Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Guardian welcomes expansion of East London Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A month after a mosque in north London was destroyed in an arson attack, it is heartening to see that East London Mosque in Whitechapel is expanding. When it gets fully under way, the Maryam Centre will offer a range of projects and services for women in the community – a prayer hall, counselling, a gym – as well as house a school and a visitor centre for non-Muslims. The centre will make the mosque very much more than just a provider of religious services. With 25,000 worshipers attending a week, and that is outside Ramadan, the mosque has already become a key hub for the community. Its original purpose in 1910 was as a place of worship for sailors and travellers who came to Tower Hamlets. It took most of the last century to establish a permanent base in Whitechapel. Today it is the living and growing answer to those on the extreme right who vilify mosques as the home of fundamentalists.

Editorial in the Guardian, 11 July 2013

A welcome two fingers to the likes of Andrew Gilligan and Harry’s Place.

Russia’s Supreme Court upholds ban on Muslim headwear in schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A branch of Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a group of Muslims for the right of schoolgirls to wear traditional religious attire, specifically the hijab, in classrooms.

The appeal was made by a group of citizens of Muslim faith from southern Russia’s Stavropol Region. They complained that a decree by the local administration ordering all schoolchildren to appear in classes only in regular secular clothes, which came into force in January this year, infringes their freedom of faith as guaranteed by the constitution.

The controversy erupted when a group of schoolgirls was barred from classes for two weeks when they insisted on wearing hijabs. The girls then began attending to a local religious school, the parents saying their daughters would receive the mandatory universal secondary education at home. However the administration ruled that a religious school cannot replace a secular one.

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How phony fear of US jihadis obscures the real threat of far-right terror

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Since 9/11, American law enforcement has taken a disproportionate interest in American Muslims across the country, seeing a whole community as a national security threat, particularly in California and New York City. But here’s the thing: the facts that have been piling up ever since that date don’t support such suspicion. Not at all.

The numbers couldn’t be clearer: right-wing extremists have committed far more acts of political violence since 1990 than American. That law enforcement across the country hasn’t felt similarly compelled to infiltrate and watch over conservative Christian communities in the hopes of disrupting violent right-wing extremism confirms what American Muslims know in their bones: to be different is to be suspect.

Matthew Harwood at Comment is Free, 10 July 2013

Islam and democracy are ‘absolutely not compatible’, French right-wing politician claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Collectif contre l’Islamophobe en France has condemned comments by UMP deputy mayor of Nice and former government minister, Christian Estrosi.

Asked whether he agreed with prime minister François Hollande’s statement during a visit to Tunisia that Islam and democracy are compatible, Estrosi replied: “Absolutely not! We can’t claim adherence to secularism everywhere and at the same time say that Islam and democracy are perfectly compatible.”

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Danish politician tells Muslims to go back where they came from

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Inger StøjbergMuslims who show no interest in adopting Danish values ought to think about why they settled in Denmark in the first place, the immigration spokesperson for leading opposition party Venstre argued in an opinion piece published in Politiken newspaper today.

In her piece, Inger Støjberg criticises Danish Muslims who actively try to shield themselves from Danish values and norms and who think that their religious beliefs should not be allowed to be mocked. Støjberg pointed to a study of Danish Muslims in which 55 percent responded that criticising religion should be banned and 64 percent thought that free speech should be limited in particular circumstances.

“Denmark is the land of the Danes and you are more than welcome to become a Dane and take part in the work and community,” Støjberg wrote. “But to those Muslims who constantly work against us, constantly question us, are unsatisfied, encourage going to holy war in Syria, commit honour killings, belittle our values, flag or way of living – to all of you: Go and find somewhere else to live. No one is forcing you to stay. We accepted you and now it’s up to you to show the necessary respect for our society and the values it is built upon.”

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Sharia patrols stalk the streets of Llandudno

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Llandudno postcardWhen I was a kid back in the 1950s our family regularly took our summer holidays in the North Wales resort of Llandudno, and over half a century later I still have pleasant memories of playing on the beach there. So imagine my shock at the revelation that this picturesque seaside town is about to succumb to the apparently inexorable process of Islamification that is sweeping the UK. Is nowhere safe from the Muslim hordes?

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