Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Ministers urged to work with Muslim ‘extremist’ groups

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ministers have been urged to enlist the help of several controversial Muslim groups to stem the flow of British jihadists to Iraq and Syria.

Calls are growing for Whitehall to restore ties in particular with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), one of the country’s largest Islamic organisations. The group, which once enjoyed a close relationship with the government, has been ostracised since 2009 when one of its officials signed a declaration supporting Hamas and calling on Muslims to destroy “foreign warships” preventing arms smuggling into Gaza.

Robert Lambert, a former head of the Metropolitan police Muslim contact unit who is now a lecturer in terrorism studies at the University of St Andrews, said that the MCB and other Muslim groups could be valuable partners in the struggle against home-grown jihad.

“Throughout the UK, but predominantly in parts of Greater London, there are Sunni Muslim organisations, groups and individuals with either good track records of challenging al-Qaeda or Isis-type radicalisation and recruitment or clear potential to do so,” he said.

“In many instances the government considers these groups to be unsuitable partners because, in the government’s view, they are extremist and do not subscribe to British values.”

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Anti-Muslim protest: Hundreds rally at proposed Sunshine Coast mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Maroochydore anti-mosque protestHundreds of people protesting against a mosque on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast have come to verbal blows with the building’s supporters, with about 20 police separating the emotionally charged groups.

More than 200 anti-Muslim demonstrators shook placards stating: “Islam is plotting our destruction” and “Australia we have a problem” at the site of the planned mosque, on Church Street in Maroochydore. The protesters said they were concerned the site could become a hub of radicalisation, threatening the local community.

“I’m not for it anywhere in Australia,” a man who called himself Aussie Ron told the ABC.

One Nation state president Jim Savage, who said he had two adopted Asian daughters, said he was not a religious bigot nor a racist.

“This is nothing to do with race,” he said. “What Muslim preaches violates the laws of my country. It is an ideological, political organisation wrapped up in a very thin skin of religion. I ask anybody to name any Western country in the world where there had been a large influx of Muslims where they have seen an improvement and have not seen social issues.”

Pakistani-born Justin Albert warned of experiences of oppression in his native country. “Chopping their heads, it is their Jihad,” he said. “I know their deeds. No more mosque in Australia. One day you will see they will kill you.”

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The EDL goes to Downing Street

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Downing Street demonstration with Paul Weston

Today the English Defence League brought its alcohol-fuelled racist roadshow to London, “to demand the government take firm action urgently about the many Islamic threats to this country, its people, its culture, its heritage and its future”, as they put it. Coming only a week after the EDL’s Rotherham demonstration, it was always unlikely that the event would attract large numbers.

Still, this was a national mobilisation – banners from as far away as Bournemouth, Coventry, Doncaster and Clacton-on-Sea were in evidence – and the grandiose objective of the protest was “to make an EDL spectacle big enough and clear enough to echo through the media and into the hearts and minds and conversations of millions of people in this country”. By that measure it would have to be considered a flop.

Only around 250 EDL supporters gathered in Trafalgar Square – endearing themselves to the general public by lurching around drunkenly and setting off a smoke bomb – before staggering down Whitehall for a rally opposite Downing Street, where they were confronted by a counter-protest organised by Unite Against Fascism.

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Islamophobia gets stronger by the day

Posted on by Bob Pitt

All Muslims out of UKRemona Aly, whose brother Shaizir arrived at his home in south east London recently to find this notice sticky-taped to his front door, has a comment piece at the Guardian reflecting on the rising tide of Islamophobia in the UK.

Aly points out that, while spikes in anti-Muslim hate crime follow events such as Lee Rigby’s murder, the Rotherham abuse scandal and the killings by ISIS, there is “a low-level, simmering current of anti-Muslim hatred regardless”.

Aly relates the experiences of British Muslims she knows who have been spat at, had bottles thrown at them, been threatened by skinheads, accused of being terrorists, and told “you’re disgusting, go back to your own country”.

She writes: “Horrific crimes carried out in the name of religion are as much anathema to the average Muslim Briton as they are to any Briton. An additional burden for us, however, is the warped assumption that British Muslims are somehow to blame for the actions of murderers. The notion that Muslims should feel some form of collective guilt and be collectively punished is a reprehensible one, but it seems to be evident into an increasing number of people’s attitudes.”

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‘Evil’ painted on Queensland mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mareeba mosque graffiti

Vandals have spray painted the word “Evil” across a far north Queensland mosque – an act the local mayor describes as deeply saddening. Worshippers arrived at the mosque in Mareeba, inland from Cairns, on Friday morning to find their place of worship defaced with the yellow paint.

Mayor Tom Gilmore told AAP the mosque had been part of the community since the 1950s.

“This is entirely unacceptable behaviour by anybody in this community,” he said soon after visiting the site on Friday. The thing that is deeply saddening is that it has been in this community since the mid-fifties. I don’t think it’s ever been defaced before in that time.”

Mr Gilmore said a large group of “highly respected” Muslims had lived in the community since the 1920s.

He said the graffiti was visible from the street.

Mr Gilmore said he understood a series of anti-terrorism raids in Queensland and NSW had left people frightened, but targeting innocent people was not the answer. He said Mareeba’s Muslim community was highly respected, honest and hard-working and didn’t deserve to be connected to extremist groups.

“I won’t tolerate that connection, it’s just unfair,” he said. “The events of the last six weeks internationally have been horrifying, it’s horrifying stuff, and I’m quite sure the Muslims in our community are equally as horrified.”

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Australia: senator’s burqa ban call condemned as ‘stupid and ignorant’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cory Bernardi ban burqa tweet

Comments by a Liberal senator linking terror raids with a campaign to ban the burqa have been described as “stupid and ignorant” and designed to “feed prejudice”.

As news broke of the mass counter-terrorism operation across Sydney and Brisbane, in which 15 people were arrested and one charged, Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi took to Twitter to rail against the burqa as a “shroud of oppression”.

Senator Bernardi has been a long-time critic of the burqa, arguing that it is a “symbol of female oppression and Islamic culture”, carries security and identification risks and is “un-Australian”.

Labor leader Bill Shorten on Thursday criticised Senator Bernardi’s remarks, telling Fairfax Media that the last thing the country needed was “stupid” and “ignorant” comments from government MPs.

“Why on earth is this out-of-touch, out-of-line senator on a rampage with his ignorant and stupid comments?” asked Mr Shorten. “This senator’s comments should have no part to play in public life, fuelling fear and suspicion.”

Mr Abbott stopped short of rebuking his backbencher on Thursday when asked about Senator Bernardi’s comments at a media conference in the Northern Territory, saying there was no need to “fret about people’s faith” or “fret about what people wear”.

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New plans revealed for Dudley mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dudley mosque new plan

New plans have been revealed for a new mosque in Dudley on the controversial Hall Street site.

Previous plans for the site faced strong opposition from protestors who said the building would dominate the Dudley skyline, it sparked violent demonstrations in the town from the English Defence League in 2010.

The new design has been developed after consultation with town planners and features a shorter minaret, down from 109 feet to 61 feet, and the floor area of the building has been cut by 16 per cent.

The proposed mosque’s designer, Al Samarraie of Archi-Structure (Consultant), said:

“The community has been at its existing site for over 35 years and the building is not fit for purpose, particularly for women, children, elderly and disabled people. The community want to build modern facilities that will be accessible to local people and offer a modern place of worship.”

The is development is lower than the highest roof level of the adjacent Allan Nuttall’s Limited warehouse and designed to be environmentally friendly with green living roofs.

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Don’t let EDL racists divide us! Unite Against Fascism counter-demonstration – London, Saturday 20 September

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Don’t let EDL racists divide us London September 2014

Justice for the Rotherham abuse victims – don’t let the racists divide us!

Demonstrate: Saturday September 20th, Central London

The EDL are cynically trying to exploit the Rotherham child abuse horror, and British fascists are attempting to unify around this. In Rotherham and in London, the EDL are planning to hold demonstrations over the next two Saturdays. Far right and fascist groups are attempting to recover from set backs anti-fascists have inflicted on them and want to divide us.

The EDL have seized on the appalling child abuse to engender racism against Muslims. They want to “racialise” the issue. UAF will be holding a counter demonstration against the EDL next Saturday, 20th September from 11.30am, at Downing Street. UAF invites all who reject attempts to divide our communities to join us. Bring your friends, families and banners.

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Demonstration will protest against EDL’s anti-Muslim violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Markaz-ul-Uloom Al-Islamia vandalism

A mosque has been vandalised during a far-right protest march in Rotherham, south Yorkshire, as tension rises in the town after the grooming scandal. The glass front door of the Markaz-ul-Uloom Al-Islamia, a Deobandi mosque near the city centre, was broken on Saturday.

Muhbeen Hussain, a local Muslim community organiser, said that the English Defence League had paraded through the city with a banner reading “Muslim groomers”. He also claimed that demonstrators smashed the windows of a halal butcher and a corner shop owned by a Muslim.

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Oklahoma: Republican politician says Islam is ‘a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rep. John Bennett addresses Sallisaw Republican meetingState Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, meeting Monday night with about 85 constituents at a Republican gathering at Western Sizzlin’ here, did not back down from statements he made earlier this month that were critical of Islam.

Bennett has been at the center of a political maelstrom that has gained national attention since he published comments on social media warning people to be wary of Muslim Americans and then refused to apologize in the face of mounting criticism.

Asked before the meeting whether he planned to apologize for his comments, Bennett said, “No. Because I’m right, and they know I’m right.”

“CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) used political pressure to make me back down, but I didn’t and I’m not going to,” he said to a standing ovation. Bennett, who served in the U.S. Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he has heard from people all over the world supporting his position.

In a lengthy presentation that included videos made within U.S. mosques, Bennett outlined a history of the Islamic faith and his views that Islam is a sociopolitical movement intent upon destruction of Western civilization and world domination. “Their goal is the destruction of Western civilization from within,” he said. “This is a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out.”

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