Man threatened to ‘ram’ Muslim woman onto London Underground tracks

British Transport Police are investigating an anti-Muslim incident on the London Underground after a man threatened to ‘ram’ a Muslim woman onto the tracks.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted us hours after the incident to report the incident.

She was waiting on the platform when a man approached, slamming his bags down next to her, with a can of alcohol in one hand, said, “what are you looking at me like that for?”.

Ignoring the question, the man is said to have muttered other comments. His next question to her concerned whether she was English or not. Again, she ignored him.

The verbal abuse continued when the man approached her. He added that ‘her type’ love to play the ‘victim’. Pointing to her headscarf, he asked her what her type is and then told her to ‘f*** off’.

When she repeated his question about her type back at him, the man then made his threat. He told her: “Don’t test me or I’ll ram you onto the tracks.” She challenged this statement, suggesting that he would not. The abuse then increased as the man replied: “who the f*** do you think I am? I’ve done the same to your P*** brothers”.

Again, the woman calmly challenged his race hate, having told him: “How do you know I am a P***?” to which he again threatened to ‘ram’ her onto the tracks. She again challenged this statement, suggesting that he would not.

The man boarded the next train as the woman had attempted to film him.

He is described as white, around 5’10, carrying a black hold-all, and spoke with a ‘northern’ accent.

In our 2016 annual report, 13 per cent of cases took place on the transport network (n=85), and in broader terms, the report again points to the gendered nature of abuse, where victims were often Muslim women in Islamic clothing, and where identifiable, perpetrators were often male.

You can get advice through our confidential and free helpline on 0800 456 1226. Or through our free iOS or Android apps. Report through our online form. Or contact us via WhatsApp on 0734 184 6086.

 

 

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Categories: hate crime, London Underground, News, TFL

Expect more war, hunger and extremism in 2018 – report

Humanitarian crises around the world will worsen next year, with no let-up in civil wars in Africa, near-famines in war-torn regions and the threat of extremist Islamist violence, a Geneva-based think-tank predicted in a report published on Thursday.
The report by ACAPS, a non-profit venture that supports humanitarian aid workers with daily monitoring and analysis of 150 countries, examined the anticipated needs of 18 countries in 2018 and found little to cheer.
“If 2017 did not look good, predictions for 2018 are no better: violence and insecurity are likely to deteriorate in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia, and Syria next year,” ACAPS director Lars Peter Nissen wrote in the report.
Next year Ethiopia will join northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen as places at risk of famine, said the report, entitled “Humanitarian Overview: An analysis of key crises into 2018”.
Rather than bringing stability, the prospect of elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and Venezuela is expected to exacerbate tensions and fuel violence.
Death and conflict
Islamic extremism will also continue to cause death and conflict, the report said.
Despite the defeat of Islamic State in its main strongholds in Iraq, the group is expected to continue improvised attacks throughout the country to destabilise the government, as well as gaining strength and resources in southern Libya.
Islamic State is also likely to increase its small position in the Puntland region of Somalia, impacting the civilian population and clashing with its bigger regional rival Al Shabaab, which will increase the lethality of its own attacks.
Islamist armed groups are also expected to take advantage of the withdrawal of government troops from central Mali, gaining local recruits and further influence, while in Afghanistan the Taliban will consolidate their rural strongholds and increased opium production will boost funding for armed groups.
The fragmentation of armed groups in Central African Republic is expected to worsen the violence there, sending more refugees into Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo, where President Joseph Kabila is unlikely to leave power until 2019, fuelling frustration and violent protest, the report said.
“Militia groups previously focused on local grievances will likely become increasingly frustrated by the national, political, and socioeconomic situation and are likely to increase violence, particularly against government forces and institutions,” the report said.

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Categories: Africa, conflict, Middle East, News, poverty, terrorism, War

A statement on our work and social media

Anti-Muslim hatred, anti-Muslim racism, or as it is broadly known more widely as Islamophobia, manifests in the everyday lives of Muslims in the UK. This harms the mobility of Muslims in public areas – be it on transport networks, near major transport hubs, or when accessing public services. It manifests in institutions where persons face direct and indirect forms of racial and religious discrimination. As the Social Mobility Commission noted, this has a real consequence for the life chances of British Muslims in education and in their employment prospects where some are penalised because of their ethnic and religious identity.

Tweets from our account last night were unbecoming of the standards we set for ourselves as an organisation dedicated to challenging this form of bigotry. The wording was unacceptable and we acknowledge how this has caused many a great deal of upset and in subsequent tweets. For that, we apologise profusely.

Muslims of all ages are at risk of discrimination in educational institutions, in the workplace, and near their homes when accessing public and private services. This goes beyond being passed over for roles, and often consists of ongoing ‘low-level’ abuse and mistreatment met with ignorance from those in authoritative and managerial roles when these issues are highlighted. In one report to our service, a woman was labelled a ‘troublemaker’ by management because she raised the racist bullying she had faced from a male colleague. We do support individuals on discrimination issues, be it in schools or the workplace, and in our 2016 annual report, we had 46 cases or 7 percent of verified reports we classified as discriminatory in nature.

Anti-Muslim hatred has the effect of limiting the geographic mobility of victims, meaning that they are frequently less willing to travel around particular areas they consider risky or become anxious about leaving their own neighbourhood for fear of victimisation. This would appear to intersect with factors such as Islamic visibility (i.e. the wearing Islamic clothing), meaning that often it is women whose geographic mobility is restricted. The impact of ongoing ‘low-level’ harassment and discrimination can have a serious impact on mental wellbeing as they are often less able to escape victimisation in their own neighbourhood, at school or in the workplace.

The impact of anti-Muslim incidents, whether violent or otherwise, can be very significant to victims. Police responding to reports of anti-Muslim incidents, and indeed any hate incident, need to consider the deeper mental and emotional impacts aggravated offences have on victims and further training in these areas may be required by forces.

There is evidence within our dataset to show how a casual reference to terrorism directed at Muslims can, on occasion, escalate to more serious, false and sometimes malicious accusations of extremism, which could have potentially serious repercussions for the individuals they are directed at. While there have been many cases in which young people needed safeguarding from extremist views, we have received numerous accounts of Muslim individuals being disingenuously reported as ‘suspected terrorists’ as a form of Islamophobic abuse.

The problem of anti-Muslim hatred and racism is not going away, but we have always prided ourselves on standing in solidarity with other minorities to ensure that all forms of racism, bigotry, and discrimination are challenged, and the individuals who experience it get the necessary support, be it emotional or through the mechanisms of the criminal justice service. Empowering minority communities, not demonising them is what we must always aspire towards and we fell short of that. We encourage dialogue and while we may disagree with some, this fight against racism and hatred requires mutuality, tolerance and respect.

The poorly worded tweets will now be reviewed internally as they were not appropriate or in line with the values of our work, and action will be taken to avoid such statements in the future.

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Categories: hate crime, News, Opinions

Donald Trump retweeted Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen

Donald Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen.

Fransen captioned the videos “Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!”, “VIDEO: Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!” and “VIDEO: Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!”

Within minutes, the accounts of leader Paul Golding, Britain First, and Jayda Fransen synchronised their tweets to read “THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DONALD TRUMP, HAS RETWEETED THREE OF DEPUTY LEADER JAYDA FRANSEN’S TWITTER VIDEOS! DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF HAS RETWEETED THESE VIDEOS AND HAS AROUND 44 MILLION FOLLOWERS! GOD BLESS YOU TRUMP! GOD BLESS AMERICA! OCS @JaydaBF @realDonaldTrump.”

Fransen is on bail in relation to the distribution of leaflets and the posting of online videos during a trial held at Canterbury Crown Court in May. Fransen breached her bail conditions by going on a far-right tour of Europe and was arrested during a protest in Sunderland on October 14.

The Home Office has, on two occasions, stopped the antisemitic and anti-Muslim Polish priest Jacek Międlar, from speaking at Britain First rallies.

A day earlier and Fransen appeared on the neo-Nazi Radio Aryan show with Dave Russell.

She will also appear in court in Northern Ireland next month charged with using threatening and abusive language in connection with a speech she made at a demonstration in Belfast on August 6.

Fransen was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016 after abusing a Muslim woman in Luton during a self-styled ‘Christian Patrol’ in January 2016.

Britain First also took members on an ‘activist training camp’ in the Welsh mountains in June 2016. Members were said to have learned self-defence, martial arts, knife defence, and basic survival skills.

The party, which has never shied away from its ‘street defence’ credentials, held an ‘Activist Academy’ where activists “learnt various self defence combat sports, including boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and Krav Maga,” in April 2014.

Tell MAMA strongly condemns the actions of Donald Trump as the politics of Britain First has no place in our society, given their extremist views towards Muslims, the Romani and other communities, where they seek to sow division over dialogue, which promotes a vision of this country that is at odds with any sense of common decency, pluralism or religious and cultural tolerance.

Today is a sad demonstration of how far extremism has moved further into the mainstream.

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Categories: Donald Trump, Jayda Fransen, News

Egypt attack to spur on Saudi-backed Muslim military alliance against extremism and terrorism

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Sunday a terrorist attack on an Egyptian mosque that killed more than 300 worshippers would galvanise an Islamic military coalition that aimed to counter “terrorism and extremism”.
Top defence officials from 40 Muslim-majority nation’s met in Riyadh on Sunday. They are part of an alliance gathered together two years ago by Prince Mohammed, who is also Saudi defence minister.
The crown prince has said he would encourage a more moderate and tolerant version of Islam in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
Prince Mohamed told delegates that Friday’s attack in Egypt “was a very painful occurrence and must make us contemplate in an international and powerful way the role of this terrorism and extremism”.
Gunmen carrying the flag of Islamic State attacked the mosque in North Sinai.
The group of Muslim nations, called the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition, has yet to take any decisive action.
Officials say the group would allow members to request or offer assistance to each other to fight militants. This could include military help, financial aid, equipment or security expertise. The group, which will have a permanent base in Riyadh, would also help combat terrorist financing and ideology.
“The biggest threat from terrorism and extremism is not only killing innocent people and spreading hate, but tarnishing the reputation of our religion and distorting our belief,” Prince Mohammed told officials from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Additional Support 
Iraq and Syria, at the forefront of the battle against Islamic State, are not members, nor is mainly Shi’ite Muslim Iran, the regional rival to mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia.
Qatar, originally part of the alliance, was not invited to Sunday’s meeting after Riyadh led a group of states seeking to isolate Doha, saying it supported terrorism. Doha denies this.
Abdulelah al-Saleh, a Saudi lieutenant general and the coalition’s secretary general, said Qatar was excluded to help build a consensus for launching operations. He also said the group was not aimed at creating a Sunni bloc to counter Iran.
“The enemy is terrorism. It’s not sects or religions or races, its terrorism,” Saleh told reporters.
Saleh said military initiatives had been proposed to the group’s ministerial council, but he did not elaborate.
Ulterior motives 
Despite agreement on principles, members voiced different priorities at the meeting. Yemen’s delegation said the focus should be Iran, al Qaeda and Islamic State, while Turkey called for “support from our friends” against Kurdish separatists.
Critics say the coalition could become a means for Saudi Arabia to implement an even more assertive foreign policy by winning the backing of poorer African and Asian nations with offers of financial and military aid.
Alongside leading a diplomatic charge against Qatar, Saudi Arabia is also leading a war against Iran-aligned Houthi rebels in its neighbour Yemen, Saleh said Riyadh would pay the 400 million riyal ($107 million) bill for the coalition’s new centre, but said other nations could offer financial support for specific initiatives.

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Categories: Egypt, mosque, News, Saudi Arabia, terrorism

Tell MAMA Comments on IPSO Ruling on Trevor Kavanagh Article About “The Muslim Problem”

Trevor Kavanagh recently drafted an opinion piece in the Sun where the article ended with the following statement, “What will we do about the Muslim Problem then?”

IPSO has dismissed complaints made by members of the public on the article, effectively saying that because Kavanagh did not target an individual for discriminatory speech and language, but rather a group, the article was not grounds for discrimination. The ruling cites the following:

“15. The Committee noted the complainant’s concern that the article discriminated against Muslims. Clause 12 of the Code protects identifiable individuals from discrimination; it does not relate to discrimination against groups or categories of people. The complainant’s concern that the article discriminated against Muslims in general did not breach Clause 12.”

Tell MAMA has issued the following statement on this ruling:

“IPSO’s ruling once again shows that it cares little about the intolerance that is shown to groups of people by some commentators and that unless a person is clearly targeted for discriminatory language in an article, it will not really act. So, suggestions of a “Muslim problem”, in IPSO’s eyes, mean that such language is not discriminatory and that since a group of people are being cited, there is no action that they can take. IPSO takes the view that people as a group who are maligned, have no right to protection through their complaints process, further undermining any real credibility in this group. Such decisions are also disengaging its relevance from many communities and making it slowly become the dinosaur it looks to be in a rapidly changing set of social dynamics.”

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Categories: communities, Complaint, IPSO, Muslim Problem, Opinions, Trevor Kavanagh

Man who intended to stab Muslims with ten-inch knife jailed

A man who believed that stabbing an imam in the neck would make him a ‘martyr for England’ has been jailed for over two years.

Mickey Sage, 24, admitted that in the early hours of June 7 that he had pulled a knife on people in Camberwell Green junction with Camberwell Church Street in south London, asking if they were Muslim.

Police responded to call around ten minutes earlier of a man in the area in possession of a knife.

A member of the public then informed officers that a man matching Sage’s description had discarded the ten-inch blade nearby.

Sage made various anti-Muslim slurs following his arrest, admitting that he intended to stab a Muslim, mentioning to the arresting officer “it was my knife and I was out to kill a Muslim.”

The charges, which were religiously aggravated in nature, included two counts of threatening a person in a public place with a knife.

He pleaded guilty to all charges at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court on November 21.

DC Samuel Cafferty from Southwark CID said: “Sage set out with a large knife with the clear intention to find Muslims to stab. Hate crime like this has no place in any society. Sage poses a very clear and present danger to members of the public, particularly the Muslim Community and I’m pleased that he now has plenty of time to consider his actions. Members of public confronted by Sage were not harmed but shaken by their ordeal and managed to get away from what could have been a very different ending.”

An anti-Muslim meme uploaded in 2015 appears on a social media account attributed to Sage but lacks any independent verification.

Hate crime can be reported through 999 in an emergency, by dialling 101 in a non-emergency, directly at a police station, through the MOPAC Hate Crime app.

You can get advice through our confidential and free helpline on 0800 456 1226. Or through our free iOS or Android apps. Report through our online form. Or contact us via WhatsApp on 0734 184 6086.

 

 

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Categories: crime, hate crime, knife, News

Google broadens takedown of extremist YouTube videos

Google in the last few months has begun  removing from YouTube extremist videos that do not depict violence or preach hate, YouTube said on Monday, a major policy shift as social media companies face increasing pressure from governments.
The new policy affects videos that feature people and groups that have been designated as terrorist by the U.S. or British governments but lack the gory violence or hateful speech that were already barred by YouTube.
A YouTube spokesperson, who asked not be named for security reasons, confirmed the policy in response to questions. The company would not specify when the policy went into effect.
As YouTube terms already barred “terrorists” from using the  service, the new policy keeps out videos uploaded by others  that militants likely would try to distribute if they could have accounts, according to the spokesperson.
Hundreds of videos of slain al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki lecturing on the history of Islam, recorded long before he advocated violence against the United States, were among those removed under the new policy, the spokesperson said.
Governments and human rights groups have pressed YouTube for years to crack down on extremist videos. They argue that the propaganda radicalised viewers and contributed to deadly terror attacks.
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd amplified the pressure during visits with tech companies in Silicon Valley in July and a speech in Washington, D.C. last week. European Union and U.S. lawmakers this year have threatened consequences for tech companies if concerns are not addressed.
Legislation could resemble a German law approved in June to fine social media companies 50 million euros (44.47 million pounds) if hateful postings are not promptly removed.
YouTube said discussions with outside experts prompted the new policy, but it was unclear why the company decided to act only recently. In June, the company announced that “inflammatory religious or supremacist content” that did not violate its policies would be allowed with warning labels and a restriction making them ineligible for ad revenue.
At the time, Google General Counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post, “We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints.”
The latest step goes farther and was praised by critics such as Paul Barrett, deputy director of the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.
“If the terrorist is in the business of recruiting and inciting people to make violent attacks, you’ve got to the draw the line” against any of their content, Barrett said.
The new policy does not affect news clips or educational videos about terrorism. But YouTube will not always have an easy time distinguishing, experts said, pointing to tactics such as overlaying extremist commentary on news footage to get around censors.
YouTube has resisted imposing more editorial control because it fears making it harder for important videos to get a wide audience, Juniper Downs, YouTube’s global director of public policy, told a San Francisco conference sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League on Monday.
“We will lose something very valuable if we completely transform the way these platforms work,” she said during a panel discussion.
Internet freedom advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation have urged tech companies to be cautious and transparent in responding to government pressure.
YouTube is relying on government lists of terrorists and terrorist groups for enforcement. Content moderators check the listings and make removal decisions after fielding reports from an automated system, users or partner organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and The Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Al-Awlaki, whom the U.S. killed in a 2011 drone strike, was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Treasury the year prior.
The New York Times first reported the removal of al-Awlaki videos.

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Categories: counter-extremism, cyber-security, News, online radicalisation

Polish President Denounces Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia and Racism Following Far-Right March

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Monday there was no place in Poland for xenophobia, anti-Semitism and “sick nationalism”, denouncing hate speech at a nationalist march in Warsaw in comments later echoed by ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
 
Jewish groups have called on the Polish authorities to condemn the message of banners with slogans such as “pure blood, clear mind” or “Europe will be white or uninhabited” that some nationalists carried at a march on Nov. 11 – the anniversary of Polish independence from Russia, Austria and Germany at the end of World War One.
 
Tens of thousands of demonstrators attended a march through Warsaw organised by far-right groups on Saturday, carrying flares and Polish flags, many chanting anti-migrant slogans.
 
The Independence March has become an annual event in recent years, separate from official ceremonies to mark the holiday, and has attracted many people apart from far-right sympathisers.
 
The government of the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) condemned the racist banners, but not the march itself. PiS won election in 2015 partly thanks to support from younger voters, who have increasingly embraced right-wing views in recent years.
 
“Extremely bad incidents have taken place,” Kaczynski said, calling the banners a marginal phenomenon and “disgraceful rubbish”. “Polish tradition – the one we invoke – has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, we are as far as possible from that, nothing to do with racism.”
He also said that tens of thousands of “decent” people had come to the march to express their attachment to Poland.
 
The PiS government refused to take in migrants mostly from the Middle East and North Africa under an EU relocation deal, arguing that it could put public safety at risk. The party enjoys the steady support of more than a third of Poles.
 
Poland was for generations home to one of Europe’s biggest Jewish communities, until nearly all perished in Nazi death camps during German occupation in World War Two.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) lobby group urged Polish authorities on Monday to speak out against the far-right, saying it threatened “the core values of Poland and its standing abroad”.
 
Duda responded to the banners by saying: “There is no place or permission or in our country for xenophobia, there is no permission for sick nationalism, there is no place for anti-Semitism … Such attitudes mean an exclusion from our society.”
 
Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said marches to celebrate Independence Day were important and should not be marred by “absolutely unacceptable” banners. The PiS spokeswoman said no one with such banners should have taken part in the march.
 
 

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Categories: anti-Semitism, Antisemitism, Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck, Far Right groups, Law and Justice Party, nationalism, News, PiS, Warsaw, Xenophobia

German groups mobilise against rise of anti-Muslim Far Right party

German civil rights groups are mobilising against the newly elected far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and other more hardline groups, vowing to avert the even stronger rightward lurch seen in neighbouring countries.
Thousands of protesters are expected in the eastern city of Dresden on Saturday when the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement  celebrates its third anniversary.
PEGIDA – Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West – has seen dwindling crowds since early 2015, with the AfD absorbing some of its supporters. The AfD won almost 13 percent of the vote in the Sept. 24 national election, making it the third largest party in the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, and the first far-right party to win seats in more than half a century.
Exit polls showed that 60 percent of AfD voters cast a “protest vote”, with many angry at Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2015 decision to allow in over a million mainly Muslim migrants.
Experts say the party’s rise is also part of a global trend that has brought right-leaning parties or leaders to power in Poland, Hungary, and most recently, Austria.
Germany’s mainstream parties have said they will not work with the AfD at a national level, but activists say they must stake out clear resistance to AfD comments on Islam and other issues in the parliament, and 14 out of 16 state legislatures.
“We’ve seen a strong and growing movement of people resisting the AfD in recent months in big cities, in small towns, and now we need that movement on a national scale,” said Nora Berneis of Aufstehen gegen Rassismus, or Standing up against Racism.
The group is planning a large protest in the northern city of Hanover on Dec. 2 when the AfD meets for a party conference.
The party has drawn sharp criticism from a German journalists’ group for seeking data on the ethnic backgrounds and political views of journalists who want to cover the conference.
CIVIC EDUCATION
Christoph Schott, with the global activist group Avaaz, said more than 500,000 people had signed an open letter to the AfD, rejecting the party’s “xenophobic” and “racist” messages.
The AfD rails against what it calls the “Islamisation of Europe” and denies it is racist.
Beginning with Allied “re-education” efforts after World War Two, Germany has developed an intense civic education programme.
The government doubled funding for projects aimed at combating right-wing, left-wing and Islamist extremism to over 100 million euros in 2017 alone. Some credit such policies with keeping support for far-right parties lower than in neighbouring countries.
But Axel Ruppert with the European Network against Racism said the AfD’s aggressive rhetoric was pressing the boundaries of “acceptable” discourse and hate crimes were rising.
Police data showed a 14-percent rise in right-wing extremist violent acts in 2016, and anti-Semitic crimes rose 4 percent to 681 in the first eight months of 2017.
The AfD’s entry into parliament has triggered a long-overdue dialogue about what went wrong during the unification of eastern and western Germany in 1990, said Michaela Glaser with the German Youth Institute, a non-profit research association.
“One silver lining … may be that things that were hidden before have become visible. And only if something has been articulated can it be addressed,” she said.

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Categories: far right extremism, Far Right groups, News