At a Bedfordshire pub, the UK branch of Pegida announced a new leadership structure, following its disastrous relaunch in late 2015. At the helm is Paul Weston, leader of the fringe party Liberty GB. Weston stood in the 2015 General Election and mustered just 0.4 per cent of the vote (158 votes) in Luton South.
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As we move into 2016, it is important to reflect on what has been achieved for the public over the last year. Tell MAMA is now moving into its fourth year of existence and the results over the last year have been humbling. But this has been about how we have made a difference. When
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Now, we know that this is not about hate crime work and anti-Muslim hatred, though this work also brings out the most beautiful and tender stories of compassion and care between people and which need to be highlighted when so much news is negative. This was a Facebook post that we received from someone and
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A simple tweet from the Rochdale MP, Simon Danczuk, provides an example of the caustic and bigoted responses that are received in return and perpetuated by people who think that it is reasonable to label a whole section of a population. In this instance, self-styled ‘developer and problem solver’, Dino Fancellu, who has a UKIP
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Just when you thought that they could not top their bizarre rhetoric any more, along comes the following comment which Britain First’s Paul Golding circulated today in an electronic flyer. It seems that being ‘patriots’ does not stop them abusing the capital city of our nation – so much for their deeply held pride in
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On a July evening in Plymouth, Jak Burgess, 20, boarded a bus heading towards the city centre with friends, and sat next to a Buddhist man of Sri Lankan origin. Within seconds, Burgess accused him being a member of ISIS who intended to bomb the bus. An accusation that turned to violence in a paroxysm of racist rage. Perturbed, the bus driver stopped the vehicle, and helped the Buddhist man downstairs. His attacker followed. And his tone grew more aggressive when the Buddhist man refused to shake his hand. A police appeal soon bore positive results. And Jak Burgess admitted the racially aggravated charge. He then failed to attend his sentencing hearing earlier this month. Now Plymouth Magistrates’ Court have issued a warrant for his arrest. The question remains: how do you account for this incident? One explanation concerns racialisation. It is in the assumption of Muslim identity based on ethnicity. Racialisation also impacts white converts to Islam. This owes in part to their expressions of religiosity. In a broader sense, religious conversion creates a fundamental shift in how a person views the world. A study of British converts to Islam published in 1996 found that it created an identity [...]
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Donald Trump proposes a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States“. The shift in rhetoric follows the shootings in San Bernardino, California. His proposed ban would also include Muslim tourists and citizens based abroad. In a press release, Trump cited growing hatred of the United States in Muslim communities. The localities of these communities are not contingent to Trump’s argument – only a perception of truth matters. Recent data from Pew offers added nuance. It found the countries with the most unfavourable views of the United States were Jordan and Russia. Positive ratings in Turkey had increased from 19 per cent to 29 per cent. In Lebanon, 48 per cent of its Sunni Muslim population had expressed favourable views of the United States. Its Shia population, had for the most part, expressed anti-American sentiment. Other polls from Pew point to a broad rejection of terror groups like ISIS and suicide bombing among Muslims across the globe. Pew data also found that many Muslim Americans want to assimilate into American culture. It’s also noteworthy that 81 per cent of Muslim Americans hold U.S. citizenship, including 70 per cent born abroad. Foreign-born Muslims take up a higher rate of [...]
The post Why Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric will continue to endure appeared first on Religious Reader.
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When Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of The Prophet Mohammed early in 2015 there was a violent and deadly backlash. The magazine’s office were invaded and several employees were murdered in cold blood. A few years ago a Danish magazine published other cartoons and there was a vociferous Muslim outcry. These and other events have prompted many commentators, comedians and controllers of various media to speak in defence of the ‘freedom of speech’. Why should they restrain themselves when discussing Islam? A new phrase ‘self-censorship’ has been coined and applies explicitly to matters with a Muslim and Islamic links. The implication is that commentators are being asked by the state or the establishment voluntarily to impose restrictions on what they say. Let me say from the outset that I am not a Muslim but I have a personal interest in the history of religious practices and from that an interest in interfaith issues. Until late in life I had no idea what about Islam. Like many older people, my religious education did not introduce Islam as a religion, but from history I learned that Moors were ‘alien invaders’ spreading across North Africa until they were halted in Spain by Christians. My [...]
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The latest circular from the extremist far right group, Britain First, can only be described as intimidating and more worryingly, where minors are being used to promote this extremist far right group. The circular which was sent to subscribers makes the usual call for ‘donations’ and openly suggests that far right Britain First sympathisers are
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Morpeth Town Councillor, David Clark, has refused to resign after making a number of Facebook comments that were reported into us by members of the public. Speaking to the Morpeth Herald yesterday, he stated: “I abhor extremism of any kind and I was referring to extremists and not Islam as a whole.” Cllr David Clark
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