Cultural & social affairs Department OIC islamophobia Observatory Monthly Bulletin – March 2013 I. Manifestations of Islamophobia: 1. France: Mosque in Alsace is sent letter containing ham – The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reported that a mosque at Mulhouse, in Alsace, was the victim of an Islamophobic act earlier in the last week of February 2013. Exactly as happened at Meximieux in the previous month, officials at the place of worship were mailed an envelope containing ham. The CCIF added that, as was also the case with the Meximieux mosque, this was not the first time that the Mulhouse mosque had been targeted in an act of hatred. About a year ago more than 70 nails were found along the front of the building where worshippers usually park their cars. When Daoui Hanafi, president of the mosque, attempted to file a complaint, the police refused to register it and only agreed to record a statement. In this latest incident, on collecting the post from the mosque’s mailbox Mr Hanafi found a yellow envelope, stamped and addressed to the As-Salam mosque. Inside was a plastic bag containing the pork. This time, he was able to file a complaint with the police. At Meximeux, by contrast, in identical circumstances, the police argued that no offence had been committed and refused to register a complaint. In addition to being the target of repeated attacks, and both receiving a letter containing pork, there was a third common feature that connected these two mosques, namely that they had faced the reluctance of the authorities to take threats to their places of worship seriously. The CCIF asked whether French Muslims were to be treated as second class citizens, who were to be denied the recognition and protection due to any victim under the law. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/mosque-in-alsace-is-sent-letter-containing-ham.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 2. Australia: Sydney suburb bombarded with anti-Muslim literature – Residents had been bombarded with an anonymous anti-Islamic letter drop, protesting against the proposed development of 150 houses by Qartaba Homes in Riverstone and Schofields. Rivo Respect, Responsibility & Recognition founders Danielle Fragomeli and Carroline Parkes said hundreds of flyers titled “Future of Riverstone a Muslim enclave”, as well as an eight-page booklet titled “Islam Aggressive Religion, Totalitarian Political System” had been distributed. The pair said the letter-drop had caused panic among some community members. Qartaba Homes director Wajahat Rana played down the impact of the flyers, saying the issue was settling down, adding: “We are not worried about these anonymous flyers as we have had good discussions with the local Chamber of Commerce and a community group…We are a business, not an Islamic organisation, and the people who are doing this are ignorant and trying to portray a bad reputation for Riverstone by using scare-mongering tactics which will consequently have a poor economic outlook for Riverstone.” Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders, also referred to the “Muslim enclave in Riverstone” during his speeches in Sydney in the last week of February 2013. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/sydney-suburb-bombarded-with-anti-muslim-literature.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 1 3. Russia: Moscow mayor says no to more mosques in the city – The Mayor of Moscow said there were no plans to build a new mosque in the city, and said the “excessive” number of economic migrants was a “harmful thing”. Sergey Sobyanin said in an interview with Moscow’s Echo radio: “It has turned out that the praying Muslims are not at all Russian citizens and they are not Moscow residents. They are labor migrants. There are only 10 percent of Moscow residents among them and building mosques for everyone who wants it – I think this will be over the top.” In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2013/3/1/moscow-mayor-says-no-to-more-mosques-in-the-city.html, retrieved on 02.03.2013 4. Norway: Far-rightists Profile Muslims – Resorting to Nazis tactics, a Norwegian anti-Islam group had published a list of Muslim companies and organization in the western European country, a list that had only been made once before in Norway by Nazis to profile Jews in the past century. LIM Network (Equality, Integration, Diversity) wrote in a message published on Facebook and cited by The Nordic Page magazine on Saturday (2nd March): “NDL has made a list of Muslim organizations in Norway and companies run by people with Muslim names…We cannot see that this has something with “Islam criticism” to do.” The list had been published by Norwegian Defence League (NDL) had been compiled on the basis of listings in the Public Entity Registry. Lars Johnny Aardal, deputy leader of the NDL, said that it was published “to show the extent of Islam and Muslims in Norway.” NDL wrote in the prologue of the list: “The list is far from complete, and a longer list can be prepared with multiple keywords or keyword changes we have used…We have only included entries under the keywords “Islam, Kurdish, Turkish, Muslim, Iranian, Iraqi, Somali, Pakistani, Arabic, Mohammed, Ali and Hussein.” The list drew criticism to the Norwegian anti-Islamic group, closely associated with the English Defence League (EDL). LIM Network added in its Facebook message: “Such lists based on religious affiliation evokes unpleasant historical associations, and is likely to cause fear and hostility between groups in society…We, as followers of a peaceful and tolerant multi-ethnic society, react and stand together against all forms of extremism.” The NDL was formed around New Year 2010/2011, inspired by the EDL which had been formed in 2009. The name of the far-right group hit the news in 2011 connected with anti-Islam mass killer Anders Behring Breivik who killed at least 76 people in twin attacks on a government building and a youth training camp in Oslo. In: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/europe/461599-norway-far-rightists-profile-muslims.html, retrieved on 03.03.2013 5. UK: BNP member calls for Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre to be burnt down – A BNP member is being investigated by police after calling for a South Wales mosque to be burnt down. Joshua Wren, a BNP member from the Swansea area posted a photograph last night of the Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre on his Facebook page adding “Burn down this devil centre”. Wren removed the photograph later, but not before Hope not Hate took a screengrab and reported the matter to South Wales Police. In: http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia- watch/2013/3/4/bnp-member-calls-for-swansea-mosque-islamic- community-centre.html, retrieved on 05.03.2013 2 6. US: Two Perham exchange students are kicked out of church – Two exchange students, Elshan Mirzazade, from Azerbaijan, and Fikri Rahmat, from Indonesia, attending school in Perham, Minnesota said they were kicked out of a church there when they questioned a nationally known speaker who said “Islam equals terrorism”. The boys were kicked out of the Assembly of God church in Perham during a question answer period following a speech by Walid Shoebat, who says he is a former terrorist, and claimed to be an anti-terrorism expert, calling Islam the devil and touring the US speaking to churches and schools - even collecting fees from Homeland Security. CNN had exposed Shoebat, calling him a fraud. In: http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/76361/, retrieved on 06.03.2013 7. US: AIPAC gives its seal of approval to Islamophobe Steven Emerson – The annual Israel lobby confab had once again put its seal of approval on Islamophobia. A key member of what had been termed the “Islamophobia network” appeared Sunday (3rd March) at an officially scheduled session at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual conference. Steven Emerson, the head of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, had been a lead pusher of anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. since the 1990s. On that day afternoon, he led a session at AIPAC titled “The Threat From Within: Islamic Radicalism in the United States.” Here’s the description, taken from AIPAC’s website: Islamic extremists operating within the United States pose a serious risk to America’s security. Acts of domestic terrorism, as well as various attacks that have been thwarted by intelligence agencies and law enforcement, point to the severity of the threat. What can and should the United States do to combat these homegrown radicals? Emerson, who had given testimony to Congress, also appeared at AIPAC’s conference in 2012, where he spoke on a similar topic. There was evidence that had come out in recent years about “Islamic extremists” in the United States pointing to the conclusion that Emerson’s session likely hyped the threat. The latest study released by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina revealed that only 14 American Muslims last year were indicted for violent terror plots. That was a decline from the 21 Muslim Americans indicted in 2011. What was more, almost all of the plots from 2012 involved undercover agents and informants. Critics had called plots egged on by undercover agents entrapment, and many of the plots involved law enforcement agents targeting young, unemployed and/or mentally ill Muslims. Unbiased evidence, though, was not a concern to Emerson, who had been pushing anti-Muslim politics since before the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 1991, the New York Times called one of Emerson’s books “anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian.” One of his most infamous moments came in the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing.