Event Cancelled - More imposed silence

As part of the on-going war on free speech in the UK, my planned event this evening with Bedford Skeptics in the Pub has been cancelled.

Bedford Skeptics have described the cancellation by stating: "Sadly, due to security issues raised by Ann Marie Waters, we have been notified by North End Social Club that they will be unable to open the club on the evening of the meeting due to the concerns of their staff."

Given that the event appeared in the local newspaper, I merely asked that I be collected from the station and returned there, that someone be on the door, and that the police be informed.

This is what I received when told of the cancellation:

"Due to the articles that have appeared in this weeks Beds on Sunday, I am unable to find any staff willing to work. I have also received complaints from several members of the club." [Sharia Watch] Read more

Saudi woman films harassment by religious police in shopping centre 'for wearing eye make up'

A woman turned the tables on Saudi Arabian religious police, filming herself challenging officers harassing her for dressing 'provocatively' in a shopping centre in Riyadh and posting the footage on YouTube.

While shopping in the Saudi capital's Nakheel Mall with her husband, the woman is approached by the muttawa religious police, who enforce the Islamic kingdom's strict interpretation of Sharia law.

The men order the woman to leave the centre, deeming her outfit too provocative, however she refuses, and films six muttawa officers pursuing them. "As you can see, they don't want to leave me and my husband alone," she says, reports France 24. [International Business Times] Read more

Eid row: Parents accuse school of refusing to switch leavers' assembly so it doesn't clash with Muslim celebration

Parents have accused school bosses of being insensitive and inconsiderate after ‘refusing’ to change the day of a Year 6 leavers’ assembly because it clashes with Eid celebrations.

Dozens of angry mums and dads signed a petition urging Manley Park Primary headteacher Tracy Hamilton-Hall to move the assembly at the Whalley Range school from tomorrow - the last day of term - to today.

Parents said scores of Muslim Year 6 pupils would be forced miss celebrating their final day at primary school because of Eid commitments.

In a letter to Ms Hamilton-Hall, parents said they will take their ‘entitlement to an authorised absence for religious observance’. [Manchester Evening News] Read more

Dispatches – Escape from Isis review: a story of appalling brutality, and a glimmer of hope

Last night’s Dispatches – Escape from Isis (Channel 4) contained many horrifying stories from the Sinjar mountain region in north Iraq, an area that is a frontier with the so-called Islamic State.

Last August it was the target of an Isis attack. Hundreds of Yazidi people – an Iraqi ethnic and religious minority – were killed. Isis fighters also captured 3,000 women and young girls who have been sold into slavery, abused, passed around, the spoils of an ugly war.

It’s hard to know what is more unsettling. There is the smuggled footage of Isis fighters bantering in an internet cafe about a slave auction of Yazidi women. There’s the 21-year-old woman who starts to detail her capture, only to find her memories trigger such a violent physical reaction that she has to lie down, gasping for air. How often does this happen, our narrator asks? “Today she’s had five of these attacks,” is the matter-of-fact reply. [The Guardian] Read more

Birmingham Trojan Horse letter 'no hoax'

A letter outlining a plot by some Muslims to take over schools in Birmingham was "no hoax", according to the city's education commissioner Sir Mike Tomlinson.

The anonymous Trojan Horse letter, discovered in 2013, included advice on installing school governors.

It has been the subject of four major inquiries.

Sir Mike said he believed many details in the letter "were happening [in schools], without a shadow of doubt".

The letter outlined a plan to bring in new school governors, undermine head teachers and ultimately introduce changes sympathetic to the group of conservative Muslims.

"Whatever anybody says, it was no hoax," Sir Mike said.

He said evidence uncovered in inquiries by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted "mirrored what was said in the letter". [BBC] Read more

Belgium eager to expel 4 more imams

The Belgian authorities are monitoring the activities of four imams, who they believe are encouraging young people to become extremists. The four risk being expelled from the country as has just happened with an imam from Verviers.

Belgian Asylum Secretary Theo Francken has told lawmakers that he would like the imams to be expelled. The Asylum Secretary informed MPs that the residence permit of an imam holding joint Moroccan Dutch nationality from Dison has been revoked. The imam was active in radical circles in the Verviers area, the scene of the killing of two Muslim extremist terrorist suspects last January.

The Immigration Department is examining the papers of four other imams suspected of preaching radicalism. They include two Moroccans, an Algerian and an Afghan.

Mr Francken defended the measures he had taken to screen radical imams and jihadi fighters returning from Syria. Some measures are being taken against people who have not been convicted of committing any offence: "All western countries have such a system. I believe it's absolutely necessary and I wonder why it hasn't happened before." [Flanderninfo.be] Read more

Seattle mayor offers plan to help followers of Sharia law buy houses

For some Muslims, it can be hard to buy a house, and Mayor Ed Murray plans to do something about it.

On Monday, Murray's housing committee released its recommendations for ways the city can increase housing in the city. Most ideas were what you'd expect, including increasing the city's housing levy and implementing new rules and regulations to foster development of market-rate and lower-income housing.

One suggestion would help followers of Sharia law buy houses. That's virtually impossible now because Sharia law prohibits payment of interest on loans. The 28-member committee recommended the city convene lenders and community leaders to explore options for increasing access to Sharia-compliant loan products. [Puget Sound Business Journal] Read more

How ISIS sells Sharia law in Libya: Terror group erects chilling billboards ordering women they must wear baggy, heavy hijab that covers them completely and not wear perfume

ISIS has been able to gain a foothold amid chaos in Libya, where two governments backed by rival alliances of militias are battling each other as well as extremist groups.

It has established strongholds in the towns on Sirte and Derna, and smaller bases elsewhere in the country.

It is believed the number of ISIS killers has swelled from just a few dozen in Libya last year to some 2,000.

The latest instrument of oppression - the huge billboard - depicts a woman covered head to toe in a black robe, alongside the list of 'stipulations'.

Clothing must baggy and cover the whole body, and made of heavy material. It must not be made by a famous brand, resemble men's clothes or garments worn by 'female unbelievers', be decorated so it attracts attention, or be scented. [Daily Mail] Read more

Britain could start calling ISIS 'Daesh', says Fallon amid warnings that Muslims 'recoil' at the suggestion it is an 'Islamic State'

Britain should start to refer to jihadi terrorists in Syria and Iraq as ‘Daesh’ instead of ISIS or ISIL, Michael Fallon suggested today.

The Defence Secretary backed the idea of avoiding any term which contains the word ‘state’ which implies ‘legitimacy’ on the barbarous group plotting terror atrocities in Iraq and Syria.

He is the most senior government minister to back changing the terminology, after David Cameron called on the BBC and other media to stop using ‘Islamic State’ because Muslims would 'recoil' at the phrase being used to justify the 'perversion of a great religion'. [512 comments]

[TOP RATED COMMENT 673 votes] Why are we wasting our time and energy on [this] PC nonsense?!!!!

[2ND 539] They call themselves ISIS. End of. Stop the PC BS

[3RD 410] That's like saying I want you to stop saying the KKK because they're not reflective of all Christians. Their group is dedicated to the setting up of the Islamic Caliphate in Iraq and Syria, therefor they ARE ISIS - any other name is just denial of that fact! [Daily Mail] Read more

Raped, beaten and sold: Yazidi women tell of IS abuse

Three young Yazidi women have escaped from sex slavery in the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group and travelled to London, where they told their horrific stories.

The three girls are fragile, beautiful and very scared. They won't show their faces to the camera because, they say, they still have friends and family being held by the fanatics and they fear the repercussions that they might suffer if they reveal their identities. It is hard to imagine what could be worse than what they have already routinely suffered.

"We were raped up to five times a day," says 20-year-old Bushra. "One girl went to the bathroom and slit her wrist. When she did not die she cut her throat. The guards came to me and said you come and identify her - she's your friend. I could not recognise her. There was so much blood on her face. The guards wrapped her in a blanket and threw her out with the rubbish." [BBC] Read more

Outrage as nine Sudanese women face 40 lashes for wearing trousers

A Sudanese Christian woman arrested for wearing trousers has narrowly escaped the punishment of 40 lashes, in a case that human rights groups say is further damning evidence of the government’s intolerance to its Christian population.

Fardos Al Toum, 19, was arrested for indecency along with 11 other women in June in front of a church in Khartoum by the so-called morality police, who enforce the government’s strict codes, for appearing in public in trousers and skirts.

A judge pronounced his guilty verdict on Monday, and the rest of the nine accused women will appear at separate trials throughout July, the threat of flogging still hanging over them. [The Guardian] Read more

Muslim parents must challenge mosques which fail to condemn extremism, says Birmingham MP Khalid Mahmood

Kahlid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) said: “It is a responsibility for the Muslim community and I think the Muslim community needs to look at itself.”

And he said it was wrong to think calls for Muslims to look out for signs of extremism were “picking on the Muslim community”.

Mr Mahmood, the first Muslim MP at Westminster to represent an English constituency, was speaking after Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid (Con) told the BBC that parents should expect mosques to speak out against extremism.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has argued that some extremist ideas - which stop short of advocating violence - are quietly “condoned” in sections of British Muslim communities. [Birmingham Mail] Read more

Younger generation of British Muslims showing shift in attitude to gender roles

Thinktank report shows majority of 16 to 24-year-old UK Muslims disagree that ‘a husband’s job is to earn money, a wife’s is to look after the home and family’.

The difference of views between younger and older British Muslims regarding the role of men and women in society is stark, according to new findings shared with the Guardian from the thinktank Demos, with more than half of 16- to 24-year-olds disagreeing with the statement: “A husband’s job is to earn money, a wife’s job is to look after the home and family.” Fewer than 24% agreed. In contrast, 50% of those respondents aged 55 or older agreed with the statement, while less than 17% disagreed.

The findings, taken from a sample size of 38,952 respondents from randomly selected households, builds on recent census analysis that shows there is a young and increasingly well-educated Muslim population in Britain. In the last census, there were nearly 330,000 Muslim full-time students in the UK, of which 43% were women. But analysis of the 2011 census shows that within the 16 to 74 age band, 18% of Muslim women are “looking after home and family”, compared with 6% in the overall population. [130 comments]

[TOP RATED COMMENT 59 votes] “Recent analysis of the labour force survey found that Muslim women were 71% more likely than white Christian women to be unemployed, even when they had the same educational level and language skills, with discrimination being a key factor according to Dr Nabil Khattab, lecturer of sociology at the University of Bristol.”

How does he reach that conclusion that the key factor is discrimination? There is no evidence presented. In Fact…

If you read his research then you find that “Survey data showed that the unemployment rate among Muslim women was 18 per cent, compared with 9 per cent for Hindu women” So why do Muslim women have twice the unemployment level as a comparable visible minority? Could it be something to do with the culture of the group?

Without evidence looks like someone playing out the victim card…but once again.

[2ND 51] ANOTHER COMMENT SAID "This is hardly surprising and is what I have been predicting for many years now: As time goes on Muslims in this country will become more liberal in line with the rest of Western society.

Conservatives who have warned of Islamification of the West are simply wrong because subsequent generations of immigrants are likely to discard the traditions of their forbears.

Even the Muslim extremists can be seen as part of this trend as they are simply rebelling against their own kind's westernisation." [9 votes]

I think this is very optimistic. Many young Muslim women and girls are adopting the Saudi face veil, for example, when their mothers (mainly of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin in this country) never wore it. The spread of Wahhabism is creating a generation who are far more radical than their parents and grandparents.

[3RD 31] "Is that photo really the best one to reflect the content of the article?"

--Why not, if it shows a high-heeled Muslim woman walking in front of her husband who is carrying her handbag?

Seriously though, it is this para that gets me:

"Dr Sundas Ali, lecturer in politics and political sociology at the University of Oxford, said that while the new findings helped understand some of the “soft” factors – such as as attitude – behind the low economic participation of British Muslim women, they do not take into account factors such as provision for childcare services and perceived discrimination in the workplace."

--Of course, it had to be discrimination in the workplace!! Wouldn't be a worthy Guardian article without it.

[4TH 30] Finding a job is the merest scratch in the surface towards integration with society. Living in mixed communities and intermarrying with the local population is what our society needs for full integration.

[5TH 22] It is clear from this and other studies that the rate of integration of Muslims is much slower than any other group. It is notable that Hindus which are essentially the same race integrate quickly so it is about culture.

We should limit immigration to the most adaptable to British culture and ban all Muslim immigration and encourage conversion away from Islam. Facing up to the clear falsehoods in Islam and incompatibility with British culture is urgently required.

[6TH 21] Good...it needs British Muslim women to challenge:-

restrictive clothing,
non participation in competitive sports,
Opting out if competitive swimming
Sharia family courts run by men for men,
Sharia compliant Wills...

If you're British, you're free and have equality of opportunity...grab it with both hands, reject the medieval hegemony. [The Guardian] Read more

Sajid Javid: British Muslims who don't condemn terrorists are 'taking children to their door'

British Muslims who refuse to condemn extremist attacks like the one in Tunisia are “taking” children “to the door” of terrorists, Sajid Javid has said.

The country’s only Muslim Cabinet minister warned that British Muslims have a responsibility to “combat the poisonous ideology” of Islamist terror groups.

The Business Secretary said that there are “too many non-violent extremists” in the UK who are “feeding the ideology” of factions like Isil.

Mr Javid warned that there are Imams in mosques in the UK refusing to condemn terrorist atrocities and said British Muslims must ask, “Why hasn’t he done that?”

He told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "When I was growing up as a young Muslim in Britain, the extremist ideology that you see today just didn't seem to be around, it didn't seem to be an issue. [The Telegraph] Read more

Muslim communities must stand tall and engage with the government

I understand that there is a genuine fear within Muslim communities around the counter-terrorism agenda. I also understand that the fear is based on mistakes that have taken place within the counter-terrorism agenda and that we need a genuine debate about this.

However there are sections of Britain’s Muslim communities that believe the world revolves around bizarre conspiracies. For them, seeing the wood from the chaff is increasingly difficult.

For example, a legitimate attempt by Faith Matters to engage with young people across the country – to see what impacts far-right and Al Qaeda or ISIS influenced rhetoric has on them online – has been portrayed by such groups as a ‘spying exercise’.

In reality it is an initiative to develop a report which can give young people at a grass roots level the opportunity to have their voices heard at a policy level. [Left Foot Forward] Read more

Mosque linked to children's suicide bombing DVD: Former chairman owned company that distributed chilling singalong film that glorified terror

The former chairman of the biggest mosque in Leeds owned a company linked to a DVD that glorified suicide bombings targeting Israelis.

The singalong video showed a young girl vowing to follow the same path in life as her mother, shown blowing herself up at an army checkpoint.

A bookshop owned by Firas al-Rawi, the ex-chairman of Leeds Grand Mosque, was identified as the 'sole UK distributor' on the DVD's cover.

The Syrian, who has since moved to Kuwait from Britain, is understood to have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after the video emerged in late 2007, The Times reported.

Al-Rawi, 40, ran Abrar bookshop in Leeds in 2007 and was the sole owner of import company Abrar International.

The Arabic DVD, which has English subtitles, was purchased by a child at a mosque in Bradford in 2007. Their grandfather passed it on to his local MP, Tory Philip Davies. [Daily Mail] Read more

Drop case against 'Satanic Islam' sermon pastor James McConnell, urges National Secular Society

The Public Prosecution Service is behaving in an "authoritarian manner" and is undermining freedom of speech by prosecuting Pastor James McConnell for his comments on Islam, the National Secular Society has said.

The society has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Barra McGrory raising "serious concern" and legal questions about the decision to prosecute the firebrand evangelical preacher.

The Belfast Telegraph yesterday revealed that the main witness in the prosecution case is set to be Dr Raied Al-Wazzan of the Belfast Islamic Centre, who earlier this year praised Islamic State for being a positive force in Mosul, his home city in Iraq.

Pastor McConnell potentially faces up to six months in prison if convicted over a sermon last year in which he branded Islam "heathen" and "Satanic". In his PSNI witness statement, Dr Al-Wazzan denounces the pastor's "terrible comments" which he finds "offensive and disgusting".

The Belfast Telegraph unsuccessfully tried to contact Dr Al-Wazzan for comment at the Belfast Islamic Centre yesterday. [Belfast Telegraph] Read more

Indonesian Islamic minority protests mosque closure and fears growing intolerance

Members of an Indonesian minority Islamic sect protested on Thursday against the forced closure of one of their mosques amid concerns over rising religious intolerance in a country which is home to world’s largest Muslim population.

The closure of the Ahmadiyah mosque is the latest in a series of incidents across the country in which religious minorities have faced harassment from hardline Islamic groups, but a rare event in the capital Jakarta.

“This is a slap in the face of the local government of Jakarta because it’s supposed to be a cosmopolitan and pluralistic place,” Bonar Naipospos, director of rights NGO Setara Institute, told Reuters.

Ahmadiyah is one of several religious minorities in Indonesia. Hardline Indonesian Muslims accuse Ahmadiyah and other Muslim minorities of apostasy. [Reuters] Read more

PREVENT will have a chilling effect on open debate, free speech and political dissent

.... However, PREVENT remains fixated on ideology as the primary driver of terrorism. Inevitably, this has meant a focus on religious interaction and Islamic symbolism to assess radicalisation.

For example, growing a beard, wearing a hijab or mixing with those who believe Islam has a comprehensive political philosophy are key markers used to identify ‘potential’ terrorism.

This serves to reinforce a prejudicial worldview that perceives Islam to be a retrograde and oppressive religion that threatens the West. PREVENT reinforces an ‘us’ and ‘them’ view of the world, divides communities, and sows mistrust of Muslims. [The Independent] Read more

Muslim who praised IS drove case against 'Satanic Islam' sermon Belfast pastor McConnell

In legal documents seen exclusively by the Belfast Telegraph, Dr Raied Al-Wazzan of the Belfast Islamic Centre is named as the chief witness in the prosecution case against Pastor James McConnell.

The evangelical preacher faces up to six months in prison if convicted over a sermon last year in which he branded Islam as "heathen" and "Satanic".

In his statement to the PSNI, Dr Al-Wazzan denounces the pastor's "terrible comments" and describes his "general sweeping statements" as "offensive and disgusting".

In January Dr Al-Wazzan himself was embroiled in controversy when he said that Islamic State, which has carried out mass executions and forced millions of people to flee their homes, had been a positive force in Mosul, his home city in Iraq.

"Since the Islamic State took over, it has become the most peaceful city in the world," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback.

"Yes, there are other things going wrong there... they are murdering people, I agree, but you can go from east to west of the city without fear." [Belfast Telegraph] Read more

Sharia marriage: beyond the law’s reach

.... His and other councils deny they are “courts” or parallel legal systems. “Our job is to help Muslim women obtain the Islamic divorce they cannot obtain from the courts. If they can’t get it from their husbands, where can they go?”

He agrees, though, that Sharia councils are inconsistent in how they operate and apply principles. “Some are more moderate, flexible, familiarised with the Western concept of families and civil life but some geographically are in this country, but ideologically elsewhere.”

So his and Bone’s liberal equality-based outlook is not universal; nor does it sit easily with stricter interpretations of Islamic law that endorse discrimination — for instance, sons’ inheritance rights over daughters’ . Consistency is needed; and to that end Baroness Cox is promoting a private member’s bill. “Many [Muslim women] are suffering in ways that would make the suffragettes turn in their graves. [The Times (£)] Read more

First female nominee fails to win seat on Afghan supreme court

The first female nominee for Afghanistan’s supreme court has failed to win enough votes in parliament.

Anisa Rassouli received 88 votes, nine short of the 97 needed for her nomination to pass. Zahir Qadir, the deputy parliamentary speaker who was chairing the session, said: “We ask the president [Ashraf Ghani] to nominate another individual for this position.”

Wednesday’s vote came after clerics and conservatives lined up to criticise the choice of Rassouli, who has been a judge for 24 years and is the current head of Kabul’s juvenile court. They claimed only men were fit to sit in the highest court in the country. [The Guardian] Read more

Saudi comedian gets death threats and huge ratings for TV show that mocks ISIS

A NEW TV satire has become a hit in the Arab world by using dark comedy to mock some of the region’s most serious issues, from the Sunni-Shiite divide, to the brutality of the Islamic State group (ISIS).

The show, Selfie, has also brought a backlash. ISIS sympathisers have made death threats against its Saudi star and top writer on social media.

One mainstream Saudi cleric called the show heresy for mocking the country’s ultraconservative religious establishment.

All of which has made it the buzz of the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is the peak television viewing season in the Middle East.

In one of the show’s episodes, lead actor Naser al-Qasabi plays a would-be “caliph” starting his own ISIS-style militia, but he’s surrounded by buffoons and hypocrites. [The Journal.ie] Read more

Exclusive: Report reveals young Leeds Muslims blame government for ‘serious failures’ on counter-extremism

.... It also slams the “serious failure” of successive Governments to acknowledge that foreign and domestic policies have played a part in radicalising even more youngsters - and suggests that this collective failure is leading to some young Muslims in Leeds and beyond feeling more alienated and disengaged from UK society.

Some mosques in Leeds were - according to young people questioned - still stuck in “time warps” and were “intimidating spaces instead of places of sanctuary”.

Young Muslim people had nowhere to turn to discuss issues like sex, drugs and lifestyle choices.

There was a “culture of silence in mosques surrounding political violence”, and claims that “whenever we have a terrorist attack, the mosques brush it under the carpet - they don’t talk about it and the kids are left to get answers on the street”.

Most Muslim youngsters had experiences of discrimination in some form. There was almost unanimous opinion that the mass media played a “destructive role” in shaping young Muslims’ perception of their role in Britain. Comments included: “Negative media makes us feel alienated.

The religion has been hijacked” and “when a crime is committed by a Muslim, the first thing that is highlighted is his religion...and it’s like Hitler was a Christian but no one ever mentioned that…” [Yorkshire Evening Post] Read more

Twisted minority of Muslims put Britain at risk, says MI5 boss: Security chief says bombings brought about 'step change' that help service foil more plots

Britain faces a ‘serious societal’ threat from a tiny minority of Muslims with a ‘twisted’ belief their own country is the enemy, the head of MI5 warns today.

On the tenth anniversary of 7/7, Andrew Parker describes the atrocity as the moment the UK fully woke up to the threat of Al Qaeda and other Islamists.

He says a ‘step change’ in counter-terrorism defences, as a result of the London bombings, allowed the Security Service to foil more plots and save thousands of lives.

But, in an article for MI5’s website, Mr Parker says ‘appalling acts’ continue to be attempted by individuals who have ‘grown up here but decided for whatever twisted reasons to identify their own country as the enemy’. [Daily Mail] Read more