EDL trial: Birmingham demonstrators tried to use portaloo as weapon against cops, court hears

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL clash with police in Birmingham (2)Demonstrators tried to use a portaloo as a weapon against cops during a violent English Defence League protest in Birmingham, a court has heard.

Speaking at the start of the trial of four EDL members at Birmingham Crown Court, prosecutor David Bennett said three of those in the dock had played a part in the “portaloo disorder”.

Adrian Rimmel, 50, of Swallow Avenue, Smithswood, Simon Reeve, 43, of London Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, Gary Watts, 29, of Parsoles Avenue, Dagenham, Essex and Anthony Webster, 38, of Strathmore Crescent, Newcastle, all deny a charge of violent disorder.

Mr Bennett told jurors the demonstration on July 20 last year saw 2,000 members of the far right EDL gather on Broad Street before marching to Centenary Square. A separate counter demonstration was taking place in Chamberlain Square.

Me Bennett said: “There were large numbers of the EDL who were not interested in a peaceful protest. Throughout the afternoon there were various scenes of disorder.”

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Katie Hopkins anti-Muslim rant calling Palestinians ‘filthy rodents’ leads to calls for her arrest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Katie Hopkins tweets

Katie Hopkins latest Twitter posts has led to calls for her ARREST for stirring up racial hatred.

The former Apprentice contestant posted a series of anti-Muslim posts on her account after reports of the stabbings in Tel Aviv apparently carried out by an Arab man on two Israelis, including one that labelled Palestinians “filthy rodents”.

“Palestinians busy knifing Israelis. 2 stage solution my arse. Filthy rodents burrowing beneath Israel. Time to restart the bombing campaign.”

“Arab terrorists fired rockets from schools and hospitals. They brought down Israeli fire on to their own people. See behind the pictures.”

It isn’t clear if the former reality star posted the comments herself or was hacked – although the offensive tweets remain on her account.

The mum-of-three also posted a number of anti-Islam tweets to her 244,000 followers while watching Channel 4 show 24 Hours In Police Custody.

“Father beats his daughter with an iron bar. But he is a good Muslim, prays in his cell & attends the mosque. So that’s all happy days then.

“The police are singing from the same hymn sheet. Mohammed is going DAAAAAAN. Allahu Akbar. #24hoursinpolicecustoday.”

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Islam Center of Tucson under siege

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center of Tucson vandalismTUCSON — A religious place of worship is under siege by UA [University of Arizona] students living next door. Caught on camera, the vandals strike on weekends and late nights. There have been dangerous near misses at the hands of what some say are “drunken antics by students”.

The Islamic Center of Tucson is a place of worship and a community center for all Muslims in Southern Arizona. Within the last year, it has become a place that has been disrespected, which has left the members of this community humiliated.

Kamel Didan is the vice chairman of the center. “We’ve had people come in at the door multiple times and urinate in our door,” he said. The man was caught on camera in broad daylight as students walked by. “This was absolutely was the worst weekend,” said Didan.

On the Sunday of UA’s Homecoming Weekend, the community center attendees couldn’t even get into the parking lot and the children couldn’t play basketball. “We literally found like a war zone,” he said. “It was unbelievable, glass chunks, as big as a baseball and then as little as like maybe the fingertips all over the place.”

A car had its windows broken. Didan said it’s all because of students living in the high rise apartments next to the mosque. Again, all caught on camera. “Dropping bottles full of whiskey on cars, and on literally people.”

Didan showed the apartment manager of level the damages. He says he does this on a weekly basis. In the 25 years the mosque has been here he said they’ve never had this much trouble.

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Council planning committee gives go‑ahead for Dudley mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dudley planning committee meetingCouncillors have given the go‑ahead for controversial plans to build a new mosque on a site overlooking Dudley town centre.

The plans have polarised opinion in the area around the Hall Street site of the new building, which will also provide a sports and community centre plus a centre for education and training.

Tonight’s meeting of the council’s development control committee was, unusually, held in the council chamber at Dudley Council House to accommodate the number of people who wanted to hear the debate about the latest application for a mosque.

In front of a packed public gallery [see picture], Cllr Shaukat Ali, who spoke as a supporter of the plan, told committee members: “I understand the pressure on members of the committee but, as elected members we should rise above controversy and look at the issues objectively.”

Cllr Ali added the plans before the committee were much improved compared to designs rejected by the authority in 2011. He said: “The community just wants to practice its religion and social life peacefully and in appropriate facilities.”

Former councillor Tim Wright spoke against the proposal, which was recommended for approval by council planning officers who said the design was of sufficiently high quality to ensure it had a positive impact on the surrounding area. Mr Wright said: “It is going to change the face of Dudley, it does not fit the heritage of Dudley.”

Committee member and former Conservative leader of Dudley, Cllr David Caunt, also voiced concerns. He said: “On balance the proposal does not show clear understanding of the historic character and distinctiveness of the centre of Dudley.”

Committee chairman, Cllr Qadar Zada’s comments were greeted with cheers from the public gallery which was packed with mosque supporters. He said: “No-one has said much more than just about the mosque, very few times have I heard about the enterprise and training centre in one of the most deprived wards in Dudley.”

Cllr Zada went on to quote Nelson Mandela’s views on sport uniting communities before adding: “This is an ideal opportunity, I would like to see something that looks much more than a rat-infested, derelict building and bring forward something that will unite communities.”

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Let Muslim primary school teachers wear full-face veil in class – Rowan Williams

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rowan_WilliamsThere is no need to “panic” about Muslim primary school teachers wearing the full-face veil in class, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams, has insisted.

He said concerns that young children would struggle to learn from a woman whose face was covered were “largely misplaced” and that there are other ways to “read” what people are saying.

The former Archbishop’s remarks, in an interview for the Christian think-tank Theos, reopen the debate about the place of the niqab in British public life.

It follows a political storm last year after the then Home Office minster Jeremy Browne called for a national discussion about restrictions in some settings such as schools to prevent young women from having the veil “imposed” on them. David Cameron rejected the idea of a ban but said he would “back up” schools and courts that ask women to remove veils.

Lord Williams’s previous forays into the issue of Islam led to one of the biggest crises of his time at Lambeth Palace, when he said in 2008 that it seemed unavoidable that aspects of Sharia law would be adopted in the UK. He was speaking about the growth of arbitration tribunals which already operate on Sharia principles.

His latest remarks come amid an-depth academic discussion about his latest book, The Edge of Words, which examines the meaning of words and language in discussions about God.

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New South Wales: Protest falls on deaf ears as council votes in favour of mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Penrith mosque protestPenrith Council has voted to continue its development approval for an Islamic prayer centre in Kemps Creek.

A motion to rescind approval granted on October 27 was defeated seven votes to four. The proposal is subject to special conditions.

A man was stopped from attending the meeting by police when he arrived at the council chambers dressed to imitate an Arab sheik. The middle-aged man was wearing a headdress and sandals, and was waving around a toy pistol.

He was part of a protest organised by members of the Australia First Party outside the council offices as people gathered to attend the special meeting.

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Quebec City mosques targeted by anti‑Muslim posters

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Quebec anti-Islam postersThree Quebec City mosques were the target of xenophobic messages over the weekend.

Signs reading “Islam hors de chez moi” – Islam out of my country – were posted on each of the mosques’ front doors. A mosque in the Limoilou neighbourhood, the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec City in Ste-Foy and the capital city mosque in Quebec City proper were targeted.

A group named Québec Identitaire seemingly has taken credit for the posters. The group’s name was written on the posters.

Khalil​ Bahji, who has been attending the Limoilou mosque since 2007, said he and his fellow congregation members are saddened by the attack. He said the members of the surrounding community are also disappointed, adding that they have been supportive in the past. We thought about moving to another place when our lease was about to end, Bahji told CBC Daybreak on Monday.

He told host Mike Finnerty that a member of the community approached members of the mosque and asked why they wanted to leave and whether the neighbours had done anything to make them feel unwelcome. “This action doesn’t reflect the real opinion of the people who surround the mosque,” Bahji said.

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France condemns ‘odious’ attack against Strasbourg Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Strasbourg Grand Mosque arson attack

A fire at the entrance to the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg was quickly extinguished overnight Saturday. The attack, which took place at the entrance to one of the main mosques in France caused only minor cosmetic damage.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has decried the arson attack and has vowed to pursue those responsible for this “odious act,” an official statement said Monday.

The statement continued on to say that Cazeneuve “reaffirms his commitment to protect the places of worship of all religions from such outrageous acts and attacks which target them, and also to fight against all expressions of hatred and intolerance,” adding that “such acts went against the core values of the French Republic.”

The president of the Grand Mosque, Ali El Jarroudi condemned “with the greatest firmness this odious act” and said that a complaint had been lodged with the police, adding that there were images of an individual lighting the fires which he had handed to the police.

In a statement to AFP, Abdallah Zekri, president of the Observatory against Islamophobia, said that he feels “anger and disgust at those who want to create tensions between communities.”

The Mayor of Strasbourg Roland Ries, expressed his “outrage” against “acts which, as isolated they are, affect the serenity of cohabitation between religions and tradition of understanding and ‘openness’ of the city.

The President of the Union of mosques in France (UMF), Mohammed Moussaoui, also condemned “in the strongest force” the attack, calling on the “Muslims of France to be vigilant and calm in the face of these acts.”

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Bigots bully Australian company into scrapping halal certification

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Boycott Halal in Australia

A South Australian company has bowed to a social media campaign and scrapped its halal certification, costing it a contract with the Middle East’s biggest airline.

Fleurieu Milk Company, and other South Australian food and drink manufacturers such as Vili’s and Coopers, have been targeted by Facebook pages like Halal Choices and Boycott Halal in Australia for their decision to pursue the certification. Halal is a term used by Muslims meaning the food has been prepared or slaughtered according to ­Islamic law.

Fleurieu Milk Company sales and marketing manager Nick Hutchinson said the decision to drop the halal certification would mean the Myponga-based dairy would lose a yoghurt supply deal with Emirates worth around $50,000 a year.

Mr Hutchinson said the decision was regrettable, but that the company had decided the possible damage to its brand outweighed the benefits of being halal certified.

“We’ve copped a pasting online,” he said. “We saw the barrage of comments on these sites and the calls to boycott our products and decided it wasn’t worth it. I suppose we’ve given in to a vocal minority.

“It is important for people to realise that being a business owner in Australia can be challenging. In order to remain financially viable companies are forced to look to expand into new markets. Fleurieu Milk had the opportunity to supply Emirates airlines given they became halal approved. We decided the $1000 annual fee was worth it and proceeded.”

The anti-halal sites make a number of claims about the certification, including that it is essentially a religious tax that forces up the price of food, that it is cruel to slaughtered animals and that money could be used to fund Islamist terrorists overseas. The sites encourage consumers to boycott any products displaying the halal accreditation symbol.

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More inflammatory lies from Britain First

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Britain First Facebook lies

This appeared yesterday on the Facebook page of far-right group Britain First. As you can see, the post has now been shared nearly twenty thousand times.

The picture may look familiar. That is because it is a well-known far-right fraud that has been circulating around the internet in various forms for several years now. Its claims are almost entirely inaccurate.

Tohseef Shah, who sprayed the words “Islam will dominate the world – Osama is on his way” and “Kill Gordon Brown” across the plinth of a war memorial in Burton upon Trent in May 2010, was not in fact fined £50. Having been convicted of criminal damage, he was ordered to pay £500 in compensation as well as £85 costs.

There were complaints that he hadn’t been charged with a racially or religiously aggravated offence, which would have carried a heavier penalty, but the CPS had decided against that on the grounds that the offence was politically motivated and “no racial or religious group can be shown to have been targeted”.

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