‘Burqa ban’: Bronwyn Bishop backs down on parliament segregation proposal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The presiding officers of Australia’s parliament house have backed down from a controversial decision to segregate Muslim women wearing facial coverings such as burqas or niqabs in the public galleries.

The speaker, Bronwyn Bishop, and the Senate president, Stephen Parry, met on Sunday to reconsider the “interim access arrangements” announced just over two weeks ago.

Bishop and Parry faced criticism over the decision to force visitors wearing facial coverings to sit in a separate area of parliament’s public gallery shielded by glass panels. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, had called on the pair to rethink the segregation policy, noting that all members of the public in the galleries had already cleared airport-style security checkpoints.

In a new information circular issued to parliamentarians and staff on Monday morning, the Department of Parliamentary Services backed down on the most controversial element.

Explaining the new interim arrangements, the department said: “All visitors entering Parliament House will be required to temporarily remove any coverings that prevent the recognition of facial features. This will enable DPS security staff to identify any person who may have been banned from entering Parliament House or who may be known, or discovered, to be a security risk. Once this process has taken place, visitors are free to move about the public spaces of the building, including all chamber galleries, with facial coverings in place.”

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Lega Nord marches against migrants and mosques

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lega Nord Milan protest

On Saturday some 40,000 supporters of the right-wing Lega Nord party took to the streets of Milan to protest against immigration, under the slogan “Stop invasion”.

Lega Nord secretary Matteo Salvini, who headed the march, stopped the demonstration for several minutes outside the town hall to lead the protesters in chants against a plan to build a mosque in Milan.

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Hundreds visit Queensland mosque open day

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Building on years of mutual trust with the community, a Newcastle mosque received more than 400 visitors in its open day event on Sunday, October 19, offering guests food and a chance to view Islam in a clearer way.

“We were very grateful to them for coming out and getting to know us and allowing us to get to know them,” Diana Rah, spokesperson of Newcastle Muslim Association, told The Herald.

The Newcastle mosque in Wallsend has opened its doors on Sunday, using conversation and clarity to fight misconceptions about Islam. The event attracted more than 400 visitors who listened to Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed and attended an exhibition about Islam.

Moreover, attendants were offered a chance to try traditional Islamic dress, have a mosque tour and attend a question and answer session. Visitors were also invited to enjoy a barbecue, traditional homemade sweets and Saudi chai tea.

“Our mosque has always had relationships with church and community groups, but we have noticed in recent times some negative reporting about Muslims and an escalation of verbal attacks on Islamic women, of eggs, coffees and milkshakes being thrown at them from car windows,” Rah said.

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Sunday Express boosts far-right Islamophobe

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL BFP press conference
Paul Weston (centre) in 2012 with the then co-leaders of the EDL, Kevin Carroll and Stephen Lennon

A Youtube video of a parliamentary candidate declaring he is a racist has taken the internet by storm.

The astonishing video, which sees Liberty GB leader Paul Weston claiming the UK needs to mount a ‘defence’ against Islam has had more than a quarter of a million views. He says he wants to avoid a ‘civil war’ in the UK and is ‘prepared to be called a racist’ in order to do so.

The video begins with Mr Weston simply stating “Hello, my name is Paul Weston and I am a racist”. It continues as he lists a number of political parties who class him as a racist while he stands on the bank of the Thames with the O2 arena in the background. He says he feels the UK is under a “terrible threat” and rails against former Prime Minister Tony Blair for “undermining” Britain.

Opening the video he explains: “The Labour party think I’m a racist, the Liberal Democrats think I’m a racist, the Conservatives think I’m a racist, the BBC thinks I’m a racist, I must therefore be a racist.” He continues: “Why am I a racist, it’s very simple, I wish to preserve the culture of my country, I wish to preserve the people of my country and in doing so this makes me a designated racist in my country.”

More than 260,000 people have viewed the seven-minute clip where he blasts: “If I want to defend what I grew up in what I was born into – my country, my British culture, my heritage and my history I am apparently a racist.”

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Snap inspections target private Islamic schools

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Emergency inspections have been conducted at more schools in Tower Hamlets, east London, this month at the request of the Department for Education (DfE).

Most are understood to be private Islamic schools, but they include a flagship Church of England state school.

Ofsted inspectors gave a clean bill of health to safeguarding arrangements for pupils at Marner Primary, a Tower Hamlets state school, after a visit in September.

At the time, Tower Hamlets council strongly denied claims by a Whitehall source that the borough was “expected to be the next Birmingham” with a “Trojan Horse” problem of Islamic influence in schools.

Inspectors have now visited six more schools after concerns about curriculums had been raised by the DfE, according to government sources.

They include Al-Mizan primary and the London East Academy, private schools for Muslim boys run by the East London Mosque Trust. Their pupils, who are mostly from Bangladeshi families, learn a combination of Islamic education and some national curriculum subjects.

Ofsted teams also paid snap visits to Jamiatul Ummah secondary, another private school for Muslim boys, and Sir John Cass Red Coat CoE Secondary School, a voluntary aided state school overseen by the Tower Hamlets education authority. Two other schools inspected have not been named.

Tower Hamlets said that “whilst we do not usually comment on Ofsted reports before they are published, we can categorically state the inspection has not found any ‘Trojan Horse’-type issues relating to the conduct of staff and governors or the curriculum” at Sir John Cass.

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Downing Street set to crack down on the Muslim Brotherhood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Downing Street is to order a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and a network of Islamist groups accused of fuelling extremism in Britain and across the Arab world.

David Cameron launched an inquiry into the Brotherhood earlier this year, prompted by concerns it was stoking an Islamist ideology that had encouraged British jihadists to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, who is an adviser to the review, is reported to have described it as “at heart a terrorist organisation”. The Brotherhood insists it is non-violent and seeks to impose Islamic rule only through democratic change. It has condemned Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and al-Qaeda.

A senior source close to the inquiry said its report – compiled but not yet published – had identified “an incredibly complex web” of up to 60 organisations in Britain, including charities, think tanks and even television channels, with links to the Muslim Brotherhood, which will all now come under scrutiny.

The inquiry, aided by the security services, has also investigated its network abroad. One expert said that the Brotherhood was now operating from three major bases – London, Istanbul and Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Dr Lorenzo Vidino, who is understood to have worked on the Cabinet Office report, presided over by Sir John Jenkins, Britain’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said: “It is clear that the Brotherhood has many dark spots, ranging from its ambiguous relationship with violence to its questionable impact on social cohesion in Britain.”

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Gun Owners of America to give award to shooting range owner who banned Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jan MorganLast month, an Arkansas gun range owner named Jan Morgan got some national attention when she declared her business a “Muslim free zone,” writing on her website, “This is more than enough loss of life on my home soil at the hands of muslims to substantiate my position that muslims can and will follow the directives in their Koran and kill here at home.”

What many news reports missed is that Morgan is not just the owner of a single shooting range, but a national gun activist who has spoken at multiple events for the “religious liberty” group Liberty Counsel as well as Tea Party gatherings and last month’s misnamed “Two Million Bikers” rally against President Obama.

And Morgan has some friends in high places in the gun lobby. In an interview with Arizona-based radio host Josh Bernstein this week, Gun Owners of America director Larry Pratt praised Morgan, saying that she was “on very sound ground” with her Muslim ban.

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Anti-Islamophobia rally in Perth confronted by small far-right counter-protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Perth anti-Islamophobia rallyA peaceful anti-Islamophobia rally in Perth has been confronted by counter-protesters, some wearing masks and waving the Australian flag.

The group of about 20 people, who denied they were members of the far-right Australian Defence League, singled out controversial Perth Muslim preacher Junaid Thorne. They held anti-Islamic banners and chanted “Junaid Thorne, terrorist scum”, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” and “this is Australia for Australians”.

Mr Thorne, a self-declared Sheik, said: “You can tell from the language these people use they are uneducated bogans.” The 25-year-old, who has gained national attention for his lectures, said he was showing his support for a “united community”. He would not answer questions about Islamic State terrorists and said his social media posts were just commentary, adding: “Everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

Most of the counter-protesters, some of whom wore Australian flag bandannas and T-shirts emblazoned with ‘This is Australia”, refused to speak to The Sunday Times. One of the group, Wayne White, 55, said: “We want to see Australia stay as Australia, what our forefathers fought for. We are just guys that are scared about the way our country is going. If they bring in Sharia Law we would be finished.”

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Tower Hamlets: Local hero slams anti-Muslim political attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rabina KhanTower Hamlets councillor Rabina Khan, recently nominated “Hero of the Year” in the European Diversity Awards, has slammed anti-Muslim attacks against the borough and defended its diversity and integration.

Khan said that distorted media coverage and damaging comments from powerful politicians help build a negative image of the Muslim community in Tower Hamlets, an image that she has been struggling to change.

She said: “If you watch Theresa May’s [UK’s Home Secretary] speech at the Tory conference, she talks about extremism and then refers to a large Muslim community in Tower Hamlets. She doesn’t exactly accuse us of Sharia law, but she puts them in the same sentence. Comments like these are enough to damage the whole Muslim community.”

Khan has been living and working in Tower Hamlets since she was 19. In the last 15 years she has been campaigning for gender equality and promoting incorporation between different groups in society.

Her work as an independent councillor and community worker promoting equality and diversity earned her the prestigious Unilever Hero of the Year title earlier this month.

Tower Hamlets has recently been under fire after a primary school was subject to an Ofsted inspection amid concerns of Islamic estremism. Even though all concerns were cleared, Khan said that she felt attacked by the negative media coverage. She said: “I think that the media have a wrong perception of the borough. It has been covered in a negative light.”

She voiced her view that some media outlets have picked Tower Hamlets as an “extremist” borough and that too often the focus is on the negativity associated with Muslim communities. Khan challenged this negative image saying: “When it comes to facts, I haven’t heard about one extremist being arrested in this borough, or being challenged and finally jailed.”

As a councillor, Khan has been working a lot with the borough’s youth. She said that the council invested in schools and offered summer camps and clubs to stop antisocial behaviour: “We use their energy in a positive way, not to teach them to go out and bomb people.”

With her work Khan wishes to change the way the Muslim community is represented in mainstream media and confront the stereotypes.

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Pig’s head, hate slogans at Athens Muslim center

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Athens Arab-Hellenic Centre vandalism (1)Greek police say unknown attackers have placed a severed pig’s head and painted anti-Muslim slogans outside an Islamic studies center in Athens.

Nobody has been arrested over the pre-dawn attack Friday, at a building that also functions as a Muslim prayer center.

The attackers sprayed an obscene slogan against Islam on the sidewalk outside the building, daubed a Christian cross on the door and threw paint at the walls.

The attack was discovered by worshippers going to Friday prayers.

Bigotry targeting Jews and Muslims has increased in Greece in recent years, which also saw the meteoric rise of a Nazi-inspired far-right party. Golden Dawn entered Parliament in 2012, but all its lawmakers now face trial for running a criminal organization that used violence to spread and impose its beliefs.

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