Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Football fans and neo-Nazis clash with police in Cologne

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cologne far-right protest

Football hooligans and members of the German far right clashed with riot police in the centre of Cologne on Sunday as a demonstration against Islamic extremism turned violent.

About 2,500 hardline football fans and members of neo-Nazi organisations gathered under the banner “Hooligans against Salafists”. The march had been registered by a regional far-right party, called “Pro NRW”.

A counter demonstrations under the motto “Shoulder to shoulder against racism and religious extremism”, organised by anti-fascist activists, had drew about 500 people.

Cologne newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger said drunken protesters hurled bottles, rocks, fireworks and bicycles at police, injuring at least 13. One police van was tipped over. Some of the protesters were reportedly shouting “Foreigners out” and “Free, social and national: National Socialism now”.

Police in riot gear used to batons, pepper spray and water canons to contain the situation and made six arrests. A police union spokesperson told Die Welt that they were dealing with a new phenomenon inside the German football hooligan scene which could become highly dangerous.

Continue reading →

Caroline Fourest fined €6000 for defaming young Muslim victim of racist attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rabia-B. (2)Saphir News has reported that Caroline Fourest – the French “left-wing” Islamophobe who wrote Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan – has been successfully sued for defamation over comments she made in June last year on the radio station France Culture.

Fourest was responding to the attacks on two Muslim women in Argenteuil, one of whom lost her baby after being kicked in the stomach by her assailants. This followed an earlier incident in which a 17-year-old woman named Rabia Bentot (pictured) was punched and kicked by racists, who also tore off her headscarf while shouting “dirty Arab” and “dirty Muslim”

Instead of Fourest declaring her outrage at the assaults, and her solidarity with the victims, this self-styled feminist expressed scepticism about the women’s accounts.

Fourest claimed that Rabia Bentot was being manipulated by her father and by the Coordination contre le Racisme et l’Islamophobie, assisted by what Fourest described as the “communalist” website Oumma.com, and she suggested that the story of an attack might well have been fabricated. Even if an assault did take place, Fourest asserted, the police had not excluded the possibility that Rabia was the victim of violence by her own family, who could have beaten her up as punishment for living too free a lifestyle.

Needless to say, Fourest offered no evidence whatsoever to back up these disgraceful slurs.

Continue reading →

Tunisia shows there is no contradiction between democracy and Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

As Tunisia prepares to hold its second free and fair election on Sunday – and continues its transition from despotism to democracy – my country offers a stark contrast to the extremes of terrorism and military intervention seen elsewhere in the region. Tunisia stands as proof that the dream of democracy that spurred the Arab Spring lives on.

Despite what some believe, there is no “Arab exception” to democracy, nor is there any inherent contradiction between democracy and Islam. The Middle East can indeed achieve stability and peace through a process of democratic reconciliation and consensus. But the road will be long and involves the challenging work of building institutions, healing old wounds and forging compromise around shared values. The path that Tunisia has taken can guide others.

Rachid Ghannouchi, founder and chairman of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, writes in the Washington Post.

New South Wales: Muslim mum says racial abuse now worse than after September 11 and Bali bombings

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A mother who wears Islamic head coverings says local Muslims are now suffering more racist abuse than after the September 11 and Bali terrorist attacks.

Nahid Mohamed and her mother are Muslims and both wear a Niqab, where the body and face are covered except for the eyes. Both have lived at Killarney Vale for many decades. Ms Mohamed was born on the Central Coast and went to preschool, primary school and high school in the Killarney Vale district.

But still, it came as a shock when she and her mother were abused for speaking Arabic and wearing a Niqab in a doctor’s surgery last week. Ms Mohamed took the insults for as long as she could before defending herself and her mother.

“As soon as we walked into the surgery you could tell this guy was not happy,” Ms Mohamed said. “Mum started telling me about her trip away in Arabic and he started swearing at us, this went on for 10 or 15 minutes before I said, hello, is there a problem?

“He continued going on about how we should not be in the country and that we should speak English. The receptionist asked us both to be quiet, which was extremely insulting. We sat in silence and Mum whispered what’s happened in the last three weeks?”

ISIS has happened and just like after the September 11 attacks and the Bali bombings, Muslims like Ms Mohamed and her mother are targets again.

“It’s way worse, every media report affects us. I was horrified at the images I was seeing on television and I knew it had implications for every Muslim in Australia. I thought oh my God this is going to be disastrous and it was.”

Continue reading →

Students and faculty from Oklahoma University show support for the Muslim community

Posted on by Bob Pitt

OCU support for Muslim communityOKLAHOMA CITY – Hundreds of local Muslims were in for a surprise when they left their congregational prayer service Friday afternoon at their mosque in Oklahoma City.

A large group of Christians and those of the Jewish faith from as far away as Guthrie and Shawnee gathered and greeted those Muslims as they walked out of the mosque. Students and faculty at Oklahoma City University (OCU) organized the event.

Janet Boone works in the OCU Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office. “We were getting so tired of all the negative and all the hateful things that were being said to and about our Muslim friends,” she said.

Continue reading →

Cardiff: Anti-fascists confront far‑right anti‑Islam protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cardiff anti-fascist protest

Police officers have lined the streets of Cardiff city centre, where a demonstration by a group called the Welsh Alliance is taking place. Anti-fascist protesters have gathered in the city centre in protest of the march, which is set to end at City Hall this afternoon.

Beforehand, members of the Welsh Alliance gathered at pubs near the city’s Mill Lane and bottom of St Mary Street, where they were advised by on their Facebook group: “no banners, flags or chanting inside please”.

Members were told to gather in front of Cardiff Central Station before marching to City Hall for speeches. The Facebook group advised “please leave any racist banners at home”. The group claim on Facebook they are “Welsh patriots” who are “fighting mass immigration”.

Anti-fascism protesters gathered at the bottom of St Mary Street with their own banners to counter the demonstration in “a united front” to show “racism in any guise in not accepted in Cardiff”.

One campaigner opposing the Welsh Alliance was Mia Hollsing, 26, from Mountain Ash. She said: “I think there’s a lot of police here, a bit too many in my view.

“We need a diverse society where everyone is welcome regardless of where they are from and what they believe in. It the rich people that are causing the problems in this country, not ordinary workers, wherever they come from. We are here peacefully – none of us are violent.

“We are chanting and making our voices heard, but that is our right. We don’t want to see any violence here today, that’s not what we are here for, but that doesn’t mean we are willing to let racism go unchallenged.”

Continue reading →

Molotov cocktail thrown at Albuquerque mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Albuquerque mosque firebomb attackFBI agents and Albuquerque police investigated a Molotov cocktail thrown at a mosque in southeast Albuquerque Friday morning.

The device hit the exterior wall of the Islamic Center of New Mexico around 3:55 a.m. Friday, scorching a wall and leaving broken glass on the ground.

Several agencies responded to the Islamic Center to conduct an investigation, including the FBI and APD bomb squad personnel.

“I’m very disappointed something like this would happen here in Albuquerque,” said Jameela Abdul Halim, the assistant administrator at the Islamic Center.

The center’s janitor, Shakir Farid Abdullah, said he found the burnt bottle about five hours later, around 9 a.m. Abdullah said he feared the perpetrator assumes the mosque is affiliated with terrorist groups overseas.

“We believe in peace, nonviolence…we don’t support terrorism,” said Abdullah. “We don’t support any acts of violence against any religious group…so someone, obviously, is ignorant to that.”

The Molotov cocktail was apparently thrown at the section of the building dedicated to women and children. Friday is also the day hundreds of Muslims from across the area come to the mosque to pray. No one was injured, but the incident is still disturbing to those who attend the mosque.

“[We’re] very grateful it didn’t go through the window. There was nobody around at the time; we didn’t have a lot of people,” said mosque member Abdul Halim.

This is not the first incident at the Islamic Center. According to mosque member Andy Brooks, people threw flaming Qurans into the mosque’s yard a couple years ago, and last year, someone walked into the Iman’s office and threatened him with a gun.

Also, this past February, a man approached two children on the mosque’s playground and allegedly threatened to stab them because he hated Muslims.

Continue reading →

‘We’re being treated like paedophiles!’ Asian cabbies protest after boss reveals he supplies white drivers on request

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Heywood taxi drivers protestA group of Asian cabbies have staged a protest after their boss revealed he supplies white drivers to customers on request.

Dozens of furious drivers who work for Heywood firm Car 2000 gathered in the town centre tonight in response to the admission by owner Stephen Campbell.

In 2011, Mr Campbell’s family took over the business, which as formerly called Eagle Taxis, which employed two of the nine men jailed a year later for grooming girls. Earlier this week, Mr Campbell told the M.E.N. his staff would provide customers with white drivers on request.

The Asian cabbies protesting tonight blasted the policy as ‘racist’ and ‘discriminatory’ – and called on Mr Campbell to apologise.

Continue reading →

Alberta mosque vandalised

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cold Lake Mosque vandalised

The Cold Lake Mosque was vandalized overnight in what local business owners and residents are calling a “disgusting” crime.

RCMP Sgt. Troy Hadland said police responded to a call of mischief at 6:30 a.m. Both front windows were broken and the words “go home” and “Canada” were spray painted with red paint on the outside of the building. Hadland said evidence at the scene was seized and sent to St. Paul RCMP for analysis. “This type of behaviour won’t be tolerated,” he stressed.

A steady stream of business leaders came in through the front door of the mosque offering their support. They described the crime as “disgusting” and assured mosque members that this crime does not reflect the view of the community of Cold Lake.

The mosque has been gathering posters, flowers and gifts from the community and displaying them by the windows that were smashed. One of the posters reads “you are home.” A pen has been left by the poster and people have been signing their names.

One of the members of the mosque came in at 6 a.m. to pray, and found his place of worship vandalized. He said the writing upset him more than the damaged windows, which can be fixed. “This is my home. Cold Lake is my home. My kids were born here. They go to school here.”

Continue reading →

Muslim Brotherhood: ‘Cleared of UK terrorism link’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

David Cameron with Mohammed MorsiA review of the Muslim Brotherhood’s UK activity has cleared it of links to terrorism, its lawyers have said.

The Brotherhood is an Islamist movement which has been declared a terrorist group by Egypt’s military rulers.

Reports suggested members of the group moved to London to escape a crackdown in Cairo and plotted a response to the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader.

There has been no reaction yet from No 10 regarding the lawyers’ announcement.

Continue reading →