Tag Archives: Islamophobia

Burmese monks and sectarian violence

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This video says about itself:

April 19, 2013

Buddhist monk uses racism and rumours to spread hatred in Burma. Thousands watch YouTube videos of 45-year-old ‘Burmese Bin Laden’ who preaches against country’s Muslim minority. His name is Wirathu, he calls himself the “Burmese Bin Laden” and he is a Buddhist monk who is stoking religious hatred across Burma.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Monks’ meet criticised over religious hate stance

Friday 14 June 2013

Buddhist monks were accused of stoking sectarian tensions in Myanmar today after hosting a meeting on preventing deadly communal conflicts.

Clashes between Buddhist nationalists and the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority have forced 140,000 people – almost all Rohingya – to flee their homes over the past year.

The monks’ assembly declared that it “sought peace” and accused the media of tarnishing its image.

But it dodged questions on whether it endorsed a proposal made by ultra-nationalist monk Wirathu that anyone who marries a Buddhist woman should be legally required to convert to Buddhism.

Conference spokesman Dhammapiya merely said: “The draft law was proposed at the wrong place and caused confusion.”

Wirathu is known for sermons inciting people against Muslims and has spoken of his admiration for British fascist outfit the EDL.

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Mosque opens doors after fascist threats

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This video from Britain is called EDL nazis.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Mosque fights racist threat by throwing open doors

Monday 27 May 2013

A Yorkshire mosque has responded to racist threats by throwing open its doors and inviting in the public, writes Peter Lazenby.

The mosque in Bull Lane, York, learned that fascist English Defence League (EDL) thugs planned to target it following the murder of off-duty soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich by two self-proclaimed “jihadists.”

Muslims across Britain were among those who condemned the killing, but the soldier’s death has been exploited by the EDL, British National Party, National Front and other fanatics to attack mosques, make racist attacks and fight with police.

When users of the York mosque heard of the EDL threats they decided to stage an open day.

Around 100 local people responded, dwarfing a tiny gathering of EDL supporters nearby.

Mosque elder and York University Professor Mohamed El-Gomati said: “Rather than have a shouting match outside we invited people in to have a discussion and show solidarity over a cup of tea with us.”

See also here.

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Boston bomb horror, pretext for Islamophobic violence

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Police in Boston, USA, still don’t know who perpetrated the terrible bomb attack on the local marathon. They don’t know the motive for this crime yet.

Barry Grey in the USA writes:

It remains unknown whether the terrible crime was the work of one person or an organization, homegrown or foreign, although even some congressmen have acknowledged that several factors point to a rightwing domestic terrorist. These include the relatively crude character of the bombs, the lack of any prior threat alert or claim of responsibility, and the timing—on Boston’s Patriot’s Day and federal tax day and the same week as the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

Senator Saxby Chambliss (Republican of Georgia) said Wednesday, “There are a lot of things that are surrounding this that build an indication that it may have been a domestic terrorist.”

However, the media of phonehacker in chief and burglar in chief Rupert Murdoch and other far Right wingers pretend to “know” that “the Muslims” did this crime.

Let us, for the sake of argument, presume that the culprit, or small group of culprits, was indeed a Muslim, or a small group of Muslims. What would that say about the other 1.62 billion adherents of Islam, making up over 23% of the world population?

Nothing. Like the Oklahoma bombing by the Christian Timothy McVeigh did not make all Christians in the world criminals. Like war crimes by Buddhist soldiers in Sri Lanka do not make other Buddhists who have nothing to do with that, into criminals. Etc.

From ASpoonfulofSuga blog in the USA:

April 18 2013

It Took Two Days for a Random Muslim to Get Assaulted in Boston, Please Retweet

Muslim woman

A Palestinian woman said she was assaulted while taking a late morning stroll with her baby daughter and friend by a man who accused her of being a terrorist. We thought someone would’ve been publicly attacked and berated for secretly planning the Boston Marathon bombings within hours of the explosions, but nope — racists managed to contain themselves for two days. Bravo.

Heba Abolaban told Malden Patch that she and her friend, both wearing hijabs, were walking with their kids when a white male in his thirties punched her left shoulder and began shouting at them:

“He was screaming ‘F___ you Muslims! You are terrorists! I hate you! You are involved in the Boston explosions! F___ you!’” Abolaban remembered. “Oh my lord, I was extremely shocked.”

Taken from Jezebel

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Bangladeshi man beaten at Applebee’s in ‘revenge attack’ over Boston Marathon bombings

New York

A Bangladeshi man has claimed he was beaten at a New York City Applebee’s in retaliation for the Boston Marathon bombings – because of the color of his skin. Abdullah Faruque, 30, says that he was heading out of the restaurant to smoke a cigarette when he noticed a group of Hispanic men who had been at the bar followed him out.They then confronted him.  He told the New York Post: ‘One of the guys asked if I was Arab. I just shook my head, said like, “Yeah, whatever.”‘ Mr Faruque said that when he tried to go back inside Applebee’s, one of the men said, ‘Yeah, he’s a f***ing Arab,’ and they attacked, beating him about the head and body.

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Monday was a difficult day not just for America but for the world. Any time innocents die in the world we as a global community lose out. As an American my immediate sentiments are that we should act in such a way to honour those who have died, and those who are suffering now with the right action. While this sounds like another platitude echoed by countless news-people, I really believe that we should look hard at the suffering caused by the events in Boston. Indirectly that would mean that for me, (another no name blogger) the most important  action for us as  nation and global community, is to look and internalize what has transpired. This I am sure, will be an unpopular course of event. There is a need for justice, there is a need to make sense of these events, there is a need for action.

I remember the environment in NYC a day after 9/11. There was such an outpouring of love from the world to NYC, from NY’er to NY’er. It was a rather tender moment for me, because for once I could visibly see and participate in actions socially that challenged my cynicism about people coming together and a possibility for racial acceptance and religious tolerance. That moment was short-lived unfortunately. Soon Americans citizen of Middle Eastern decent across America were the targets of hate crimes. Whatever love was given was all to soon gone. Ten years later America as a whole is still recovering not just from the events of 9/11, but from how we chose to respond to the tragedy on our home turf. Two wars, trillions in debt, soldiers losing their homes and coping with PTSD, a great divide economic divide further marginalization of Muslims not to mention Americans of Middle Eastern decent, (to name a few) are some of the many pressing issues we do not have a handle on.

A Personal Lesson Learned

While I will be the first to admit that I do not know how to keep a nation state, I cannot,like many other Americans, help wondering if the two wars and all their political, financial, economic, and diplomatic ramifications worth it ? What have we learned as a nation after 9/11?

I will tell you what I have learned over this past decade. I have seen that (especially after the wake of the most recent presidential election) Americans are too divided  to come together for an extended period of time. I feel we have reduced a  person to just simple instruments to be used for the attainment of ideological goals. Before one is a republican or democrat or libertarian, American or, black white, latino, or whatever other label we like to use, one is a person.  The Saudi national who was initially considered a suspect is a human being too. The Sikh person in your neighbourhood is a person. The Mexican Guy who may be cutting your grass is human being.  The Muslimah that sports the hijab is a person.  Surprising so these people may even be American like you or I which means we share an ideology and a vision.

Of course this is idealistic. Behind the sarcastic statements, the cynical quips, I am a idealist. I am a positive person.  There will always be those amongst us who will will seek to disrupt us, to take from us the most precious things like our sense of security, the want to engage with our fellow human beings and country man, and sadly as the explosion in Boston have shown even our lives.  History is littered with heinous acts, but if we look close enough we will see so many instances of self-sacrifice and benevolence.

An Important Anniversary

Tuesday April 16 was an important anniversary to me. Fifty one years ago on that day  MLK wrote  his letter from Birmingham Jail. That letter has always been a point of inspiration for me. It gave a voice to a sentiment I hold deeply, specifically that we can today with a greater sense of urgency and determination work to make a better America. The bombings in Boston are an opportunity for us to come together as a nation and talk about the human issues we are all facing.

I feel that it was irresponsible for a memo to the New York Post and other media outlets to tell people top be on the lookout for out for “dark-skinned” suspects. I feel, rather I am certain that the news is working people up to a frenzy. The president in a recent speech praised Boston for overcoming the face of evil.. But if Muslims are being attacked have we really overcome the face of evil or have we just brought out another evil face. Fire cannot be fought with fire. We need to change of view on things, we need to deliberate a little more as a whole before anyone else gets heckled or beaten up for being of middle Eastern descent. …

U.S. Muslims mobilize to prevent Boston backlash

It’s a familiar race against time for Muslim groups. Almost as soon as the smoke cleared around Copley Square, they knew from long experience that some would immediately point the finger of blame in their direction.

Still, conservative columnist and Fox News guest Erik Rush quickly sent out tweets blaming Muslims, adding in one, “Let’s kill them,” a post he subsequently deleted. “Jihad in America,” wrote anti-Muslim blogger Pam Geller. Speaking about the bombings on his ”700 Club” program, Pat Robertson was also furious: “Don’t talk to me about religion of peace” – the way Muslims describe their faith – “No way.” On his show, conservative host Glenn Beck opined that “no American citizen blows up random people; that’s a Middle Eastern scene, that’s not an American scene. When our crazies go off, they target the government, not streets that are crowded with people.”

Final Words

While it’s difficult thing to do i will be writing about the ramification of the Boston as I see them in my life with the hope of generating actual discussion instead of hate-speak/News-Speak and double talk. Probably also when all is said and done I will go to Boston and lay soem flowers down , anyone who wants to join is welcome.

Martin-Luther-King-Jr-9365086-2-402

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

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New York Islamophobe murders Hindu

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This video from the USA says about itself:

The Sikh faith is the fifth-largest religion in the world, and there are as many as half a million members in the United States. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sikh Americans faced many of the same discriminatory conditions as Muslims and Arab Americans. Because of their distinct appearance, they were visible targets of violence and harassment. Democracy Now!’s Jaisal Noor filed this report, produced with Free Speech Radio News.

Post-2001 there is a wave of Islamophobia; basically: xenophobia.

It killed Sikhs, murdered by far Right extremists who know so much about Islam that they ignore the difference between Islam and Sikhism.

It meant a surge in prejudice against Italian Americans, many of whom have dark eyes and dark hair like Muslims supposedly have.

It meant a surge in prejudice against Sephardic Jewish immigrants in the USA.

It meant a surge in prejudice against the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the world, who had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist atrocities and who rejected them.

A non-Muslim Indian Dutch journalist got in trouble with United States police, as part of a witch hunt against what US extreme Rightist Ann Coulter called “swarthy males”.

And now, from the New York Times in the USA:

Woman Accused of Hate-Crime Murder in Subway Push

By MARC SANTORA

Published: December 29, 2012

A 31-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday and charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime in connection with the death of a man who was pushed onto the tracks of an elevated subway station in Queens and crushed by an oncoming train.

The woman, Erika Menendez, selected her victim because she believed him to be a Muslim or a Hindu, Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, said.

“The defendant is accused of committing what is every subway commuter’s nightmare: Being suddenly and senselessly pushed into the path of an oncoming train,” Mr. Brown said in an interview.

In a statement, Mr. Brown quoted Ms. Menendez, “in sum and substance,” as having told the police: “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up.” Ms. Menendez conflated the Muslim and Hindu faiths in her comments to the police and in her target for attack, officials said.

The victim, Sunando Sen, was born in India and, according to a roommate, was raised Hindu.

Mr. Sen “was allegedly shoved from behind and had no chance to defend himself,” Mr. Brown said. “Beyond that, the hateful remarks allegedly made by the defendant and which precipitated the defendant’s actions should never be tolerated by a civilized society.” …

Mr. Sen, after years of saving money, had opened a small copying business on the Upper West Side this year.

Ar Suman, a Muslim, and one of three roommates who shared a small first-floor apartment with Mr. Sen in Elmhurst, said he and Mr. Sen often discussed religion.

Though they were of different faiths, Mr. Suman said, he admired the respect that Mr. Sen showed for those who saw the world differently than he did. Mr. Suman said he once asked Mr. Sen why he was not more active in his faith and it resulted in a long philosophical discussion.

“He was so gentle,” Mr. Suman said. “He said in this world a lot of people are dying, killing over religious things.”

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Putin wants women’s headscarves ban

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This video is called Putin makes public comment against headscarves.

By Clara Weiss:

Russian President Putin advocates ban on headscarves in schools

24 October 2012

Last Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly spoke out in favor of a ban on headscarves in Russian schools. To this end he intends to introduce legislation laying down guidelines for school uniforms.

Putin’s announcement came after a months-long official campaign promoting nationalism and orthodox Christianity aimed at diverting attention away from the increasing social tensions in the country. About 20 million of the 143 million people living in Russia are Muslims.

The immediate reason for Putin’s comment was an incident at a school in the southern Russian region of Stavropol. On October 3 the local school board banned girl students wearing headscarves from attending class. The girls’ parents then lodged a protest against the action of the school board.

According to the Mufti Council of Stavropol, a series of similar incidents have occurred in the region, especially in cities and areas with a large Muslim population. The Stavropol region is predominantly populated by orthodox Christians, but is also a focal point for Muslim refugees from the nearby Caucasus, which has been devastated and reduced to abject poverty by wars waged by the Kremlin.

The Culture Ministry in Stavropol sided with the school management, declaring that every school has the right to introduce school uniforms on their own initiative. The Russian culture minister then criticized this decision, prompting Putin to speak out on the issue and personally support the head teacher at a press conference. Putin stated: “We must assume we are a secular state. We are a multinational state, but the church is separated from the state.”

Putin said that Russia must take other European countries—including France, Belgium and Denmark—as role models. All of these countries have approved school bans on headscarves. Such a ban would take place in Russia by introducing a standardized school uniform, to be defined and applied in Russia’s various regions.

Putin’s argument that Russia is a “secular state” is specious and cynical. The French and Belgian governments have used exactly the same argument to defend their reactionary ban on the wearing of headscarves in schools and burqas in public.

The separation of church and state means that the church has no influence on the state, which, for its part, does not interfere in personal religious matters. The wearing of the veil, which is an intrinsic element of their faith for many Muslim women, does not violate such a separation. Quite the contrary, it is the ban on headscarves that constitutes an attack on democratic rights and freedom of belief.

Putin’s argument that Russia is a secular state was already undermined by the recent trial of the punk band Pussy Riot. The jailing of the singers for protesting against Putin in the Moscow Church of the Redeemer was preceded by a months-long campaign to promote the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Kremlin has long maintained close relations with the Church, which in turn publicly supports Putin and is an important prop for his rule.

Islamophobic film and Christian fundamentalists

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In this frame grab from a video made on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012, Steve Klein, an insurance agent and Christian activist involved in 'Innocence of Muslims,' a film denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad that sparked outrage in the Middle East, speaks during an interview at his office in Hemet, Calif. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

By Susan Webb in the USA:

Who’s behind the film?

Friday 21 September 2012

The anti-Islam video linked to this week’s violence in Libya, Egypt and Yemen originated in a web of US right-wing extremists.

The YouTube video, titled Innocence Of Muslims, is a crude 14-minute film portraying the Prophet Muhammad as a lecherous, violent schemer.

First reports attributed it to an Israeli-American individual in California who claimed it was funded by Jewish donors.

It turns out that these individuals do not exist, and the real architects of the film include a right-wing Egyptian-American Christian convicted of bank fraud in 2010, and a US religious right activist with ties to Christian militias and Obama-hating clergy.

Justice Department investigators say Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, who lives in southern California, was a key player on the film. He is still under a five-year probation from the 2010 fraud case, which includes barring him from internet use.

Nakoula is a Coptic Christian, a mainstream Egyptian branch of Christianity whose believers are about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population. He is said to be virulently anti-Muslim.

Another right-wing Coptic Egyptian-American, Morris Sadek, spread the video to the Middle East via his anti-Islam Arabic-language blog.

The film is also linked to Joseph Nasralla Abdelmasih, another far-right Egyptian-American Coptic Christian who has been promoted by many of the country’s most vocal anti-Muslim agitators.

The Coptic Orthodox Archdiocese of North America has issued a statement condemning the film and affirming that “such efforts to insult and offend a neighbour with which the Copts have coexisted for nearly 14 centuries … contradict the virtues of love and tolerance by which Christians are governed.”

Sadek apparently has close ties to extremist anti-Obama Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has promoted the film. Sadek’s blog displays a photo of him with Jones at a recent anti-Islam protest in Washington.

A writer for US advocacy group Right-Wing Watch looked at Sadek’s Facebook page before it was taken down. It showed Sadek as a fan of the Republican Party, the right-wing Hudson Institute, right-wing ideologue Daniel Pipes, Jones’s extremist Stand Up America and similar groups.

Steve Klein, an ex-marine described as a “consultant” on the film, “has been active in extremist movements for decades” and “is allied with Christian activist groups across California,” according to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which tracks extremist groups.

The report says that in 2011 Klein worked with the California-based Christian Anti-Defamation Commission “on a campaign to ‘arm’ students with the ‘truth about Islam and Muhammad’ – mainly by leafleting high schools with literature depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a sex-crazed paedophile.”

The group’s advisory board includes figures from a long list of far-right groups, including the Operation Rescue anti-abortion bombers, the Minuteman border vigilantes and far-right minister Rick Scarborough.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre report, Klein has recently formed close ties to the Church at Kaweah, “a secretive cohort of militant Christian fundamentalists” that maintains a militia.

Its website offers for sale a DVD titled To Teach Them War in which “Christian audiences will be exhorted and equipped to begin to train martially.”

Klein conducts drills with the Christian Guardians, a San Francisco-based group headed by a US-born Pakistani Christian who calls Islam “a giant crime syndicate” and hopes his group will become “the most feared militia in the world.” The Church at Kaweah has sponsored joint trainings with the Christian Guardians.

Klein also has ties to extremist anti-abortion and anti-immigrant groups such as the Minutemen.

He has a weekly online satellite TV show called Wake Up America carried on The Way TV station, which says it is “made up of Christians from around the world who believe God can use Christian satellite television to transform the Middle East, north Africa, Europe, America and Canada.” Nasralla is listed as producer.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday appeared to identify the film as representing “America’s values.”

Continuing his criticism of the Obama administration for condemning the film, Romney declared: “Apology for America’s values is never the right course.”

He was backed by Republican Senator Jim DeMint, who said: “It was disheartening to hear the administration condemn Americans engaging in free speech that hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus echoed the far-right mantra, saying: “Obama sympathises with attackers in Egypt.”

Former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld also tweeted support.

Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern studies at Princeton University, told the New York Times: “This is really about political or symbolic opportunists, who use religious symbols to advance their own power or prestige against other groups.”

He was referring to the Libyan events, but the same clearly applies to the US.

By Sunny Hundal:

Some 30,000 Libyans marched in the city of Benghazi to protest against the extremist militias that are starting to terrorise ordinary people.

The march was a backlash to the attack on the US Embassy ten days ago, and Libyans carried signs saying: “The ambassador was Libya’s friend” and “Libya lost a friend.”

Why the Mideast Exploded, Really: here.

Just as McCarthyism Claimed to Fight Godless Communists, Boykinism Condones War on Idolatrous Muslims: here.

French Islamophobes smear mosque with excrement

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This video says about itself:

Jean-Marie Le Pen, MEP and leader of France’s far-right Front National, outraged assembled members of the European Parliament by repeating his assertion that the Nazi gas chambers were “a mere detail” in the history of the Second World War.

From Associated Press:

French Mosque Smeared With Excrement In Limoges

09/12/12 02:57 PM ET

PARIS — The outside of a mosque in a French city has been smeared with excrement, the latest in a series of vandalism incidents involving Muslim places of worship in the country.

The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that police are seeking the culprit or culprits, adding in a statement that “to attack a religion is to attack the (French) Republic.”

The Limoges mosque in central France was vandalized in July with Nazi symbols scrawled on its doors. In the latest incident, excrement was smeared on the doors and elsewhere before dawn.

In August, two pigs heads were hung on two pillars outside a mosque in the southwestern town of Montauban.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith asked the faithful for calm vigilance in the face of what it says is rising Islamophobia.

Hijab ruling exposes Islamophobia in French politics—on right and left: here.

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