Islamophobia Watch

"Islamic group accused of al-Qaida link wants to open second school." What is this – a typical piece of anti-Muslim scaremongering in the Daily Express? A press release by Newham councillor Alan Craig? No, it's the headline to an article by Riazat Butt in today's Guardian, reporting on plans by Tablighi Jamaat to open a madrasa for 500 boys as part of the so-called "mega-mosque" development in East London.

"While Kaufman makes his living out of calling for the expunging of Muslim nations and the shutting down of all American Muslim organizations, the American Muslim leaders he maligns are too busy to heed his desperate antics for attention; they are out there building bridges between communities and leading much-needed conversations that chisel away at misunderstanding and stereotypes."

M.T. Akbar takes on US right-wing anti-Muslim blogger Joe Kaufman.

Media Monitors Network, 25 September 2007

"It is interesting to reflect on the asinine times we live in, particularly if like me, you are involved in that nebulous thing called 'inter-cultural dialogue'. Over the past four weeks, I have been engaged in numerous rounds of dialogues between Western Europeans and Muslim migrant communities in Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin; and in every single one of these encounters, I came across stereotypes of Muslims and Islam that were so shallow and puerile that I am almost embarrassed to recount them here. Worst still, these pedestrian musings on Islam and Muslims were not the offerings of everyday punters, but those who claimed to be well-known and admired scholars and historians.

"In one of these exchanges, I was told the following: that 'Islam is a fascist, woman-hating, Christian-killing, gay-bashing macho male ideology of hatred that was built on fourteen centuries of conquest and bloodshed, murder and rape. That is why there cannot be integration of Muslims into Europe, because the Muslims that we have here are the savages of the Arab world who are barbaric, violent and brutal. They do not believe in reason and the Enlightenment and Islamic civilisation has not produced anything scientific, rational or humane'. Try substituting the word 'Muslim' for 'blacks' and one would see how far-fetched and racist such claims really are.

"Now why is it that whenever we speak of Islam and Muslims today, some of us think they have the license to drop their IQ level by a hundred points or so? Is discussion on Islam a license to say anything dumb, offensive and provocative just for the sake of riling up the masses and grabbing a few headlines?"

Farish A. Noor in the Daily Times, 28 September 2007

"Ronnie Liveston is right when he says 'The mindset, religion and culture of Muslims are incompatible with the indigenous Christian Briton and will ever be thus' (Letters, 24 September). While Muslim immigrants may adopt British nationality, they do not have a shared identity with us and can never be British in spirit.

"It is time that we began to understand that Islam is not just another religion; it is an all-encompassing nation state in its own right, with its own strict culture, political system and laws from which no Muslim can deviate. With Mosques and madrassas already proliferating all over Britain, Muslims are now planning to build the biggest Mosque in Europe to overshadow the new Olympic stadium in London. Is this an act of religious devotion or a political statement?"

Letter in The Scotsman, 28 September 2007

Green MEPs and the British Muslim Initiative called on the government on Thursday to step up efforts to bring Guantánamo Bay detainee Omar Deghayes back home to Brighton.

Click to read more ...

MONTREAL – The Quebec government should ban civil servants from wearing visible religious symbols at work to promote the province's status as a secular society, the Quebec Council on the Status of Women says. That means female Muslim teachers should not be allowed to wear a hijab in public schools, said the council's president, Christiane Pelchat. "Teachers are role models and they should be promoting equality between men and women," Ms. Pelchat said.

She used the following example to show how reasonable accommodation would impinge upon the right to equality between the sexes. A teacher in a public elementary school converts to the Muslim faith and wishes to wear the niqab, the veil that covers her face in its entirety except for the eyes. But the council says the government should not let her display the religious symbol.

"The niqab sends a message of the submission of a woman, which should not be conveyed to young children as part of a secular education which is required to promote equality between men and women," the council said it a statement released yesterday. The council has determined that the niqab is a religious sign that is discriminatory towards women, Ms. Pelchat said. "It is only women who are covered," she said. "Are there Muslim men who are covered up?"

The council is a 20-member body that advises the government on issues relating to women.

When The Muslim News probed Middlesbrough FC on its handling of the incident in which Mido, their Egyptian forward, was subjected to Islamophobic chants, the club merely said having a multinational team will be their "strongest anti-racism message".

Mido, whose real name is Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid, was subjected to 90 minutes of "terrorist" and "Mido, he's got a bomb" chants by Newcastle fans in the 2-2 draw at the Riverside Stadium on August 26.

Yet Middlesbrough have refused to disclose a report to the Football Association (FA) or exchange intelligence with Cleveland police. They have not inspected CCTV or TV footage around the stadium. They will not even browse online Youtube videos recording some of the taunts.

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Last week the BNP stood a candidate, one Bill Pugh, in a by-election for Copeland Borough Council, an area not known for its large Muslim population. But the fascists still managed to play the anti-Muslim racist card – and with some effect. Although Pugh came third of three candidates, he got 23.44% of the vote. The local paper reports on the BNP's campaign:

"If you looked past the Union Jacks and BNP slogans, Mr Pugh's election leaflet read for the most part like an electorate's dream. He advocated a return to weekly bin rounds, moving away from fortnightly collections; an end to the council's Executive 'squandering tax-payers' money' on what he regards as extravagances.... He was also keen to protect our hospital services and look after elderly residents, as well as providing more affordable social housing.

"But there, in the middle of it all, was another pledge, to stand against plans for a large-scale mosque in Whitehaven. The only trouble with their pledge is that there isn't a mosque planned for Whitehaven, on any scale, large or otherwise.

"The BNP delivered a petition to The Whitehaven News before the election, in which they claimed that 1,000 people were against the plans for a mosque. A number of names appear twice or three times and dozens of the signatures were from people from outside the area. Osama Bin Laden was among the signatures."

Whitehaven News, 27 September 2007

(Via Lancaster UAF)

British Muslim Initiative views the Conservative choice of Boris Johnson as the mayoral candidate as an affront to the sensitivities and beliefs of London Muslims. In a city in which one in eight of its population is Muslim, Johnson has demonstrated an antipathy to the Quran that borders on the realm of the bigotry.

During the debate on the religious hatred bill Johnson is recorded as saying "if this bill makes any sense at all it must mean banning the reading in public or in private of a great many passages of the Quran itself". He also wrote in one of his articles "the Koran is full of stuff that plainly falls into that category (religious hatred)".

Mohammad Sawalha Chair of BMI said: "In the light of such invective BMI affirms any individual aspiring to represent the people of London must demonstrate respect for all its communities. Mr Johnson is on the hostile path with the religious and ethnic minorities and he would destroy the great harmony enjoyed in London."

Mr Sawalha further added: "What is required at this juncture is a Mayor who has the understanding of the needs of the great many communities in London and unite them, unfortunately Mr Johnson does not fit that bill. Boris Johnson's record of hostilities and disdain for the sacred book of Muslims must automatically disqualify him from their support, to the same degree that his public offence and disrespect for black and ethnic minority communities should equally render him unworthy of their support."

BMI press release, 27 September 2007

A man's attempt to run a Muslim woman over with his car while she waited for a bus in Southampton was racially motivated, police have said. The 30-year-old woman, wearing a hijab, was targeted at Lordshill Centre on August 23. The man drove up next to her in a red car and verbally abused her, before trying to mount the kerb in his car. He then drove off towards a nearby roundabout, before driving back towards the woman, who ran off. "The woman, from Southampton, ran into a nearby library to escape further abuse, she was uninjured, but was left shaken by the incident," a police spokeswoman told The Muslim News.

The Muslim News, 28 September 2007