Cultural & social affairs Department OIC islamophobia Observatory Monthly Bulletin – February 2014 I. Manifestations of Islamophobia: 1. France: Mosques in Vandoeuvre and Pontarlier are attacked, while Islamophobic incidents continue to rise – The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reported that two mosques were attacked in the last week of January 2014. On the night of 28-29 January the Al Ihsan mosque and cultural centre in Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy suffered extensive damage – its doors were smashed and the administrative office completely ransacked. (The same mosque was targeted in September 2012, when the building was defaced with Kahanist graffiti.) The following night a mosque in Pontarlier was the victim of a far-right graffiti attack, with a swastika and an “SS” symbol sprayed in white paint on the doors. Earlier in the week Abdallah Zekri of the Observatoire contre l’Islamophobie stated that anti-Muslim incidents in France had increased by 11.3% in 2013, compared with the previous year. According to police records, 226 such incidents were reported, of which 164 were threats and 62 actions. Attacks on women wearing hijab were a feature of Islamophobia in 2013, Zekri noted, along with a sharp increase in anti- Muslim hate online. As Zekri pointed out, the figures underestimated the number of actual incidents, as most of them went unreported. Le Monde also noted that the figures produced by the Observatoire contre l’Islamophobie are much lower than those of the Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France. In 2012 the CCIF had recorded 469 Islamophobic incidents, while the Observatoire had identified only 201. In: http://www.islamophobiawatch.co.uk/france-mosques-in-vandoeuvre-and-pontarlier-are-attacked-while-islamophobic-incidents-continue-to-rise/#more- 28504, retrieved on 03.02.2014 2. Switzerland: Local Islamophobes use ‘mass immigration’ referendum to push anti-Muslim line – On 9 February the Swiss electorate were to vote in a referendum on a proposal to reintroduce immigration quotas. The initiative, “against mass immigration”, by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party had been gaining ground, with an opinion poll in January 2014 finding 43% support for the proposal, up 6% since December 2013. Le Temps reported that other right-wing forces backing the initiative had seized the opportunity to promote their own rabidly Islamophobic agenda. The Egerkingen Committee, which co-ordinated the successful campaign for a “yes” vote in the 2009 referendum over a proposed ban on minarets, was using the current anti-immigration campaign to denounce the threat of “creeping Islamisation”, warning against a “massive increase in the Muslim population” that would alter the “essence of Switzerland”. It had produced a poster that recycled the image of a woman wearing a full veil previously 1 used in the anti-minaret campaign and predicted that there would soon be a million Muslims in Switzerland. Daniel Zingg of the right-wing Protestant party the Federal Democratic Union recently declared at a press conference that Islam was not just a religion but “primarily a political system that is in opposition to our legal system”. He also advanced a theory according to which the number of Muslims determined the Islamisation of society. Zingg asserted that when Muslims made up 2-3% of the population, they begin to propagate their religion. From 4-5%, they begin to exert a “disproportionate influence” by demanding, for example, halal food. And when the number becomes greater, they attempt to gain the right to govern themselves according to Sharia. However, such Islamophobic progaganda had not proved universally popular among those campaigning for a “yes” vote in the immigration referendum. The Geneva Citizens’ Movement (Mouvement citoyens genevois – MCG) was unhappy with those developments, as one of its leading politicians, Mauro Poggia, was a convert to Islam. MCG president Roger Golay claimed that the party had never agreed that its logo should appear on the Egerkingen Committee’s anti-Muslim poster, and was campaigning for controls on immigration, not against Muslims as such. In: http://www.islamophobiawatch.co.uk/swiss-islamophobes-use-mass-immigration-referendum-to-push-anti-muslim-line/#more-28517, retrieved on 03.02.2014 3. Australia: Anti-Islamic group moves to stop mosque in Ballarat, Victoria – An anti-Islamic group was mobilizing against Ballarat’s first mosque. Restore Australia, which described Islam on its website as an “aggressive totalitarian political ideology”, planned to letterbox people in Ballarat to “mobilize people to write to the council” to oppose the building of a mosque at 116 Elsworth Street East in Ballarat. The Islamic Society of Ballarat had purchased the property and been granted a planning permit by the City of Ballarat. The planning permit required amendments to the original plan submitted by the Islamic Society, including changes to car parking to improve disability access and lighting. Restore Australia chief executive officer Mike Holt said supporters of the group in Ballarat were being organized to protest the building of the mosque. He said Islam was incompatible with the Australian way of life, as “Islam wants to bring in sharia law. It doesn’t matter (which branch of Islam) because they all believe in the same Islam, the same prophet Muhammad and the same God Allah…A mosque is the thin end of the wedge to Islamise our society. They build a mosque and then more Muslims move in. We’re opposing the mosque on the grounds of a lack of parking, traffic congestion, pollution, and that property prices in the area will come down because of its presence.” The Islamic Society of Ballarat estimated 65 Muslim families lived in Ballarat, while an additional 150 Muslims were students at Federation University. With no existing mosque in Ballarat, prayers were held at the university’s prayer room. The planned mosque would be large enough for 150 people to conduct their prayers. In: http://www.islamophobiawatch.co.uk/anti-islamic-group-moves-to-stop-mosque-in-ballarat-victoria/#more-28555, retrieved on 03.02.2014 4. Germany: Cologne Central Mosque attacked a third time – The Central Mosque in Cologne was attacked for the third consecutive time since 02 of February. In a written statement, the Religious Affairs Turkish Islamic Association said the assailant slammed a car into the door of the central mosque and tried to torch it throwing combustible material at the door of the conference hall of the mosque. The statement said that mosques in Hurth and Wesseling were also attacked on the same day. 2 The association severely condemned the attacks and commented that damage was inflicted to the building but their sole consolation was that there was no resulting loss of life. The association thanked vigilant eyewitnesses and Cologne-Ehrenfeld police who have apprehended a suspect within a short period of time. Greens Party MP and party’s Interior Policy Spokesman Volker Beck described it as a “shocking attack on democracy and freedom and said the one who torches worship places would not hesitate to kill people…solidarity must be observed within the Religious Affairs Turkish Islamic Association regardless of political and religious differences" and said that "all democrats should stand against this provocative attack on Islam. Muslims in Germany should know that we are with them to defend religious freedom.” In: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/128186/cologne-central-mosque-attacked-a-third-time, retrieved on 05.02.2014 5. US: Manteca Mosque Vandalized with Graffiti, Raw Bacon – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) asked the FBI to investigate a recent vandalism at a Manteca mosque as a hate crime. The Islamic Center of Manteca (California) was reportedly hit with spray-painted hateful messages. Vandals also apparently left behind strips of raw bacon. A statement from CAIR read: “Muslims are prohibited from consuming pork products and bigots often use pigs or pork to offend Muslim sensibilities.” Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Sacramento Valley chapter of CAIR, added that the Manteca mosque had been hit by vandals before, and “Because of the nature of the vandalism and the fact that the mosque has been targeted in the past, we urged state law enforcement authorities and the FBI to investigate this disturbing incident as a possible hate crime.” In: http://fox40.com/2014/02/04/manteca-mosque-vandalized-with-graffiti-raw-bacon/, retrieved on 05.02.2014 6. UK: Ukip MEP says British Muslims should sign charter rejecting violence – A Ukip MEP believed that British Muslims should sign a special code of conduct and warned that it was a big mistake for Europe to allow “an explosion of mosques across their land”. Gerard Batten, representing London and member of the party’s executive, told the Guardian on 04 February that he stood by a “charter of Muslim understanding”, which he commissioned in 2006. The document asked Muslims to sign a declaration rejecting violence and said parts of the Qur’an that promoted “violent physical Jihad” should be regarded as “inapplicable, invalid and non-Islamic”. Critics said his comments represent the “ugliest side of Ukip” and “overlap with the far-right”, in spite of the efforts of party leader Nigel Farage to create a disciplined election machine ahead of the European elections. Asked on the same day about the charter, Batten told the Guardian he had written it with a friend, who was an Islamic scholar, and could not see why “any reasonable, normal person” would object to signing it. Batten also repeated his view that some Muslim texts needed updating, claiming some said “kill Jews wherever you find them and various things like that”, adding: “If that represents the thinking of modern people, there’s something wrong, in which case maybe they need to revise their thinking.