Judge approves trial for Muslim Knoxville trooper deemed budding terrorist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Knoxville-based state trooper who is a Sunni Muslim contends he lost his job after being labeled a potential Jihadist.

Now, a federal judge is giving the green light to a trial in U.S. District Court in a religious discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of fired Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper De’Ossie Dingus against the state Department of Safety.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell has set a Nov. 17 trial date after ruling a recorded conversation between a military liaison and a Department of Safety commander is proof on its face the agency fired Dingus based on an unsupported conclusion Dingus was ripe to be “turned” into a terrorist.

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Dutch prosecutors summon far-right leader over alleged racist remarks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dutch authorities moved closer toward prosecuting far-right politician Geert Wilders on Thursday, naming him as a suspect and summoning him for interrogation over alleged racist remarks he made in March.

Wilders will be questioned on suspicion of insulting a group on the basis of race and inciting discrimination and hatred, prosecutors said in a statement. If convicted, he could face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to 7,400 euros ($9,400).

Wilders, whose controversial brand of anti-immigration, anti-Muslim populism has propelled his Freedom Party to second place in opinion polls, provoked widespread condemnation when he called for “fewer Moroccans” at a campaign rally in March.

Interrogating a suspect is the final step in the process of bringing charges, prosecutors said. A spokeswoman stressed no decision had yet been taken about charging Wilders but said there was a “significant chance” he would end up in court.

“I’m furious … that I am being investigated by prosecutors and will probably end up in court,” Wilders told journalists in parliament after learning of the summons.

Prosecutors received over 6,400 complaints and several of his party’s most prominent lawmakers resigned from the party after Wilders asked supporters at a rally in The Hague if they wanted “more or fewer Moroccans in this city?” The crowd chanted: “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” Wilders smiled and responded: “We’ll take care of that.”

In a later interview with broadcaster RTL Z, he said “Moroccan scum” should leave the Netherlands. Moroccans were over-represented in crime statistics and in the number of people receiving social benefits, he argued.

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Would-be Welsh Ukip MP faces discipline over anti-Islamic leaflet

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Ukip parliamentary candidate who distributed a leaflet condemning diversity and the notion of a multicultural society is to be disciplined by the party.

But Martyn Ford has not been suspended as the candidate for Swansea West and his case is unlikely to be considered before late next month.

The leaflet states: “Islamic terror. Abuse of our children. The consequence of multiculturalism.” It goes on to quote critical remarks made by Mr Ford about Muslims, immigration and the “political elite”.

A Ukip spokesman said: “This flyer was submitted for approval by the party, but it was deemed inappropriate. It was distributed nonetheless. We will be taking the appropriate action.”

It is understood that Mr Ford will be reported to Ukip’s national executive under the party’s disciplinary process, but that is not likely to be until late November.

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Newcastle councillor says battle with death threats and racism has increased after IS beheadings

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Councillor Dipu AhadA Newcastle councillor says he has to put up with racism on a daily basis. Dipu Ahad says he has even received death threats.

Councillor Ahad says the abuse has increased in the wake of the recent beheadings by Islamic State militants.

Northumbria Police is currently investigating an email which threatened to behead him in retaliation and post the footage on YouTube.

Now the member for Elswick says it has reached the stage where he has considered resigning from office as a result.

“Every night you go home and before you come out of your car you look around to see if there are any people around outside. You are suspicious if there is someone to target you. Every day I am being targeted and every day I wake up and say to myself do I need to do this?”

Councillor Ahad told ITV News that he experienced racism at all levels and he believes institutional racism is a major problem. Despite the abuse he has decided to stand again and this week submitted his papers.

ITV News, 9 october 2014

Australia: Muslims warn anti-terror laws could prevent teaching from Qur’an

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lydia Shelly Ertunc Yasar Ozen and Moustafa KheirA Muslim cleric who preaches from certain passages of the Koran could be caught in the “broad” net of the government’s new anti-terror law, Islamic leaders have warned.

Grand Mufti of Australia Ibrahim Abu Mohammad and the Australian National Imams Council have called for the offence of “advocating terrorism” to be removed from the so-called Foreign Fighters Bill, currently before Parliament.

They went public with their opposition on the same day Prime Minister Tony Abbott backed the draft legislation as essential to reining in “preachers of hate”, including the radical Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir. The organisation is hosting a lecture in Lakemba on Friday to denounce “the politics and plots of the American-led intervention in Iraq and Syria” and Mr Abbott has conceded that the current legal framework is not sufficient to shut the event down.

The imams council said a cleric could fall foul of the new law even if he simply “advocated the duty of a Muslim to defend his land”.

“We are therefore concerned that the proposal has serious implications on free speech and will have a chilling effect on legitimate religious and political debate,” the council – representing 250 imams – said in a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Appearing in front of the committee on Wednesday, members of the Muslim Legal Network said the laws, introduced by Attorney-General George Brandis, should target the extreme fringe, not mainstream Muslims. They said any religious community could face being charged with a terror-related offence “if they refer back to stories in the Quran, Bible and Torah in their sermons”.

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Protest march against Muslim school in Portsmouth

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hundreds of people are expected to march through Portsmouth in protest over a Muslim primary school in the city.

Members of the local community along with Britain First and English Defence League (EDL) members plan to march from Lake Road, where the Madani Academy is to be based, on Saturday. They will then walk through Fratton Road, Victoria Road South and Albert Road, returning to Lake Road before the march finishes at Guildhall Square.

Hampshire police has confirmed it is aware of the march taking place and there is expected to be a police presence.

Natasha Payne, 28, of Portsmouth, is one of the organisers. She said: “I just believe it [the school] is going to divide us even more. We should all be mixed, we should be mixing together. This is not about religion, I’m not a racist person. We should just all be together.

“It’s about being given the choice if we want to allow our children to go there, regardless of beliefs. This is not a racist march – we want the communities to come together.”

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Ofsted says no extremism in Tower Hamlets primary school

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Tower Hamlets school suspected of Islamic extremism has been cleared of concerns in a no-notice Ofsted inspection on Tuesday.

Marner Primary School has passed the recent inspection by Ofsted who said in today’s report: “The school’s safeguarding arrangements meet requirements.”

The snap inspection occurred after government suggestions that schools in the borough were falling under the influence of Islamic extremists.

Despite fears that children at Marner Primary were being exposed to unsuitable views, the Ofsted report states that: “The curriculum is broad, balanced and successful in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, including British values.”

Tower Hamlets has recently been in the spotlight due to a Sunday Times investigation of a second ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal, following events in Birmingham earlier this year. The Midlands scandal suggested that radical Muslims were controlling several school governing bodies, subjecting pupils to extreme views.

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About 42% against mosque in Iceland

Posted on by Bob Pitt

42.4% of respondents to a poll from Market and Media Research (MMR) say they are against The Muslim Society building a mosque in Iceland.

According to the poll, respondents were asked how supportive or against different houses of worship they were. 42.4% said they were against a mosque in Iceland, while 29.7% said they were in favour.

Where other religions are concerned, results varied.

33.1% said they were against a Russian Orthodox Church being raised in Iceland (there already is one) while 33% supported the idea. 36.5% said they supported a Buddhist temple in Iceland while 23.5% were against it. Where the Ásatrú Society is concerned, 49.2% said they supported a temple for them being built in Iceland, while 11.1% opposed it.

The big winner from the poll was the national church, with 64.4% saying the church should be able to build more churches. 9.5% were against the idea.

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The Sun’s ‘Unite against Isis’ campaign is a proxy for anti-Muslim bigotry

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imagine your average British Muslim family sitting around the breakfast table with the papers this morning. On the front page of the Sun, an image of a woman in a hijab fashioned out of the Union Jack and the headline “United Against IS” hollers out at them. In the right-hand corner, a subheadline urges them to “stand up to extremists”.

Yes, you there, Muslim – bleary eyed, sipping your coffee, who thought the activities of a militant group thousands of miles away had nothing to do with you – are you standing up to extremism right now? Is your Islam “British”? If not, then you are Part of the Problem.

It doesn’t end there. Inside, there is a flag cutout with “United Against IS” on it. Please stick it on your window or somewhere else highly visible to make it clear where you stand. Now, time for cornflakes.

The implications of this stunt are clear. Even though the editors shoehorned in an appeal to “Brits of all faiths”, this can only be a figleaf as the image clearly screams “Muslims”.

What the Sun says is that Muslims have to prove their British credentials with a display of loyalty – that their Britishness is not taken for granted until they do so. You are a shady Muslim first, and a citizen second. It may be masquerading as a jolly exercise in solidarity of the “Keep calm and carry on” type. But the subtext is pretty clear: “We are united against IS, Are they?”

Nesrine Malik responds to the “anti-extremism” campaign in today’s Sun.

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Scottish Defence League planning rally in Dundee in ‘next few weeks’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SDL Glasgow February 2012(2)The Scottish Defence League (SDL) is planning to host a large rally in Dundee in “the next few weeks”. Organiser Graham Walker said scores of people are lined up to attend the city-centre demonstration.

The controversial group have held rallies in Dundee before that have been countered by members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF). It has branded the SDL – and its sister organisation, the English Defence League – as racist.

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