King’s Lynn: first prayers held at Islamic community centre targeted in far-right campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

West Norfolk Islamic Association centre

The first prayers have been held at a Lynn pub which was taken over by West Norfolk Islamic Association earlier this year for future use as a community centre.

After a complete makeover inside, and with plans for an upcoming official opening, the former Queen’s Arms pub, in London Road, will soon be up and running for the community.

Azam Gabbair, president of West Norfolk Islamic Association (WNIA), said: “The considerable amount of work needed to convert and renovate the property is now near completion, and I would like to thank everyone who has assisted and been a part of this fantastic project.

“WNIA has been established for well over 20 years, bringing together people not just from within Lynn, but also others from surrounding areas. Similar to any social club, being able to meet and communicate in this way is a valuable part of community integration and in many ways undoubtedly a benefit to the town as a whole.”

Planning permission was granted for the project back in April, and the centre has previously come under fire, with more than 700 objections to the plans posted on Norfolk County Council’s website.

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No radicalisation or violent extremism in Birmingham schools, says Education Secretary, but she defends Gove’s witch-hunt

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Birmingham Mail jihadist plotSecretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, has watered down the findings of former national head of counter terrorism’s investigation into extremism at Birmingham schools as a “spectrum of behaviours.”

For the first time Morgan clarified that there was “no evidence of radicalisation or terrorism or violent extremism” despite five schools with mainly Muslim pupils in the city were placed in special measures following media and politicians campaign against these schools.

In an exclusive interview with The Muslim News Editor, Ahmed J Versi, she said she was not aware there would be other investigations on the scale of Birmingham and acceded that she would also consider including Islamophobia as part Key Stages 2, 3 & 4 Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education.

The controversial investigation into what was dubbed a Trojan Horse conspiracy began with claims led by former Education Secretary, Michael Gove, of on an organised takeover of state schools by “jihadists” before the debate moved onto “extremists” then directed against “conservative” Muslims and a now focus is on a need to promote fundamental British values.

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Rotherham taxi drivers face ‘daily’ racist abuse

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Asian taxi drivers in Rotherham claim they are facing racist abuse from passengers on a daily basis. Cabbies in the town say they have been the target of bigots since the Jay Report into child sexual abuse by 
largely Pakistani men was published in August.

Nasar Raoof says he and his fellow drivers are sick of being abused and running a gauntlet of hate every day. And he confirmed that he and others are thinking of quitting their jobs.

“It feels like the anger of the world has landed on our heads,” said part-time cabbie Nasar, aged 27, from Wincobank, Sheffield, who works in Rotherham. “At the moment we are being racially abused and called paedophiles, scumbags and rapists all the time. We are getting so much abuse that a lot of us are questioning whether it’s worth carrying on.”

Nasar, a business studies graduate from Sheffield Hallam University, listed some of the issues facing Asian cab drivers in South Yorkshire – and said that he and others feel that taxi drivers are being scapegoated by the council.

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Taxi driver scarred for life after suspected race hate attack with knife

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Javad IqbalA taxi driver was stabbed in the face during an alleged race-hate attack, leaving him scarred for life.

Father-of-five Javad Iqbal, 48, needed six stitches after the attack in Rochdale, the Manchester Evening News reports. He was assaulted after dropping off a punter in the town just before 2am on Sunday. Mr Iqbal, from Deeplish, Rochdale, had to go to hospital and his Toyota Avensis was damaged during the incident.

It is believed to be the second stabbing of an Asian taxi driver in the borough in the last two weeks.

Mr Iqbal’s boss Abrar Hussain Junior, 43, director of No 1 Diamond Cars in Middleton, said: “One can only put it down as a hate crime. What else can it be? You don’t go around stabbing someone unless you have a beef with somebody.

“This is the second stabbing of taxi drivers in Rochdale borough in two weeks. Sadly, the drivers don’t get enough protection. If a taxi driver tries to restrain someone for not paying, the council will take their licence away.

“Two weeks ago another driver (at another firm) took a customer from Cheetham Hill to Middleton. He started kicking his car, ran into a house and brought out a knife and stabbed the driver in the face as well.

“I’ve worked in Middleton for the last 16 years. I’ve know taxi drivers be assaulted and I’ve known customers do runners. It happens all the time. It’s one of those things. We don’t even tell the police. We just get on with it. But I’ve never known a taxi driver to be stabbed.”

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UC Berkeley student group votes to disinvite Bill Maher; college overturns it

Posted on by Bob Pitt

University of California BerkeleyThe controversy over having TV host Bill Maher speak at the University of California Berkeley has taken another turn. Well, make that two.

If you remember, the outspoken comedian was selected as the school’s 2014 fall commencement speaker, until students incensed by his anti-religious comments – particularly his views on Islam – started a petition to have him removed.

On Tuesday night, the student group that’s tasked with selecting commencement speakers met and voted to withdraw Maher’s invitation.

That would have been the end of the matter except the very next day, the college said it won’t honor the vote. “This university has not in the past and will not in the future shy away from hosting speakers who some deem provocative,” the school said.

The student group is called The Californians. It’s a committee of undergrads whose role is to come up with graduation speakers. In August, the Californians selected Maher. On Tuesday, it decided to unselect him.

But the college says the Tuesday night meeting was held without administration participation. “The UC Berkeley administration cannot and will not accept this decision, which appears to have been based solely on Mr. Maher’s opinions and beliefs, which he conveyed through constitutionally protected speech,” the school said in a statement.

It added that the school’s decision shouldn’t be taken as an endorsement of Maher’s views. “Indeed, the administration’s position on Mr. Maher’s opinions and perspectives is irrelevant in this context.” As so, it said, the invitation stands; Maher will speak at the December event.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed disappointment at the college’s ruling, saying it disrespected students “by casting aside the long-standing process for selecting commencement speakers and instead imposing its own will.

“While Mr. Maher has the right to speak whenever and wherever he likes, he does not have the right to have his hate-filled views honored and tacitly endorsed by a prestigious university,” said Zahra Billoo, of the group’s San Francisco chapter.

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Canadian actor punched in face after ‘Islamophobia’ experiment goes wrong in wake of Ottawa shooting

Posted on by Bob Pitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9rFprD_Qf4

A social experiment that ended with an actor posing as an Islamophobe getting punched in the face has shown that Canadians are prepared to defend Muslims in the face of overt racist abuse in the wake of a recent terror attack.

In an attempt to test whether Canadians feel safe in the presence of Muslims following the fatal shooting of Corporal Nathan Cirillo by an Islamic extremist last week, director Omar Al-Bach conducted the experiment in Cirillo’s home town of Hamilton to see how many people would defend a supposed Muslim from verbal abuse.

At the start of the video, Al-Bach introduces two actors, “Devin” as an outspoken racist and “Zack” dressed in a traditional Islamic kaftan with a white cap.

The video shows members of the public standing up for the victim – with one even prepared to punch the racist in the face after Devin accuses Zack of being a potential terrorist because of the way he looks.

Since it was uploaded 24 hours ago, the video has garnered nearly 300,000 views and the filmmakers went on Canadian channel Global TV yesterday to talk about their social experiment.

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Albuquerque ‘peace walk’ to support Islamic Center

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center of New Mexico attackedSeveral local organizations are sponsoring a “peace walk” in support of the Islamic Center of New Mexico following an attack last week in which someone threw a Molotov cocktail at the center’s building.

The walk will start at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, at the intersection of Harvard and Silver SE. It will proceed along Silver to Yale and head south on Yale to the Islamic Center at 1100 Yale SE, said Sue Schuurman of the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice.

This will be a family friendly walk open to anyone who wishes to participate, including children. Those who participate are asked to bring a candle and, if they wish, flowers.

At the Islamic Center a statement of support will be given to Imam Shafi Abdul Aziz, signed by groups and individuals within the community. The Islamic Center has invited the walkers to a reception at the center after the walk.

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FT profiles former far‑leftist turned far‑right Islamophobe

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Fabien Engelmann du gauchisme au patriotismeThe Financial Times has published a profile by Roula Khalaf of Fabien Engelmann, a leading figure in the Front National who in March this year was elected mayor of Hayange in northeastern France.

Engelmann is described as a “one-time leftist union activist”. But that isn’t the half of it.

He is a former longtime militant in the revolutionary socialist organisation Lutte Ouvrière, which he joined in 2001 and remained a member of until 2008, when he contested the municipal elections as an LO candidate. Engelmann then left LO and joined another far-left organisation, the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste. He broke from the NPA in 2010 in protest at its decision to stand a hijab-wearing Muslim woman candidate, Ilham Moussaïd, in that year’s regional elections.

Having gravitated to the far-right “secularist” organisation Riposte Laïque – led by another ex-Trotskyist, Pierre Cassen – Engelmann joined the FN later in 2010, becoming a member of its political committee and an adviser to Marine Le Pen.

Roula Khalaf writes:

As you would expect, Mr Engelmann has strong views about immigration and the supposedly menacing Islamisation of French society. His problem is the Kosovar and Albanian migrants housed in the town and living on benefits. They are, he says, a “new immigration”, families that produce five to seven children, feed off the French state and want to impose a “middle ages dogma and a religion that is not ours”.

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Wheatfield, New York: plan for Islamic cultural center provokes hate calls

Posted on by Bob Pitt

WHEATFIELD — Town Supervisor Robert B. Cliffe released a letter to his constituents Wednesday, saying the town has no role in approving or blocking an Islamic cultural center at a former restaurant. The letter was issued in reaction to a few strongly negative comments from residents. “I’ve received two of what I would consider hate calls, and one email,” Cliffe said.

Town Attorney Robert J. O’Toole said he got some calls, too. “What we got are calls that were opposed to the center because of who the people are and because of their religion,” O’Toole said. “There was one call from a person who said he didn’t consider Islam a religion.”

Cliffe told The Buffalo News, “One crazy or two crazies in this world, that’s not too surprising.” He wrote in his letter that one of the comments he received was, “Don’t you know we are at war with these people?” O’Toole, who said he is a lay preacher at local Presbyterian churches, commented, “We’re not at war with all Islam. We’re at war with some people who happen to be Muslim who may not have the proper understanding of their own faith.”

Suzanne Guenther, who was co-owner of the former Suzanne’s Fine Dining, said she has gotten quite a few calls, too. “I just think people are getting out of control,” she said. “How can you hate someone you don’t even know? Every nationality deserves a chance.”

The head of the Islamic Center of Western New York, Mohammad Salem Agwa, said he intends to hold a public meeting at a time and place to be determined. “This would be a center for interfaith gatherings, for Muslims and non-Muslims,” Agwa said.

Cliffe wrote in his letter, “Simply put, neither I nor the Town Board have any function in the sale of this property. We did not invite Mr. Agwa to make this purchase, nor do we envision a problem with this purchase.” Cliffe said the sale to the Islamic Center of Western New York was a private transaction and required no town approval.

Agwa made an application to the town Planning Board, which determined Oct. 1 that there was no need for a vote under the terms of the town’s planning and zoning code. “It’s a conforming use,” Cliffe said. The Islamic Center’s plan calls for banquets and gatherings, similar to Suzanne’s.

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