were still trying to maintain the pretence that they had nothing to do with fascism, denounced the Infidels as Nazis – which was an entirely accurate description.

However, following the disastrous Waltham Forest demonstration last September the EDL leadership issued an appeal for far-right unity in a desperate attempt to reverse declining numbers at its protests. As a result, demonstrations have seen increased co-operation between the EDL and the Infidels, for example at Shotton Colliery in December and in Manchester earlier this month.

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Texas investigates school curriculum over claims of Marxist-Islamic conspiracy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Both Jessica Huseman at PolicyMic and Jason Stanford at the Huffington Post  report on a controversy stirred up by two right-wing lunatics named Ginger Russell and Janice VanCleave, who claim to have discovered that “for the last seven years students all across the state of Texas have been indoctrinated with a pro communist, pro Islamic curriculum called CSCOPE”.

It all began when VanCleave found she was unable to access details of CSCOPE lessons online. As Russell recounts: “After further research it was discovered the Marxist philosophy behind Cscope and numerous lessons with a bias toward Communism pro Islam content.”

You might think that Russell and VanCleave would be dismissed as a couple of hysterical nutters. Not in Texas, however: “Instead, politicians are giving the conspiracy oxygen, and like a fire it is spreading. The Texas Attorney General is investigating CSCOPE and reportedly promised to ‘shut them down completely’ if he uncovers illegality.”

Daily Mail links Islam to mass murder

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daily Mail Dark Knight killer headline

Earlier this week the Daily Mail published a story headlined “Dark Knight killer James Holmes ‘is now a Muslim who prays five times a day'”. The report began:

“James Holmes, the gunman behind the Dark Knight massacre in Colorado last July, has reportedly turned Muslim and prays five times a day. The killer showed off a lengthy, thick beard during a court appearance earlier this month, and a prison source has claimed it is a symbol of his new-found faith. The source said Holmes has turned to Islam as a way of justifying his horrific murder spree in an Aurora, Colorado cinema on July 20 which left 12 people dead and 58 people wounded.”

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Far right ‘fights Islamic bigotry against women’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENR Crayford mosque protest adWhen it comes to the ideology of Islamophobia, fascists invent nothing new – they just take their inspiration from the mainstream media. I doubt most of them had even heard of sharia law or halal slaughter until the right-wing press decided to create moral panics over these issues. In embracing received anti-Muslim prejudice, the one contribution the racist far right does make is to give it an additional thuggish twist.

So, with the likes of the Daily Mail having helped to stir up controversy over so-called “gender segregation” at iERA’s recent public meeting at University College London, it was only a matter of time before far-right racists adopted this as their cause.

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Right-wing press ‘exposes’ gender segregation at UCL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Predictably, the right-wing press has seized on the dispute over so-called gender segregation at last Saturday’s iERA debate at UCL to further its “Islamisation of Britain” narrative.

The Daily Mail covers the story in detail (“University College London bans hard-line Islamic group which tried to segregate men and women at a debate held on university premises”), as does the Telegraph, which has interviewed Lawrence Krauss (“Britons afraid to challenge radical Islam, says former Obama adviser”). The latter paper also has a comment piece (“Even a right-on Obama advisor is shocked by Islamic sexism at UCL”) by Toby Young, who in recent years has become a something of a byword for dyspeptic right-wing bigotry.

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