Tuesday, May 22, 2012 
American philosopher Martha Nussbaum, author of the recently published book The New Religious Intolerance, examines the spurious justifications given for banning the niqab and burqa.
She concludes that "traditions of religious liberty and equality in both the United States and Europe" are under threat as the result of "a climate of fear and suspicion, directed primarily against Muslims".
Monday, May 21, 2012 Wakeelah Salaam had been shopping by herself for less than ten minutes at the Bridegwater Commons Mall when a security guard approached her and told her to remove her traditional Muslim face covering.
"He said, 'ma'am, I'm telling you, you cannot wear that mask in here. He came as close to me as though he was going to kiss me, and then he made the hand gesture like he was going to lift it up for me," Salaam said.
Monday, May 21, 2012 "The Baroness has inadvertently and quite clumsily given her full support to the far right and Islamophobes who are looking to peddle misinformation and hate based on religion."
Mohammed Ansar replies to comments made by Sayeeda Warsi in her Evening Standard interview.
Monday, May 21, 2012 Darling of the Islamophobic right, fellow at the neo-conservative American Enterprise Institute and serial liar Ayaan Hirsi Ali was in Berlin last week to receive the Axel Springer Honorary Prize. In her acceptance speech, which was delivered in English, she attacked the "advocates of silence" who censor the truth about Islam and the Muslim extremists who are destroying Europe:
The advocates of silence warn us that publishing these facts or debating them in the media and in parliament will transform the existing resentment towards Muslims into violent behavior. Censorship and silence, we are told, are the best preventive remedies against hatred and violence.
I believe that the advocates of silence are wrong, profoundly and dangerously wrong.
Just who these "advocates of silence" are Ayaan Hirsi Ali never says, but presumably they are anyone who rejects hate speech against Muslims or anyone who proposes peaceful dialogue and reconciliation among different faiths.
But Ayaan Hirsi Ali has a great deal of understanding for mass murder Anders Behring Breivik, who was forced to kill 77 mostly young people because of the treachery of the "advocates of silence":
Fourthly and finally, that one man who killed 77 people in Norway, because he fears that Europe will be overrun by Islam, may have cited the work of those who speak and write against political Islam in Europe and America – myself among them – but he does not say in his 1500 page manifesto that it was these people who inspired him to kill. He says very clearly that it was the advocates of silence. Because all outlets to express his views were censored, he says, he had no other choice but to use violence.
Yes, the "advocates of silence" left Breivik with no other choice than to hunt down teenagers systematically. Who wouldn't be driven to desperate acts by this terrible "leftist" conspiracy?
Monday, May 21, 2012 
British Freedom (as the British Freedom Party has been renamed, because BFP is "too closely sounding to BNP") reports that its executive council has held a meeting with the English Defence League leaders to discuss future political plans.
Sunday, May 20, 2012 Over the past few days, Britain has been preoccupied with the prosecution and imprisonment of nine Muslim men (eight Pakistanis and one Afghani) on charges of being part of a child sex exploitation ring. Much has been said about the religious and ethnic background of the defendants, not to mention their victims, who were all white minors suffering from social problems, to the point that all issues became tangled up and intertwined; criminal considerations, religious and ethnic backgrounds and racial sensitivities. The result was heated discussions that mostly inclined towards unfair generalization, the promotion of a stereotyped image of Islam and false accusations against it.
Osman Mirghani analyses the response to the Rochdale "grooming" case.
Friday, May 18, 2012 
About 25 Muslims attended a rally Friday at the Statehouse urging Gov. Sam Brownback to veto a bill banning "foreign laws" that they say is a thinly veiled attack on Islam.
Faizan Syed, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' St. Louis branch, said similar "American Laws for American Courts" proposals have been floated in almost half of the 50 states this year. He said proponents have made them purposely vague to avoid running afoul of the Constitution like a 2010 Oklahoma law that specifically targeted Islamic law, or sharia.
"We know this was targeted against Islam because of the Oklahoma law that was struck down," Syed said. "They just changed the wording."
The Kansas bill, House Substitute for Senate Bill 79, voids any state court decision that is based on a foreign or religious law that doesn't comport with the state or U.S. Constitution. It passed the House 120-0 on May 7 and passed the Senate 33-3 on what was scheduled to be the last day of the session.
Some proponents have said it has nothing to do with Islam, but is merely meant to provide an extra layer of protection for Kansans' constitutional rights. But from the beginning, a perceived threat of sharia creeping into Kansas communities has shadowed the debate.
When it first came to the House floor, Rep. Jan Pauls, D-Hutchinson, urged her colleagues to vote for it by saying it was critically important to address sharia. Rep. Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, who lobbied heavily to ensure the bill got a vote in the Senate, also has pointed to sharia as a growing threat. When the bill came to the Senate floor, Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, called it a women's rights issue, noting "they stone women to death in countries that have sharia law."
"That's not sharia law," Omar Hazim, imam of the Islamic Center of Topeka, said after Friday's rally. "People need to try to gain some knowledge before they make decisions that are going to affect a lot of people."
Hazim, who said his organization has 250 to 300 members, spoke at Friday's rally. He said that sharia refers to much more than a set of laws in Islam. Rather, he said it is a code of living that includes prayer, fasting, charitable giving, pilgrimage and service.
Hazim said the Koran states sharia shouldn't be forced on anyone. He also said he was disappointed that neither he nor Washburn University law professor Liaquat Ali Khan were invited to speak to legislators about the bill.
Syed said women in America are already protected by the Constitution. "It's not about Muslim women," he said. "That's just an excuse they use to really push this Islamophobic agenda."
Friday, May 18, 2012 "The way in which the most prominent American Muslim civil rights organization has been marginalized and demonized should be cause for alarm not only for Muslims, but for civil rights advocates, and even for those in the law enforcement community who rely on strong local relationships. Lending official legitimacy to allegations that have never seen a day in court is abhorrent to the American value of justice...."
Rabia Chaudry condemns the right-wing witch-hunt of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the response of the FBI in particular.
Friday, May 18, 2012 
Greece on Thursday swore in 300 legislators for just one day before it dissolves Parliament and calls new elections, among them 21 lawmakers from Golden Dawn – arguably the most far-right party to be involved in a European national legislature since Nazi-era Germany.
Formerly a shadowy fringe group, Golden Dawn vehemently rejects the neo-Nazi label, insisting it is a nationalist patriotic party, but its meteoric rise from a largely marginalized outfit a few years ago to one that won nearly 7 percent in recent elections has alarmed many in Greece and in Europe.
In the traditional Parliament swearing-in ceremony, Golden Dawn legislators refused to stand as two Muslim deputies took their oaths on the Quran instead of the Bible.
"Beginning today Golden Dawn is officially in Parliament to speak the language of truth," said Ilias Kassidiaris, who was elected into Parliament and is also the party spokesman.
Thursday, May 17, 2012 Tensions could rise in the community if far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) is allowed to march through Walthamstow, critics claim. Both the Waltham Forest Anti-Cuts Union and Trades Council have criticised plans posted online for an EDL demonstration in the area on Saturday August 18.
The EDL, which describes itself as an "inclusive movement" opposed to Islamic extremism, denies being a racist organisation. But a spokesman for the WF Trades Council said: "There is no other reason that this organisation should come to Waltham Forest other than to seek to divide our multicultural community and to incite racial tension". He added that plans were underway for an alternative 'We Are Waltham Forest' event on the same day, designed to celebrate the borough's multiculturalism.
Last September Waltham Forest was one of five London boroughs where marches were temporarily banned by the government, following concerns about a proposed EDL march in Tower Hamlets. At the time, police said they had "specific intelligence" which suggested that the EDL demo could potentially result in "serious public disorder, violence and damage".
A Met spokeswoman said: "Police are aware that EDL plan to hold a demonstration and an appropriate policing plan will be in place."