A two-year inquiry into multiculturalism in Australia has found overwhelming concerns on Muslims and their faith.

It found that out of 513 submissions to the inquiry, 212 raised concerns about or discussed the question of Islam in Australia.

Some 113 submissions objected to the possible introduction of legal pluralism to accommodate the requirements of Islamic Shari`ah.

A two-year inquiry into multiculturalism in Australia has found overwhelming concerns on Muslims and their faith.
It found that out of 513 submissions to the inquiry, 212 raised concerns about or discussed the question of Islam in Australia.
Some 113 submissions objected to the possible introduction of legal pluralism to accommodate the requirements of Islamic Shari`ah.

OnIslam report

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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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The All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community has expressed concern regarding high levels of Black, Pakistani and Bangladeshi female unemployment in its new report on the issue. The report follows a five month inquiry.

The report and inquiry was written and undertaken in partnership with the Runnymede Trust, which acts a secretariat for the group.

It argues that discrimination is present at every level of the recruitment process, and cites examples of women changing their names or removing religious dress, such as the hijab, for job interviews.

The report, accompanying short film and evidence submitted is available here.

The press release is available here.

For more information contact Vicki Butler, who wrote the report on behalf of the APPG: vicki@runnymedetrust.org / 020 7377 9222

Runnymede Trust news report, 7 December 2012

See also "Ethnic minority women face jobs crisis", Guardian, 7 December 2012

And "Women 'remove hijabs to get work' as ethnic minorities face more discrimination", Daily Telegraph, 7 December 2012.

The APPG report states: "Muslim women who wear the hijab reported discrimination and women of all three ethnic groups reported questions asked about intentions regarding marriage and children. This was often tied to assumptions based on ethnicity – for example it was assumed that Muslim women would want to stop work after having children."

The report says that Zamila Bunglawala, author of Valuing Family, Valuing Work: British Muslim Women and the Labour Market, highlighted some of her own research during the inquiry, which found that some Muslim women who removed their hijab for interviews were successful in getting a job, having worn their hijab to previous interviews and being unsuccessful.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets also cited evidence from the Equality and Human Rights Commission which found that 1 in 5 Bangladeshi women under 35 experienced negative comments about wearing religious dress.

The report backs this up with oral evidence: "A group of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women in Oldham mentioned a number of friends and relatives who wear hijab who have found it particularly difficult to find jobs. For some of the older women, discrimination towards hijab wearers was met with a grudging acceptance, with one woman stating that she decided to stop wearing the hijab many years ago in order to help her get a job."

One of the women interviewed spoke about how a friend who is a recent first class graduate from a Russell Group university has struggled to find work and believes that her "decision to wear the hijab is restricting her from getting a job". She added that because her friend experiences a bad reception at interviews she has even considered "taking the hijab off" while looking for a job and then "putting it back on once she has found employment". The same young woman has been successful obtaining work where she has not required a face-to-face interview, such as marking exam papers.

A Pakistani woman in Oldham is quoted as saying about a friend: "From her appearance you can not tell she is a Muslim, but she has a Muslim name and when she mentions her name [to employers] that's it – they back off."

For Muslim women, convincing employers to allow time in the day for Muslim prayer was cited as a difficulty and lack of attendance at work social occasions in pubs was argued by some witnesses as being a disadvantage for future job prospects within an organisation.

The report states: "Yvonne Coghill from the NHS highlighted how not drinking alcohol and not entering pubs can limit opportunities for Muslim women, as it means they are not 'part of the mix' at work network events. This could make them be seen as outsiders and thus more vulnerable to redundancy. Whilst Coghill suggested Muslim women should consider going along to these events even if they do not drink at them, Noor Ali from Morrisons argued that Muslims should not feel as if they should enter pubs to further their career as this is not allowed under their religion. She added that it is more important to change other people's views of Muslim culture, which has been her approach."

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The role of Islam in France was once again under the spotlight on Thursday after right-wing daily Le Figaro published the results of an opinion poll that suggested 43 percent of French people believe the religion is a "threat" to national identity.

Six out of ten French people believe the influence of Islam in France is "too big" and 43 percent see the religion as a "threat" to national identity, according to the results of an opinion poll published on Thursday.

The sensitive poll, which will likely cause ripples in a country home to Europe's largest Muslim population, was carried out by Ifop polling institute for Le Figaro, which published the results under the headline "The image of Islam worsens in France".

Only 17 percent of respondents believed Islam "enriched" France's culture and 40 percent said it was neither a threat to the country's national identity nor of benefit to its culture.

Le Figaro's survey reveals French opinion towards particular elements of the Islamic religion is also hardening, with 43 percent of people questioned saying they were opposed to the construction of mosques compared to 39 percent two years ago.

The number of respondents opposed to the wearing of the Islamic veil or headscarf in public has also risen also risen from 59 percent in 2010 to 63 percent.

Two thirds of people surveyed said they thought French Muslims and people of Muslim origin were not well integrated into French society. Among them, 68 percent blamed this lack of integration on Muslims' "refusal to integrate", while roughly half said they believed it was a result of "insurmountable cultural differences".

France 24, 25 October 2012

See also Reuters, 25 October 2012

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British Freedom chairman Paul Weston (centre) with vice chairs Kevin Carroll and and Stephen LennonA British Freedom member has posted a report on the BF website about the Islamic takeover of Croydon (where the Muslim communty comprises 5% of the population, compared with 66% who are Christian). He writes:

"In parts of Croydon things English and things Western have been visibly relegated. It's all halal here, halal there and halal everywhere. If you wish to enjoy an animal that has been spared throat-slashing (after being stunned or not), and killed in a manner befitting our own culture then chances are you'll have to search, and sometimes search hard. There are 'Halal Meat Sold Here' signs that inform the population of the 'enrichment' bequeathed to us via the odious triumvirate that is mass pandering, mass appeasing and mass immigration."

(The BF editor helpfully adds a note pointing out that "in halal slaughter nowadays many animals are stunned before having their throats cut, which is arguably more humane. However this is not the main issue for most people, who are more concerned about unknowingly eating meat that has been sacrificed to Allah".)

Not only are the Muslims taking control of Croydon but things don't seem to be going too well for British Freedom itself in the borough. A branch was set up at the start of the year and was promoted as one of the BFP's success stories, having hit the ground running by setting up a website, a Facebook page and even a daily e-paper, while launching itself enthusiastically into a campaign against the expansion of local mosques. Croydon organiser Lee Cooper appeared to be a rising star in the party, joining the BF executive council in March with the post of Communications Officer.

Last week, however, the struggle against the Islamisation of Croydon suffered as serious setback when Cooper announced that he had "formally resigned from all positions previously held within the British Freedom Party, due to inconsolable differences with certain recently made decisions" – presumably a reference to English Defence League leaders Stephen Lennon and Kevin Carroll being appointed joint BF vice-chairmen – and he has taken the BF Croydon website, Facebook page and Twitter account with him.

So it looks like the elevation of Lennon and Carroll to the leadership hasn't been an unalloyed benefit for British Freedom, doesn't it?

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