After eight years in American and British prisons, Talha Ahsan is free.
James Ridgeway and Jean Casella report.
Update: See also Arun Kundnani and Jeanne Theoharis, “How outsourcing terror cases to the US can inadvertently result in a fair trial”, Guardian, 23 July 2014
A Muslim worshipper has told Anadolu Agency of the disturbing moments when members of a far-right group stormed a mosque in south London.
Worshipper Mohammed Luthful Wahid told AA on Wednesday that he found himself confronted by five members of the Britain First group after they entered the Crayford Mosque and demanded the removal of what they called “sexist” signs – designating separate entrances for women and men – from outside of the building. Wahid, who is 69-years-old, said: “To be honest with you, I was nervous and worried.”
The group, which posted a video of its invasion on the Britain First Facebook group, had marched into the North West Kent Muslim Association mosque on Sunday, trampled on the prayer area without removing their shoes and demanded to speak to the Imam, who was not present.
In the video, the leader of the group, Paul Golding, approached Wahid and said: “We’re Britain First, yeah? We object to your signs that are outside, the signs for men and women… in this country we have equality.”
Wahid told AA: “We are Muslims, we are not aggressive. I just wanted them to take their shoes off. I wanted them off the carpet.” He said the three worshippers in the mosque at the time were left feeling shocked.
In the video, when asked to remove his shoes, Golding responds: “When you respect women, we’ll respect your mosques and you’ve got signs out there that segregate men and women.” Wahid can be heard in the video saying: “Please get out.”
Before leaving the mosque, Golding and his associates demanded that a Christian cross engraved into the brickwork on the outside of the building – a former Methodist church which was only opened as a mosque in 2008 – be covered up. Wahid said: “I told them that Jesus is one of our prophets, but the guy kept saying, ‘No’. Thank God there were only two or three of us in the mosque at the time, if they had come at prayer time, when there are about 20 people, it could have been disastrous.”
Worpshipper Shiraz Ahmed told AA that the Britain First group’s actions were “disrespectful and aggressive”. He said: “If they had come at a different time, when there are more people here, it would have been very different. I would have thrown them out of the mosque.”
The chairman of the education trust at the centre of the alleged “Trojan Horse” Muslim takeover plot in Birmingham schools has resigned along with his entire board of trustees.
Tahir Alam, of the Park View Educational Trust, made the announcement today outside the gates of Park View Academy in Alum Rock, Birmingham.
The trust has been the focus of allegations made in the anonymous Trojan Horse letter – now widely held to be a hoax – alleging the existence of a clique of hardline Muslims attempting to seize control of Birmingham schools. Those allegations triggered several inquiries and last month the trust’s three schools were placed in special measures by Ofsted. Mr Alam has always denied any wrongdoing and branded the investigations “a witch hunt”.
Mr Alam launched a scathing attack on outgoing Education Secretary Michael Gove, Ofsted and others, as he announced he would be standing down.
After four months of inspections and scrutiny, the capacity of the trust’s three schools – Park View, Golden Hillock and Nansen – to continue to offer an outstanding education “is at risk of being seriously compromised”, he said.
“We believe strongly that we have justice on our side, and we know we have the support of many from within and outside Birmingham, including our students, parents and members of staff,” Mr Alam said.
“However, we are not prepared to subject our school communities to the further period of intense and bitter pressure that our continuing as members of Park View Educational Trust will see them face. And it is for this reason, and with a deep sense of injustice and sadness, that today we are announcing our intention to resign our positions at Park View Educational Trust and allow new people to assume responsibility with the aim of continuing the success of our schools.”
Mr Alam said the reputation of Park View School had been brought to the point of destruction, and the effect on the communities of the allegations and investigations had been “appalling”.
Nicolo Degiorgis contrasts the peace of prayer with the tension of politics, with many of Italy’s Muslims now forced to pray in warehouses, garages, gyms, and shops. Sean O’Hagan reports.
Hidden Islam is published by Rorhof (€47)
An informative report by Dr James Carr on racism and bigotry against Muslims in Ireland has been published by the University of Limerick. Based on a survey of Irish Muslims on their experiences of anti-Muslim hostility, complemented by one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions, the report found that 36% of respondents felt they had been targeted on the basis of being identified as Muslim.
Dr Carr writes: “The manner in which this hostility manifested varied. Participants reported experiencing physical assaults (22%) ranging from being struck, having hijabs forcibly removed, to being pushed, spat at; some reported being threatened or harassed (20%). A white Irish male revert to Islam recalls his experiences of physical forms of abuse: ‘I have been pushed and have had people spit in my face, for being Muslim’. Fewer participants (14%) indicated that they had property damaged. Those who detailed how this manifested referred to tyres being slashed, having eggs thrown at their home inter alia.”
The survey found that women, who were more easily identified as Muslim because of their dress, experienced higher levels of anti-Muslim hostility (44%) and discrimination (40%) than men (28% and 22% respectively). Women interviewees also reported their frustration at being subjected to anti-Muslim stereotyping and regarded condescendingly as passive victims of male oppression.
Dr Carr adds: “The discourse of oppressed Muslim women also serves to ‘legitimise’ the deployment of ‘liberation tactics’ by those would be ‘liberators’ of the oppressed. The impact these ‘tactics’ have on the Muslim female participants in this study includes shock, depression, feelings of fear and vulnerability. Jada explains how she was told to ‘take that thing rag off your head you you’re too good looking for that’ by a patient in the hospital she works in.”
Schools are referring to the police record numbers of pupils and staff identified as being at risk of radicalisation.
Official data to be released on Tuesday will show that the details of 1,281 people were referred to the government’s “Prevent” scheme, up from 748 the year before, with officers citing the civil war in Syria as the main reason for the increase.
Sir Peter Fahy, the chief constable of Manchester police who leads on extremism for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), told the Guardian that schools were now the greatest source of concern for the police, followed by local authorities, the NHS and then higher education.
But he said people should not be surprised that “Muslim lads” felt compelled to travel to Syria after seeing in the media the atrocities committed there.
Since 2007, 1,450 children aged 18 and under have been referred to Prevent, the government’s scheme to tackle extremism, the Acpo figures show.
The disclosure that education is at the forefront of anti-terror measures comes in the wake of the Trojan Horse scandal, in which Ofsted and the Department for Education placed five schools in inner-city Birmingham into special measures.
Fahy defended Prevent, saying it was “just trying to look out for vulnerable young people and to try and avoid using a criminal justice intervention”.
He said: “It’s been a difficult issue with some of the people we know who have been wanting to go to Syria and the people who have come back. Do you want to prosecute them? We have stopped young people on the way to the airport going to Syria. They have not been prosecuted but instead we are working with other agencies to get them help.”
Fahy risked criticism from some quarters by adding: “We all feel desperate about Syria. I have written to my MP. I have watched those reports about Aleppo and Homs and say: ‘What the hell can I do?’ Don’t be surprised that Muslim lads look at that and say: ‘What the hell can I do but go out there and help them.'”
“Is it mere coincidence that Cage has had bank accounts closed down, its staff targeted, and pressure heaped on its funders by the Charity Commission all the space of a few months since Begg’s arrest? If this is a concerted effort to silence Cage, who is behind it and why?”
Alex Delmar-Morgan and Peter Oborne challenge the persecution of Cage.
The City of Greater Bendigo has joined the “Racism. It stops with me” campaign, in light of recent events in Bendigo.
City of Greater Bendigo mayor Barry Lyons was contacted by the Australian Human Rights Commission to join the campaign, which invites all Australians to reflect on what they can do to counter racism.
Bendigo has been in the national spotlight after plans to build a mosque in the city fueled a heated debate among residents.
More than 170 organisations in Australia have already joined campaign and the council is asking Bendigo residents to support them. A special event will be held on Saturday, July 19, for people to make a pledge in support of the campaign.
The council wants the community to show support for the campaign on July 19 from 10:30am at Hargreaves Mall. Throughout the week the City is also asking residents to take ‘selfies’ posing with their hand on their heart and post them on social media using the hashtag #ItStopsWithMeBendigo. The campaign has already gained momentum with a television advertisement featuring Sydney AFL captain Adam Goodes.
Mosque opponents gather outside a council planning meeting last August
A Muslim mosque has been given the green light to be built next to an Assyrian Christian church in Coolaroo.
Hume Council ticked off the Al Sadiq Foundation’s application to build a mosque at 60-66 Kyabram St last August, despite more than 1000 objections. The decision was then appealed by residents at VCAT, but was today upheld after almost six months of deliberation.
Among the tribunal’s reasons for granting the permit included Hume being a “diverse multicultural, multifaith society”, with a relatively even population split between Muslims and Christians in Coolaroo.
“All faiths are entitled to facilities and services to meet their needs, including places of worship to practise their faith,” a VCAT statement said. “For planning purposes, a ‘place of worship’ does not discriminate between religions, nor is it incompatible (in a town planning sense) for one place of worship to be sited adjacent to another.”
Victoria’s police chief says the people behind plans for Bendigo’s first mosque have been vilified by a small minority.
Ken Lay has used a speech during the Islamic holy period of Ramadan to voice what he said was a message of tolerance and goodwill. At the same time, he also delivered a rebuke to opponents of the mosque, which Bendigo councillors approved last month.