Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa Subsaharan

Heavy Gunfire In Abuja As Nigerian Soldiers Shoot At Protesting Shiites

2025-03-30

[SaharaReporters] There is tension presently in the Wuse area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, over persistent gunshots as the Nigerian Army personnel attacked and shot at the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)

…Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky (and a number of other spellings), the former head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Nigeria, converted to Shi'ism after a visit to Iran and now is a fiery Iranian sock puppet. He founded the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), the Shiite version of the Muslim Brotherhood — only beholden to Iran. Nigeria declared IMN a terror group in 2019. ...

at the Banex Plaza.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, a source in the area said, "It's been a rain of sporadic shootings by the Nigerian Army around Austoma Petrol Station/ Banex Axis on Aminu Kano Cresent, Wuse 2, Abuja.

"Some parts of the road have been condoned to probably fish out the Islamic protesters that might be hiding around.

I had to abandon my car on the Ahmadu Bello/Aminu Kano Cresent Traffic light because of the shootings."

The clash occurred just hours after the United States Embassy in Nigeria issued a security alert, warning its citizens about planned IMN protests in Abuja and other major cities on Friday.

In the advisory, the US Embassy had cautioned that demonstrations could lead to disruptions such as roadblocks, traffic congestion, and possible confrontations.

"The Islamic Movement of Nigeria has called for demonstrations in Abuja and other major cities on Friday, March 28, 2025. Heavy traffic and other disruptions are possible. Based on past occurrences, protests may involve roadblocks, checkpoints, traffic congestion, and physical confrontations," the embassy had stated.

The security warning listed potential protest locations, including Banex Plaza, Berger Junction, Unity Fountain, the National Human Rights Commission Head Office, Eagle Square, Area 10 Shopping Plaza, the National Mosque, al-Noor Mosque, and Fouad Lababidi Mosque.

Hodhod Yemen News reports about their fellow Shiite clients of Iran:

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters have been killed and wounded as security forces opened fire on an International Quds Day demonstration in Nigeria’s capital city.

According to reports, at least 19 demonstrators were killed and dozens more wounded in Abuja on Friday.

Video footage of the scenes shows armed forces securing the perimeter as protestors flee for cover while bullet shots are heard. The footage also shows soldiers dragging the lifeless body of a civilian on the street and dumping it into a pickup while beating two other protesters and forcing them to get into another truck.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) had expressed concern over attacks against protesters after it was revealed that Nigerian authorities were making preparations in this regard as a pretext for an attack.

The Office of the National Security Adviser had stressed the necessity to stop the al-Quds day demonstration to “prevent a breach of the peace” by the pro-Palestinian protesters, according to a leaked internal letter seen by the IHRC.

In the leaked communique, Nigerian authorities had warned that though the pro-Palestinian demonstrations were peaceful, the protesters had the potential to seek justice by attacking US and Israeli interests in the country. Therefore, their demos must be stopped.

This method has been used by Nigeria’s pro-Israel officials in recent years to prompt the forces to stage a violent crackdown on the demonstrators.

At least one person was killed, and many more were injured after police opened fire on the Quds Day demo in Abuja in 2023.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

EU donated £140,000 to Khomeinist group that described zionism as a 'criminal enterprise'

2018-12-23

[Telegraph] A group awarded more than £140,000 of EU funding hosted a speaker who described Zionism as a global "criminal enterprise" that seeks control of "democratic rights".

Speaking a fortnight ago on a panel organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission,

... a non-profit based in London since 1997, the group has been described as “the most conspicuous promoter of Khomeini jihadism in the UK, ... [and] is said to be close to Iran.” They advocate for Sharia law, BDS, and Muslim prisoners, and are a key organizer of London’s annual Al Quds Day activities...

Ramon Grosfoguel, a Puerto Rican academic, said the state of Israel was an "extremist organization" that has the "audacity" to label Hamas, one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbung millipede, and Hezbollah, the holy warrior groups, as terrorist organizations.

Addressing the IHRC's conference in London, Prof Grosfoguel also claimed that "Zionists" were "encouraging the rise of extreme right new fascist

...anybody not a leftist...
groups".

The disclosure comes after The Sunday Telegraph revealed last week that the European Commission had signed off more than £140,000 in funding to the group.

The Telegraph can also disclose that the IHRC published a post on its website praising Omar Abdul Rahman, the krazed killer holy man convicted for conspiracy to levy a war of urban terrorism against the US.

In the 2013 post, while he was in prison, the holy man is described "a living example of courage and unshakable faith for the Moslem Ummah today."

The IHRC urged supporters to write to him during Ramadan, with a sample letter stating: "Your life is such an inspiration to me ‐ how you battled the challenges in your life to continue to struggle for what you believed in."

Last week The Sunday Telegraph disclosed that the European Commission had allocated more than £140,000 to the IHRC in 2016.

The group organises the annual Al Quds rally in London at which demonstrators call for the destruction of Israel.

The European Commission said last week that it was preparing to "terminate" its funding agreement based on allegations that the IHRC had "expressed anti-Semitic views."

Addressing the IHRC conference earlier this month, Prof Grosfoguel said: "The Israeli State is an krazed killer organization that practices and promotes terrorism.

But at the same time they have the audacity of declaring terrorist and anti-Semitic the same organization that resists their atrocities."

In a video of the event posted on the IHRC Facebook page, Prof Grosfoguel is seen describing Zionism as "a criminal enterprise that pretends to be normalised everywhere and that has the audacity to criminalise everybody who resists them."

He added: "There's a Zionist industry that has put together a global institutional framework to put things upside down and make us believe that what they're doing is defensive and resisting the terrorists.

"In the process of shaping the institutional framework to criminalise critics of Israel and to criminalise support to the resistance, they are contributing to the elimination of basic democratic rights in the west and encouraging the rise of extreme right new fascist groups."

Dave Rich, head of policy at the Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, said: "This speech evokes classical antisemitic conspiracy theories, with its talk of global Zionist frameworks and lobbies controlling what people think, and it does so to encourage people to support terrorist groups that are banned in this country. It is yet another example of the IHRC's extremism."

He added that it was "appalling" that the European Commission had agreed to fund the IHRC. Fiyaz Mughal, director of Faith Matters, a counter-extremism group, said it was "disgusting" that the IHRC's website contained a "fawning" message about Abdul Rahman.

He said: "How can this convict who wanted to destroy innocent lives, masquerading as a Sheikh, produce anything but revulsion in anyone for his collusion in a major terrorist plot? "

Link

Britain

Hezbollah supporters call for Israel’s annihilation at London rally

2017-06-19

[IsraelTimes] A few hundred people marched down Regent Street, behind the Paleostinian and Hezbollah terror flag, before staging a sit-down protest on Oxford Street.

Hezbollah and Paleostine supporters staging a sit-down protest brought part of central London to a standstill on Sunday afternoon. A few hundred people marched down Regent Street, behind the Paleostinian and Hezbollah terror flag, before sitting down at the junction with Oxford Street shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday.

Many carried banners with messages including "Boycott Israel", "Freedom for Paleostine" and "Zionism = racism".

The demonstration wound its way through the capital’s retail heart, which was busy with shoppers. A man on a loudspeaker led the protesters in chants of "Free Paleostine".

One speaker then blamed the devastating In Grenfell Tower fire, which has left at least 58 people dead, on Israel supporters. Addressing the crowd at Grosvenor Square, he said: "Many innocents were murdered by Theresa May’s cronies ‐ many of which are supporters of Zionist ideologies. Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party."

A counter protest, organised by Jewish groups including the Zionist Federation, was also held nearby, featuring speakers from the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, Zionist Federation, and other communal groups.

Speaking to Jewish News after addressing the counter-demonstration in Grosvenor Square, Matthew Offord MP condemned the flying of Hezbollah flags in Central London.

He said: "There are Hezbollah flags being flown. When they were flown in 2015, outside Number 10, I spoke with the then Home Secretary who agreed with me, that as Hezbollah is proscribed under the Terrorism Act, they should not be doing so.

"The Police have a different legal opinion, and they feel that the political wing of Hezbollah is different from the paramilitary wing, and as such they allow them to do so.".

Addressing what action he think can be taken, Offord, who was re-elected in Hendon two weeks ago, said: "I’m going to continue to press the new HS to have this proscribed under the terrorism act, so that Hezbollah flags, as with ISIS flags, should not be flown on the streets of London."

Simon Johnson of the Jewish Leadership Council said they’d "already made this representation in our annual meetings with the Prime Minister, for each of the last two years" with regards to the flying of Hezbollah flags.

He added: "I am convinced we’ve been caught in a bit of a civil service paralysis. It’s been kicked around from department to department. Now that we’ve suffered terrible terrorist outrages in this country ‐ surely now is the time to be able to ban the flag of Hezbollah.

"This is a terrorist flag. Hezbollah are a terrorist organization. There is enough evidence of it and it really is time [to ban it]."

He welcomed Matthew Offord’s support to take more action, before saying: "We’re going to make these steps formally to the Prime Minister, the Home Office and the Foreign Office".

In the lead up to Al Quds Day, more than 15,000 petitioned Sadiq Khan, urging him to stop the march from taking place. Asked whether the Mayor of London had done enough, Johnson said: "It’s not his remit [to ban it], but it is in his remit to work with the Metropolitan Police to ban marches like this. I think his response to this has been disappointing. I think he could have taken more action on this. They [the Met Police] didn’t need to agree to a march. it could have been a static demonstration. That would have been perfectly proper and appropriate, and a guarantee of free speech for all sides. The fact they agreed for it to be a march was an easy way out for them."

Interestingly, an earlier brief article in The Times of Israel described the situation thusly:

Thousands of people are gathered in London to take part in an annual rally to mark Al Quds Day. Organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, the rally is billed as an event that "unites for the freedom of the oppressed in Paleostine and beyond."

Whether it's a few hundred or a few thousand, that pales in comparison to the 15,000 who support Israel. Fascinating.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Nigeria plans to attack Shias during Arba’een ceremonies: IMN

2016-11-09

[Iran Press TV] The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) says it has received information that the Nigerian army plans to attack processions scheduled for the mourning rituals of Arba’een.

The group’s front man, Ibrahim Musa, said on Tuesday that military intelligence officers had told the IMN that the attacks will be launched against processions scheduled for November 20 that marks 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission has called on Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the safety of mourners taking part in the procession.

Last month, at least 20 people were killed and several others injured when Nigerian forces shot up Shia mourners commemorating Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him).

The Nigerian state of Kaduna also banned the IMN as the state crackdown against the Moslem community continues.

In December 2015, Nigerian forces raided the house of the IMN’s leader Shia Moslem holy man Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky and tossed in the clink
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
him after killing those attempting to protect him, including one of the movement's big shots and its front man.

The raid occurred a day after Nigerian soldiers attacked Shia Moslems attending a ceremony at a religious center in the city of Zaria, accusing them of blocking the convoy of the army’s chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him.

On August 1, the Islamic Human Rights Commission released a report, saying the Nigerian army killed 348 Shia Moslems during the attack on the religious ceremony.

Link

Britain

British Secy. May calls on Muslims to respect UK values

2015-03-24

[Iran Press TV] The UK Home Secretary, Theresa May has urged British Moslems to help deal with extremism, saying the country must not tolerate citizens who fail to respect its values.

May also noted that British freedoms come with "responsibilities."

Her comments came with the unveiling of a broad approach to tackling extremism in the UK. May said while extremism exists in racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia, "Islamic extremism" is the greatest threat to the country, RT reported.

"We are free to practice any faith, follow any religious denomination, or ignore religion altogether," she told an audience in central London.
Other deranged pleadings follow.
"We are free to wear whatever clothes we choose. We are free to establish our own faith schools and give our sons and daughters the best education possible. We are free to build our own churches, temples and mosques and worship freely," she said.

Now, the head of research of the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in London, Arzu Merali believes such comments only demonize Moslems in the country.

"Unfortunately Theresa May, The British Home Secretary's comments today, are the latest in the lined out speeches, comments, commentaries by politicians of high ranks," She told Press TV's UK Desk in a Monday interview.

"It creates the idea in the general public's mind that Moslems have an inherent feeling of violence and hatred towards the majority of the society and this has been amplified right now because we are in the run-up to the general election."
It's not simply an idea, it's reality.
Merali said, "These kinds of accusations are not only false, but very dangerous because it is creating an enormous climate of hatred."

This is while the UK home secretary warned of growing levels of "Islamic extremism" spreading throughout the country, citing examples of the Trojan Horse plot to take over Birmingham schools and allegations of hard boy ideas being promulgated in schools.

Link

Terror Networks

Takfiris stooges to incite division, Islamophobia: Analyst

2014-07-01

[Iran Press TV] Takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
terrorist groups operating in the Middle East are enemy stooges to sow discord among Mohammedans and incite Islamophobia
...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do...
across the globe, a political analyst tells Press TV.

"These groups have been created, supported and financed by outsiders of our religion for two reasons. One to divide the community and Mohammedan community and secondly is for creating such a bad image of Mohammedans as a wholeÃ¢ÂÂ¦," said Massoud Shadjareh, head of the Islamic Human Rights Commission from Tehran, in a Monday interview.

"I am in no doubt that this was created to serve the purpose of Israelis and those who actually want to create havoc in the area," he noted.

The analyst argued that the Takfiri snuffies are in fact listening to the "call for Jihad of the White House" and said, "That is why you do not see any of them going to fight in Paleostine or Myanmar or Kashmire or Central Africa."

"If that sort of effort was put into any of these other areas, especially Myanmar and Central Africa, then thousands of Mohammedans would not have been slaughtered the way that they are being," Shadjareh added.

Over the recent years, several Mohammedan countries, including Iraq, Syria, Leb, Pakistain, Afghanistan and Nigeria have become the scenes of atrocious crimes against humanity by Takfiri terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL), al-Nusra Front, Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade, etc.

Link

Britain

Veiled Muslima Ordered Off Jury

2012-03-21

A Mohammedan woman was barred from serving on a jury yesterday because she refused to remove her veil.

In an extraordinary ruling, a judge said she could not sit on an attempted murder trial because her full face covering, known as the niqab, concealed her expressions.

The woman was about to take the oath in the case at Blackfriars Crown Court in London when the judge interrupted to ask if she was prepared to remove the garment which covered her whole face, apart from a narrow slit through which her eyes could be seen. Judge Aidan Marron QC, said it was 'desirable' that her face was 'exposed' during the trial and asked her to remove the veil.

When she refused she was told to stand down and a white male member of the jury pool was sworn in in her place.

In the presence of the rest of the jury, Judge Marron said: 'I wonder whether I can address the lady who is veiled. Would you prefer not to remove your veil in this particular case?'

The woman, who was wearing western clothing including a fitted grey jacket, replied: 'Yes.'

Judge Marron added: 'I entirely understand that, but in this particular case it is desirable that your face is exposed, so I'm going to invite you to stand down. I hope you understand.'

The ruling, which is thought to be one of the first of its kind in Britannia, has sparked outrage.

Yesterday Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: 'This is totally unacceptable. I really can't understand why facial expressions could have any impact on the judge, the judgment or anyone else in a trial. It has no relevance. I'm speechless that you can exclude someone on the basis of the way that they dress. It's very worrying that a judge is being prejudiced against women wearing a veil.'

Official guidelines state that veils can be worn in court although senior judges should decide on a case-by-case basis.

In 2007, the Judicial Studies Board's equal treatment advisory committee said Mohammedan women should be permitted to wear the garment as long as it did not interfere with the administration of justice. The guidelines said: 'Each situation should be considered individually in order to find the best solution in each case.'

It also says forcing a woman to choose between participating in a court case and removing the veil could have a 'significant impact on that woman's sense of dignity', and could serve to 'exclude and marginalise' her.

The rules say a judge may wish to consider excusing jurors in niqabs if a challenge is made by one of the parties, provided there is a genuine basis for the objection. The guidance followed a case at an immigration court in Stoke-on-Trent in 2006 where the judge, George Glossop, ordered an adjournment because he was having difficulty hearing legal executive Shabnam Mughal.

In 2007, a Mohammedan female juror who was accused of listening to a hidden stereo under her headscarf was cleared of contempt of court when the Attorney General's office ruled there was insufficient evidence. Ruhela Khanom, 20, faced a possible unlimited jail term for allegedly listening to her MP3 player while a defendant was giving evidence.

Link

Britain

Far-right groups threaten to disrupt al-Quds Day march in London

2010-09-03

IRNA -- The Jewish Defence League (JDL) and far-right groups are again planning to disrupt this Saturday's annual Quds Day march in London, the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has warned.

Last year's march to express solidarity with the Palestinians and other oppressed people around the world was marked in the British capital by confrontations with counter-demonstrators including the English Defence League (EDL) and pro-Zionist groups.

"The growing alliance between apologists for Israel and far-right extremists like the EDL, now regularly witnessed at pro-Palestinian events, is of growing concern to all supporters of Palestinians in this country," said IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh.

Link

Britain

The thin blue line of jihad

2010-01-22

The Telegraph reports that the National Association of Muslim Police has attacked government policy on countering Islamic extremism. In evidence to a parliamentary committee investigating Islamic extremism, the NAMP attacked

the Government's anti-terrorism strategy, warning that it is an 'affront to British values' which threatens to trigger ethnic unrest... that ministers were wrong to blame Islam for being the 'driver' behind recent terrorist attacks. Far-Right extremists were a more dangerous threat to national security... that Muslims were being 'stigmatised' by the Government's attempts to tackle terrorism, which was adding to 'hatred' against entire communities.

...The memorandum warned that Muslims were subjected to 'daily abuse' due to the strategy. 'We must not diminish our British values further by continuing to allow such behaviour and policies to continue unchecked.'

This is an extremely alarming development.

First, a general point. The very idea that police officers form themselves into interest groups of any stripe whatever should be anathema to the ethic of policing. That applies equally to Black, Gay, Jewish or One-Legged Transgendered Red-Haired Police associations.

I'm in love with the person who wrote that sentence. Yum! On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with a group of Jewish police persons encouraging members of their synagogues to apply to the police academy instead of the London School of Economics or King's College's English department.

Police officers should serve the entire community equally, and should have no agenda but that professional commitment of equal public service to all. The idea that they identify themselves as an interest group is simply wrong, and the police service should never have allowed this to develop.

The memorandum by the National Association of Muslim Police, however, is of a different order of magnitude altogether.

To take their least serious point first: the idea that there is no Islamic threat and that the real threat to Britain comes from the 'far right' is demonstrably ludicrous. The 'far right' poses no threat to Britain other than some low-level thuggery. The Islamist threat to Britain is very great indeed. Dozens of Islamist plots aimed at murdering thousands of people have been thwarted, and the security service say between 2000 and 4000 British Muslims are radicalised to potential acts of terrorism. This terrorism is part of a global holy war being waged in the name of Islam. While many British Muslims support neither the aims nor the tactics of this holy war, an insupportable number do. For Muslim police officers to deny this is extremely disturbing. It means they have bought into the radical narrative of systematic denial and deceit.

But the NAMP went much, much further than this. They attacked government policy; worse, they attacked government policy aimed at protecting the lives and safety of British citizens; worse still, they suggested that British Muslims should resist that policy, and implicitly threatened disorder if it were not changed.

Let us pinch ourselves: these are British police officers, subject to the same disciplinary and professional codes as any other police officers. Yet their call for action to 'check' counter-terrorism policy, and the implicit threat of violence if it is not so checked, suggests that rather than helping form the line of defence against the Islamist threat, these police officers must be considered to be part of that threat.

On its website, moreover, NAMP recommends that British Muslims reporting crimes should also 'report any such actions to the Islamic Human Rights Commission'. Let's think about the implications of this for a moment. The IHRC is an extremist organisation with links to Iran. The NAMP is therefore advising British Muslims to use an extreme Iran-linked Islamic jihadi front organisation, which threatens the security of this nation, as a parallel law enforcement mechanism in Britain. The attempt to set up parallel Islamic institutions and jurisdiction in Britain is a core element of the Islamist attempt to suborn and take over this country.

The irony of this frightening situation is extreme. The government has bent over backwards to avoid associating Islam with terrorism. In an attempt to peel moderate Muslims away from the radicals, it has poured more than £140 million a year into 'moderate' Muslim groups. It has positively fallen over itself to encourage the recruitment of Muslim police officers in the belief that that this would persuade British Muslims that the government had no problem with them, only with the radicals in their midst. Yet these are precisely the policies which the NAMP claims have led to 'hatred against Muslims' which 'has grown to a level that defies all logic and is an affront to British values'.

Thus the fruits of appeasement. Rather than taming jihadi extremism in Britain, the cowardice of politicians has merely resulted in fracturing the thin blue line that protects us -- and turning it into a potential weapon of the jihad.

Link

Britain

Muslims in jailed teacher protest

2007-12-02

British Muslims protested outside the Sudanese Embassy over the treatment of jailed teacher Gillian Gibbons. The small but noisy group demanded the immediate release of Mrs Gibbons, who is currently serving a 15-day prison sentence in Sudan after her class of seven-year-olds named a teddy bear Mohammed.

Chanting "free, free Gillian" and "let her go, let her go", demonstrators attempted to hand over a "goodwill teddy" to the embassy, but a staff member refused to accept the gift. Some 20 British Muslims, including MP for Tooting Sadiq Khan and chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission Massoud Shadjareh, gathered outside the Sudanese embassy in Piccadilly. Leaders of the protest said they wanted to show that British Muslims supported Mrs Gibbons. Some arrived with their own teddy bears.

The protest followed angry scenes in Khartoum on Friday in which knife-wielding fundamentalists called for the execution of Mrs Gibbons. At the London demonstration, Catherine Heseltine, a 28-year teacher and member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, condemned the action of hard-line Islamists. She said: "They are dragging the name of Islam through the mud. The overwhelming feeling in the Muslim community in the UK is that it is really sad the way Gillian Gibbons has been treated. I haven't met a single British Muslim who has taken the naming of the teddy to be an insult."

Mr Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "I find it offensive that Islam is being used in this way by the Sudanese government and the media. "It is totally unacceptable by the Sudanese government and the press are trying to make this into another cartoon or a Salmon Rushdie issue."

Link

Britain

UK schools allowed to ban veils

2007-03-21

Britain on Tuesday gave school headteachers the right to ban the Muslim veil or other religious clothing from classrooms, but the move was immediately branded shocking by a Muslim leader. A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills stressed that the new guidelines did not mean that the government was imposing a blanket ban on religious clothing at schools.

The guidelines require schools to consult with the local community, including students parents, before deciding on a uniform policy, and note that, where possible, they should be tolerant of religious dress. However, certain items of clothing, such as the full-face veil, or niqab, may be banned if headteachers believe that they hamper safety, security or learning, so long as a consultation is carried out. Schools must act reasonably in accommodating religious requirements, providing they do not pose a threat to security, safety and learning, or compromise the well-being of the whole school community, said the guidelines.

Where individual requirements have an impact in any of these areas, schools are within their rights to take appropriate action, the said, adding that they must consult parents and the local community. Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, voiced dismay at the new rules.

Link

Olde Tyme Religion

Muslims angry at 'bad guy' images

2007-01-26

Popular films ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to childrens cartoons are depicting crude and exaggerated stereotypes of Muslims and perpetuating Islamophobia, The Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting a study.

A report by the Islamic Human Rights Commission argues that films as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, the Disney film Aladdin and the British comedy East is East have helped demonise Muslims as violent, dangerous and threatening, and reinforce prejudices, the newspaper report says.

While The Siege is attacked for inter-cutting Islamic ritual and terrorist violence, potentially linking the two in the minds of audiences, Aladdin faces criticism for depicting Arabs as ruthless caricatures with exaggerated and ridiculous accents.

The study, titled The British media and Muslim representation: the ideology of demonisation, argues that Hollywood has a crucial role in influencing how the public views Muslims. A survey conducted as part of the research revealed that Muslims in Britain felt negative images of their faith on the big and small screen had consequences in their daily lives. Those interviewed found a direct correlation between media portrayal and their social experiences of exclusion, hatred, discrimination and violence.

As well as deep unease with big screen portrayals, the research also found a perception of unashamed bias in the media against Muslims, with 62 percent believing the media to be Islamophobic and 16 percent describing it as racist. Only 4 percent considered its representation fair.

The authors call for more power for cinema censors to be able to curtail or even decline certification of objectionable material, as well as more effective media watchdogs and increased responsibility in coverage of issues involving Muslims on the part of newspapers and television. The report, part of a series produced by the commission - a research and campaigning body - with the backing of the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust, is significant in that it seeks to provide a direct voice for the Muslim community in Britain.

Massoud Shadjareh, spokesman for the commission, said: Rather than guess what the Muslim communitys needs and aspirations are, it actually comes from the community itself rather than organisations that represent it.

Link

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