Category Archives: UK

Racist graffiti man who sprayed ‘EDL’ on Blackburn properties walks free

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A father-of-one who sprayed racist graffiti in Blackburn has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Ethan Hesketh, 24, covered property in a predominantly Asian area of the town with the letters ‘EDL’ and other offensive language. The court heard how the defendant, formerly of Blackburn, but now living in Derby Square, Preston, also damaged 11 cars and stonework in Shear Brow and a sign belonging to Abbeydale Vets.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of racially aggravated criminal damage and nine further counts of criminal damage.

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SDL supporter who threatened arson attack on Edinburgh Central Mosque is fined and told to read a book

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A young man who sent an email threatening to burn an Edinburgh mosque ‘to the ground’ has been fined and told to read up on history by a sheriff.

Andrew Steele, 21, sent the message to an office manager at the Scottish Parliament in the wake of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby. It referred to a meeting of the Unite Against Facism movement at Edinburgh’s Central Mosque and included a comment of his that it should be ‘burned to the f****** ground’.

Fiscal Depute, Arlene Shaw, told the sheriff court that the email showed a screenshot photo of a Scottish Defence League Facebook page which contained several threats in relation to the meeting at the mosque the following day including his comment.

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Far Right rally fears grow

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Far Right group linked with racial violence is staging a Wigan demo.

Concerns are rising after the confrontational Britain First party – an even more extreme splinter of the BNP and EDL, confirmed when approached by the Evening Post today that its members will hold a Regional Rally in Wigan this Saturday.

However, despite describing itself as a “legitimate political party,” it refused point blank to say where or at what time. Instead a spokesman stated that supporters would be “re-directed” to the real venue on the day.

Wigan borough has little ethnic diversity. The spokesman said it had been chosen because of its central position in the North West and its strong motorway and rail communications.

Council leader Lord Smith said that Labour “regretted” Britain First had chosen to hold a rally in Wigan, adding: “They and their racist views are not welcome in our town. We will work with the police to ensure that any nuisance they try to cause is minimised.”

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy said that despite desperate efforts by far right groups to “whip up hatred, racism and intolerance,” the area had consistently rejected their “message of hate.”

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Defend Muslims from mosque invasions – No to Britain First

Posted on by Bob Pitt

UAF_logoUnite Against Fascism (UAF) extends it’s solidarity with all those who are subject to threats, intimidation and Islamophobia, from the publicity hungry, fascist sect, Britain First (BF).

The group say they plan to travel around Britain to promote their poison. This follows from when on May 10/11th, BF subjected mosque goers to an ‘invasion’, where Bibles were thrust into Muslims’ hands. This was intimidation, and as ugly as BF’s politics. Many were bewildered by BF members who went on to holler insults and behave menacingly.

UAF has been contacted by several people who had their place of worship threatened by these thugs. All told a similar story of how worshippers were left shaken by this unwarranted attempt to put fear into Muslim people. This is totally unacceptable.

Were such behaviour to happen at churches or synagogues, there would be rightly be a public outcry. So there should be, here. At Glasgow Central Mosque and at Cumbernauld Mosque, to their great credit, it was Muslims who calmed the BF thugs down!

BF are also, as Hitler did, telling big lies about their popularity. They claim to have had over 500,000 Likes on Social Media. The reality is rather different. Using a series of ‘patriotic’ images, not immediately linked to BF, they have amassed fake popularity behind such fake postings. Their membership is barely 100, far away from their claims.

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Lord Macdonald condemns Cameron’s ‘cack-handed’ review of the Muslim Brotherhood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lord MacdonaldDavid Cameron risks creating more would-be jihadists because of his “cack-handed” review of the Muslim Brotherhood, who were deposed in Egypt last year, a former director of public prosecutions has warned.

Lord Macdonald of River Glaven QC said the investigation in to what was a democratically elected party sent out mixed messages to young Muslims. In an extraordinary outburst, he warned the move was a “double standard” that could play a “full part in the disillusionment and chaos seen in places like Iraq”.

He described the organisation as “democratic victims of violent military overthrow” and accused Mr Cameron of casting them as a threat while building bridges with the generals who deposed them. Writing in the Telegraph, he warned: “And when the objects of such calculation happen to be democrats who are also Muslim, you’d better wear a hard hat when you go preaching parliamentary values in parts of East London or Bradford.”

Mr Cameron ordered a review of the “philosophy and activities” of the Muslim Brotherhood in April, which will include an assessment by MI5 and MI6 on its potential terrorism links. The group legitimately won power in Egypt but was then deposed in a military coup last year. The review, which is due to report by the end of Parliament’s summer recess, is being conducted by Sir John Jenkins, the British ambassador in Riyadh.

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Katie Hopkins’ ignorant Ramadan tweets

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Katie Hopkins Ramadan tweet

She’s known for courting controversy but Katie Hopkins appears to have out-done herself with her latest Twitter rant. The 39-year-old former reality TV star opened up on her feelings about Islamic festival Ramadan.

Muslims worldwide will be observing a month of fasting as it is now the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Katie tweeted on Sunday evening: “Ramadan typically brings a spike in violence in Middle East. I get grumpy when I don’t eat – but I don’t blow things up. Religion of peace?”

But she didn’t stop there; the mother-of-three then compared Ramadan, which is widely regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam, to the trendy 5:2 diet. She added: “If we take 5:2 as a basic idea, what is the ratio for Ramadan? 18:6?”

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Second far-right protest against planned Bolton mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bryn Morgan addressing Bolton anti-mosque protestProtestors took to the steps of Bolton Town Hall to rally against plans to build a new mosque in Astley Bridge.

More than 100 campaigners, who insisted they were not representatives of any political party, demonstrated in Victoria Square today.

Plans have been submitted to Bolton Council for a mosque in Blackburn Road with space for more than 1,000 prayer mats by the Taiyabah Islamic Centre.

The protest was organised by Facebook campaign Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque, which has attracted more than 7,100 likes. The group also organised a similar protest at the site of the proposed mosque on Saturday, June 21.

Demonstrators, who chanted “no more mosques”, criticised Bolton Council over a technical fault which has left them unable to submit representation against the plans online.

Michael Birchall, aged 44, from Farnworth said: “They just put mosques up without caring about the local area, and nobody gets a chance to object. Extremist views have been attributed to mosques in the past. I am also concerned about the effect this will have on the community and how it could change.”

David Whittle, aged 46, from Westhoughton, added: “Once there is a mosque there, the Muslims take over that area. It is going to happen in Farnworth next. Anyone can see if this is built parking and traffic is going to be horrendous.”

Tony Burgess, aged 45, from Deane, said the situation in the Middle East played a part in why he was supporting the protest.

The Facebook campaign’s organiser, 38-year-old Bryn Morgan, said a petition against the “ostentatious” plans had already collected several thousand signatures.

Mr Morgan, from Heaton, added: “This is not racist and it is not about making the Muslim community in Bolton feel threatened. This is about showing normal, sensible people do not want their town turned into the sort of place Blackburn has become.

“The plans are for a big, ostentatious building which does not foster community spirit — we would be against it equally if it were a Hindu temple or Catholic church. It is now down to Bolton Council to work out whether they are for or against the democratic process.”

The protest took place on the first day of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, which sees Muslims engage in fasting during daylight hours.

A passerby, who did not wish to be named, said she had seen Bryn Morgan wearing a British National Party (BNP) rosette at an election count. She added: “People walking past are being frightened into putting their personal details on that petition. The BNP are not wanted here.”

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Another lying anti-Muslim headline in the Mail

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daily Mail Muslim man murders pregnant prostitute

This is the headline to a report in the Daily Mail. The report begins: “A Muslim who stabbed a pregnant Romanian prostitute to death after warning her not to work near a mosque was jailed for at least 29 years today.”

As you might expect from the Mail, the claim that Farooq Shah, the individual convicted of the murder, targeted sex worker Mariana Popa because she was working near a mosque is a straightforward lie.

The sole basis for this claim is that during the trial, in an attempt to identify a motive for the murder, the prosecuting barrister asked Shah: “What was that conversation with Miss Popa about? Did you ask her to go with you? Did you offer her money? Did she say no because you had a bike and didn’t even have a car? Or were you on this night patrolling the area for prostitutes? Did you want to challenge Miss Popa and ask her to get out of that area, to get away from the mosques?”

But the Mail‘s own report states: “In his account to the jury, Shah said having women sell their bodies near his mosque or home ‘means nothing'”. According to the Ilford Recorder, the investigating officer Detective Inspector Darren Richards said that Shah “has never given any reason” for the murder, adding: “He’s given no reason because there was no reason, other than he’d armed himself with a knife and was prepared to use it that night.”

DI Richards had previously stated: “This was a cold-blooded, senseless murder by a man who went out that night, armed with a knife, intent on using it to commit serious injury to someone. He had already threatened and robbed a vulnerable man with a knife earlier that night, and he was hanging around the Ilford Lane area, looking for another victim. He killed Mariana because she was there, because he thought he could get away with it.”

Shah’s religious beliefs, if indeed he has any, appear to have had no bearing whatsoever on the case.

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Women targeted in rising tide of attacks on Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

More than half of Islamophobic attacks in Britain are committed against women, who are typically targeted because they are wearing clothing associated with Islam, new data reveals.

The figures of anti-Muslim attacks, compiled in the nine months following the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in May 2013, come days after Saudi Arabian student Nahid Almanea was stabbed to death in Essex, with detectives believing that she may have been attacked because she was wearing traditional Islamic clothing.

In a study of calls to the Tell Mama hotline, which records Islamophobic crimes, academics at Teesside University found there were on average two incidents every day over the period.

Victims reported a total of 734 incidents to the hotline between the start of May last year and 28 February 2014, broken down into 599 incidents of online abuse and 135 offline attacks – an increase of almost 20% on the same period the previous year.

One aspect of the figures indicates an apparent lack of trust in police to deal with Islamophobic incidents, with one in six victims choosing not to report the incident to authorities.

The Teesside report, published by the first research unit in Britain dedicated to the study of the far right and its opposition, says more effort is required to foster greater trust between the Muslim community and authorities.

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EDL march meets counter demonstration in Middlesbrough

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Middlesbrough EDL protest and counter-demo

An English Defence League (EDL) march planned for Middlesbrough has been met by a counter-demonstration at Ayresome Gardens in the Teesside town.

More than 350 EDL supporters descended on Middlesbrough with a “significant numbers of officers” deployed to prevent any trouble. The EDL supporters encountered approximately 200 counter-demonstrators, dressed in the red colours of Middlesbrough Football Club and the workers’ movement, protesting against the presence of the right-wing movement.

“Every time the fascists come, we’ll stand together. But we don’t anticipate any trouble,” said demonstration organiser Lawrie Coombs. Councillor for the area Len Junier led the march around Middlesbrough in defiance of the EDL. “We are lucky in Middlesbrough, we don’t have problems with racism,” he said. “We don’t want the EDL splitting our community. We want to celebrate the diversity in our area. But we don’t want to get in anyone’s face.”

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