Not the APPG on Islamophobia

Demonising Muslims

nottheappg — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:37:29 +0000

…. While EDL leaders maintain that their concern is with Islamic extremism, Tarry says their marches target a far broader section of society. “They’ve actually hardened their position over the last two years,” he explains.

“Now they are pretty much saying they are against Islam itself as a religion, that it’s evil, that it’s incompatible with the West, and this feeds into a whole other set of arguments that they make about the general Islamification of Britain.”

…. Terrorism is surely a perfectly valid reason to be critical of Islam, alongside, for example, attitudes towards women or homosexuality. “The term is used to shield not only Islam but Islamism from criticism,” says Maryam Namazie.

“So anything from opposing stoning in Iran to demanding an end to Sharia courts in Britain is deemed racist. Whereas it’s actually the opposite – why must people, because of where they or their families were born, have different standards of rights available to them?” [New Humanist] Read more

The EDL march in Cambridge

nottheappg — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:36:49 +0000

The EDL, and its supporters, claim that Cambridge is under the thumb of extremists, that it needs to target Cambridge because it’s full of intolerant preachers, people who make the streets unpleasant, and of course terrorists.

They’ve got it half right I suppose – in the past week I’ve heard a pretty fundamentalist preacher in the shopping centre, had a brush with some rather unsavoury types near the mosque and heard that a terrorist had been arrested. The only problem is – I’m fairly sure none of these were Muslim. [Harry’s Place] Read more

English Defence League march ends after failed bid to target mosque

nottheappg — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:36:07 +0000

Members of the English Defence League (EDL) made a failed bid to target a Cambridge mosque after they marched through the city.

The incident came after a relatively peaceful march by the EDL through the city centre in which scuffles with police broke out along with bottle-throwing.

Officers threw up a cordon around the mosque in Mawson Road and managed to quell the troublemakers. A man was arrested but was allowed to go free after he calmed down. [Cambridge News] Read more

Muslims Gather At Largest Islamic Convention In North America

nottheappg — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:35:20 +0000

…. The message, echoed among dozens of panels and discussion groups at the Islamic Society of North America’s annual meeting in suburban Chicago, comes after a difficult year for American Muslims.

Several states have passed or proposed bans of Islamic law, mosque construction projects have met ferocious opposition and polls have shown that many Americans have a negative perception of the religion.

Panels carried titles such as “Muslims Under a Microscope,” “Anti-Sharia Initiatives: How to Respond” and “Not in My Backyard,” regarding to anti-mosque construction campaigns. The sessions at ISNA, which were based upon the requests of members, indicated that Muslims are also concerned about the state of their religion as the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches. [The Huffington Post] Read more

A note on prejudice

nottheappg — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:34:14 +0000

The prejudice – the pre-judgment – comes in the elision from “some Muslims … “, “some gays … “, “some Catholics … “, “some Irish … ” or whatever to the noun on its own: “Muslims are”; “Irish do”; “Catholics are”.

I think this is simply a result of the way that nouns work. When we attach meaning to new words, it is rather like filling out a long form in which there are default entries for all the fields that we filled in last time. Whatever we do not consciously change is carried over from the most similar previous idea.

…. Still, I don’t think it’s an unworkably pious suggestion to follow the lead of our style book and check, every time you say “Muslim” (or “Christian”, or “atheist”) whether the sentence works just as well if you change the noun to an adjective – “Muslim people” – and only say “Muslim” if you can’t hear any difference. [Guardian Cif] Read more

Islamophobic crime fell in London last year – MCB spins the opposite

nottheappg — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 09:23:49 +0000

Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday had an alarming story claiming that “Islamophobic attacks have been on the rise.” It previewed a speech in which Farooq Murad, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, was due to say: “Islamophobic attacks, on persons and properties, are committed by a tiny minority, but the number of incidents is increasing. Robust action is necessary.”

…. If a total of 762 offences have been committed since April 2009, 57 of them since this April and 333 of them in 2010/11, that means the number committed in 2009/10 was 372. Between 09/10 and 10/11 there was therefore a drop of 39 offences – or more than 10 per cent.

I have to suspect, from the unusual way the paper presented the figures, that either it or the MCB was trying to conceal this inconvenient truth. Though the Sindy described the MCB as “Britain’s largest mainstream Muslim organisation,” it is in fact heavily influenced by a creed which is very far from mainstream in the British Muslim community – Islamism, the doctrine that Islam is a form of government not just a religion. [telegraph.co.uk] Read more

Muslims call for action against hate crimes

nottheappg — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:37:27 +0000

Britain’s largest mainstream Muslim organisation will today call for “robust action” to combat Islamophobic attacks amid fears of growing violence and under-reporting of hate crimes.

…. MCB secretary-general Farooq Murad will tell the council’s AGM in Birmingham that there must be more monitoring of anti-Muslim crimes in response to incidents including violent assaults, death threats and the desecration of graves. He will also complain that not enough is being done to encourage communities to report crimes to the police. [independent.co.uk] Read more

Man put ham in shoes of Bristol mosque worshippers

nottheappg — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:29:14 +0000

A MAN hung slices of ham on the railings of a Bristol mosque and placed pieces of the meat in the shoes of its worshippers while they prayed.

Jamie Knowlson was spotted running off to a nearby hostel, and when mosque staff followed they had offensive taunts shouted at them. [Bristol Evening Post] Read more [via Islamophobia Watch]

The British gender-jihad

nottheappg — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:30:26 +0000

There are many reasons to be glum if you are a Muslim living in Britain today. For starters, a 2010 YouGov poll revealed that the overwhelming majority of respondents in Britain believe that Islam is synonymous with both extremism and the repression of women. And many Muslims believe that Britain is becoming increasingly Islamophobic.

But some might be surprised to learn that despite frustration and fear among Britain’s Muslim populace, a generational shift has occurred in the last decade. The Muslim community has shifted from being isolated to being self-reflective and ready to take on challenges.

This is the natural expression of an inquisitive, creative, empowered and articulate generation of British Muslims. And at the forefront of this changed community are women who are the driving force for change. [altmuslim.com] Read more

A 21st Century Freedom Ride

nottheappg — Thu, 26 May 2011 11:31:12 +0000

…. One of the functions of the conference was to establish with clarity that Islamophobia is a form of racism. Suspicion of Muslims is justified in a host of ways; concern about terrorism, concern about ‘social cohesion’, concern about the spread of ‘non-western’ values, even apparent concern for women’s rights.

These recurring themes all betray ignorance and twisted thinking but they have allowed all sorts of people who should know better to climb aboard the anti-Muslim band wagon.

And taken together they have generated growing hostility to one of the most downtrodden and oppressed groups in society, the vast majority of whom are black and Asian. Islamophobia has become the last acceptable racism. [The Platform] Read more