Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia
Who will the Gerry Conlons of the future count on?
We should remember the miscarriage of justice suffered by the Guildford Four when we hear politicians whipping up anti-Muslim prejudice, argues Owen Jones.
Bendigo: rainbow balloons fly in support of diversity
Rev Cynthia Page addresses the crowd
Bendigo residents have responded to opposition to a mosque being built in the Victorian city with a celebration of diversity on Saturday. The celebration came after a lengthy debate over the issue which included anti-Islamic protests and one Bendigo councillor opposing the proposal because she was “not a fan of Islam.”
Bendigo Advertiser, 22 June 2014
‘Tyrant’ stereotyping worries US Muslims
The release of a new FX Networks series about an Arab Muslim who returns to his home country with his American wife and children after 20 years in the US has sparked concerns of US Muslims, expressed worries about potential Islamophobic stereotyping of the whole Muslim world.
“In the pilot of FX’s ‘Tyrant,’ Arab Muslim culture is devoid of any redeeming qualities and is represented by terrorists, murderous children, rapists, corrupt billionaires, and powerless female victims,” Ibrahim Hooper, National Communications Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net.
Hooper, who attended Wednesday night’s screening, added: “In ‘Tryant,’ even the ‘good’ Arab Muslims are bad.”
Derisory turnout for Bolton anti-mosque protest: fascists outnumbered by counter-demonstrators
Protestors demonstrated against a planned new mosque in Astley Bridge at the proposed site in Blackburn Road.
About 50 protestors, including members of the British National Party (BNP) and local residents, congregated in Blackburn Road, next to the proposed site of Taiyabah Mosque’s planned new building today.
Hundreds of people – among them people from the protest group Justice4Bolton and members of the local Muslim community – gathered on the site and on the opposite side of Blackburn Road to oppose the protest. Campaigners said it was a “disgrace” that the protest had been allowed to go ahead and that the demonstration was “opportunistic racism”.
A planning application has been submitted to Bolton Council for the construction of a new mosque building, with a dome and minaret tower, on disused land next to the current Taiyabah Mosque in Blackburn Road. The facility, if approved, will cater for more than 1,000 prayer mats and contain 19 classrooms.
Dozens of police officers were deployed to keep the peace during the demonstration, which lasted nearly an hour, and they managed to avoid any violent clashes. It is understood that no arrests were made.
Rhetta Moran, a Justice4Bolton campaigner, said: “I think it is a disgrace that they have been allowed to come out and campaign against a mosque. That land is the property of the mosque so they should not be allowed to drape their flags over the fences. This protest is opportunistic racism. They can dress it up as much as they like, it is Islamaphobic.”
One local resident, who asked not to be named, said: “I am as English as anybody else. The people in this community get on well and support each other, be they white or Muslim. We sort out problems for everybody in the community and work together. This new mosque will not create any problems.”
Bendigo councillor stands by anti-Islam comments
Bendigo leaders say they will not tolerate bigotry, especially from fellow community representatives, as councillor Elise Chapman remained steadfast in her comments about not “being a fan” of Islam.
Ms Chapman, who was one of two councillors to vote against a successful application for a mosque in Bendigo, reiterated she was not a racist and said people should not be made to feel so if they shared their opinions.
“My comments about not being a fan of Islam stand, although it must be noted I’m not a fan of many things,” she said. “The people of Bendigo have every right to object to the application for a mosque without being labeled a racist or bigot.
“My comment that I wouldn’t want to live next door to a mosque, also stands. Although it must be noted that I’d not like to live next door to a cemetery, nightclub, hotel, landfill, abattoir, train station…the list goes on. I think it’s sad that many residents are afraid to publicly voice their concerns for fear of being labelled racists and bigots.”
Bendigo mosque: Black balloons hung outside councillor’s house
A Bendigo councillor has had black balloons hung outside his house as part of a campaign against plans to build the city’s first mosque.
Councillor Mark Weragoda said his Sri Lankan heritage has been targeted in reaction to the council’s approval of the mosque at a rowdy meeting on Wednesday night. “Outside the actual chamber there was a little bit of abuse,” Cr Weragoda said. “I know one person yelled out to me, saying, ‘we don’t want you here’.”
The campaign against the mosque has included the hanging of black balloons throughout the city over the past couple of weeks. It is expected objectors will take their fight against the plans to Victoria’s planning tribunal, VCAT.
Cr Weagoda said the backlash against plans for the city’s first mosque has been a challenging experience. “We’ve got one of the best, best cities in the world and you come back and there’s a minority group who are a little disrespectful, that’s the disappointing thing,” he said.
See also “‘Symbol of hatred’ leaves councillor shaken”, Bendigo Advertiser, 19 June 2014
More anti-mosque hysteria in Bolton
“Plans for new ‘super’ mosque in Astley Bridge” – that’s the headline to a report in the Bolton News this week. The article begins: “A HUGE new mosque is planned for Bolton.” And readers are told: “The development will cater for more than 1,000 prayer mats in the mosque building.”
True, the report goes on to quote support for the planning application from local councillors and a statement by the architect that the new building is intended to “play a part in bridging the gap between the negative perceptions of Islam and the true meaning of Islam”. But the impact of the headline and introduction to the story is clearly to reinforce an “Islamification of Britain” narrative.
Only last month a plan for a mosque expansion on a much smaller scale elsewhere in Bolton provoked threats of violence and an intervention by the far right. So it was entirely predictable that the Bolton News report would result in an outburst of right-wing Islamophobic hysteria. And so it proved. After a day deleting offensive and abusive posts from readers the Bolton News was forced to close comments on the article.
A more responsible report of the plan would have emphasised that the Taiyabah Islamic Centre, the organisation responsible for the proposed development, already owns a large complex of buildings in Draycott Street and Blackburn Road from which it has operated since 1988. The existing mosque has places for 700 worshippers. So the “huge new mosque” doesn’t represent such a dramatic transformation of the situation as the Bolton News article suggests.
Murfreesboro mosque opponents suffer another defeat
A Davidson County judge Thursday upheld a decision by the Rutherford County Board of Zoning Appeals allowing burials at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro site. Senior Judge Paul Summers, who heard the matter after all local judges recused themselves, dismissed a case filed by a group of residents opposed to the county-approved cemetery just off Veals Road at Bradyville Pike.
“The Rutherford County Board of Zoning Appeals did not act illegally, arbitrarily, or capriciously by approving the special use exception permit for the cemetery,” the judge concluded. The judge found that the petitioners, led by Bonnie Golczynski, showed “no distinct and palpable injury” and, therefore, had no standing.
Summers also ruled that the BZA complied with adequate notice requirements for the Open Meetings Act for December 2013 and January 2014 meetings. He concluded that a special use permit issued for the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is valid and denied the petitioner’s request for the BZA to rehear the matter. In addition, Summers dismissed all other claims of the petitioners and assessed them court costs.
Paris protest: campaigners demand repeal of Chatel circular
Le Figaro reports that the campaign has been stepped up for the withdrawal of the “Chatel circular” – the policy introduced in 2012 by the then UMP education minister Luc Chatel which proposed, in the name of defending secularism, that Muslim women who wear the hijab should not be allowed to accompany their children on school trips.
The policy has been maintained under the present Parti Socialiste government, despite a ruling by the Council of State last December that the ban was outside the law.
On Tuesday, for the first time, a delegation of Muslim women involved in the campaign against this oppressive policy met with a representative of current education minister Benoît Hamon to discuss the issue. And yesterday a demonstration was held near the ministry of education in support of the demand for an end to the ban.