Islamophobia Watch

Richard Bartholomew takes apart Patrick Sookhdeo's claim (which formed the basis of Chuck Colson's recent Islamophobic diatribe) that that a book "published in 1980 by the Islamic Council of Europe gives instructions for how Muslim minorities are to work towards achieving domination of European countries through a policy of concentration in geographical areas".

Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, 14 September 2007

A far-right Italian senator outraged Muslims on Thursday by calling for a "Pig Day" protest against the planned construction of a mosque in northern Italy.

Roberto Calderoli of the anti-immigrant Northern League party said he was ready to bring his own pig to "defile" the site where the mosque is due to be built in the northern city of Bologna.

"I am making myself and my pig available for a walk at the site where they want to build the mosque," Calderoli, who is a deputy speaker of Italy's Senate, said in a statement. Calderoli also said he would eat "a nice plateful of pork chops to show my lack of sympathy for those who consider pork forbidden meat."

Reuters, 13 September 2007

See also Catholic World News, which quotes condemnation of Calderoli's comments by Italy's welfare minister, Paolo Ferrero of the Communist Refoundation Party. "I apologize to Muslims living in Italy on behalf of all civilized Italians," Ferrero said.

The current issue of the Economist carries a report on the controversy over the proposed Islamic Centre at Abbey Mills in East London. It would be difficult to fit more inaccuracies and distortions into a single article.

The estimate of the size of the proposed development is evidently based on the old design by Mangera Yvars, which has of course been scrapped. The new architects have yet to produce their replacement design, so the claim that the mosque will be "Britain's largest religious building and almost five times the size of St Paul's" lacks any basis in fact.

The article doesn't mention that the 10 Downing Street e-petition against the Abbey Mills development was posted by a BNP supporter. It refers to the earlier Sunni Friends of Newham/Minhaj-ul-Quran petition against the mosque but omits to mention that they have since suspended their campaign.

It says that Christian Peoples Alliance councillor Alan Craig, who has headed the local agitation against the mosque, "plays down fears of terrorism" – whereas in reality this has been a central plank in his scaremongering campaign.

It concedes that Tablighi Jamaat is not a political movement but concludes: "There is endless panic about political Islam. Is apolitical Islam much better?"

Canada's chief electoral officer said he will not use his discretionary powers to change the rules and force veiled women to show their faces in upcoming elections, saying it's not his job to "juggle" fundamental rights. Marc Mayrand made the comments as he was questioned by members of Parliament before the procedure and house affairs committee Thursday morning.

Mayrand said those powers are only to be used in exceptional circumstances, and he does not consider veiled voting an exceptional circumstance. Asked whether he would use those powers if directed to do so by the committee, Mayrand said he wouldn't, because it would require him to "offend the act and not uphold the law."

CBC News, 13 September 2007

"Here is a clue why, despite billions spent by Washington on its global public relations campaign, the image of 'ugly Americans' still persists in many part of the world, particularly the Muslim world.

"Just look at the vicious demonization of Iran and everything Iranian in Hollywood, the US media and, of course, the political rhetoric of American politicians.

"A distasteful odor of hate ideology, repelling rational thought, is discernible everywhere, with Iran-bashing in vogue and evincing the darker side of US political culture, ie, the imperialist, xenophobic, intolerant and repressive sentiment of politicians and media pundits toward Iran.

"... other than several Iran-bashing motion pictures by the Hollywood 'culture industry', perhaps the most flagrant, and ugliest, manifestation of this phenomenon in US politics and media has appeared in that vital compartment of opinion-making we call political cartoons.

"Notwithstanding the recent controversies swirling about European cartoons denigrating Islam's Prophet, or a German cartoon showing the Iranian soccer team dressed as suicide bombers, the right-wing American cartoonists have been making their own contribution – by depicting Iranians variously as dogs, beasts and, in the case of one published last week, by Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez, as cockroaches."

Kaveh L Afrasiabi in the Asia Times, 11 September 2007

Sign petition against the "cockroaches" cartoon here

"Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing populist Freedom Party, crashed his way into the headlines again on 8 August with an open letter in the newspaper Volkskrant, calling for the Koran to be banned."

Jeroen Bosch profiles the Dutch far-right racist in the current issue of Searchlight magazine

Click to read more ...

"Pipes is quick to parrot that radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the solution. That is all very well – until you realize that his raison d'etre is to claim that every Muslim individual or group of mentionable influence is a conveyer of radical Islam – particularly if they are outspoken against the illegal Israeli occupation. On the other hand, everyone upon whom he bestows the 'moderate' badge is either a lone wolf with no credibility in the Muslim mainstream, an apologist for Pipes’ own radical views on the Middle East, or both."

Ahmed Rehab takes on Daniel Pipes at Media Monitors Network, 10 September 2007

From a literary festival in Lombardy, Christopher Hitchens reports on his confrontation with Tariq Ramadan, whom he describes as "an Islamist academic domiciled in Geneva, who has emerged as the most sinuous and dexterous of the 'interpreters' of Muslim fundamentalism to the West". Hitchens is clear on the role that Professor Ramadan plays: "it's exactly the crudeness and crassness of Bin Laden that require the emergence of more 'credible' middlemen to allay anxiety and offer reassurance. Only six years on, and already the soft mainstreaming of Islamic imperialism is under way".

Slate, 11 September 2007

Don Macpherson applauds the decision by Marc Mayrand, Canada's chief electoral officer, to uphold the legal right of veiled Muslim women to vote in next week's federal by-elections in Quebec, and condemns Mayrand's Quebec counterpart Marcel Blanchet for capitulating to right-wing threats to disrupt the electoral process.

Montreal Gazette, 11 September 2007

"In the days leading up to today – the sixth anniversary of the deadly September 11 attacks by Islamo-fascist terrorists – we have had two reminders of just how determined our enemies are.

"First came the news of the arrest in Germany of three suspected Islamic terrorists. They are accused of plotting bomb attacks against the U.S. Air Base at Ramstein and Frankfurt International Airport. According to the Associated Press, the terrorists nursed a 'profound hatred of U.S. citizens'. Then there was the latest rant from Osama bin Laden, celebrating the ugly work of the September 11 terrorists and spewing more hatred for the West. He also invited all Americans to convert to Islam. Thanks, but no thanks.

"But as a Muslim convert to Christianity notes, we have more to worry about than violent attacks. We should be just as concerned about the quiet inroads Islam is making in Western societies. Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, who was born into a Muslim family, is now an Anglican priest living in England. He is the author of several books about Islam, and as a former Muslim, he brings a knowledgeable perspective about Islamic attitudes....

"To Sookhdeo, the signs are not good. He notes that a book 'published in 1980 by the Islamic Council of Europe gives instructions for how Muslim minorities are to work towards achieving domination of European countries through a policy of concentration in geographical areas'.

"In England and France, this has already begun. Muslims have created large enclaves in urban centers in which sharia law is in effect, in 'areas of finance and mortgages; halal food in schools, hospitals, and prisons, faith schools funded by the state; prayer rooms in every police station in London'. Instead of assimilating into the larger culture, Muslims have, he says, created a 'parallel society in the UK'. And with this parallel society has come increasing violence against non-Muslims, Sookhdeo warns. There has been a rapid growth of so-called 'honor killings', and now, suicide bombings.

"We have to ask ourselves: Will what is happening in Europe eventually happen in America?

"As we remember the innocent victims of September 11, we need to realize that the kind of soft terrorism Sookhdeo describes is every bit as deadly as planes being flown into buildings. We must educate ourselves about it and be as determined to defend liberty, human dignity, and our way of life as we were six years ago, when we were still clearing away the rubble in New York City and at the Pentagon."

Former Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson in the Christian Post, 11 September 2007