Israeli MP proposes banning Islamic prayer call

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Robert IlatovIsraeli Right-wingers have revived highly contentious plans that could effectively silence the Muslim call to prayer, known as the muezzin.

In a move that risks stoking already simmering tensions in Jerusalem between Jews and Arabs, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is tabling legislation that could put strict limits on Islamic prayer calls from mosques in the city and across Israel.

Robert Ilatov [pictured], a parliamentarian with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, is sponsoring the bill with the support of Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister who is also the party’s leader.

While the legislation is being justified on the grounds that prayer calls often produce “intolerable noise” that disturbs many citizens’ sleep, it is bound to prompt accusations of religious intolerance and prejudice against Israel’s Muslim minority.

A similar proposal – also put forward by Yisrael Beiteinu – was shelved in 2011 despite having the explicit support of Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, after several cabinet members criticised it as likely to cause division.

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Perth: racist vandals mistake Sikh temple for mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bennett Springs graffiti

A Sikh temple in Perth’s north-east has been spray-painted by vandals with anti-Muslim graffiti.

Sikh Gurdawara Perth treasurer Amandeep Singh said CCTV captured two vandals spray-painting the Bennett Springs temple, which is under construction and due to be finished in February, about 1.30am on Wednesday. He said he believed it was a case of mistaken identity. “I think they have confused us with Arabs or Muslims,” he said.

“They have spray-painted abuse at Muslims and Arabs, and they have sprayed ‘Aussie Pride’ and other rubbish like that, lots of bad language. They’ve covered a big area and we will probably have to do a lot of re-painting, and they’ve sprayed it on granite and marble and that could be really expensive to replace.”

The Sikh religion originated in the Punjab area of India in the 15th century, and is not related to Islam or associated with Arabs.

Mr Singh said the vandals had to realise that spray-painting their temple not only hurt the Sikh community, but also the nation as a whole. “I would like to tell these people, they need to realise that Australia is a multi-cultural society and they need to respect the beliefs of others, we all need to respect each other,” he said.

“This sort of thing it damages us as a nation, we need to be more accepting and whether people are Arab or Muslim or Sikh or, whatever a person looks like or their religion, they need to treat that person as they would like to be treated, with kindness and respect.”

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‘Go back to your f****** Muslim country’: Kiwi couple charged over Brisbane assault

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Kiwi couple who told a father and son to “go back to your f****** Muslim country” have been charged with assault in Australia.

Bronson Tamarama, 24, and Jayne Rikkiti, 25, allegedly punched a 15-year-old boy in the face during an fight at a local produce market in Brisbane in September. According to News Corporation, a father and his son were allegedly told by Tamarama to “go back to your own country…I will call my boys.”

Police said the victims were yelled at and sworn at by a carload of men. A punch was allegedly thrown at the father but missed and he fell back into a counter. Those who witnessed the attack and tried to intervene were also attacked.

Both Tamarama and Rikkiti have reportedly appeared in a Brisbane court and have been charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.

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Ahead of midterms, Islamophobes ramp up anti-immigrant rhetoric

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Recently, Imagine2050 has reported on anti-immigrant activists seeking to make immigration a top priority for voters in the upcoming midterm elections. Similar to this, members of the organized Islamophobia movement have recently sought to inject more anti-immigrant arguments into their overall agenda.

This recent uptick in rhetoric surrounding immigration and border enforcement has come from key figures and organizations in the anti-Muslim movement. Within this framework, these voices have called for curbing relief for undocumented immigrants and for a militarizing of our southern border: All supposedly in the name of national security.

The crossover between anti-Muslim figureheads and anti-immigrant sentiment is increasingly prevalent. Although the anti-Muslim contingent frames border security as a way deter terrorists, their messaging mirrors old-school nativist rhetoric as they aim to uphold policies that harm a broader spectrum of communities.

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Muslim funeral home in Orléans defaced with Islamophobic graffiti

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Orléans Islamophobic graffiti (2)Saphir News reports that last Friday night racist vandals broke into the office of the Muslim Assistance funeral home in Orléans and defaced the walls with Islamophobic graffiti.

The graffiti featured swastikas and Celtic crosses, and a drawing of a pig’s head, accompanied by slogans such as “Islam out”, “close or die” and “dirty Arabs”. Computer equipment was stolen and a photocopier damaged.

The manager of Muslim Assistance, Abdessamad Errich, later received anonymous phone calls boasting of the attack. Last month he had been subjected to telephone threats.

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Columnist’s diatribe on French decline becomes a bestseller

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Eric Zemmour Le Suicide FrancaisThat the title of the bestselling book in France this autumn is The French Suicide speaks volumes about the mood in Paris. Each day, 5,000 people buy Éric Zemmour’s 544-page lamentation on “the 40 years that have undone France”.

Zemmour is a columnist for the conservative newspaper Le Figaro and a well-known television personality. His book has even overtaken former first lady Valérie Trierweiler’s account of President François Hollande’s boorishness.

Suicide is a bitter tale of a vague conspiracy by cowardly politicians, feminists, the “gay lobby,” film-makers, songwriters, Muslims, immigrants and high finance to destroy the French family and nation. Zemmour might quote Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the far-right National Front (FN), who often says, “I say out loud what people think in quiet”.

The success of Zemmour’s book is widely interpreted as evidence that the ideas of the FN have penetrated mainstream society. Many passages could easily come from speeches by FN leader Marine Le Pen.

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FBI questioning mosque leaders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Worried about the increasing reports of FBI pressures on mosque imams nationwide to inform on members of their congregations, a leading US Muslim advocacy group has urged imams to seek legal assistance from an attorney, whenever they are approached by officers.

“American Muslim leaders and institutions should maintain positive relations with local and federal law enforcement authorities, but those relations must be built on respect for constitutionally-protected civil rights,” Jenifer Wicks, Civil rights Litigation Director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), was quoted by Defending Dissent earlier this week.

“Consulting with an attorney is the best way to protect your rights.”

CAIR, the USA’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said it has received reports from around the nation of mosque officials being asked to meet with FBI agents and then being pressed to inform on members of their congregations.

In an advisory to Muslim community leaders, CAIR recommended that before any meeting with the FBI or any law enforcement agency, US Muslim leaders should seek the advice of an attorney and have that attorney present at any meeting.

Wicks urged community leaders to ask for business cards from those individuals from the FBI and immediately consult with an attorney before any questioning takes place.

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Front National resists ‘kebabisation’ of France

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a country whose national identity is so closely connected to its cuisine, France’s hard right has seized on a growing appetite for kebabs as proof of cultural “Islamisation”.

Four kebab houses opened last month in Blois, bringing the total to over a dozen in the pretty Loire valley town where tourists come to see the castle. The far-right National Front party railed: “The historical centre of Blois, the jewel of French history, is turning into an Oriental city”.

The implicit message is clear: the now ubiquitous kebab, popular with the young and cash-strapped, is a sign that Middle Eastern culture has taken root in France, where not everyone is happy about the presence of 5 million Muslims.

“The kebab is a bit of a reflection of all the problems with immigration and integration in France,” says Thibaut Le Pellec, founder of KebabFrites.com, a website that ranks kebab houses across the country and seeks to raise the reputation of the “kebabistes” who make and sell the food.

Damien Schmitz, who runs a kebab shop in Paris, puts it more bluntly: by criticising the kebab, he says, “you can speak ill of Muslims without speaking ill of Muslims.”

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Berkeley students rally to remove Islamophobe Bill Maher as commencement speaker

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Real Time With Bill MaherTV host Bill Maher’s controversial comments about Islam have sparked a petition to remove him as the December commencement speaker at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Change.org petition, which had gathered nearly 2,000 signatures by Monday afternoon, was authored by Marium Navid, a senator with the student government group Associated Students of the University of California, with the support of Khwaja Ahmed, a member of the the campus advocacy group Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian Coalition, the campus’ Daily Californian reported Sunday.

“Bill Maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values UC Berkeley students and administration stand for,” the petition reads. “In a time where climate is a priority for all on campus, we cannot invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment. Bill Maher’s public statements on various religions and cultures are offensive and his dangerous rhetoric has found its way into our campus communities.”

Navid said allowing Maher to speak at Berkeley, a campus made famous by 1964’s free speech movement, would give legitimacy to provocative comments he made earlier this month on his HBO show, “Real Time With Bill Maher,” describing Islam as “the only religion that acts like the Mafia, that will fucking kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture or write the wrong book.”

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Parent banned from Maryland high school after Islam homework dispute

Posted on by Bob Pitt

La Plata HS Muslim World homeworkThe father of a La Plata High School student has been barred from the school grounds after officials said he threatened to disrupt the school environment.

Kevin Wood was issued a no-trespass order last week after a telephone call with La Plata High Vice Principal Shannon Morris on Thursday. Wood called to air complaints regarding his daughter’s world history assignment that asked students to examine elements of the Islamic religion.

Morris and La Plata High Principal Evelyn Arnold reported to the Charles County Public Schools central office that Wood in his phone call had threatened to upset the school environment in some way Monday, according to school spokeswoman Katie O’Malley-Simpson. O’Malley-Simpson declined to elaborate on what threats Wood had made.

If the trespass order is ignored, police could be called and have the violator removed. “We don’t take that lightly,” said O’Malley-Simpson. “We have a lot of students, and safety comes first. We don’t allow disruptions at the schools, especially if we’re forewarned of them.”

Wood, a former corporal with the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was enlisted for eight years, said in an interview Monday afternoon outside of the school system’s central office that he did not wish for his daughter, a junior at La Plata, to learn the Islamic religion, a faith he does “not believe in,” he said.

Wood and his wife, Melissa Wood, said they reached out to the school last week and asked that their daughter be removed from her world history course for the duration that the class covered Islam. The Woods said they spoke by a telephone to a woman, who they identified as “Ms. Pearl,” who listened to their request and said she would investigate the possibility of an alternative assignment. A directory on the La Plata High School website lists Shanif Pearl as an administrative assistant.

It was Morris who returned their phone call, the Woods said. Morris informed them that the teacher could not offer an alternative assignment, and any assignment the Woods’ daughter missed would receive a failing grade. “I told her straight up ‘you could take that Muslim-loving piece of paper and shove it up your white [expletive],” Kevin Wood said in an interview. “If [students] can’t practice Christianity in school, they should not be allowed to practice Islam in school.”

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