Vandals daub swastikas and racist slogans on Jewish and Muslim graves in Austria

Vandals daubed swastikas and anti-migrant slogans on Muslim and Jewish graves over the weekend in western Austria. The perpetrators targeted the graves and building of a Jewish cemetery in the town of Hohenems, near the Swiss border. Police sources confirmed that swastikas appeared on its walls. Swastikas and racist graffiti also appeared at a Muslim cemetery in the nearby municipality of Altach. Police are linking this case to an earlier spate of vandalism against a refugee hostel and Jewish museum two weeks ago. Swastikas appeared on walls of the Jewish district, including the Jewish museum. The phrase “Stop the asylum flood” appeared on a refugee hostel. Hohenems mayor, Richard Amman, had recently received a letter from far-right extremists. He is also in a legal battle over the disputed mayoral elections with a candidate from the far-right Freedom Party (FPO). The FPO had claimed victory with 43.3 per cent; but a runoff secured Amman’s election with the smallest of margins. Back in Feburary, swastikas were daubed on the walls of a Vienna mosque,  as Austria prepared for its official Pegida-inspired march. Other recent incidents of Islamophobia and antisemitsm in Austria included an assault on two Jewish men, which included shouts of [...]

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The Only Extremists We See Are the ‘Britain First’ Sympathisers Here

What would you do if a small group of Christian volunteers put up a stall, in the inimitable style of us Brits, and decided to break down barriers of understanding so that people could understand Christianity more? It’s the kind of thing that happens up and down our country with no problems. Now what if

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Who Says This Work is Abuse Free? Mona Chalabi Highlights Key Issues

Mona Chalabi’s BBC documentary titled, ‘Is Britain Racist‘, was a fascinating insight into prejudice and the ways that different races and faith groups are affected by racism and prejudice. We had the pleasure of advising the producers in sending a Niqab wearing female to Dudley, to see what reactions this would elicit, if she walked on

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Scholar’s corner: how do Abul A’la Maududi and Fazlur Rahman position Jews and Christians in the Quran?

Dr. Imam Mamadou Bocoum is a holder of two Masters and a PhD from The Muslim College, and Heythrop College, University of London. He is a lecturer in Islamic Studies; a Board member of the Muslim Law Council UK and an interfaith consultant. He is currently a consultant at Faith Matters and Tell Mama. Mamadou has authored a number of written works which have included: The Position of Jews and Christians in the Qur’an; Faith and Citizenship in Islam; The status of Women in Islam; Islamic Fundamentalism and the Qur’an. He can be reached at mbocoum@yahoo.com; Mamadou@tellmamauk.org. Jews and Christians are referred to as Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book), and are characterised in the Qur’an as those to whom divine revelations have been given prior to the advent of Islam. The Qur’anic reference Ahl al-Kitab indicates that they possess divine scriptures in much the same way Muslims do. The term Ahl al-Kitab made 32 appearances in the Qur’an. Some Muslims, however, and a number of Muslim commentators mainly with a literalistic reading of the Qur’an, argue that Muslims should have nothing to do with the Ahl al-Kitab. The latter, some Muslims argue, should convert to Islam because their religions [...]

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Family seek hate crime charge against white supremacist accused of killing Iranian-American Shayan Mazroei

The family of murdered Iranian-American engineering student Shayan Mazroei, 22, want authorities to consider it a hate crime. Craig Tanber, a white supremacist gang member allegedly stabbed Mazroei outside a California bar on September 7. Given his gang links and ideology, the family’s attorney Neama Rahmani wants a closer look at Taber’s motive. “Our clients lost their only child to a heinous act of racism and violence,” said Neama Rahmani of West Coast Trial Lawyers, the law firm representing the Mazroei family. “We will not rest until we obtain justice against those responsible for Shayan’s tragic death.” Witnesses claim that the suspect’s girlfriend described Mazroei as a ‘terrorist’ and said “f—ing Iranians” before Tanber attacked him. Investigators are not convinced that race was a motivating factor. “It’s not even close to have enough evidence to charge it as a hate crime. It is a murder, it is charged as a murder,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin. Shayan’s mother Shahzad Mazroei could not hide her tears at a recent press conference. A source told the New York Daily News that she had flown back from Iran after learning of his murder. She has lost her son, a promising student [...]

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David Jones – UKIP Supporter & Avid Tweeter

David Jones (@DavidJo52951945), has over 23,000 Twitter followers and regards himself as a UKIP supporter. A regular tweeter, he has built up a following on the back of his anti-migration and anti-EU tweets. The description on his avatar on Twitter says: “UK government have abandoned Brits. We need to exit EU, ECHR, stop all immigration

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Britain First supporters boycott H&M over its use of Muslim model

H&M’s latest new fashion campaign ‘Close the loop‘ has drawn the ire of Britain First supporters. The source of their indignation is a Muslim model named Mariah Idrissi. Britain First concluded that ‘As the number of Muslims in Britain increases, so will their prominence in the media’. Though that logic presents a flaw, as Ms Idrissi told Fusion “It always feels like women who wear hijab are ignored when it comes to fashion.” Nor did Britain First inform supporters that the campaign also features a diverse cast: from an amputee model, to plus-sized models, and a group of Sikh men. Funny that. So why the single focus? Forget H&M or Mariah Idrissi for a moment. It is not about that. The story serves a wider purpose – to play on the insecurities individuals hold towards Muslims in Britain. A variety of comments called for boycott of H&M. Others opined that ‘Islam belongs in the desert away from the civilised world’. One user wrote that ‘I’m SICK of turning on the tv and seeing Muslims on it. I don’t pay a licence to see that sort of vermin’. To stray from a perceived notion of cultural identity invokes bigoted, racist, and [...]

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‘House Muslims’ is just as bad as ‘House N……’.

There are those on Twitter who think that they are fighting the good fight against racism and who shout Islamophobia at the slightest drop of a hat, thereby devaluing the word. The moral guardians of the Internet, these individuals are mainly aged between 20-35 and who spend their time on Twitter railing against prejudice and

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IS Executes Ten People in Syria for Being Gay

IS have supposedly killed 10 people it accused of being gay, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.  The killings were committed yesterday, Monday, in northern Syria. The executions included the murder of 9 adults and one boy whom IS accused of being involved in homosexuality. The Observatory suggested that the killings were conducted in […]

Britain First – Fighting Over a Packet of Sweets

Just when you thought that this could be a very late April fools, sadly, it turns out that it was much worse than that. The group that brought you slogans like ‘Taking Britain Back‘, have managed to wage a campaign that has left many people startled and others stating that change must start at the

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