‘What me, an Islamophobe?’ Stephen Fry replies to critics

Under the headline “Stephen Fry hits back at accusations of Islamophobia”, the Independent on Sunday reported yesterday on the controversy over Stephen Fry’s endorsement of Nick Cohen’s “superb” defence of their fellow atheist Richard Dawkins and his position on Islam.

In a Twitter exchange on 22 August, responding to the criticism that Dawkins has described the Islamic faith as the greatest force for evil in the world and “clearly targets Islam in particular”, Fry sneered: “Wonder why. Oh, have a look around the world and see them slaughtering each other, let alone others. So charming to women too…”

You’ll note how, in Fry’s formulation, Islam the faith becomes “them”, the Muslims. And Muslims are then equated with murder and misogyny. A clearer expression of mindless bigotry would be difficult to find.

When his critic persisted in arguing that Dawkins was “entitled to call a small religious minority evil but branding an entire religion as ‘evil’ is beyond ignorant”, Fry didn’t have an answer. Eventually he just dismissed his opponents as “dickheads” and told them to “fuck off”.

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Muslim teens say cops ripped off their hijabs during brutal Bronx arrest

Khalia Wilson and Lamis ChapmanTwo Muslim teenage sisters say the NYPD brutalized them and ripped off their hijabs after they were ordered to leave a Bronx park Monday night. In what appears to be an exclusive report, the Daily News says that Lamis Chapman, 12, and Khalia Wilson, 14, were thrown to the ground and had their head scarves ripped off by the officers at the Lester Patterson Houses in Mott Haven. Khalia says she was put in a choke-hold, telling the tabloid, “They said they asked for ID. I didn’t hear them.”

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Muslims challenging U.S. ‘no fly’ list win partial court victory

Thirteen Muslim Americans challenging the U.S. governments’ secretive “no-fly” list won a partial victory in federal court when a judge found they “have a constitutionally protected liberty interest” in traveling internationally by air.

But U.S. District Judge Anna Brown has yet to decide whether the government violated their constitutional rights to due process under a policy that excludes individuals from commercial air travel if they are suspected of having ties to terrorism.

In her ruling late on Wednesday in Portland, the judge also asked both the plaintiffs and the Department of Justice for more information before deciding key parts of the case.

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Burlington, Massachusetts: Islamic Center sign vandalized

Burlington Islamic Center sign vandalizedBurlington residents driving down Lexington Street this morning were faced with an upsetting and unsettling sight. It appears someone vandalized the Islamic Center of Burlington’s sign (that is placed at the mosque’s entrance) overnight with white spray paint.

Burlington Union, 28 August 2013

Update:  See “Statement from Rep. Gordon regarding Islamic Center sign vandalism”, Burlington Union, 28 August 2013

And “CAIR asks FBI to probe ‘USA’ vandalism of Mass. mosque sign”, CAIR press release, 28 August 2013

Update 2:  See also Boston.com, 29 August 2013

NYPD designates mosques as terrorism organizations

Enemies WitinThe New York Police Department has secretly labeled entire mosques as terrorism organizations, a designation that allows police to use informants to record sermons and spy on imams, often without specific evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Designating an entire mosque as a terrorism enterprise means that anyone who attends prayer services there is a potential subject of an investigation and fair game for surveillance.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the NYPD has opened at least a dozen “terrorism enterprise investigations” into mosques, according to interviews and confidential police documents. The TEI, as it is known, is a police tool intended to help investigate terrorist cells and the like.

Many TEIs stretch for years, allowing surveillance to continue even though the NYPD has never criminally charged a mosque or Islamic organization with operating as a terrorism enterprise.

The documents show in detail how, in its hunt for terrorists, the NYPD investigated countless innocent New York Muslims and put information about them in secret police files. As a tactic, opening an enterprise investigation on a mosque is so potentially invasive that while the NYPD conducted at least a dozen, the FBI never did one, according to interviews with federal law enforcement officials.

The strategy has allowed the NYPD to send undercover officers into mosques and attempt to plant informants on the boards of mosques and at least one prominent Arab-American group in Brooklyn, whose executive director has worked with city officials, including Bill de Blasio, a front-runner for mayor.

The revelations about the NYPD’s massive spying operations are in documents recently obtained by The Associated Press and part of a new book, “Enemies Within: Inside the NYPD’s Secret Spying Unit and bin Laden’s Final Plot Against America.” The book by AP reporters Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman is based on hundreds of previously unpublished police files and interviews with current and former NYPD, CIA and FBI officials.

Associated Press, 28 August 2013

See also “This is the NYPD’s secret spy cab”, Gawker, 27 August 2013

Update:  See “Ray Kelly dismisses a mosque-surveillance report as ‘hyping a book'”, Capital New York, 28 August 2013

Update 2:  See also “CAIR-NY, rights groups to seek DOJ probe of NYPD ‘terror’ designation for mosques”, CAIR press release, 28 August 2013

North Carolina governor allows anti-sharia bill to become law

RNS-NC-SHARIAHNorth Carolina became the seventh state to prohibit its judges from considering Islamic law after Gov. Pat McCrory allowed the bill to become law without formally signing it.

McCory, a Republican, called the law “unnecessary,” but declined to veto it. The bill became law on Sunday (Aug. 25). The state joins Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

Supporters hailed the bill as an important safeguard that protects the American legal system from foreign laws that are incompatible with the U.S. Constitution, while critics argued that the bill’s only purpose is to whip-up anti Muslim hatred because the Constitution already overrides foreign laws.

“The intent behind this law is bigoted and it is intended to alienate the Muslim community,” said Jibril Hough, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Charlotte.

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Liz Cheney: Terrorists’ ‘recruitment goes on through mosques’

U.S. Senate candidate Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made her presence felt at a Tea Party function on Saturday, revealing some thoughts on mosques and terrorism in America.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports that Cheney appeared at an event in Emblem, Wyo., where those two topics emerged into the conversation. According to the paper, Fox News terrorism analyst Wayne Simmons made comments earlier in the event suggesting that growth of mosques in America is leading to more recruitment outlets for terror groups.

“I do think that we know that recruitment goes on through mosques,” Cheney said in response, the Star-Tribune reported.

Huffington Post, 26 August 2013