Spectator disgraces itself with Islamophobic cover

Spectator taught to hate coverThis is the cover to this week’s Spectator. A cartoon of a frightened child clutching the Qur’an in one hand and a scimitar in the other. How could Spectator editor Fraser Nelson possibly have thought that was a good idea?

As you can see, the main article in the magazine is by the raving neocon, Douglas (“conditions for Muslims in Europe must be made harder across the board”) Murray, who Nelson apparently thinks is an entirely appropriate person to lead the Spectator‘s commentary on the so-called “Trojan horse” controversy.

Not only that, but Murray’s piece is followed by an article from Innes Bowen claiming that almost half of British mosques are run by co-thinkers of the Taliban.

The issue also contains an entirely sensible article by Matthew Parris entitled “This ‘Islamist conspiracy’ is WMD all over again”, which argues that the “Trojan horse” affair looks very much like a repetition of the neocon propaganda that provided the justification for the invasion of Iraq. Good for Matthew Parris.

But Fraser Nelson saw fit to bury that article on page 27 and omit any reference at all to it on the cover. He evidently thought it more important to promote a piece calling for support for England football team manager Roy Hodgson.

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Bradford school drawn into Islam row as reports surface of gender segregation

Carlton Bolling Ofsted reportA Bradford school has been drawn into the row over claims that governing bodies are attempting to pursue an Islamic agenda at state schools.

It has been reported that minutes from governing body meetings at Carlton Bolling College showed that governors had regularly asked whether a broad religious agenda met the spiritual needs of students. It also reported gender segregation had taken place for trips at the Bradford secondary schools

However the school’s chairman of governors in Bradford has said attempts to link his school and the city to the Birmingham “Trojan Horse” controversy “feels like a witch hunt”. Faisal Khan was speaking following reports relating to two Bradford schools – Carlton Bolling College and Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College – neither of which are Muslim faith schools.

Mr Khan, who is chairman of governors at Carlton Bolling and a former Respect councillor who now sits on Bradford Council as an independent, said suggestions the governing body was trying to impose a strict Islamic ethos on the school were wrong.

“It’s just completely false,” he said. “It feels like a witch hunt. We’re a good school and we’re proud of the students and the staff and I think all this is just mischief-making. People need to just stand back and take a level headed approach rather than just try and destroy all this.”

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CAIR hits back at Geller’s hate-ads

CAIR bus ad

A Christian, a Muslim and a Jew turn up together on a Washington, D.C., bus.

It’s no joke. They’re the faces of a new ad campaign by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group. And the ad is the latest volley between Muslim and anti-Muslim groups that has played out most recently on the sides of buses in the nation’s capital.

First, the American Muslims for Palestine ran ads during peak D.C. tourism season, the Cherry Blossom Festival in April, condemning U.S. aid to Israel. A month later, blogger Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative responded with bus ads featuring photos of Hitler meeting the grand mufti of Jerusalem and a text equating opposition to Israel’s territorial policies with Nazism.

CAIR’s ads, unveiled at a Wednesday (June 11) press conference, highlight “Islam’s commitment to freedom of religion, diversity and peaceful coexistence encouraged by the teachings of the Quran,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. He also announced a crowdfunding effort on Indiegogo to raise the $41,000 it cost to design, publish and circulate the ads on multiple bus routes for a month.

“We do not shy away from debates on issues, but hate speech is a red line and I believe (Geller’s) ads have crossed the line between what is ethical and what is designed to provoke hatred in others,” Awad said at a press conference where he was flanked by Jewish and Christian clergy and activists.

In the CAIR ad text, “we let the Quran speak for itself,” he said. All three people say that the Quran’s verse 2:62 speaks for them when it says: “Verily, those who have attained to faith, as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians … all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

The ad also offers a website link where people can request a free copy of the Quran for the cost of shipping ($9.95).

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Middlesbrough EDL march: Police warn criminal behaviour will be dealt with ‘robustly’

Middlesborough EDLPolice have warned that any anti-social or criminal behaviour linked to a planned English Defence League demonstration will be dealt with “robustly”. It comes as hundreds of demonstrators plan to march through Middlesbrough later this month.

Cleveland Police officers are in talks with a number of groups over plans by members of the EDL from as far afield as London and Scotland to gather in the town on June 28.

About 250 EDL supporters have already confirmed they are attending on Facebook – with organisers saying full details of the demo will be released “at a later date”. It is understood that they may try to march through residential areas, finishing at the war memorial on Linthorpe Road. It comes after a recent demonstration in Newcastle city centre in which Teesside flags could be seen.

Counter demonstrations are also being planned by groups opposed to the EDL.

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Olive Tree Primary School: chair of governors responds to Ofsted stitch-up

Ofsted logo parodyLast week Ofsted published the report of its recent inspection at the Olive Tree Primary School in Luton. Predictably, following the pattern we have seen in Birmingham, a school that had received a broadly favourable report from inspectors less than two years ago was now found to be “inadequate”.

Ofsted stated that some of the library books at the school contained fundamentalist views that had “no place in British society”. This produced inflammatory headlines such as “‘Tough action’ may be taken at Islamic faith school after inspectors find books which ‘promotes’ stoning, lashing and execution”.

The school has issued a furious rebuttal the Ofsted report, condemning it as “half-baked” and “highly politicised”. The statement added: “The inspection and the subsequent report was not about education, it was about a right extremist, Michael Gove, whipping up racist hysteria and OFSTED dancing to his poisonous tune.”

Farasat Latif, chair of governors at Olive Tree Primary School, has followed this up with a letter to the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw.

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‘Mega Mosque’ public inquiry for West Ham site starts at ExCel Centre

NRAP Riverine Centre designA public inquiry into Newham Council’s rejection of plans for a mosque in West Ham has opened with supporters and opponents of the so-called “Mega Mosque” making their case.

The Abbey Mills Riverine Centre application for a 29,227sq m mosque in Canning Road was turned down by councillors in 2012 unanimously after local residents protested against plans.

But this prompted counter protests by local Muslims in favour of the new centre, which would cater for 9,000 worshipers in a site more than three times the floorspace of St Paul’s Cathedral.

A public inquiry held by the government’s Planning Inspectorate kicked off on Tuesday 3 at the ExCeL centre, and is expected to last until June 23.

The inquiry is also looking at the temporary permission granted for the site to be used as a smaller mosque for two years, which has now expired.

Representations will be made by the Newham People’s Alliance, a community group which supports the plans, and the MegaMosqueNoThanks campaign, run by ex-Newham councillor and former head of the Christian People’s Alliance, Alan Craig.

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Religious leaders slam anti-Muslim bus ads

Montgomery County Faith Community Working Group press conferenceNew ads on Metro buses with a photo of Adolf Hitler and a prominent Muslim leader represent the “bigotry and hate” that divide people and spur hatred, religious groups said Monday morning.

“These ads are trying to say the Quran calls for hatred of Judaism,” said Ira Weiss, who represented the Jewish Islam Dialogue Society, which works to bring together Muslims and Jews. “It is easy to cherry-pick nasty parts of Scripture in any text – they were written thousands of years ago,” Weiss said at a news conference in Rockville. “These words used in the ads are like the devil using Scripture against its religion.”

The ads, created by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, feature a photo of Hitler speaking to Haj Amin al-Husseini, who was grand mufti of Jerusalem at the time. They ask people to stop aiding Muslims in an attempt to “end racism.” The ads, which are on 20 Metro buses, declare that “Islamic Jew-hatred” is “in the Quran,” adding the “two thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries.”

The Montgomery County Faith Community Working Group – which represents the county’s Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Unitarian Universalist and Zoroastrian communities – organized the news conference and rally, which drew about 100 people to the Rockville Metro station.

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