Charles from 1993: “Britain is a multi-racial and multi-cultural society. I have already mentioned the size of our own Muslim communities who live throughout Britain, both in large towns like Bradford and in tiny communities in places as remote as Stornaway in Western Scotland. These people, ladies and gentlemen, are an asset to Britain. They contribute to all parts of our economy – to industry, the public services, the professions and the private sector. We find them as teachers, doctors, engineers and scientists. They contribute to our economic well-being as a country, and add to the cultural richness of our nation.”
In Europe, Malta, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Poland, the Vatican, Monaco and Andorra ban or severely restrict abortion. Ireland only allowed some abortions in a 2018 referendum, and most of the subsequent some 6,000 terminations have been before the passage of 12 weeks. These countries have these laws because of the stance of the Roman Catholic Church and because secular majorities have not challenged them as has happened in many European Catholic-majority countries. This issue is not along a Christian-Muslim or East-West axis.
Trump can’t keep himself from sounding like a Nazi. Campaigning in Minnesota, he told the almost all-white crowd, most of Scandinavian descent, “You have good genes.”
The Israeli army’s wanton slaughter of unarmed Palestinians trapped behind the security barriers in Gaza evokes little outrage and condemnation within the United States because we have been indoctrinated into dehumanizing Muslims. Islam is condemned as barbaric and equated with terrorism. The resistance struggle against foreign occupation, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or Gaza, sees Muslims demonized as the enemy. Muslims are branded as irrational and inclined to violence and terrorism by their religious beliefs. We attack them not for what they do but because we see them as being different from us. We must eradicate them to save ourselves. And thus we perpetuate the very hatred and counterviolence, or terrorism, that we fear.
. In reality, it was more an act of insolent appropriation and absorption of what was Moorish by the enemy. It was a gesture that epitomised the aggressively hostile ethos of the Reconquest, which manifested itself in a latent desire to usurp and eliminate that culture and religion. That desire finally became a reality in 1609, when all Moriscos or converted Muslims were expelled from Spain.
The nonprofit Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) surveyed coverage of immigration detention — or stories about immigrants detained by the U.S. government — in “a variety of media outlets” from 2009 to 2016 and found evidence that right-wing outlets routinely criminalize immigrants in their coverage. The study
A drone pilot who converted to Islam eight months after joining the Army says he faced discrimination, including being told to find another job if he wanted to practise Islam properly.
One CIA estimate puts ISIS’ total manpower at 31,500, about one-third the capacity of Rose Bowl stadium, or roughly, 0.0019% of the world’s total Muslim population when rounding down to 1.6 billion. The idea that the remaining 1,599,965,000 Muslims ought to jump on Twitter and condemn ISIS isn’t just silly, it’s a definition of prejudice. But here we are. Another attack, another round of people calling on moderate Muslims to condemn something they had nothing to do with. Or as Mohamed Ghilan tweeted last year, “Asking me to condemn the obviously condemnable presumes my basic moral code is in question. I refuse to take part in this.”
Nevertheless, Muslims from around the world are making it clear ISIS does not represent their values. Iran’s Supreme Leader Hassan Rouhani denounced the attacks, postponing his trip to Europe to renew peace talks on the Syrian conflict. Iran and Iran-backed Hezbollah fight ISIS and other extremists in Syria (as well as non-Salafists). The day before the Paris attacks, militants claiming allegiance to ISIS bombed a civilian area of Beirut in an effort to undermine Hezbollah’s support there.
Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the president of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country on earth, roundly condemned the attacks, telling reporters, “Indonesia condemns the violence that took place in Paris.” In a now-viral video on YouTube (viewable above), a Moroccan man expressed his condolences to the victims, saying, “These so-called jihadists only represent themselves.”
Arab states Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt have all condemned the attacks, though it should be noted, the unelected rulers who run the Saudi Kingdom and Qatar have routinely funded and armed jihadists in Syria.
The largest Muslim group in the United States, CAIR, quickly condemned the attacks, insisting, “These savage and despicable attacks on civilians, whether they occur in Paris, Beirut or any other city, are outrageous and without justification.” The US Council of Muslim Organizations released a statement also condemning the attack.
Thousands more Muslims took to Twitter to express sorrow, solidarity and solace. A good breakdown can be seen here and here.
We will update this post as more information comes in.
olddogthoughts 