Muslims In Belgium Demand Ban On Christmas Trees And Easter Eggs!

In retaliation for a headscarf ban for employees of the city of Antwerp, they are demanding a ban on Christmas trees and Easter eggs.

Expatica, via LGF:

ANTWERP – “If headscarves are banned for employees who work at the desk at city services in order to guarantee neutrality of services, then we DEMAND that no Christmas trees be set up in city buildings and that no Easter eggs be given out.” Antwerp trade union representative Badia Miri said this on Wednesday in the Gazet van Antwerpen.

Miri is one of the seven Muslim women who were forced to remove their headscarves if they wanted to continue working at the desk. Three of the seven staff members of the city of Antwerp who wore headscarves agreed to stop wearing one. Different positions - not involving contact with the public - were found for the others. No one was dismissed. There is still opposition to the dress code however, which came into effect in March. The seven Muslim women are now urging that “neutrality of service provision be actually enforced.”

“The Antwerp city government says that neutrality is endangered if staff wear a cross or headscarf,” says Miri. “But in our experience action has only been taken against the Muslim women. If the city government is really concerned about neutrality, then Christmas trees and Easter eggs should no longer be allowed at work. We are asking that a contact point be set up to report all violations of the dress code.”

Protest As 4 Muslims Jailed Over MoToons Demo

The four arrested / The Case for Profiling

Four Muslim men were recently jailed for taking part in the 2006 protest against the Mohammed cartoons at the Danish embassy in London [BBC: Four men jailed over cartoon demo].

Some UK Muslims weren't too happy about the decision:

Picture of Suspect Ringleader Of Failed UK Bomb Plot

Dr Mohammed Asha

The Saudi doctor is one of seven people arrested in relation to the lastest RoP failed bomb attacks in the UK.

Neurologist Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, and his burka-wearing wife, 27, were held in a dramatic operation as they drove on the M6 in Cheshire with their two-year-old son on Saturday. [Daily Mail]

Another medic, Iraqi junior doctor Bilal Abdulla, who is said to have completed his medical training in Baghdad, was the man who tried to drive a blazing jeep into Glasgow airport, it was claimed this afternoon. [2]

UK: Jeep Attack On Glasgow Airport

Sky News: Two arrested after a Jeep was driven into the terminal building at Glasgow airport and caught fire.

According to the BBC, eyewitnesses have described a Jeep Cherokee being driven at speed towards the building with flames coming out from underneath.

They have also described seeing two Asian men, one of whom was on fire, who had been in the car.

London Car Bomb Plot Fails

Two car bombs found. The BBC blames "international elements".

A car bomb planted in central London would have caused “carnage” if it had exploded, police sources have said.

A controlled explosion was carried out on the car, packed with 60 litres of petrol, gas cylinders and nails, in Haymarket, near Piccadilly Circus. An ambulance crew saw smoke coming from the green metallic Mercedes, near the Tiger Tiger nightclub at 0130 BST. Later part of London’s Park Lane was closed to traffic after reports of a suspicious vehicle. [...]

“International elements” are believed to be involved with the Haymarket bomb, Whitehall sources told the BBC.

According to the Daily Mail, an Islamic website predicted the London bomb plot hours before the attack on the nightclub was thwarted.

It emerged last night that hours before the first bomb was found, a message on a jihadist website proclaimed: "Today I say: Rejoice by Allah, London shall be bombed."

Posted in the "Al Hesbah" chatroom, the message suggested the attack was linked to the war in Iraq and to the controversial author Salman Rushdie, whose award of a knighthood earlier this month sparked outrage in the Islamic world.

Pakistan Minister: Rushdie Knighthood Justifies Suicide Attacks

Yahoo! News: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan on Monday condemned Britain's award of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie as an affront to Muslim sentiments, and a Cabinet minister said the honor provided a justification for suicide attacks.

"This is an occasion for the (world's) 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, said in parliament.

"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the 'sir' title," ul-Haq said.

[...] Lawmakers in Pakistan's lower house of parliament on Monday passed a resolution proposed by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi who branded Rushdie — who was born in India into a Muslim family — a "blasphemer."

"The 'sir' title from Britain for blasphemer Salman Rushdie has hurt the sentiments of the Muslims across the world. Every religion should be respected. I demand the British government immediately withdraw the title as it is creating religious hatred," Niazi told the National Assembly. [...]

Malmö Riots

Jihad Watch has a great overview post of the ongoing Muslim riots in Malmö. It includes contributions from Fjordman.

On topic, also see the previous post Muslims rioting in Malmö and "Youths" clash with police in Malmö, also on JW.

Thinking Blogger Award

I was recently honored to receive the Thinking Blogger Award from the On the Wing blog. I have decided to nominate the following five blogs that make me think - in no particular order:

Right Truth
Red Sky
Planck's Constant
Clarity & Resolve
Islamic Evil

Many thanks again to On the Wing, a real quality blog, for this award.

Hospital Banned Hot Cross Buns To Avoid Offending Non-Christians

The lastest episode of PC appeasement:

Daily Mail: Hospital that 'banned' hot cross buns to avoid offending non-Christians

Hospital staff claim they were banned from handing out hot cross buns this Easter in case they upset non-Christians.

The decision disappointed patients at Poole Hospital in Dorset and angered catering staff.

In an email to their local paper, sent on Good Friday, catering staff said: 'We the kitchen staff of Poole Hospital were disgusted to find that the patients were not getting hot cross buns this morning.

"The manager of the catering department said he was worried about the ethnic minorities that work here."

The workers, who did not want to be named, said they had been inundated with calls from nurses on the wards asking why there were no buns this year.

Eventually hospital bosses relented and they were distributed on Easter Monday.[...]

UK: Teachers drop the Holocaust and the Crusades to avoid offending Muslims

Someone is afraid of the Religion of Peace™.

Daily Mail: Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques.

The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history 'as a vehicle for promoting political correctness'.

The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into 'emotive and controversial' history teaching in primary and secondary schools.

It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.

The researchers gave the example of a secondary school in an unnamed northern city, which dropped the Holocaust as a subject for GCSE coursework.

The report said teachers feared confronting 'anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils'. [...]

German Judge Rules Koran Allows Wife Abuse

Examples that illustrate the moral bankruptcy of multiculturalism don't come any clearer than this appalling case.

BERLIN (AFP) - A German woman judge has refused a Moroccan-born woman permission to file for divorce by interpreting the Koran as allowing husbands to beat their wives.

"Where are we living? Woman judge allows beating in marriage... and invokes the Koran," said a front-page headline in Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper, reflecting the widespread angry reaction on Thursday.

"This Moroccan woman has the same right to protection from a violent husband as any German woman. Anything else would be misconceived sensitivity to the benefit of the husband and would amount to racist discrimination against the wife," said the Tageszeitung daily.

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany also condemned the decision.

"The judge should have made a decision based on the German constitution instead of the Koran," said spokeswoman Nurhan Soykan, who said that violence and mistreatment, regardless of the gender of the victim, were also grounds for divorce in the Islamic world.

A court in the western city of Frankfurt on Wednesday upheld a complaint of bias against the judge lodged by the lawyer of the 26-year-old woman, who has two children.

The woman had filed for immediate divorce on the grounds that the husband, also of Moroccan origin, regularly beat her and threatened to kill her. The claims were backed up by a police report.

But the female judge, who has not been named, made clear in a letter that the wife's bid had little chance of approval because, according to her, Islamic law allowed a man to strike his wife.

German politicians from all parties were united in disgust at the judgement.

"When the Koran takes precedence over the German Basic Law, then I can only say: Good night Germany," Ronald Pofalla, the secretary general of the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Bild.

Hans-Christian Stroebele, of the opposition Greens, said the kind of abuse suffered by the woman should be punished by German criminal law.

Also see LGF on topic.

French Court Rules In Favour Of Charlie Hebdo

Good news on the cartoon-jihad front.

Two Islamic groups tried to sue Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, for publishing the dreaded motoons of blasphemy and supposedly "inciting hatred against Muslims". Fortunately, they lost the case.

BBC: [...] A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims.

The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.

The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France.

Applause broke out in the courtroom at the announcement of the verdict, which ruled that the three cartoons published in February 2006 were not insulting to the Muslim community, the AFP news agency reports.

Editor Philippe Val had rejected the allegations, saying the cartoons were not an attack on Muslims, but on terrorists.

He said the ruling was a victory for secular French Muslims.

"This debate was necessary," he said.

The case had been brought by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of French Islamic Organisations. [...]

The Native Revolt & The Need For A European Declaration of Independence

A "Native Revolt: A European Declaration of Independence" is another brilliant Fjordman essay. A real must-read. Fjordman's first draft of "A European Declaration of Independence" should be spread widely in the whole of Europe, before it's too late. Our governments have abandoned us long ago by choosing to be the enemy of the native European peoples, but if we common citizens unite and get organized, we can still make a difference. Fjordman's "A European Declaration of Independence" would represent a good starting point. I urge you to read the essay in its entirety.

After the death last Sunday of Rinie Mulder, a 54-year old indigenous Dutchman who was shot by a police officer, non-immigrant citizens went on a rampage in Utrecht. Apparently Mulder intervened when Muslim youths harassed a pregnant native Dutch woman. Locals claim the police has failed to protect them for years. They say the authorities are afraid of the immigrants and tolerate their criminal behavior.

This issue is not just about Utrecht or Holland. Similar resentment against Muslim immigrants, but at least as much against their own authorities, is quietly brewing among the natives all over Western Europe.

It is insulting that two thirds of the Dutch, one of the founding members of the European community, voted against the proposed EU Constitution, and yet EU leaders will apparently just ignore this and force their massively undemocratic Constitution down people's throats anyway. The German Presidency wants EU leaders to agree on a text for a new treaty by February 2008. The label 'Constitution' is to be dropped, in order to avoid further referendums.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso expressed unease with the prospect of a second Dutch constitution referendum. "Referendums make the process of approval of European treaties much more complicated and less predictable," he said "If a referendum had been held on the creation of the European Community or the introduction of the Euro, do you think these would have passed?"

Although the EU warns against "Islamophobia," those who live in the real world know that there has been an explosion of violent infidelophobia in Western Europe staged by Muslim immigrants. This wave of violence especially targets Jews, but the attacks against Christians that are going on in the Middle East are increasingly spreading to Europe as well. In more and more cities across the continent, non-Muslims are being harassed, robbed, mugged, raped, stabbed and even killed by Muslims. Native Europeans are slowly becoming second-rate citizens in their own countries. Read it all here.

UK: Muslim Takes Sauna in Hijab

More political correctness gone mad in Britain.

The Sun via Dhimmi Watch: A MUSLIM woman in full hijab robes was allowed to swelter in a SAUNA because worried staff did not want to offend her.

She then jumped into the sports centre’s swimming pool to cool off while still wearing the black top-to-toe Islamic dress.

Staff did not know if they should enforce a dress code which asks customers to wear SUITABLE clothes.

People in the sauna — all wearing normal swimming cossies — were amazed as the woman joined them in the steam room in her robes.

Last night surprised Muslim spokesman Taj Hargey asked: “How can you swim properly if you wear a hijab?”

After ten minutes in the sauna and ten minutes in the pool the mystery woman changed out of her wet hijab into a dry one in the changing rooms and left alone.

Yesterday members of the David Lloyd Leisure centre in Oxford said they were baffled by the women’s actions.

Club member Ian Caldwell, 46, was sitting in the sauna when the fully-dressed woman walked in.

He said: “I pointed out that it was a sauna and asked her if it was appropriate. All the other women in there were all in bathing costumes.

“When I saw her in the pool later, she was still wearing the Islamic outfit.

“The pool attendant said she was allowed to wear this due to her religious customs. It was just political correctness gone completely barmy. I told the manager that it was my custom to attend saunas naked, as they do in Sweden, and said I trusted he would find that equally acceptable.

“But to be serious, this is a question of hygiene, not religious rights.”

U-Turn Over Three Little Pigs Musical

An update on this story.


BBC: Comeback for 'non-offensive' pigs

Organisers of a children's concert have given the go-ahead for the three little pigs to appear, after they were banned over fears they might offend Muslims.

Honley Junior School in West Yorkshire was to perform the Roald Dahl story of Little Red Riding Hood and the pigs - but was told to substitute puppies.

Now Kirklees Council has stepped in to allow the pigs a reprieve. No complaints had been made about the pigs appearing in the Kirklees Primary Music Festival event.

'Something barmy'

The committee organising the concert decided Muslim children may not want to sing about pigs.

However, council education spokesman Jim Dodds told BBC Five Live the decision had been overturned.

He said: "There is something barmy going on here and it has happened on my watch.

"I can tell you now that the three little pigs will be back into the school musical festival.

"The decision (to ban the pigs) was made by well-meaning people - it was the wrong decision, so let's stick with the traditions."

University Of Leeds Cancels Talk On Islamic Extremism and its Links With Nazi Germany Over "Security Concerns"

The Telegraph: Freedom of speech row as talk on Islamic extremists is banned

A leading university has been accused of “selling out” academic freedom of speech by scrapping a talk on links between the Nazis and Islamic anti-semitism after allegedly receiving emails from Muslims protesting about the event.

Matthias Küntzel, a German author and political scientist who specialises in the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, was told yesterday by the University of Leeds that a talk scheduled for yesterday evening, and a two-day workshop, on Hitler’s Legacy: Islamic Anti-semitism in the Middle East, had been cancelled because of security fears.

In a statement yesterday, two academics in the Leeds German department, which had organised the event, claimed the university had bowed “to Muslim protests”. Dr Küntzel said he had given similar addresses around the world and there had been no problems.

He added: “I was told it was for security reasons - that they cannot shelter my person. But I don’t feel in any way threatened. I know this is sometimes a controversial topic but I am accustomed to that and I have the ability to calm people down. It’s not a problem for me at all. My impression was that they wanted to avoid the issue in order to keep the situation calm. My feeling is that this is a kind of censorship.” ...

Dr Annette Seidel Arpaci and Morten Hunke, both members of the German department, said in a statement yesterday: ”The reason the university gives for the cancellation of the talk and seminars by Dr Küntzel are security concerns. These concerns are founded on emails received by the office of the Vice Chancellor. The sudden cancellation is a sell-out of academic freedom, especially freedom of speech, at the University of Leeds.“

One of the protest emails, from a student who describes himself as ”of both Middle Eastern and Islamic background”, complained that the title of the event was “profoundly offensive”. It added: ”To insinuate that there is a direct link between Islam and anti-semitism is not only a sweeping generalisation but also an erroneous statement that holds no essence of truth.”

However, last night the university denied the claims. It said: "The decision to cancel the meeting has nothing to do with academic freedom, freedom of speech, anti-semitism or Islamophobia and those claiming that is the case are making mischief. Nor are we bowing to threats or protests from interest groups. The meeting has been cancelled on safety grounds alone and because - contrary to our rules - no assessment of risk to people or property has been carried out, no stewarding arrangements are in place and we were not given sufficient notice to ensure safety and public order.”

UK: School Renames Three Little Pigs Play To Avoid Offending Muslims

The Daily Mail: Church school renames Three Little Pigs to avoid offending Muslims

The story of the Three Little Pigs' battle with the Big Bad Wolf has delighted children since it was written more than 150 years ago.

But the tale highlighting the merits of hardwork and practicality has become the latest to fall victim to political correctness.

A junior school production of the children's story has been renamed the Three Little Puppies for fear of offending Muslims.

Organisers of a children's music festival have altered the popular characters and lyrics because of the multi-cultural nature of the youngsters involved and their parents in the audience.

[...] Organisers of the Kirklees Primary Music Festival decided to change the script to be 'sensitive' to Muslims at a recent committee meeting.

Committee member Gill Goodswen, head teacher of Stile Common Junior School, defending the move.

She said: "We have to be sensitive if we want to be multi-cultural. It was felt it would be more responsible not to use the three little pigs.

"We feared that some Muslim children wouldn't sing along to the words about pigs,' she said. [...]

Inverted Riots In The Netherlands

It's not the "youths" rioting this time. For the When natives fight back & News the MSM is trying to hide series:

The Brussels Journal: Utrecht: Ethnic Riots after Dutchman is Killed by Police

Ondiep, a working class neighbourhood in the Dutch town of Utrecht, is in turmoil. After the death last Sunday of Rinie Mulder, a 54-year old indigenous Dutchman who was shot by a police officer, non-immigrant citizens went on a rampage, burning cars, looting shops and arsoning a community centre in “inverted Paris style riots.” According to our sources the police officer who killed Mulder is a woman of Moroccan origin.

The Ondiep residents have been complaining for months about harassment and intimidation by immigrant youths of Moroccan origin. The Dutch mainstream media do not go into much detail about what is going on. Most of them do not mention the ethnicity of the victim and the police officer, though the riots clearly have an ethnic nature.

Apparently Mulder intervened when Muslim youths harassed a pregnant native Dutch woman. He was able to grab the knife of one of the youths. When the police arrived Mulder was shot because he had raised the knife. Witnesses say Mulder was indicating to the police that he had called for them.

Locals claim the police has failed to protect them for years. They say the authorities are afraid of the immigrants and tolerate their criminal behaviour. After the death of Mulder the indigenous Dutch decided they had had enough and started riots which went on for two continuous nights. The police made 130 arrests: 60 of them are Ondiep residents. According to the mainstream media the others are mainly “football hooligans” from other parts of the country. Annie Brouwer-Korf, the Socialist mayor of Utrecht, has ordered Ondiep to be sealed off from the rest of town to keep non-residents out. She expressed some sympathy for the frustrated Ondiep residents. “I understand that residents are sometimes upset about the nuisance around their own house and neighbourhood. That does you no good whatsoever.”

Also on topic:

• Non-Youths Riot in the Netherlands
• The New Insurgency
• Utrecht police welcome citizen patrols

The Muslim Council of Britain Wants All UK Schools To Become Shar'ia-Compliant

It's all in this report. (h/t: LGF)

Daily Express: Muslims: ‘Ban’ Un-Islamic Schools

DEMANDS for a ban on “un-Islamic” activities in schools will be set out by the Muslim Council of Britain today.

Targets include playground games, swimming lessons, school plays, parents’ evenings and even vaccinations.

And the calls for all children to be taught in Taliban-style conditions will be launched with the help of a senior Government education adviser.

Professor Tim Brighouse, chief adviser to London schools, was due to attend the event at the capital’s biggest mosque.

His presence there was seen as “deeply worrying”, and a sign that the report was backed by the Government.

Tory MP Greg Hands said: “The MCB needs to realise it has to move closer to the rest of the community, not away from it.

“The presence of Tim Brighouse implies Government back­ing of this report. This is very worrying.”

Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society said the report was a “recipe for disaster”.

He added: “Schools with even just a handful of Muslim kids will find they have to follow these guidelines because there aren’t the staff to have one set of classes for Muslims and another for the rest.

“The MCB shouldn’t try to force its religious agenda on children who may not want it. The Government needs to send the MCB packing. Schools should be about teaching, not preaching.”

The report, Towards Greater Understanding – Meeting The Needs of Muslim Pupils In State Schools, says all schools should bring in effective bans for all pupils on “un-Islamic activities” like dance classes.

It also wants to limit certain activities during Ramadan. They include science lessons dealing with sex, parents’ evenings, exams and immunisation programmes.

The holy month – when eating and drinking is not allowed in daylight hours – should also see a ban on swimming lessons in case pupils swallow water in
the pool.

When swimming is allowed, boys should wear clothing covering their bodies “from the navel to the neck”, even during single-sex pool sessions, while girls must be covered up completely at all times, apart from the face and hands.

The MCB adds that schools should ensure contact sports, including football and basketball, “are always in single-gender groups”.

Even school trips are targeted in the report, which wants them all to be made single-sex “to encourage greater participation from Muslim pupils”.

It wants Arabic language classes for Muslim pupils, and says the Koran should be recited in music classes. And all schools should ensure they have prayer rooms with washing facilities attached, it says.

In art classes, Muslim children should not be allowed to draw people, as this is forbidden under some interpretations of Islamic law.

And while the MCB insists that all British children should learn about Islam, it wants Muslims to have the right to withdraw their children from RE lessons dealing with Christianity and other faiths.

The MCB says special treatment and opt-outs are necessary because otherwise Muslim pupils will feel excluded from school activities and lessons.

The MCB claims to be the voice of Britain’s 1.5million Muslims and was heavily courted by politicians including Tony Blair following the September 11 attacks. Its former secretary-general Iqbal Sacranie was awarded a knighthood in 2005.

But other Muslim groups criticised the report. Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain said: “There has been no discussion on these issues in the Muslim community.”

And the Sufi Muslim Council – which claims to represent far more British Muslims than the MCB – said the report misunderstood Ramadan.

It added: “This is not what Islam or Ramadan is about. Ramadan is about training yourself while carrying on with everyday life.”

The Department for Edu­cation tried to distance itself from the report last night, and insisted Professor Brighouse was attending the launch only in a “personal capacity”.

A spokesman said it would read the report “with interest”.

The MCB did not comment. [...]

As Diana West notes in her apt editorial (Imposing Islamic Law), "the Muslim council isn't asking the British taxpayer to create the perfect Shariah state exactly, but rather the perfect Shariah state school system."

UK Report: Terror Threat Worst Since 9/11

A British intelligence report finds that the terror threat has been underestimated and suggests the security services' job will only get harder.

The Telegraph: Secret report: Terror threat worst since 9/11

The terrorist threat facing Britain from home-grown al-Qaeda agents is higher than at any time since the September 11 attacks in 2001, secret intelligence documents reveal.

The number of British-based Islamic terrorists plotting suicide attacks against "soft" targets in this country is far greater than the Security Services had previously believed, the government paperwork discloses. It is thought the plotters could number more than 2,000.

Under the heading "International Terrorism in the UK", the document - seen by The Sunday Telegraph - states: "The scale of al-Qaeda's ambitions towards attacking the UK and the number of UK extremists prepared to participate in attacks are even greater than we had previously judged."

It warns that terrorist "attack planning" against Britain will increase in 2007, and adds: "We still believe that AQ [al-Qaeda] will continue to seek opportunities for mass casualty attacks against soft targets and key infrastructure. These attacks are likely to involve the use of suicide operatives."

[...] Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director general of MI5, warned recently that there were more than 1,600 "identified individuals" actively engaged in plotting terrorist attacks. There were 200 known networks involved in at least 30 terrorist plots. It is thought that the number of British citizens involved in plots could be well in excess of 2,000.

MI5 believes that soft targets, such as the transport system and economic targets such as the City of London and Canary Wharf, are most at risk.

A senior political source said the picture painted by the document was "particularly bleak and unlikely to improve for several years". [...]

UK: Protest at School's 'Halal-only' Lunch -- Muslim Parents: Protest Is Racist

Parents protest at school's 'Halal-only' lunch

Daily Mail: Furious parents staged protests outside a school over its decision to serve up only halal meat at lunchtimes.

Staff were forced to call the police after one father strode into the school in North London to challenge the new meals policy.

Kingsgate Primary in West Hampstead is among growing numbers of schools with high Muslim populations to use halal-only meat in cooking.

But the menus, which will feature only meat that has been slaughtered in the halal way with a single cut to the throat, have not always been well received.

At Kingsgate, parents carrying placards congregated at the school gates to demand a reversal of the policy, claiming their children would be denied a choice.

But the protests triggered claims of racism from parents of Muslim children, who make up three quarters of the school population.

Yesterday headmistress Liz Hayward was refusing to back down, insisting that a majority of parents had backed the move to halal-only menus in a comprehensive survey of families.

But protesting parents accused her of forcing their children to to conform to "someone else's culture".

Cartoon Jihad Continues

Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, is being sued by two Islamic groups for publishing the dreaded motoons of blasphemy and hence "inciting hatred against Muslims".

Reuters: Danish cartoon row goes to French court next week

PARIS, (Reuters) - The row over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad will be replayed in a French court next week when two influential Islamic groups sue a Paris satirical weekly for inciting hatred against Muslims by printing the caricatures. The two Muslim associations aim to show that reprinting the cartoons was a provocation equal to anti-Semitic acts or Holocaust denial that are already banned under French law, Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris Grand Mosque, said on Friday. The cartoons, originally published in 2005 in the Danish daily Jyllens-Posten (sic), provoked violent protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East that left 50 people dead. Several European publications reprinted them as an affirmation of free speech. The weekly Charlie Hebdo, which put out a special edition with the cartoons, argued religions are not beyond criticism and letting Muslims censor the media would curtail a basic right. "Free speech is not the issue here. The issue is that, in France, racism is not an opinion, it is a crime," said Francis Szpiner, lawyer for the Grand Mosque, which has sued along with the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF). "Two of those caricatures make a link between Muslims and Muslim terrorists. That has a name and it's called racism."

Here they go, playing the race card again. (Hint: Islam = not a race)

Also on LGF: The Cartoon Jihad's Legal Front

Update: Sarkozy is with Charlie Hebdo: "I prefer an excess of cartoons than the absence of cartoons".

"The ultimate goal of every Muslim is to establish Sharia law over the whole Earth"

This article is a real eye-opener over the so-called "Religion of Peace" and is well worth a read.

Daily Mail: Disaffected, raging, and hungry for the harsh finality of Sharia law

[...] On the streets of Sparkbrook yesterday, angry young Muslims denounced British culture and said we would be all better off living under Sharia law.

"What are your Western values?" said one young man in traditional Islamic dress. "Your youngsters get drunk and fight outside the bars in the city centre. Even the women do it."

"I don't want to live a Western lifestyle," added a woman whose face was covered by a veil. "I would like to live by Sharia law. That is my choice."

[...] Earlier this week, a survey revealed that nearly four in ten young British Muslims aged 18-24 would prefer to live under Sharia law than British law. The study, commissioned by the Right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange, identified significant support for wearing the veil in public, Islamic schools and even punishment by death for Muslims who convert to another religion.

Most worryingly, 13 per cent of young Muslims said they "admired" organisations such as Al Qaeda which are prepared to "fight the West".

I have spent the past week speaking to young British Muslims in London and Birmingham and it becomes clear while speaking to young people that a significant minority feel a growing sense of alienation from mainstream British society - which in turn leads to a rejection of British cultural values - because of what they say is the persecution and murder of Muslims in Iraq.

Sharia law, those young British Muslims argue, is a way of life which embraces a superior moral code to that of modern Britain.

Wearing the veil is not a sign of subservience but that a woman has "self-respect". There is a growing repugnance at British society, the binge drinking, the promiscuity, the perceived "decadence".

[...] A few stalls away, another man selling groceries summed up the feeling in one succinct sentence. "There is a sense of them and us now."

The lines are drawn. And while few presently have the appetite actually to do anything to turn Britain into an Islamic state living under Sharia law, momentum is growing.

A few miles away from Whitechapel in East Ham, an indication of this could be found in around half a dozen garish yellow and black flyers that were haphazardly plastered across bus shelters, traffic lights and road signs. Sharia law, they proclaimed to passers-by, was "the only option for the UK".

Alongside this dramatic declaration was an image of the Palace of Westminster. An unidentifiable flag - not the familiar British red, white and blue - had been hoisted aloft; sandwiched between Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament was a minaret.

Gous Miah, a 26-year-old shop worker from Bethnal Green, would like to think that this tatty but arresting poster is a vision of the future.

"The British way of life is unacceptable to Muslims," says Mr Miah, who works in a newsagent's shop.

"It is wrong to drink. Look at all the deaths caused by drink-driving. It is wrong for women to wear skirts. Women should be covered up at all times, and it is wrong for British politicians to try to change that."

He says Britain is "too soft" on criminals. The penalties for criminals under Sharia law might be harsh - some would say barbaric - but Mr Miah argues that they serve as a highly effective deterrent.

"British law is not acceptable to Muslims - it is too soft. There are people committing horrendous crimes and getting away with it. Things would be better if we lived under Sharia law.

"We don't want to be like the non-Muslims who smoke, drink and are promiscuous. That is why young Muslims are breaking away from British society - the cultures are too different. Blair and Bush are spreading the hatred."

Ali Khan, an IT worker with an investment bank, says Sharia law is "demonised" in the West. "All you read about is cutting off hands, stoning and beheading people. In fact, it is an entire way of leading your life in an Islamic state, as set out in the Koran, and allows Muslims and non-Muslims to live together peacefully.

"I would prefer to live under it. It is completely different to British law, which is man-made and laid down by a government which is all about greed, corruption and at the beck and call of big business with vested interests.

"I do not admire Al Qaeda, but they are trying to address the issues that all Muslims face, of subjugation of their lands, theft of wealth and oppression of their people."

Abdul Hussain, 21, works in a shop in East Ham. He says there is a moral dimension to Sharia that is appealing.

"Sharia law covers all our social and financial affairs as well as crime. We are supposed to give a fortieth of our wealth to the poor and are not allowed to charge interest on loans, for example."

He believes the values of Westerners are shallow. "I think an Islamic school would be a good option for my children. I went to a normal Western school and it messed up my head having to listen to non-Muslims talking about sex and rubbish all day long.

"The punishments under Sharia law are tough, but they do stop crime. If you know you are going to be stoned or beheaded for adultery, you don't commit adultery."

Ismail Ali, a 27-year-old delivery driver from Bethnal Green, objects to the "lack of modesty" that pervades British society.

"It is easy to understand why young Muslims are turning their backs on the British way of life," he says. "Your politicians tell us women should not wear the hijab, but you have naked women on the front of newspapers. Images like that lead to rape.

[...] Khalid Kelly, an Irish Muslim convert, was a member of the now disbanded hardline Islamic organisation Al-Mujaharoun and now describes himself as an independent Muslim preacher.

"The ultimate goal of every Muslim is to establish Sharia law over the whole Earth," he says. "It is a superior way of life and every Muslim living in the UK has an obligation to call for Sharia law to be implemented.

"We believe in jihad, which literally means to struggle. It is not allowed for a Muslim to obey a man-made system of laws that is prone to errors.

"Sharia law is a perfect system of divine law and order that the whole world should live under.

"Everything you have in the West is wrong. We should be in charge over you. If Sharia law prevailed, it would change everything.

"Alcohol would be outlawed and it would be illegal for any woman to leave the house unless she had her whole body and head covered. Everything would change for the better - it is sadly and badly needed."

Kelly holds in high esteem the men who carried out the 7/7 bombings in London. "The martyrs who carried out the bombings on July 7 were praiseworthy and correct.

"We have to spread Sharia law and put fear into the head of the enemy."

Foiled UK Plot: Muslim Communities Angered Over Arrests

You might think they are angry with the failed terrorists. Not so: the "community" is angry because the arrests have taken place.

BBC: Terror arrests anger community

One day after the nine terror arrests in the Birmingham area, the local communities have been assessing the impact of the police operation.

Some claim the arrests and the vast amount of media coverage are likely to cause lasting damage to community relations.

Along the same lines, a Muslim leader claims the recent arrests highlight that Britain is a police state in the making.


AFP: Muslim chief slams 'police state' Britain, like Nazi Germany

A Muslim leader has warned that Britain is moving towards a “police state,” comparing the situation to Nazi Germany after the anti-terror raids in the city of Birmingham this week.

But Mohammad Naseem, chairman of Birmingham’s Central Mosque, urged Muslims to show restraint following the raids, in which nine suspects were arrested over allegations of plotting an “Iraq-style” kidnapping and filmed beheading.

“The country is moving toward a police state. That’s not right. We have to change this,” he said inside the mosque, where some 2,000 Muslims gathered for weekly Friday prayers.

“We can change this for the better by coming together, not by coming apart. .. Remain calm, don’t get angry. Anger is a natural emotion, but Muslims should control it. We must never give way to anger,” he said.

Speaking outside the mosque shortly before the prayer session began, he compared the current situation, and anti-terrorism legislation introduced in Britain in recent years, to Nazi Germany.

“The German people were told the Jews were a threat. The same thing is happening here. The Muslims are now the bogey people,” he said. “It’s a small community. It’s easy to pick on them. That’s what’s being done.”

So Much For The "Tiny Minority™" Of Muslim Extremists

Michael Freund is spot on with The straightforward arithmetic of jihad (h/t LGF).

It’s time we open our eyes and confront reality. Ever since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the media has sought to reassure us that only a tiny minority of Muslims actually support the use of violence against Israel and the West.

It’s just a small fringe, a marginal few at best, they tell us, so don’t worry about it all too much. One percent or three percent - who cares? Just sit back, enjoy your morning eggs and coffee and have a nice day.

But a look at the numbers tells a very different story. The extent of support for global jihad is frightening in its proportions, and the numbers are anything but insignificant.

Consider, for example, the following statistics regarding support for suicide bombings and other types of terror attacks.

In a poll conducted five months ago, and broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4 TV, nearly 25% of British Muslims said the July 7, 2005, terror bombings in London, which killed 52 innocent commuters, were justified. Another 30% said they would prefer to live under strict Islamic Sharia law rather than England’s democratic system.

Now, one in four justifying terror may not be a majority, but it certainly isn’t a “small fringe” either.

In other countries, the figures are no less unsettling. A survey published in December found that 44% of Nigerian Muslims believe suicide bombing attacks are “often” or “sometimes” acceptable. Only 28% said they were never justified.

According to the annual Pew Global Attitudes Survey, released in July 2006, “roughly one-in-seven Muslims in France, Spain and Great Britain feel that suicide bombings against civilian targets can at least sometimes be justified to defend Islam.” The report also found that less than half of Jordan’s Muslims believe terror attacks are never justified. In Egypt, only 45% of Muslims say terror is never justified.

Still think only a “tiny minority” are in favor of violence? (Read it all).

UK: Another RoP Plot Foiled: 9 Arrested

Change in strategy.

Nine arrested over alleged kidnap and beheading plot

A ninth person has been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a member of the public live on the internet, West Midlands Police said this afternoon.

The arrest, on a motorway in the Birmingham areas, follows the arrests of eight men this morning.

Police suspect the alleged plot would have involved a victim being identified and, in a chilling echo of the British engineer Ken Bigley, forced to plead for his life before being beheaded.

The kidnapping could have resembled operations carried out by insurgents in Iraq, according to the sources, who allege that a young soldier with experience serving in Afghanistan had been identified as the target.

If the reports are true, this would be a major departure from previous Islamist attacks in the West, which have been characterised by co-ordinated explosions aimed at causing high numbers of casualties.

Members of the West Midlands Counter Terrorist Unit hit 12 addresses in a series of raids at 4am.

They included a bookshop, an internet cafe and a grocery store.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, said the arrests were a “major national operation”.

A man in his 20s, possibly the intended victim, was understood to be under police protection today.

40% of Young British Muslims Want Sharia - In Britain

A recent poll of UK Muslims' views has the following alarming - though not surprising - findings.

The Daily Mail: The doctrine of multi-culturalism has alienated an entire generation of young Muslims and made them increasingly radical, a report has found.

In stark contrast with their parents, growing numbers sympathise with extreme teachings of Islam, with almost four in ten wanting to live under Sharia law in Britain.

• [...] 13 per cent of young Muslims said they "admired" organisations such as Al Qaeda which are prepared to "fight the West".

• [...] While only 17 per cent of over-55s said they would prefer to live under Sharia law, that increased to 37 per cent of those aged 16 to 24.

• [...] If a Muslim converts to another religion, 36 per cent of 16-to-24-year-olds thought this should be punished by death, compared with 19 per cent of 55s and over.

• [...] According to the poll, 74 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 prefer Muslim women to wear the veil, compared with only 28 per cent of over 55s.

More on the same poll on the BBC: Analysis: Muslim political views