Residents have been bombarded with an anonymous anti-Islamic letter drop, protesting against the proposed development of 150 houses by Qartaba Homes in Riverstone and Schofields.

Rivo Respect, Responsibility & Recognition founders Danielle Fragomeli and Carroline Parkes said hundreds of flyers titled "Future of Riverstone a Muslim enclave", as well as an eight-page booklet titled "Islam Aggressive Religion, Totalitarian Political System" had been distributed.

The pair said the letter-drop had caused panic among some community members. "Many elderly people have told me they are scared about the proposed development because of the flyers," Mrs Fragomeli told the Rouse Hill Times. Ms Parkes said: "We think the flyers will give residents a pre-conceived notion about the Islamic development which could be wrong."

Qartaba Homes director Wajahat Rana played down the impact of the flyers, saying the issue was settling down. "We are not worried about these anonymous flyers as we have had good discussions with the local Chamber of Commerce and a community group," Mr Rana said. "We are a business, not an Islamic organisation, and the people who are doing this are ignorant and trying to portray a bad reputation for Riverstone by using scare-mongering tactics which will consequently have a poor economic outlook for Riverstone."

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, also referred to the "Muslim enclave in Riverstone" during his speeches in Sydney last week.

Rouse Hill Times, 28 February 2013

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EDL News reports that an English Defence League member named Diane Scrimshaw – one of the few in Essex who has remained loyal to the EDL leadership – has been boasting on Facebook about the damage she caused to a property in Westcliff-on-Sea owned by the Jaafriya Islamic Welfare Centre.

(The building has allegedly been used as a mosque without planning permission, and has already been the target of protests by both the British National Party and Britain First.)

First Scrimshaw appealed to her "edl friends" to inbox her as she had "something planned" for later in the week. She followed this up by posting a photograph of a flattened wall outside the Jaafriya Centre's building and added: "We went down Southend illegal mosque (just a shame the wall fell down PMSL)."

One of her Facebook friends commented "Vandal!", to which Scrimshaw replied: "I admit it Richard lol."

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A Tube worker has been caught posting vile racist and anti Muslim messages online. Train engineer Martin Aitken used Facebook to insulted Muslim, Asians and disabled people in a series of offensive posts.

Aitken, who joined London Underground this year, was caught by the Standard following a tip-off and when confronted said: "Oh for f**k's sake – it's going to jeopardise my job."

Aitken began posting the hateful messages online as far back as 2010. One, from March 30 that year, read: "Did you know that in the time it takes to clap your hands, a Pakistani will die somewhere in the world. All together now – 'If your happy and you know it'."

On February 7 this year he wrote: "I just saw a muslim with three lions on his shirt. I f*****g love longleat Safari Park," followed a day later by: "Muslims of Britain. If you obeyed the law, accepted our values, integrated into society, abandoned terrorism, spoke English in public, made more of an effort with personal hygiene, charged the same price in your shops as the rest of the retailers, didn't burn poppies … then we wouldn't hate you … as much."

He also posted a distasteful joke about a disabled child, saying: "Can you spare just £2? Ranji is a 9yr old boy living in Namibia. He has only 1 leg, 1 arm and 1 eye. Each day he has to ride 7 miles along a narrow road on a rusty bike with bent wheels, no brakes and only 1 pedal. If you send me just £2, I will send you the video – it's f*****g hilarious."

In another vile post he penned a "poem" which read: "I know a p**i whose name is Jim. I love 2 lob tomatoes at him. tomatoes are soft & don't hurt the skin, but these fuckers do cos theyre stil (sic) in the tin..."

A co-worker said: "The content posted on Mr Aitken's Facebook timeline appears to demonstrate a deep seated hatred for anyone different to himself. He is using social networking sites to promote racism and his personal hatred of Muslims."

Aitken, who commutes to London weekly from Exeter, apologised for the "stupid" comments and insisted he was not a bigot because "my best mate is Jamaican".

He said he had now shut down his Facebook profile and added: "It is stupid. I did not see the offence it could have caused. I overlooked the fact I am offending people and I apologise."

He insisted he did not hate Muslims or was a racist, and said: "I was being stupid. I work at London Underground and there are a lot of people from all different walks of life and I get on well with all of them. "My best mate is Jamaican."

A spokesman for Transport For London said it was launching an investigation into the posts.

He said: "TfL expects its staff to adhere to the highest possible standards and will not tolerate bigoted and abusive behaviour from staff. The content of these posts has been brought to our attention and, in line with TfL's employment policies and London Underground's guidelines for the use of social media, we will be investigating this issue fully."

Evening Standard, 19 February 2013

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Randolph Linn is behind bars after pleading guilty to federal arson and related crimes committed at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, but local Muslim leaders are concerned there may be more people like him out there.

Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver and ex-Marine from St. Joe, Ind., was initially charged with one count each of intentionally damaging religious property and using fire or explosives in commission of a felony for the Sept. 30 arson attack. A third charge, of using a firearm to commit a crime of violence, was added by a grand jury Dec. 18.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Dec. 19 as part of a binding agreement and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. He will also be required to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution that may exceed $1 million.

"Yes, justice has been served and the Islamic Center will be rebuilt and we will meet inside it and continue to do so. But the actual problem hasn't been dealt with," said S. Zaheer Hasan, a spokesman for the United Muslim Association of Toledo.

"There's a bad feeling, first of all because of the environment, which is becoming hateful," he said. "The arson attack was an isolated incident, but it was a product of that hatred."

Mahjabeen Islam, president of the Islamic Center, said it was "upsetting" to sit through Linn's hearing, during which the suspect vented his hatred of Muslims. "It was terrible because he was guilty, but he has no remorse at all," Islam said. "It was very apparent to everyone that he blamed the media; he blamed Fox News; he tried to blame alcohol."

Linn told U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary that prior to his crime he drank 45 beers in seven hours. He then said he spontaneously decided, after seeing a wounded U.S. soldier on television, to get into his Chevrolet Sonic and drive 82 miles from St. Joe to Perrysburg.

He brought three firearms and stopped along the way to fill three gas containers, authorities said.

Linn said in court that he had hauled his truck many times past the domed mosque at the junction of Interstates 75 and 475.

According to Islam, when Zouhary asked Linn if knew any Muslims personally, he replied, "No, I only know what I hear on the radio and see on Fox News." He told the judge that Muslims are "going around killing us," Islam said.

Zouhary told Linn that the attack on the mosque was an attack on all places of religion. "You are no better than the terrorists or extremists you sought to punish," the judge told Linn.

Islam said she believes irresponsible media coverage fanned Linn's hatred and distorted his view of her faith. "My feeling is that the media needs to be more responsible. The combination of ignorance about Muslims and Islam, and hate and alcohol, and then whipping up all of this hatred in the media, is a lethal combination," Islam said.

Damage to the mosque from the blaze and from the building's sprinkler system and firefighters' hoses is estimated at $1.5 million, Islam said, adding that insurance is covering the expenses. Repairs are scheduled to be completed by the end of March. In the meantime, the mosque is holding Friday prayers at a Rossford indoor sports complex – with added security – and the center's Islamic school meets at Owens Community College.

Islam said surveillance cameras showed Linn, wearing a camouflage hat and sweatshirt, walking through the mosque with a pistol in his left hand. He left a beer can in the women's hijab room, she said, before pouring gasoline on the carpet in the main prayer room and igniting it.

"Had somebody been there, I dread to think about what could have happened because he had a gun. If people had been there, it might have been like the [Oak Creek, Wis.] Sikh temple shooting."

Toledo Free Press, 28 December 2012

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Montclair State University is investigating a bias incident in which someone drew a picture of planes hitting the World Trade Center on the door of a Muslim student group's headquarters, campus officials said today.

The graffiti was found Monday outside the Office of the Muslim Student Association in the student center, said Suzanne Bronski, a campus spokeswoman.

"The university police immediately launched a full investigation, which is continuing, and the university's Bias Response Team was appropriately alerted and has been involved," university officials said in a statement.

NJ.com, 8 February 2013

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A local councillor has been suspended for posting a comment on Facebook comparing Muslim children wearing burkas to bin bags.

Chris Joannides also messaged friends during meetings with his constituents asking for updates on football scores and complaining about missing his favourite television programmes.

The Conservative councillor for Enfield, in north London, has denied being Islamophobic and defended his comments as "blokeish banter".

Mr Joannides posted a photo showing a woman and child dressed in burkas standing next to two bin bags. He wrote underneath: "I saw her standing there and I told her she had three beautiful children. She didn't have to get all p***ed off and threaten me. It was an honest mistake!"

"I am not, never have been and never will be Islamophobic," he said this week. "The comments I made were against Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism including the demonisation of women, something the whole world is concerned about in the light of terrorist attacks on the West since September 11."

Daily Mail, 7 February 2013

In other words, Joannides is arguing that Muslim women who wear the niqab are associated with "Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism". Does he really think that makes things better?

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"I think I can safely speak for the majority of the community when I say that the government is guilty of double standards and an inability to tackle the issue appropriately. On the one hand we have politicians frequently scapegoating Muslims when they need to distract the public from their own failures, and on the other they think we should be grateful for the fact that they have provided us with a helpline to monitor the consequences of their actions."

Sofia Ahmed responds to Sayeeda Warsi's speech at the Tell MAMA dinner last week.

Huffington Post, 31 January 2013

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A Muslim family say they have been forced to move from their home after offensive graffiti and a cross wrapped in ham were left outside their house. Murad Alam, 39, said his wife and two sons, aged eight and 10, had moved out of their home in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, to a "safe" place.

Mr Alam said he had found his son plotting escape routes on his computer after the "horrific" attacks last year. "My wife and children also had names called at them in the street," he said. "The first incident was when the big, wooden cross, wrapped in ham, fell into the house after a knock at the door," said Mr Alam.

He said they had names such as "Paki" and "tramp" shouted at them in the street. "The kids have been abused a number of times; the eldest had smoke blown in his face by an elderly local gentleman." Offensive graffiti was also painted on the path outside the family home.

"It really annoys me that they should use a cross and try and turn this into a religious argument," said Mr Alam. "My family were terrified from the very first incident; my wife had never experienced racism, neither had my kids.

"In fact I had to explain to my children what racism even was, because they're so young they didn't understand the concept that someone could dislike you because of your skin colour or religion."

The family has now moved to West Bridgford where they say they feel safe.

Mr Alam said Bingham was generally a nice area with a good reputation and it was a shame it had been tarred by their experiences.

"The week before we moved there, Bingham was named the eighth best place to live in the UK – but that's if you're white – there are not many Asian or black faces there. It is a nice, generally middle-class village and I'm sure most of the people there are great, it's just these choice few."

BBC News, 31 January 2013

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Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) castigated fans of the soccer club he supports, Beitar Jerusalem, after three were arrested at the capital's Teddy Stadium Saturday night for calling out racist chants during a match against Bnei Yehuda.

The chants were aimed at two Chechen players who are slated to become the first Muslim players to join the team: Dzhabrail Kadiyev and Zaur Sadaev.

"Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Imagine the outcry if groups in England or Germany said that Jews could not play for them," said Rivlin. He said he would work to put an end to the club's anti-Muslim discrimination.

Club coach Eli Cohen, also condemning the fans' behavior, initially said Saturday night that these were friendly European Muslims not Arab Muslims; he later clarified that he opposed all racist sentiments.

The club's owner Arkady Gaydamak said the two players would indeed be signed. A very small group of "so-called supporters" — no more than a few hundred — were not representative of the greater Israeli public, he said, interviewed by Army Radio from Moscow, and would not be allowed to influence what happens at the club.

The deal to bring the two aboard has not yet been signed, according to team officials.

The team, which boasts a nationalist fan base, has famously and staunchly opposed bringing aboard Arab or Muslim players, bowing to pressure from fans.

Last season, several dozen fans rampaged through the neighboring Malcha Mall after a match, chanting anti-Arab slogans and reportedly beating up Arab workers.

"We are against racism and against violence and we pay a price for our fans," Assaf Shaked, a team spokesman, told the Associated Press last year. "But we aren't going to bring an Arab player just to annoy the fans."

The two Chechen players are expected to arrive in the country this week, according to Israel Radio.

Times of Israel, 27 January 2013

See also Ali Abunimah, "Israel's ultra-racist Beitar Jerusalem football team in uproar over hiring of Muslim players from Chechyna", Electonic Intifada, 26 January 2013

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A member of the Thanet division of the English Defence League has quit the extreme political party after being contacted by the Isle of Thanet Gazette over posts on his Facebook page.

Gary Field's page on the popular social networking site is under the pseudonym of Pat Riot. Messages posted since the start of the year, when he was the EDL's area organiser, include comments directed towards Muslims.

The Isle of Thanet Gazette asked Mr Field to respond to posts put on his Facebook account. But after speaking with our reporter, Mr Field then said in a statement that he had left the EDL.

While he was still an EDL member, during his conversation with the Gazette, Field said that he is not a racist and that the comments posted on his page are simply his beliefs.

In an interview with this newspaper last year, Mr Field said: "Our aims are to highlight radical Islam through peaceful protests. It is not a case of colour but rather a small culture within Islam that radicalises people. We feel that honour killings, the grooming of young girls, burqas or sharia law have no place in Britain."

This is in stark contrast to some of the words posted on his Facebook page, some of which include: "Islam is evil", "There be (sic) blood shed if muzzrats moved into my street it wont be mine", and "kick Islam out of England".

When asked by the Gazette's reporter why these were posted on Facebook, Mr Field said: "They are my beliefs that I share with my friends. They have nothing to do with my work for the EDL or anything to do with my court case. I am fully entitled to air my views in what I believe in and I can't understand how it is of any relevance."

When it was put to Mr Field that he is, or now was, a leading member of what is considered a political party, he replied by saying: "They are not party views. They are my own personal views and I am within my rights to share them."

Isle of Thanet Gazette, 14 January 2013

Hope Not Hate notes that Field also uses the name Gary Milsom.

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Many of the recent attacks in the US have taken place shortly after well-publicised anti-Muslim hate speeches, argues Erik Love. Yet "most of these attacks have been dismissed as the work of mentally ill individuals, rather than symptoms of larger social problems".

Al Jazeera, 8 January 2013

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A 31-year old woman, Erica Menendez of the Bronx in the United States, will be charged with second-degree murder a in connection with the death of a Muslim man who was pushed onto the tracks of a Queens subway station and crushed by an oncoming train.  According to the New York Times article, Ms. Menendez pushed the man onto the tracks because of the September 11th terrorist.  A question that has shown up recently on the Muslim Academy website and the comments is: what exactly is a hate crime?  I would like to take the question one step further and ask: Are hate crimes meaningless?

The United States has had a long and checkered past when it comes to civil rights.  From the beginnings of the native American genocide, through Slavery and anti-Chinese exclusion acts, through Japanese internment camps and the civil rights struggles of the 1960′s, America has had to come to grips with her reality as a melting pot of different cultures and religions.  The result hasn’t always been pretty, with crimes committed against different races, genders, and religions.  In order to protect special classes of people, various states and the Federal Government have enacted hate crime legislation.

Hate crime legislation makes it a federal offense to commit an act against a protected group out of hate.  That is to say, burning a church down because you are crazy is a normal crime, but burning a church down because you hate Christians is a ‘hate crime’.  Killing a Muslim man in the course of a robbery is a normal crime, but what Ms. Menendez did, by killing him because he is Muslim, raises the bar to a hate crime, with additional penalties that come with the fact that it is, in fact, a hate crime.

It is my humble opinion that hate crime legislation is useless and should be abandoned.  It is not our place to legislate hate.  A crime is a crime.  If you kill someone because you don’t like his outfit, is that somehow ok?  But killing him because of reasons that society has deemed inappropriate raises the bar so that you should receive extra punishment?  If Ms. Menendez had pushed the man onto a train because she thought it was funny, she should receive less punishment?  No.  A woman who pushes a man in front of a train for fun or spite should be given the exact same punishment as a woman who pushes a man in front of a train because he is Muslim.

Hate crime legislation is nothing more than an attempt by legislators to let the populace know that they are trying to do something about crimes like this.  But the legislation is a mere facade, an illusion with no real substance.  You can’t change people and you can’t punish people for hating.  You can punish acts but you shouldn’t punish a person any differently because you want to placate a certain subset of society.  We live in a new world where America says all people are created equal.  Well then American should really treat people equally, and not judge whether one type of murder is better than another.

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Standing in Denver's main mosque on Christmas Eve, Christian, Muslim and Jewish community leaders launched an ad campaign promoting understanding and tolerance between the religious groups. "Love Thy Neighbor" ads on Denver buses are intended to combat anti-Muslim ads produced by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. The controversial group attracted attention with hateful posters in New York subways and DC metro stations.

The Colorado Muslim Society paid $5,000 for the "Love Thy Neighbor" ads, which focus on love as "a shared concept in the three religions." Other religious leaders and interfaith groups then publicly embraced the message:

They said the ad they unveiled — at a time on the calendar devoted to love and understanding — is meant to respond to recent national tragedies and to replace anti-Muslim ads placed on buses last month.

"Our country is in the midst of a lot of divisions," Temple Emanuel Senior Rabbi Joe Black said. "Hatred is only going to further violence and the breakdown of society."

Denver's tolerance initiative follows the lead of many faith groups around the country protesting the Islamophobic ads. The Denver ads proclaim: "9,757 Deadly Islamic Attacks Since 9/11/01. It's Not Islamophobia. It's Islamorealism." Colorado's religious leaders also stood together in solidarity after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Public renunciation of anti-Muslim bigotry is much needed, as hate crimes against Muslims have held steady at a record high. Meanwhile, anti-Islamic rhetoric has become commonplace in mainstream media.

Think Progress, 25 December 2012

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Every year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publishes a Christmas message for Christians in Israel and abroad. One of the message's objectives is hasbara, or public diplomacy, to the Christians of the world. But this year's greeting was especially political. Netanyahu chose to radicalize his traditional greeting into an attack on Muslims in Arab countries.

In his December 2011 greeting, Netanyahu made do with pointing out the fact that in the Middle East "Christians are persecuted in a routine manner, and there is little tolerance toward them."

In his 2012 greeting, Netanyahu, who continuously cautions the world that Israel is under existential threat from Iran, asserted that the Christians in the Middle East are in danger of extermination. No less.

"Today Christian communities throughout the Middle East are shrinking and many of them are in danger," said Netanyahu, according to the announcement published by his bureau in Hebrew and English. "...this is of course not true in Israel. Here there is a strong and growing Christian community that participates fully in the life of our country."

Netanyahu did not specify in his greeting exactly who is threatening to annihilate the Christians, but it's clear from the wording that he means the Muslims. As he did last year, he emphasized that the Christian community in Israel is large and that it enjoys freedom of religion and freedom to worship, but this year he added a hinted reference to the "Judeo-Christian heritage."

The reference is to a sensitive term taken from the conceptual world of the rightist-evangelical anti-Muslim wing of the Republican Party. After the 9/11 attacks, U.S. conservative politicians and intellectuals used this term in criticizing American multi-culturalism and claimed that the Muslims were engaged in a culture war against Judaism and Christianity.

Haaretz, 24 December 2012

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County Hall says it is powerless to compel a councillor do training he was told to undertake for sending out a leaflet criticising Muslims.

Councillor Graham Partner was censured "in the strongest possible terms" by Leicestershire County Council's standards committee this summer for undermining good race relations and told he would have to have equality training.

However, since the standards hearing on June 27, Coun Partner, who represents Coalville as an independent, has declined to do the training.

Coun Partner, who was elected as a British National Party candidate before quitting the party, was censured for a new year message he circulated to more than 5,000 voters in Coalville.

It featured part of an article from a national newspaper and said victimhood "comes easily" to the followers of Islam. It also made derogatory references to a Nigerian convicted of rape, Palestinians, the Third World and Pakistan and prompted complaints from two county council colleagues and two parish councillors.

At a recent meeting of County Hall's corporate governance committee, county solicitor David Morgan told councillors the authority had no power to take the matter any further.

The standards regime under which Coun Partner was censured was abolished in the summer. Political parties are now required to issue sanctions to their members. Coun Partner is not a member of a party so no action can be taken against him.

Leicester Mercury, 14 December 2012

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Hate crimes against perceived Muslims, which jumped up 50% in 2010 largely as a result of anti-Muslim propagandizing, remained at relatively high levels last year, according to 2011 hate crime statistics released today by the FBI.

The bureau reported that there were 157 reported anti-Muslim hate crimes in 2011, down slightly from the 160 recorded in 2010. The 2011 crimes occurred during a period when Islam-bashing propaganda, which initially took off in 2010, continued apace.

The FBI statistics, which are compilations of state numbers, are notoriously understated. Two Department of Justice studies have indicated that the real level of hate crimes in America is some 20-30 times the number reported in the FBI statistics, in part because some 56% of hate crimes are never reported to police and more than half of those that are are mischaracterized as non-hate crimes. Nevertheless, the FBI statistics can be used to get a sense of general trends.

Last year saw continued high levels of anti-Muslim propaganda such as the crusade by some against the alleged Muslim plan to impose religious Shariah law on the United States. There were a number of local battles over the construction of new mosques, and several were attacked by apparent Islamophobes.

Southern Poverty Law Center, 10 December 2012

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A Sinn Fein councillor has challenged former Craigavon Mayor Alan Carson to "make a full public apology to Muslims living in Craigavon" after remarks he made during a debate on Monday night. However the DUP man insists that Councillor Johnny McGibbon is "simply scoring political points from a genuine mistake I made and for which I apologised immediately".

In the heat of the exchange, Mr Carson stated that Muslims were "causing bother in the Middle East". He said that the British Army represented all sides, "Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Jew, Muslim whatever – well, maybe not Muslim". Afterwards he said, "I realised immediately that I'd put my foot in it and apologised without reserve. But that wasn't enough for Councillor McGibbon who saw fit to issue a press statement, accusing me of all sorts and inferring I am racist, which I certainly am not."

The McGibbon statement claimed, "These remarks reveal the mind set that has prevented unionists from developing a realistic political programme for the future. To make insinuations against any section of the community is outrageous and unacceptable. Only a very arrogant or politically immature individual would presume to deny to others the right to voice alternative views.

"We must all accept differing points of view, but we should never allow any section of our society to be isolated or labelled during debate. Given that Councillor Carson was a recent Mayor of Craigavon, it is reasonable to assume that he understands this fundamental principle. The least therefore that can be done to make amends is a full public apology to the citizens of Craigavon and in particular our sizeable Muslim community."

Portadown Times, 28 November 2012

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Lord Ashcroft: 'Muslim is a religion not a race'David Cameron's controversial new campaign chief, Lynton Crosby, was in a fresh row last night after a leading Tory peer said his foul-mouthed rant against Muslims could be seen as "racist".

Former Conservative deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft told friends that outspoken Australian Mr Crosby's remark about "f****** Muslims" was a major error of judgment.

"The danger is that other people will see it as racist," Lord Ashcroft was heard to comment at the Spectator magazine parliamentary awards lunch at The Savoy in London. "Some people may assume he means effing Muslims, effing blacks and all effing immigrants and will not appreciate that Muslim is a religion not a race."

Mail on Sunday, 25 November 2012

The Mail also reveals that during Boris Johnson's mayoral election campaign "Mr Crosby reportedly joked: 'Let's put a rag round the battle bus' – referring to a Muslim headscarf."

Thanks to Lord Ashcroft's clarification, those of us who might otherwise be inclined to regard this "joke" as racist too can now see that it is nothing of the sort.

Crosby does have his admirers, though. On-and-off Tory (but currently crossbench) baroness Shreela Flather is quoted by the Mail as saying: "Lynton is right to say it is pointless for the Conservatives to chase Muslim votes. They are all on benefits and all vote Labour."

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A Canadian Islamic organization is accusing a Toronto-area Jewish day school of using a textbook that vilifies Muslims.

In a Nov. 19 letter to Jewish groups, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR-CAN, charges that a textbook used at the Joe Dwek Ohr HaEmet Sephardic School employs "inflammatory and hateful terms in describing Muslims."

CAIR-CAN alleges that the book, "2000 Years of Jewish History," describes Muslims as "rabid fanatics" with "savage beginnings."

"The entire chapter devoted to Islam presents a pernicious and extreme portrayal of Muslims and the Islamic faith. The material further denigrates the Prophet Muhammad as a 'rabid Jew-hater,' and falsely portrays Islam as inherently anti-Semitic and devoted to hating Jews," the group said in its letter to the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center For Holocaust Studies and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, or CIJA.

It said the text is used in grade 7 and 8 girls' classes at the Orthodox Jewish day school and "leaves impressionable young Jewish readers with a sense of suspicion and even intolerance towards their fellow Canadians."

The group wants the Centre for Jewish Education of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto to investigate.

No one from CIJA, the Wiesenthal Center or Ohr HaEmet responded to JTA's requests for comment.

CAIR-CAN's salvo comes on the heels of an investigation by Toronto-area police of a local Islamic school. Earlier this month, police cleared the school of hate crimes allegations following a complaint by Jewish groups. York Regional Police found that teaching materials at the East End Madrassah attacked Jews and "suggested intolerance," but were not criminal.

Part of the madrassah's curriculum encouraged boys to keep fit for jihad, compared Jews to Nazis, and referred to "Jewish plots and treacheries."

The complaint "prompted change" at the madrassah, noted CAIR-CAN in its letter, adding that the group "welcomes that change."

When police began their probe, the Toronto District School Board,  which rented space to the school, revoked its permit and the madrassah had to relocate.

JTA, 22 November 2012

See also "CAIR-CAN calls on Jewish school to remove anti-Muslim textbook", CAIR-CAN press release, 19 November 2012

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Far-right extremists will descend on Shotton Colliery next month to protest over plans to turn a former pub into a Muslim education centre.

Members of the English Defence League (EDL) will hold what they say will be the "first of many" regional demonstrations in the village. It comes after, the EDL says, residents contacted the organisation after Durham County Council passed plans to turn the former Melrose Arms pub into a Muslim educational centre in May.

The EDL says it will be supported by other Defence Leagues and North East Infidels during the demonstration, on December 1.

EDL regional organiser Alan Spence told the Star: "We can confirm that this demo will be the first of many in Shotton Colliery until the council listen to the local residents and refuse planning permission for this Muslim education centre that the local community does not want, or need.

"We have contacted Durham Constabulary and are working with them to ensure that this protest remains peaceful with minimal disruption to the local community."

But Easington MP Grahame Morris said: "It's outrageous that people are stirring up feelings in this way. These are just ordinary Muslims in the community, it's ludicrous to try and stir up feelings in this fashion."

Peterlee Star, 21 November 2012

Via ENGAGE

Alan Spence is a former British National Party parliamentary candidate. Last December he was given a 7-month prison sentence for his part in an EDL attack on a left-wing meeting at Tyneside Irish Centre. Two months earlier, two EDL members were each sentenced to a year in prison after smashing the window of an Asian-owned chop in Shotton Colliery and daubing racist graffiti on the wall.

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