ISLAMOPHOBIA: Anti Muslim Racism
Entries from January 20, 2008 - January 26, 2008
EU far-right groups to form party
Far-right political leaders from four EU nations have unveiled plans to form a pan-European "patriotic" party. The heads of far-right parties from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and France said their aim was to defend Europe against "Islamisation" and immigrants.
In Vienna, the heads of Austria's Freedom Party, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, Bulgaria's Ataka and the French National Front said the new party would be a counter-balance to other political forces in Europe. "We say: Patriots of all the countries of Europe, unite! Because only together will we solve our problems," Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache said. "Irresponsible mass immigration to Europe from outside Europe due to irresponsible politicians ... is the problem," he said.
US neocon defends Geert Wilders
Christopher Caldwell of the Weekly Standard defends Dutch far-right racist Geert Wilders and his forthcoming film on Islam (though, to be fair, Caldwell does take exception to Wilders' "brusqueness"):
"Mr Wilders is something of a bogeyman in polite Dutch society now. He should not be. His perfectly legal effort resembles the kind of mischievous testing of boundaries that civil libertarians have engaged in whenever they have sought to hasten social change in the face of an indifferent or hostile electorate. In seeking to reopen such questions as, first, whether Islam is a religion, and, second, whether ancient scripture is sheltered from our laws regulating hate speech, Mr Wilders is the comrade-in-arms of those western legal activists who have agitated successfully for gay marriage, euthanasia and bans on religious display."
Martin Sullivan
in Right Wing, USA, UK, Far Right Racists, Netherlands
|
Would a world without Islam be peaceful?
Khalid Saeed summarises Graham Fuller's article "A World Without Islam" published in the January 2008 edition of the Foreign Policy journal. He writes:
"Fuller has done a great job in spelling out the real root of the contemporary problems which lie in imperialism/colonialism, more than religion, although certainly religion is a part. His paradigm repudiates biased pundits and neoconservatives who condemn Islam as the root of all conflict."
Iraq politician clarifies Blackburn mosques comments
The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq has responded in a row over alleged extremism in Blackburn's mosques. An MP claimed Dr Barham Salih had told him what he saw when he visited Blackburn in 2005 would be illegal even in Iraq. But Dr Salih, in a statement which did not address exactly what he said to the MP, said his comments had been "taken out of context and misconstrued". Dr Salih, who has lived and studied in the UK, said the "overwhelming majority" of British Muslims were law abiding and true to the tolerant spirit of Islam.
Describing his visit to Blackburn, Dr Salih, who used it to urge people not to vote against Mr Straw because of the war in Iraq, added: "I had the good fortune to visit a mosque in Blackburn three years ago and I am grateful for the gracious hospitality shown to me there. I was heartened to hear of the Imam preaching tolerance and inclusiveness."
'The screaming minarets of Oxford'
A small metal cross in Oxford's Broad Street marks the spot where one of the worst acts of religious bigotry in English history was perpetrated: the burning of bishops Latimer and Ridley – the Oxford Martyrs – during the reign of Mary I, Bloody Mary, the last Catholic ruler of England.
Four hundred and fifty years on, a row has now flared in the city which threatens to pitch Muslims and a few Christian allies against an outraged coalition of both secular and non-secular figures. The issue in question is whether the cry of Muslims being summoned to prayer should be allowed to resound over Oxford's dreaming spires.
The row blew up after the Oxford Central Mosque said it would apply to the city council for permission to broadcast the call to prayer from loudspeakers in the minaret in a newly built mosque, three times a day.
For the moment, the Oxford Central Mosque has said it is going to delay the request for planning permission. The new mosque, in Manzil Way, east Oxford, is still under construction, and will not be finished until the end of the year.
Allan Chapman, a devout Christian who is leading the campaign against the call to prayer, was relieved by the delay, which he attributed to the opposition from local residents.
"If there hadn't been hell and fury we would have had this place wailing away already," he said. "The opposition to this brings together people who on paper are totally apart. It links true blue Tories who go to church with ex-Marxists who don't believe in God. We see it as naked Islamic imperialism. The community around the mosque is very Christian and European. The call to prayer is a sound many people find menacing. It's redolent of things they don't want to think about. It's also a form of preaching. It will destroy the cohesion of a very well integrated community."
He added: "What has angered people – and it has absolutely screamingly angered many people – is when we see Anglican clergymen overtly supporting Islam. We're totally staggered. It's being a traitor to the job description of their employment."
Opponents of the call to prayer believe they have a natural ally in the Bishop of Rochester, the Right Rev Nazir Ali, who has not commented directly on the Oxford row, but who alleged in a newspaper article this month that parts of Britain were being turned into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims.
See also comments on the BNP website
Martin Sullivan
in Right Wing, Secular, UK, Far Right Racists
|
Ken's Islam study
Julian Petley responds to attacks on The Search for Common Ground, the report commissioned by Ken Livingstone on the media's portrayal of Muslims:
"The report recommends that news organisations employ more Muslims (along with other minorities) so their workforces are more representative of the society and the world on which they report; that news concerning Islam and Muslims should – like all news – be accurate; and that when reporting on sensitive and difficult subjects, such as those involving members of Britain's minority communities, those working within news organisations should at least reflect on the possible consequences of their actions. Not a great deal to ask, one might think.
"But apparently it is. However, rather than engaging critically with the substance of the report its critics, such as Nick Cohen and John Ware, merely looked 'behind' it and discovered (entirely erroneously) bogeyman-of-the-moment the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and, armed with this 'fact', dismissed the whole thing out of hand as irredeemably biased. Bizarrely, Inayat Bungawala of the MCB has been repeatedly fingered as the author of the chapter on the controversial John Ware 2005 Panorama episode 'A Question of Leadership', when, as is clearly acknowledged in a footnote, the author is in fact me."
Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, 24 January 2008
The name of terrorism
Jacqui Smith has shown she understands that talk of "Islamist terrorism" plays straight into the hands of violent extremists, argues Inayat Bunglawala.
Muslim kids and pretend pigs
Julaybib Ayoub on the Three Little Pigs.
Christian 'comedians' to eat 'Muhammad'
A new, cutting-edge, political TV show will challenge Islam with biting humor tomorrow night, placing the face of the prophet Muhammad onto a cookie and then having it eaten on camera. "We're going to take a stand and say Muhammad's face is delicious," said Molotov Mitchell, the 28-year-old incendiary creator and host of Flamethrower. "This is religious and culinary history in the making."
The theme of this week's episode is "All Things Islam," as panelists take on the faith of Muslims in a no-holds-barred fashion. "Islam is not even a religion," Mitchell told WND from a location somewhere in Eastern North Carolina. "It's an ideology of 'might makes right' disguised as a religion. We're going to show that Allah was with us when we baked this cookie and ate it. Deal with it!"
Mitchell and his fellow panelists – all of whom are Christians in their 20s and whom he calls the next generation of conservatism – are trying to make the point that America is still a free country, and there's no need to cower in fear from Islamo-fascism.
Florida Attorney General requires employees to watch anti-Muslim propoganda
The Muslim Public Affairs Council today sent a letter to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who serves as a campaign adviser to Rudy Giuliani, calling on him to cease subjecting his employees to blatantly anti-Muslim propaganda.
Last week, MPAC learned that McCollum sent an email to his employees requiring them to attend one of three screenings of a controversial video called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" in the State Senate Building. In the email, McCollum says the screening is intended to help employees "better understand the threat that we face as a nation and society".
McCollum is a former member of Congress (1981-2001) who served on the Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare for the US Congress. The Task Force was first in issuing papers on the clash of civilization and promoting an anti-Muslim agenda in the US Congress.
"Obsession", a 60-minute tirade of cherry picked inflammatory statements from foreign individuals interspersed with "analysis" from controversial American figures including self-proclaimed terrorism expert Steve Emerson, has been widely discredited since its release in 2006.
As Attorney General, McCollum is tasked with ensuring the rule of law in the State of Florida. It is concerning, then, that the very office that victims of hate crimes would turn to for legal aid and justice, is leading its employees to make decisions based upon bias and fear.