'Exposing Dispatches' ? the East London Mosque replies to Gilligan's witch-hunt
Read it here
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch
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Manifesto commits Tories to banning Hizb ut-Tahrir
"A Conservative government will ban any organisations which advocate hate or the violent overthrow of our society, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir...."
But not, of course, the BNP or the EDL.
See also Hizb ut-Tahrir press release, 13 April 2010
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch
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Double standards on terror counterproductive says CAIR
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), along with other national Muslim organizations, today held a news conference in Washington, D.C., to express concerns over a perceived double standard on the use of the label "terrorism" as it relates to acts of political violence committed by people who are not Muslims.?
CAIR's news conference was prompted by coverage of last week's politically-motivated airborne suicide attack on an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office in Austin, Texas, which the Muslim civil rights and advocacy group called an act of "terror."
In a statement read at today's Capitol Hill event, CAIR Legal Counsel Nadhira Al-Khalili said:
"American law defines 'terrorism' as 'premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets' or as 'the unlawful use of force against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.'
"When an act that fits these definitions is carried out by a Muslim individual or group, there is and should be no hesitation in labeling that act 'terrorism.'
"Regrettably, when an act fitting the legal definitions of terrorism is carried out by someone who is not Muslim, there seems to be a general reluctance on the part of commentators, public officials and law enforcement agencies to use the term.
"Last week's attack on the IRS office in Texas perfectly fits either legal definition of terrorism, yet it has not been labeled as such. This apparent double standard only serves to render the term 'terrorism' meaningless and imbues it with a sense of religious and ethnic bias that is both counterproductive and offensive."
CAIR press release, 22 February 2010
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch
on Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Top 10 Myths About Islam
Muslims are violent, intolerant Arabs who worship a moon-god, reject Jesus, oppress their women, and strive to kill all unbelievers... NOT.
Let's tackle Myth #1:
Myth: Muslims worship a moon-god.
Fact: Muslims worship One God, the same God worshipped by Abraham and Jesus.
Top 10 Myths About Islam originally appeared on About.com Islam on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 16:05:12.
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read moreSource: Islam About Dot Com
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Did the 'war on terror' damage Muslims' support for Labour?
Yesterday's Comment is Free featured a piece by Nick Spencer on "Muslim voters' loyalty to Labour" which made the following bizarre claim:
"The Iraq war was supposed to have poisoned Labour's relations with British Muslims. Tony Blair's apparently unqualified support for a bellicose Republican administration despised around the Muslim world was deeply unpalatable. Years of anti-terror legislation were judged by some to have stigmatised Muslims and fanned Islamophobic flames. The government's attempt to outlaw religious hate speech was seen, by sceptics at least, as simply a desperate, ill-thought through peace offering with which they might woo disaffected Muslim supporters.
"According to new Theos/ComRes research, however, no wooing is necessary. If there were a general election tomorrow, 35% of voting Muslims (meaning those Muslims who claim they are more likely than not to vote) would vote Labour."
Spencer does not provide earlier figures that would allow us to determine whether Muslims' support for Labour has risen or fallen. He would have been advised to consult a Guardian/ICM poll from November 2004 which showed a dramatic decline in the number of Muslims who said they would vote Labour compared with the period before the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The Guardian reported at the time:
"The Guardian/ICM poll confirms that political support for Labour has halved since the 2001 general election and the Liberal Democrats have emerged as the leading political party within the Muslim community.
"The role of Britain in the Iraq war and Tony Blair's strong support for the war on terror which is widely seen by the Muslim community to be an attack on Islam, has undoubtedly played a part in eroding Labour's support among British Muslims. In the 2001 general election it is believed that 75% of those who voted backed Labour.
"The voting intention figures in this poll show that support in the Muslim community for the government is slipping away fast. In March, ICM recorded Labour support at 38% and it has now fallen a further six points to 32% of Muslim voters."
And now the Theos/ComRes poll shows that 35% of Muslims would vote Labour. What that statistic quite clearly demonstrates is that Labour has failed to win back most of those Muslim voters who abandoned it in response to the government's support for the "war on terror".
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch
on Thursday, August 5, 2010
Quebec body rules against right to wear niqab
A woman wearing the niqab cannot demand to be served by another woman when dealing with the Quebec Health Insurance Board, Quebec's human-rights commission has ruled.
Concluding that religious beliefs cannot stand in the way of gender equality, the commission found that when a woman wearing the Islamic face covering is required to identify herself and proceed with the photo session needed to produce a health insurance card, the Health Insurance Board has no obligation to accommodate her request to be served by a woman.
"Since freedom of religion was not significantly undermined, there is no obligation to grant an accommodation," the order states.
The health board had previously agreed to such requests. But last fall critics argued that the health board was acceding to religious fundamentalism.
The decision was greeted with approval in Quebec's National Assembly yesterday by MNAs of all political stripes.
Immigration Minister Yolande James suggested the ruling will form the basis of new guidelines on religious accommodation for public services, following on the action taken last week to bar a woman from attending a free French language class for immigrants unless she agreed to take off her niqab.
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch
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New York mosque plan stirs up 9/11 memories
BBC News presents a balanced and informed view of the 'Ground Zero mosque' controversy.
read moreSource: Islamophobia Watch