THE CLUMSY ACTIONS & STATEMENTS
20th
June 2011
Baroness Cox, the Tory peer who admires Geert Wilders, finds the Islamic
personal law courts (shariah councils) intolerable: “We cannot sit here
complacently in our red and green benches while women are suffering a system
which is utterly incompatible with the legal principles upon which this country
is founded…If we don’t do something, we are condoning it.” Isn’t pluralism a
fact of life in British law? Apparently not for Muslims! Baroness Cox’s
prejudice is that Islam and human rights are incompatible.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/baroness-cox-if-we-ignore-wrongs-we-condone-them-2299937.htm
8th
June 2011
Simon Wessely, a psychiatrist at King’s College London: ” I would rather go
find the gene for homosexuality or do work on images of the prophet Mohammed
than do this…”
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110603/full/news.2011.347.html
3rd
June 2011
‘Have I got News For You’ show Sharon Horgan said: The Independent described
the Dostoevsky metro station as the Mecca for suicides. Not to be confused with
the Mecca of suicide bombers which is Mecca.” Hargon later apologised.
29th
May 2011
The Daily Mail headline:” ‘Bradford is very inbred’: Muslim outrage as
professor warns first-cousin marriages increase risk of birth defects.” – note
the newspaper’s choice of wording – ‘Muslim outrage’. In fact, one Muslim
spokesperson quoted by journalist Tom Kelly merely said that Professor Steve
Job’s comments were “unworthy of a professor”! Another Muslim noted “I just do not
know of any firm evidence backing up Professor Jonesís claims. I think we need
more conclusive studies …”. Hardly “Muslim outrage”. The Daily Mail could
easily have constructed another headline, given that Professor Jones also noted
that “inbreeding was not confined to Muslims, and historically had occurred in
every part of society, including the royal family”.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392217/Muslim-outrage-professor-Steve-Jones-warns-inbreeding-risks.html
23rd
May 2011
“A primary school trip to a mosque was cancelled because of ‘ridiculous’
concerns over terrorist attacks in revenge for the death of Osama Bin Laden. A
group of five and six-year-old pupils from Orleans Infant School in Twickenham,
South West London, was due to visit nearby Hounslow Mosque tomorrow. But the
trip was ditched after the headmistress said she was concerned about the
‘safety’ of pupils.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389818/Primary-school-mosque-trip-cancelled-ridiculous-Bin-Laden-revenge-fear-headmistress.html
10th
April 2011
“A former head of the Armed Forces has warned that plans for a mosque
overlooking Sandhurst could lead to attacks on the Royal Military Academy. In a
letter, Lord Guthrie says he is worried about the ësecurityí of the two 100ft
minarets which will tower over the mosque, 300 yards from the Sandhurst parade
ground. And he is unconvinced by promises from the mosque leaders that it will
not fall into the hands of extremists who support a ‘doctrine of hate’.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1375331/Lord-Guthries-fears-plan-mosque-Sandhurst.html#ixzz1J6SIjBJi
29th
March 2011
Liberal Democrat Birmingham counillor Martin Mullaney said he ‘apologised
unreservedly’ for stating that Respect councillor Salma Yaqoob supported
stoning people to death and wanted to see Britain become an Islamic republic.
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2011/03/29/birmingham-councillor-martin-mullaney-sorry-for-muslim-extremist-jibe-at-salma-yaqoob-65233-28421390/
21st
March 2011
The Daily Express lead story: “SHARIA law is being used by house buyers posing
as Muslims to dodge stamp duty, it was revealed yesterday.” The reality is that
customers of shariah-compliant products do pay stamp duty, and legislation was
introduced to avoid double stamp duty arising from the nature of the financial
instruments devised! Only later does the article reveal that the possibility
arises if the purchaser immediately sells the property – but how many would do
this as a scam when the legal fees are high and cannot be avoided?
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/235769/Islamic-law-used-to-dodge-stamp-duty-/
16th
Feb 2011
A memorial bridge to a young girl in Detling, Maidstone, has been defaced with
extreme far right and anti-Muslim graffiti including a call to ‘kill Muslims.’
The graffiti, which also reads ‘keep Britain British’ and ‘EDL’
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_messenger/news/2011/february/16/graffiti_daubed_on_jades_cros.aspx
14th
Feb 2011
The Dispatches documentary, Lessons in Hatred and Violence [Channel 4, 14th Feb
2011] has footage of a maulana making offensive remarks about Hindus – captured
by an undercover reporter. But teachers at the school insist the undercover
reporter captured an isolated incident where a 17-year-old senior student was
talking to pupils.
The have provided a letter which shows that he was expelled for his views last
August ñ five months before the school was made aware of the tapes by
producers.
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2011/02/14/hate-preacher-expelled-from-birmingham-islamic-school-featured-on-tv-documentary-97319-28167205/
13th
Feb 2011
The Rev Patrick Sookhdeo, an Anglican cleric who runs the international
Barnabas Fund charity for Christians facing persecution, said some extremist
Muslims viewed the growing use of halal food as part of their efforts to
‘impose’ sharia law on the West.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356349/Pupils-forced-eat-halal-Church-tells-schools.html
5th
Feb 2011
Mr David Cameron’s speech in Munich: “…The failure, for instance, of some to
confront the horrors of forced marriage, the practice where some young girls
are bullied and sometimes taken abroad to marry someone when they donít want
to, is a case in point….”. Note the association of forced marriages with
Muslims – while not making the point that forced marriages are not sanctioned
in Islam.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2011/02/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference-60293
3rd
Feb 2011
Evening Standard headline: ‘MPs warned of Muslim group in Parliament’ – this
was in response to the appointment of a Muslim civil society group for
provision of administrative support to the newly-founded All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia!
3rd
Feb 2011
A campaigner in the ‘Yes to Fairer Votes’ campaign tweets: “Says in the Holy
Qu’ran Mohammad used to get his neighbours to vote by AV which of his 4 wives
he’d shag each night.” He later apologies “unreservedly”.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23919766-voting-reformer-gets-the-sack-for-anti-islam-tweet.do
4th
Jan 2011
Independent’s story headline: The Islamification of Britain: record numbers
embrace Muslim faith’. Sarah Morrison’s largely positive and sympathetic
article is marred by a crass headline. The report is based on estimates made by
‘Faith Matters’ – she underlines the dramatic point that there are 5000
conversions a year. Yet this is based on “a figure of 1,400 conversions in the
capital in the past 12 months which, when extrapolated nationwide”. As every
mathematical modeller knows, the devil is in the detail – the assumptions that
are made for arriving at an extrapolation. The headline ‘Islamification’ only
served to create a sense of alarm and problematising even further an already
‘suspect community’.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-islamification-of-britain-record-numbers-embrace-muslim-faith-2175178.html
27th
December 2010
Damian Thompson in the Daily Telegraph uses data from Pew to paint an alarmist
picture of British Muslim population statistics: “Setting aside for the moment
the topics of Muslim ghettos and jihadist Islam, let’s ask another question.
How will the rapid growth of a conservative religion affect British social
attitudes towards women’s rights, marriage, divorce, homosexuality and
abortion?… the growth among young people of a faith that, even in its moderate
incarnations, is resolutely non-liberal on many moral issues. What do you
think?” This is blatantly sensationalist – the only reliable source of British
population data is the decenniel census, next due in March 2011″.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100069830/the-muslim-population-has-grown-from-1-65-million-to-2-87-million-since-2001-say-researchers-what-does-this-mean-for-liberal-britain/
26th
December 2010
Sunday Express headline: “EXPOSED: Secret lair of Muslim hate preachers –
Network Rail-owned lock-up under one of the countryís busiest commuter lines
was the secret lair where Muslim fanatics plotted their hate campaigns against
democracy…” However there was no basis for describing the rented accomodation
as ‘secret’! In fact, it was used for meetings and classes and was known to
neighbours. The Sunday Express article by Ted Jeory also plants the idea of
danger to ‘the busiest commuter lines’.
12th
December 2010
Sunday Express headline: “Prisons – smuggled mobiles turn prisoners into
radicals…Thousands of Islamic prisoners convicted of non-terror crimes are
being ‘turned’ by an ?array of illegal films and images shown on ?mobiles
smuggled through weak prison security by convicted terrorists… “. However the
evidence on use of phones presented by the article related to drug cartels!
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/216922/Prisons-Smuggled-mobiles-turn-prisoners-into-radicals
3rd
Dec 2010
“Mrs Faisal-Parkar…joined Shakespeares [law firm] in 2002 as a legal assistant.
Not long after she started, she found out from a fellow worker that she had
been nicknamed ‘Mother Teresa’ because she wore a hijab, which covers her
head”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3546009/Muslim-barrister-wins-75000-over-Mother-Teresa-and-tent-head-jibes.html
24th
Nov 2010
Headline in The Sun: “Muslim fanatic is crack dealer – MUSLIM who dressed as
bomber at demo is jailed for his part in a £2.6m drugs racket .” The Sun placed
double emphasis on the individual’s religious identity – when it is quite clear
that such criminality had little to do with religious beliefs!
http://thesun.mobi/thescottishsun/news/3245081/Muslim-fanatic-is-26m-crack-dealer.html?mob=1
11th
Nov 2010
Birmingham councillor Gareth Compton…called it a ‘glib comment’: “Can someone
stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? It would be a blessing, really” he tweeted
from his iPhone. Journalist Alibhai-Brown was appalled: “If I as a Muslim woman
had tweeted that it would be a blessing if Gareth Compton was stoned to death
I’d be arrested immediately”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/11/tory-councillor-tweet-yasmin-alibhai-brown-arrested
4th
Nov 2010
The judge sentencing Roshonara Choudhry for stabbing Stephen Timms MP made a
gratuitous comparision between Christian values and those of another religion
i.e. Islam. The fact that Choudhry was an aberrant personality seemed to be
discounted: “I understand that he (Mr Timms) brings to bear his own faith,
which upholds very different values from those which appear to have driven this
defendant.
‘Those values are those upon which the common law of this country was founded
and include respect and love for one’s neighbour, for the foreigner in the
land, and for those who consider themselves enemies, all as part of one’s love
of God.
These values were the basis of our system of law and justice and I trust that
they will remain so as well as motivating those, like Mr Timms, who hold public
office’.”
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326208/Roshonara-Choudhry-knifed-MP-Stephen-Timms-smiles-gets-life.html
[The judge did not deem worthy of mention that the doctor who cared for the MP when he was brought into Emergency at the Royal London was a Dr Asif Choudhry]
3rd
October 2010
The Observer carried the headline, “US to issue terror warning to Americans in
Europe” – the accompanying image showed the back profile of a Muslima in hijab.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/americans-europe-terror-alert-warning
20th
July 2010
Daily Express story headlined ‘White Britons unfairly [sic] targeted for hate
crimes’: “…Civitas the Institute for the Study of Civil Society claimed there
was ‘evidence of biased application of the law’. It cited the case of a Muslim
man who sprayed ‘Islam will dominate the world Osama is on his way’ and ‘Kill
Gordon Brown’ on a war memorial in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. He was
prosecuted for criminal damage but not religious or race offences. The CPS
argued that ‘defacing the memorial did not attach to any racial or religious
group’. But the report pointed out: ‘If a non-Muslim had defaced a Muslim
building, the system would have thrown the book at him’.î Why this conjecture
on an hypothetical scenario?
8th
July 2010
Harrow Observer headline “Hot meals but it may only be halal”. The report by
David Baker notes that Harrow schools have been invited by Harrow Council to
opt into a catering scheme “which has already proved successful among other
secondary schools in the borough”. The report first provides a negative
assessment, quoting a parent “who wished to remain anonymous” according to whom
this move “unnecessarily imposes [sic] faith based practices on pupils”. The
more positive response from another parent is left to later in the news report.
This parent said, “most children, or parents for that matter, will not be
concerned how the animal has been killed, they will just care whether or not it
tastes good.”
4th
July 2010
Jim White in the Sunday Telegraph, “But football, like a sporting sharia court,
left the punishment up to the victim. Gyan’s nerves proved too shaky for it to
be administered fully. So justice was horribly undermined….”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2010/7870325/World-Cup-2010-why-cant-football-tackle-cheats.html
30th June 2010
Phil Woolas, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Oldham East & Saddleworth
in the June 2010 General Election, accused his Lib Dem opponent Elwyn Watkins
of being linked to ‘extremist Muslims’. A BBC report noted that a court is due
to examine Woolas’s statement: “Mr Watkins believes a Labour election leaflet
portrayed him as courting votes from militant Muslims. The leaflet was
headlined: ‘Watkins accused of wooing extremist vote.’ It went on to pose the
question: ‘Why are the extremists urging a vote for Watkins?’ ”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/10468410.stm
Update 18th September 2010:
“Phil Woolas, the Labour MP who is facing a court challenge to
his re-election from his Lib Dem opponent Elwyn Watkins, will now have to wait
until October for the court’s decision, reports the BBC. The case, the first of
its kind in 99 years, centres on whether Woolas made misleading comments about
Watkins in campaign material, some of which suggested the Lib Dems were
canvassing support from Islamic extremists. As my colleague George Eaton has
already argued, it appears that Woolas’s campaign was deliberately designed to
whip up ethnic tensions in Oldham, a city that saw race riots less than a
decade ago – something that, regardless of the court’s decision, will mark it
out as ‘one of the most disgraceful election campaigns in recent history’.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2010/09/campaign-woolas-decision
Update 5th Nov 2010:
“Today’s ruling by two high court judges in a specially convened
election court found that Woolas smeared the Liberal Democrat opponent, Elwyn
Watkins, as someone who pandered to Muslim extremists…their most provocative
piece of electioneering was an A6 election card with a photo of Muslim
extremists holding up a placard reading: ‘Behead those who insult Islam’. The
election card read: ‘Extremists are trying to hijack this election. They want
you to vote Lib Dem to punish Phil for being strong on immigration Ö Will you
stand by Phil?’ The extremists pictured were from a tiny demonstration held in
London some four years previously ñ they had nothing to do with Oldham…”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/05/phil-woolas-court-ruling
THE MOCKING, ALARMIST TALK
23rd June 2011
“EDL leader Tommy Robinson told the News he expects up to 400 people will attend the march against plans for a new £13 million mosque in Mill Road to replace the one in Mawson Road, which has space for just 500 of the city’s 4,000 Muslims.
He said: ‘We are against the building of this mosque which will be the biggest in East Anglia and we have had a lot of people in Cambridge contacting us who are worried about it. We are against the building of all mosques because they preach homophobia and anti-Semitism which we should not tolerate in this country’.”
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/400-will-march-against-new-Cambridge-mosque-claims-EDL-21062011.htm
29th
April 2011
“The UKIP candidate for the Leicester South by-election has caused outrage by
condemning Islam on his blog. In the article, Abhijit Pandya called Islam
‘morally flawed and degenerate’ and said he backed a controversial Dutch
politician, who called Islam a retarded ideology.”
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Outrage-prospective-MP-condemns-Islam-blog/article-3491966-detail/article.html
28th
April 2011
Leo McKinstry’s hyperbole:”Dressing up its cowardice as tolerance and its
appeasement as liberalism, the political establishment has failed to tackle the
Muslim extremists in our midst. As a result, jihadism has flourished in our
society, its growth further fuelled by the wilful collapse of our borders, the
destructive ideology of multi-culturalism, the sprawling welfare system and the
fashionable doctrine of human rights which protects the zealots rather than the
public….”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/243337/We-always-warned-Britain-is-breeding-ground-for-terror
18th
April 2011
“HATE crime vandals spray-painted racial slurs over homes near Birkenhead’s
mosque.
The area surrounding the Borough Road mosque was targeted at the weekend with
offensive graffiti such as ‘Islam = Murder’ and ‘Britain for the British’.”
http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/8980130.Race_hate_vandals_strike_near_Birkenhead_mosque/
17th
April 2011
Mail on Sunday headline: ” ‘Wear a headscarf or we will kill you’: How the
‘London Taliban’ is targeting women and gays in bid to impose sharia law.” It
is only in the detail of the article that there are qualifying phrases – “It is
believed [sic] Muslim extremists are behind a spate of attacks being
investigated by police, according to [sic] the Sunday Times”.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1377780/London-Taliban-targeting-women-gays-bid-impose-sharia-law.html
10th
April 2011
“A senior member of the BNP who burned a copy of the Qur’an in his garden has
been arrested following an investigation by the Observer.
Footage of the burning shows Sion Owens, 40, from south Wales
and a candidate for the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, soaking the
Qur’an in kerosene and setting fire to it.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/09/bnp-candidate-arrested-quran-burning
4th
April 2011
Daily Mail’s sensationalisation of the views of one young man – with ‘hatred
filled eyes’ speaking to a crowd of baying extremists!:
“Pressing his loudspeaker tighter into his mousy-brown bush of a beard,
Salahuddin’s bright-blue eyes fill with hatred.
‘When the Taliban defeat the allies we will establish Sharia law and take the
fight to the enemy,’ he preaches before a baying crowd of extremist friends at
a demo in Barking, Greater London.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372931/The-blue-eyed-boy-Weymouth-gave-middle-class-roots-preacher-hate.html
16th
Feb 2011
A Birmingham Islamic school which featured in a damning TV documentary has
received malicious calls threatening to firebomb the building.
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2011/02/16/birmingham-islamic-school-receives-firebomb-threats-after-tv-documentary-65233-28176174/
16th
Feb 2011
Slogans including ‘kill Muslims – keep Britain British’ and ‘EDL’- the acronym
for anti Islamist group the English Defence League – have been scratched into
the moss on Jadeís Crossing in Detling [Kent].
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_messenger/news/2011/february/16/graffiti_daubed_on_jades_cros.aspx
13th
Jan 2011
Leo Mckinstry in the Daily Express links criminality to faith: “But the sheer
scale of the problem [following sentencing of two Pakistanis for vice crimes]
means that the establishment can no longer keep it a dirty secret. It is absurd
to pretend that this has nothing to do with Islam. Only the politically
blinkered refuse to see that Muslim culture promotes aggressive misogyny
against women, who are often treated as little more than chattels. Muslim menís
attitude towards women outside the faith can be even more contemptuous since
they are regarded as infidels devoid of any morality.”
http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/222151
7th
Jan 2011
BNP leader’s statement on the BNP website: “British National Party Leader Calls
for Demonstration Tomorrow ‘For the Victims’ of Muslim Paedophile Gangs”. The
BNP statement makes a connection between the crime and religion – when none
exists. No one ever refers to ‘Christian’ murderers etc.
http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/british-national-party-leader-calls-demonstration-tomorrow-%E2%80%9C-victims%E2%80%9D-muslim-paedophile-gangs
19th December 2010:
Sunday Express headline: “Why are 36% of our universities
training Muslim terrorists?”. To substantiate this, reporter James Murray cites
“M15 chiefs have already warned 39 universities that they have a serious
problem with Islamic ‘violent extremism’. So an unsubstantiable ‘warning’
becomes a matter of fact [small point – if there are 133 universities, this
does not make 39%.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/218274/Why-are-36-of-our-universities-training-Muslim-terrorists–
22nd
Nov 2010
While non-Muslim faith schools are apparently facing no obstacle in obtaining
voluntary aided status, Muslim faith schools on the other hand are being
demonised. The Daily Telegraph reporting: “Muslim children are being taught how
to chop off thieves’ hands and that Jews are plotting to take over the world”!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8150247/Muslim-pupils-learn-to-cut-off-hands-of-thieves.html
18th
Nov 2010
Daily Mail headline:”Five Muslim boys and white girl, all 12, excluded over
Facebook death threats to classmate who supported British troops”
Why juxtapose ‘Muslim’ ( faith category) against ‘white’ (racial category)?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330517/Facebook-death-threats-5-Muslim-boys-white-girl-excluded-school.html
6th
Nov 2010
Ms Stuart, of the Centre for Social Cohesion, passed these disparaging and
sensationalist judgements on Muslim faith schools: A whole generation is being
brought up to at the very least suspect, and perhaps even despise, the society
they will have to live in. This is deeply worrying for the future of community
cohesion.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8114452/Ofsted-praises-Islamic-schools-which-oppose-Western-lifestyle.html
27th
October 2010
Julie Birchill in the Independent: “Of course, there is one religion which
proscribes its followers under threat of death from rejecting it, and that is
Islam. Which just happens to be the one that Lauren Booth (born a Catholic
called Sarah) has opted for…..A failed actress, a mediocre hack, it’s pretty
fair to say we would never have heard of her had her half-sister not married a
man who became Prime Minister. And now her meal-ticket is Mohammed…Maybe like a
lot of Western cowards, she thinks that if she sucks up to Islamism hard enough
she will be spared its rage…What sort of woman freely converts to a religion
which supports the oppression, torment and murder of thousands of Christians,
homosexuals and spirited women, worldwide, every year?
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/julie-burchill/julie-burchill-poor-lauren-booth-ndash-she-would-do-anything-to-get-in-with-the-tough-kids-2117219.html
19th
September 2010
The Mail on Sunday headline: “Britain goes Halal (but nobody tells the
public)”: …some of Britain’s most revered [sic] institutions are serving up
halal meat to diners – without their knowledge….all the beef, chicken and lamb
sold to fans at Wembley has secretly [sic] been prepared in accordance with
sharia law…animal welfare campaigners have long called for a ban on the
traditional Islamic way of preparing meat…we don’t permit stoning or polygamy
on grounds of religion, say angry animal rights protestors…so why should we
allow this?”.
This report by Simon McGee and Martin Delgado does not mention two aspects: firstly caterers are acting on grounds of cost-effectiveness rather than preference for halal meat – given that 25% of the lamb is consumed by Muslims; secondly Muslims have never asked for non-Muslims to consume halal meat!
18th
September 2010
Daily Express headline: “Muslims plot to kill Pope”. The report’s opening
paragraph read, “Islamic terrorists designed as street cleaners allegedly
hatched an audacious plot to blow up the Pope…the threatened attack was foiled
at the elevent hour…”
Of course the Daily Express did not feature with equal prominence the release of the arrested men later the next day!
30th
July 2010
Daily Express headline: “NHS pays for Muslim virginity operations”. The article
states that “AN INCREASING number [capital letters used by the Express] of
Muslim brides are having controversial pre-marriage ‘virginity repair’
operations”. The notes that “Taxpayers funded 116 hymen replacements on the NHS
between 2005 and 2009, official figures revealed…It means the taxpayer has
forked out [sic] up to £400,000 over the four years to fund the half-hour
operation.” The inference is that Muslims are placing an unreasonable demand on
‘taxpayers’ – there is no recognition that Muslims themselves are also
taxpayers. The article concludes with the finding: “The NHS says it does the
operation only for ‘clinical need’.” So if there are medical reasons, why the
fuss?
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/190036/NHS-pays-for-Muslim-virginity-operations
19th
July 2010
Daily Mail headline: ‘Muslim bus drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board’.
Later the story explains that it was children on the bus who were frightened –
‘Mr Herridge, who lives with wife Janet, 69, in Tilehurst, Reading, said that
on the first occasion two years ago, he got off at the request of a Muslim
driver because some Muslim children on board were ‘screaming’ because of the
dog.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295749/Muslim-bus-drivers-refuse-let-guide-dogs-board.html
18th
July 2010
Rod Liddle in the Spectator: “Must admit Iím thoroughly enjoying the
governmentís fury that decent, white, Christian, blind people keep getting
chucked off buses because Muslims object to them. Apparently there is something
in the Koran warning that if you brush up against a blind person, or get his
saliva on your hand, it is haram ñ which means no virgins for you, matey…”
http://www.spectator.co.uk/rodliddle/6152068/not-on-my-bus.thtml
11th
July 2010
Daily Mail news item headline: “Council forces [sic] schools to rearrange exams
and cancel lessons to avoid offending Muslims during Ramadan”.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293833/Council-forces-schools-rearrange-exams-cancel-lessons-avoid-offending-Muslims-Ramadan.html
6th
July 2010
Daily Express Front Page Headline: “MUSLIMS FORCE POOL COVER-UP – Windows
frosted to protect modesty of just a few swimmers”.
The article used words and expressions like “the bizarre council diktat is the
latest example of bureaucrats taking an extreme decision to avoid upsetting a
minority group”; “Residents are outraged”; “Regular users of the pool are
furious”; “It seems they are not bothered about what we find offensive, as long
as the Muslim community is kept happy”. Only further down the article does the
reader learn:”A spokeswoman for Walsall Council said the complaints had come mostly
from the Muslim community but non-Muslim women had also objected”. The Daily
Express included a telephone poll: Should Muslims get special treatment?
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/185172
THE ABUSE, PHYSICAL DAMAGE & VIOLENCE
9th
June 2011
Report: “Yet, this morning was different as the letter, which was addressed to
the Imam this time, was nothing but an offensive drawing on the religion of
Islam and some offensive words about the Prophet Mohammed. What was horrible
though is that there was a very strange white powder on the letter in a
considerable amount. Unable to know the nature of that powder which could have
been anything, the staff contacted the police who evacuated the Mosque and put
the two members of staff who came in contact with the powder under observation
in case any health complications or symptoms appear on them. Ambulance and
police cars surrounded the scene and the whole Muslim community in Islington
were terrified; the road around the Mosque was blocked and people were very
worried. From around 12:30 at noon till around 4:00 PM the mosque went through
a very difficult time until the special police forces that analysed the powder
discovered that it is not dangerous. ”
21st
April 2011
Vandals have attacked 20 Muslim graves at a cemetery in High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire. Headstones were pushed over and ornaments from the graves
strewn around the cemetery in Hampden Road.
The graves were vandalised between 2100 BST on Wednesday and 0800 BST on
Thursday. Thames Valley Police said it took the incident extremely seriously
and was supporting families and the community as well as hunting the vandals.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-13169073
20th
April 2011
Zahra Kazemi Saleh – a female Muslim student sustained facial injuries after
she was beaten by four women for refusing to remove her headscarf.
http://media.fosis.org.uk/press-releases/1367-fosis-condemns-islamophobic-attack-on-muslim-female-student
6th
April
Further report by Hugh Muir in The Guardian on te 25th March attack on the
Redbridge Islamic Centre: “The first thing Abdul Wahab heard, he says, was the
shouting. ‘Muslim bastards; Paki bastards.’ Unpleasant enough in the street.
But no one expects to hear such things in a mosque.
What to do? Just six old men there, four of whom were on their
knees praying when the hoodlums intervened. Nothing to do but remonstrate, shoo
them away and hope….”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/06/hideously-diverse-britain-attack-mosque?INTCMP=SRCH
25th
March 2011
Redbridge Islamic Centre attacked. The Ilford News subsequently reported “Six people
appeared at Redbridge Court on Saturday charged with violent disorder. Matthew
Stephenson, 19, of no fixed address, Daniel Leal, 19, of no fixed address,
Rockylee Beale, 19, of Wood Green, Essex and a 15-year-old boy have been
bailed. Elliot Jones, 19, of no fixed address and Ryan Jones, 22, of Ilford,
have been remanded in custody. They will all appear again at Redbridge
Magistratesí Court this morning.”
http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/news/six_due_in_court_today_over_redbridge_mosque_attack_1_848514
10th
Feb 2011
POLICE and fire crews are combing the scene of a huge blaze which gutted a social
club earmarked to become an Islamic cultural centre…Flintshire Muslim Cultural
Society (FMCS) had been trying to raise £150,000 to buy the club ñ which had
been closed since August ñ and turn it into an Islamic centre. The plans
provoked strong protests and about 100 members of right-wing group the English
Defence League (EDL) marched through the streets of Shotton last month to voice
their opposition.
http://www.flintshirechronicle.co.uk/flintshire-news/local-flintshire-news/2011/02/10/muslim-centre-site-arson-attack-investigated-51352-28147721/
10th
Feb 2011
“Police arrested two men yesterday for allegedly publishing a catalogue of vile
and racially inflammatory material on the internet.
One of the men, from Paignton, is thought to be responsible for a series of
anti-Muslims videos.”
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/court/Men-arrested-anti-muslim-internet-probe/article-3207662-detail/article.html
5th
Feb 2011
“[EDL] Activists, some wearing balaclavas and others waving English flags,
chanted ‘Muslim bombers off our streets” and “Allah, Allah, who the **** is
Allah”. EDL supporters from Newcastle, Scotland, London, West Yorkshire and
Sheffield joined Luton-based supporters. There were also flags representing
German, Dutch and Swedish Defence Leagues.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/05/david-cameron-speech-criticised-edl
22nd
Jan 2011
“A Muslim family say they were ‘singled out’ by a Bournemouth bus driver… The
daughter added: ‘Me and my mum were wearing headscarves and he didnít do it to
anyone else, just us’.î
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/8806744.Bournemouth_bus_driver_disciplined_over_Muslim_complaint/
20th
Jan 2011
Scene in Carlisle: “One eye witness who spoke to the News & Star described
seeing the man standing in the city centre, near to the market cross, loudly
making anti-Islamic pronouncements in front of a large crowd.
He then set fire to the book he was holding, which said the witness was a
Koran, before discarding it and hurrying away.”
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carlisle-man-arrested-after-koran-allegedly-burned-in-city-centre-1.800771?referrerPath=home
3rd
December 2010
“Three people have been arrested and released on bail by police investigating
an arson attack on a Stoke-on-Trent mosque on December 3.”
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=4974
Update 9th Dec 2011: “Two men have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison
after being found guilty of deliberately setting fire to a Stoke-on-Trent
mosque.
Ex-soldier Simon Beech, 23, and Garreth Foster, 29, both from Stoke, were found
guilty … The pair had denied committing arson with intent to endanger life.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard it was in revenge for Muslim extremists
burning poppies on Armistice Day.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-16098897
25th
November 2010
“A 15-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred
after allegedly burning an English-language version of the Qur’an ñ and then
posting video footage of the act on Facebook. The teenager, from the Sandwell
district of Birmingham, was filmed on her school premises burning the book.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/25/girl-arrested-allegedly-burning-quran
22nd
November 2010
“Masked men threw bottles of beer and urinated on a mosque following a march
against Muslim extremism. Bacon was also left on cars near Kingston Mosque
during the attack by a group of 10-15 youths on Sunday. Kingston Mosque claimed
baseball bats were also used in the incident on East Road, but this was not
confirmed by police.”
http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/topstories/8680008.UPDATE__Beer_thrown_at_mosque_following_protest_march/
13th
November 2010
“An imam in Portsmouth has said he is saddened his mosque has been targeted
twice in two days after remembrance poppies were burnt in London.
A poppy was painted on the front of the Jami mosque, on Victoria Road North in
Southsea, on Friday and on Saturday 100 people staged a demonstration outside.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-11751268
9th October 2010
EDL attacking Big John’s in Leicestar
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxdTEVzzr_s&w=420&h=315]
20th
September 2010
“Twenty-one grave stones have been damaged in a section of a Leeds cemetery
used by Muslims. West Yorkshire Police is appealing for information after
plaques and headstones on some of the graves at the city’s Harehills Cemetery
were damaged.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-11377917
18th
September 2010
“Racists have been blamed for firebombing a car and scrawling a Nazi swastika
on a Burnley shop as the elderly Asian Muslim owner slept upstairs, in the
early hours of September 18.”
Muslim News, 29th October 2010, p.15
15th
Sept 2010
“Six Tyneside men arrested after Koran-burning jape was posted on YouTube – the
six, all from Gateshead, were arrested after filming themselves apparently
burning copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.”
http://freethinker.co.uk/2010/09/23/six-tyneside-men-arrested-after-koran-burning-jape-was-posted-on-youtube/
1st
September 2010
The Muslim News reports (24th Sept 2010): “A drunk Worcester man who unleashed
a tirade of racial abuse at Asian workers …was arrested on June 27…On September
1, Worcester Magistrates Court heard how 20-year old Miller …punched the cab
demanding driver Muhammed Rizwan ‘get out’ and face him.”
11th
August 2010
“A FAMILY told today how they are living in fear of a gang of young racist
thugs who have been laying siege to their home for months. Abdur Rahim, 32, and
his heavily-pregnant wife Nazama, who are originally from Bangladesh, have
suffered a campaign of vandalism and harassment since the beginning of the
year. The gang throws stones, smashes windows and vandalises taxi driver Mr
Rahim’s car outside his Broomhouse home. In one of the latest incidents at the
weekend, a stone crashed right through the window, leaving a golf ball-sized
hole…”
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Terrified-family-tormented-by-vandals39.6468316.jp
23rd July 2010
“Two Muslim women have claimed they were refused a bus ride because one had her face covered by a veil. The students, both 22 and from Slough, Berkshire, boarded a Metroline bus from Russell Square to Paddington, London. But they said when they presented their tickets on Tuesday, the driver told them they were a ‘threat’ to passengers and ordered them off the bus.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-10728912
23rd July 2010
“The Muslim Safety Forum (MSF) condemns the Islamophobic attack on the North London Central Mosque on Monday 19th July 2010 by two men who stuck a pig’s head on the Mosque gates…Fatima Khan, Vice Chair and lead on the Islamophobia workstream for the MSF stated, this latest attack of sticking a pig’s head on the gates of the mosque and taking photos of the crime shows a new found confidence amongst these criminals.
