Ben Affleck challenges Sam Harris’s Islamophobia on Bill Maher’s TV show
The prominent Islamophobe Sam Harris has revealed that he is writing a book with Maajid Nawaz and that he’s giving money to the Quilliam Foundation.
5Pillarz has the details.
Category Archives: UK
Oxford Unite Against Fascism mobilises against ‘Tommy Robinson’
No Islamophobia at the Oxford Union – sign the open letter to cancel Tommy Robinson’s invite
Sign the open letter here (text below)
Tommy Robinson, ex-leader of the fascist English Defence League (EDL), has been invited to speak at the Oxford Union on 23rd October.
Robinson is trying to present himself as a reformed character, after abandoning his leadership of the EDL after it collapsed following a campaign by anti-fascist and anti-racist organisations. As leader of the EDL Robinson organised and lead violent racist demonstrations and waged a campaign of demonisation of Muslims. EDL marchers chanted “you build your Mosques, we’ll burn them down”, and racially abused black and Asian people. Many EDL members have been jailed for racist violence, racial abuse and attacks on Mosques, yet Robinson continues to communicate with its members and issue anti-Muslim statements via social media, including the use of the racist hash tag #rapejihad.
Robinson may have abandoned trying to lead a fascist street army but he continues to incite racial hatred against Muslims under the same false flag of tackling extremism that he used while leading the EDL. Robinson has recently showed his continuing support for the EDL tweeting “Happy to hear the EDL gave me a round of applause for me before their demo. The EDL will always hold a place in my heart” as well as circulating lies demonising Muslims with statements like “30,000 Muslims marched through Birmingham demanding these same blasphemy laws.”
Robinson’s website still identifies himself as the founder of the EDL and carries videos of their racist marches. There is no convincing sign of an abandonment of his view that Islam is the problem. When he stepped down as leader of the EDL he maintained “I want to lead the revolution against Islamist ideology”. This “revolution” has taken the form of a campaign of focus on cases of Muslim men being involved in rape. Robinson presents grooming and rape as a problem stemming from the Muslim community when in fact such offences occur in all communities. Sexual exploitation is an appalling crime, but it is not linked to ethnicity or religion. As the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre point out, ‘Child sexual exploitation is not confined to one community, age, demographic, social status or gender.’
‘Muslim men are raping women’ – investment banker caught on camera launching racist rant on train
An investment banker was caught on camera launching a racist rant at a woman on an inter-city train in front of shocked passengers.
Police issued CCTV stills, and a mobile phone snap of Neil Docherty taken by a disgusted witness, in bid to track him down. Within hours members of the public called cops with his name and place of work, Livingston Sheriff Court heard yesterday, and he later handed himself in to police.
Docherty, of Linlithgow, West Lothian, appeared on bail and admitted two racially aggravated offences. He pleaded guilty to assaulting Fella Hammach, 33, on board a Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh train at Linithgow, West Lothian, on August 28.
The 43-year-old also pleaded guilty to acting in a racially aggravated manner which caused or was intended to cause alarm and distress to Ms Hammach by shouting and swearing, acting in an aggressive manner and directing religious remarks towards her using racially offensive language.
Procurator fiscal Catherone Knowles said the assault was witnessed by several passengers on the train, which was packed with revellers returning from a night out.
As the train pulled into Linlithgow station at around 11pm Ms Hammach was unexpectedly slapped to the right side of her head from behind. She said: “The accused was overheard shouting at her: ‘Go back to your own f*****g country. Muslim men are raping women’.”
Mrs Knowles said a female passenger told the accused to stop but he ignored her and shouted: “It’ll be a different story when they take over the world and you’re all wearing burkhas!”
The pro-ISIS graffiti that wasn’t
Last week anti-ISIS graffiti was found sprayed on a wall in Newcastle. Predictably, it was interpreted by the far right as being in support of ISIS and held to indicate the presence of terrorist sympathisers among the local Muslim community.
Yet it was quite obvious that the graffiti was the work of Kurdish nationalist PKK activists who were accusing Turkey of backing ISIS. The graffiti referred to the YPG, the armed wing of the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, and featured the slogan “Apo long life to you” – “Apo” being the nickname of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The appearance of the graffiti coincided with a Kurdish demonstration in Newcastle against ISIS where pro-PKK placards were displayed and the Turkish flag burned.
Bolton UKIP claims single-sex faith schools are ‘socially divisive’ … when they’re Islamic
A councillor has hit out at Bolton UKIP after it claimed single-sex faith schools were “socially divisive”.
UKIP issued a statement after Tauheedul Free Schools Trust was given the go-ahead to build a £10 million Muslim boys school, named Eden Boys, at the site of the former Wolfenden School in Astley Bridge. UKIP singled out the school as an example of where single gender faith schools could harm community relations.
Joan Johnson, chairman of the Bolton branch, said: “It seems that, with the government’s free school programme, more and more single gender faith schools are being approved in Bolton. This would seem to be a retrograde step. UKIP is not anti-Islamic but we will encourage and promote social integration and will not subscribe to anything that is socially divisive.”
Bolton Council’s cabinet member for schools Cllr Kevin McKeon said he believed that inclusive, community comprehensive education was the best for children.
But he added that UKIP was wrong for trying to score political points by challenging faith-based education. He said: “The ideal is to have all classes with both genders, all the faiths taught in community schools. However, in Britain there has been a long tradition of diversity, and in Bolton we have three Catholic schools and two Anglican.
“The local authority is committed to working with all schools to ensure that all Bolton children have the advantage of a balanced education, and we have no fears that this will be different with the new free school. I regret that UKIP is making this a political issue, particularly at this time when community relations are at a very sensitive point.”
Belfast woman exposed as EDL-supporting racist
A former North Belfast Catholic schoolgirl who travels to England to take part in mass anti-Muslim marches organised by the extreme right wing group the English Defence League (EDL) has been exposed by her former fiancé.
Margaret Brophy, who attended Little Flower Girls’ school and who lives in the Cliftonville area, regularly travels to England to take part in the often hate-filled marches and has even been pictured stewarding an event in Bristol.
A Facebook profile under the name Margaret Boomer Brophy has also come under the attention of a number of websites aimed at identifying members of the anti-Muslim group. Vile racist ‘jokes’ posted on Brophy’s Facebook refer to Islam as Pisslam with the rest of the content being too offensive to reprint.
On some of the sites, the 49-year-old mother and carer is branded as the “Irish Angel” – Angels being the name of the women’s wing of the group – and numerous racist posts and insults made under her name are shown.
Her former fiancé David Ewing said he wanted to highlight his ex-partner’s involvement with the group to the unsuspecting North Belfast community where she lives and works.
Harrods shoppers ‘are buying into terror’ (it says here)
Customers of Harrods are being urged to boycott the department store in a symbolic protest against its Qatari owners.
Qatar, which bought Harrods in 2010, has been accused of either directly funding terrorist groups or turning a blind eye to financiers operating out of the Gulf state.
It is now facing a backlash from protesters sickened by the executions of Western hostages in Syria and the violence wreaked on the region by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), al-Qaeda and other offshoot terror groups.
Harrods was sold by Mohamed Al Fayed, its previous owner, to Qatar Holdings, part of the Qatar Investment Authority, the state’s sovereign wealth fund, in May 2010 for a reported £1.5 billion. The sale was concluded by Qatar’s then prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al Thani, who was also chief executive of the wealth fund.
Under his rule, Qatar also owns or co-owns a number of other landmarks including the Shard, Europe’s tallest skyscraper, as well as large stakes in some major UK businesses.
Now Harrods is facing a boycott as a consequence of criticism of Qatar’s links to Islamist terrorists.
Mark Lewis, the solicitor who represented the family of Milly Dowler among others in the News of the World phone hacking scandal, is leading calls for a boycott. Mr Lewis said: “We can stand back and do nothing, but when we do, we are paying for that terror … People need to know where their money is going.”
Bishop of Tewkesbury visits Barton’s Jama Al-Karim Mosque in educational visit
Faiths and cultures came together at Barton’s Jama Al-Karim Mosque today during an educational visit by the Bishop of Tewkesbury.
Rt. Revd. Martyn Snow was joined by a group of Christians from Gloucester for a guided tour of the mosque in All Saints Road and to hear educational talks.
Visitors learned how Muslims pray, about the teachings of Islam and what the mosque has done for the Gloucester community over the years. The purpose of the visit was to educate the community about the Islamic faith, to meet neighbours and to foster a greater religious and cultural understanding between different groups.
Rt. Revd. Snow, who is currently the acting Bishop of Gloucester, said: “This visit was held to try to learn from each other and show that Christians and Muslims can live in peace. It’s all about growing an understanding of each other’s faiths so we are more able to live together and work together. We hoped to bring as many people along as possible to learn as much as we can about a different culture.”
Said Hansdot, city councillor for Barton and Tredworth who attended the event today, said: “Education about other’s cultures is very important if we all want to live in harmony. Events like this help because not everyone visiting here today has been to a mosque before. Hopefully it will be an eye-opener for them.”
Unimpressive turnout for EDL protest in Birmingham
In contrast to last year’s violent scenes, yesterday’s English Defence League protest in Birmingham passed off relatively peacefully, with only ten arrests. Although 750 demonstrators were expected, and some EDL sources had been predicting as many as 3000, the Birmingham Mail‘s reporter estimated attendance at “not more than 500”. Some 300 anti-racists joined a counter-protest organised by Unite Against Fascism.
Given the lack of an immediate issue over which to whip up the anger of EDL supporters – the publicity for yesterday’s event featured an extended shopping list of Islam-related grievances – it is not surprising that the protest failed to mobilise larger numbers. However, for a demonstration whose ambitious objective was to “give heart to millions who are intimidated by political correctness”, this was hardly an impressive show.
Muslim school protesters march through Portsmouth
Protesters angry at a planned Muslim school marched through Portsmouth this afternoon.
Around 20 people including members of the English Defence League (EDL) gathered at Lake Road, where the Madani Academy is to be based.
Shortly after midday they set off to march through Fratton Road, Victoria Road South and Albert Road, returning to Lake Road before the march finishes at Guildhall Square.
There was a big police presence in the area as the march began, with around 30 counter-protesters also present at Lake Road.
Some of the marchers wore balaclavas and several were carrying English flags, some with messages such as EDL: NO Surrender written on them.