German city allows mosques to broadcast call to Friday prayers

October 11, 2021 Article

The German city of Cologne will start permitting mosques to broadcast muezzin calls for prayer, the city said.

The calls can be broadcast for five minutes every week for the Friday prayer around noon and audible outside the Muslim houses of prayer, city spokeswoman Katja Reuter said.

Cologne mosques need to apply for a special permit in order to be able to broadcast the call.

The initiative will be limited to two years and then be re-evaluated.

The city’s mayor welcomed the decision, saying that “if in addition to the sounds of the church bells we also hear the call of the muezzin, it shows that in Cologne diversity is valued and lived”.

“Permitting the call of the muezzin is a sign of respect,” Mayor Henriette Reker tweeted last week.

Christian church bells ring out daily in many German cities and towns.

Cologne, a western city of one million, has one of Germany’s biggest Muslim communities and about 35 mosques.

Most Muslims initially came from Turkey as guest workers 60 years ago and then later brought their families.

Only few other Muslim houses of prayer across Germany, like in the western towns of Oer-Erkenschwick and Dueren, have been broadcasting the muezzin’s call for years, sometimes despite the protests of Christian neighbours.

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Categories: call to prayer, Cologne, News, Turkish Muslims

Derbyshire Teenager Threatened to Plan Attack in Dover Against Muslim Refugees

August 2, 2021 Article

A 15-year-old boy set up an extremist right-wing group after spending a “concerning amount of time online” during the first national lockdown, a court has heard.

The teenager, from south Derbyshire, ran the openly racist channel, which had 38 subscribers, on the encrypted Telegram app from August 5 last year, when he was 14.

He vetted others into private chat groups where they talked about “doing something” against ethnic minorities, and discussed weapons, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

The boy downloaded a video of the Christchurch mosque attacks in New Zealand, in which gunman Brenton Tarrant shot and killed 51 people, and saved an image of a “leader board” of right-wing terrorists, including the number of people they had killed.

In one post, he wrote in capital letters: “I am planning a(n) attack against the Dover coast where every Muslim and refugee has been given safe(t)y if your interested tell me now.”

The youngster, who cannot be identified because of his age, pleaded guilty in June to possessing a terrorist publication called the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000, disseminating a terrorist publication, and encouraging terrorism, in August and September last year.

A 16-year-old boy, from Kent, who was a member of the Telegram chat group, admitted disseminating a terrorist publication called the White Resistance Manual by sending an electronic link in August which allowed others to access it.

During a sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutor Alistair Richardson said: “Both defendants’ messaging, and analysis of their devices, demonstrates a deep-rooted, extreme right-wing, racist ideology of an abhorrent, entrenched and concerning nature.”

The 15-year-old received a caution in September 2019 for sending pictures of bombs to a fellow school pupil over Snapchat.

He has previous convictions for hate crimes, after threatening to blow up a mosque on January 20 last year, and assaulting an emergency worker, by headbutting a police officer who came to his home.

The court heard he also made a string of phone calls to mosques across London and was twice referred to the Government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme.

Mark Luckett, defending, said his client has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, adding: “It is clear at some point he had been manipulated.

“The offences occurred during the first national lockdown. (He) appears to have spent a concerning amount of time online during which has unfortunately led him down a very dark rabbit hole.”

The lawyer said the boy “lacks maturity”, his “primary focus was on computer games”, and he “didn’t understand what he was doing”.

He told the court the boy was “encouraged by the number of responses he has from other members of the group”, who referred to him as “the commander”.

Addressing Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring, the 15-year-old said he wants to go to university to study veterinary medicine or zoology.

“I don’t hold those views and I don’t know how I got to hold those views. That’s not the person I am,” he said.

“I spent a lot of time in my bedroom doing nothing. I think I need to be a normal child again.”

The 16-year-old said: “I’m really sorry. I will never touch that aspect of belief in my life and I will stop anyone I can from even trying to touch it.”

Mr Goldspring adjourned sentencing to September 9, remanding the 15-year-old into youth custody and granting the older boy conditional bail.

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Categories: Attack, Derbyshire teenager, Dover, Far Right groups, News, refugee

Four-fifths of Muslims in Scotland ‘directly experienced Islamophobia’

June 28, 2021 Article

Four-fifths of Muslims in Scotland have directly experienced Islamophobia, according to a new report.

The Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Tackling Islamophobia organised the first public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland and gathered 447 responses.

Of those, 83% of Muslim respondents said they experienced Islamophobia directly with Muslim women more likely to encounter it than men.

The inquiry also found 75% of Muslims said Islamophobia is a regular or everyday issue in Scottish society with 78% believing it is getting worse.

That figure rises to 82% of Muslim respondents with a Glasgow postcode.

Individuals warned that verbal and physical assaults are intensifying, particularly on public transport.

Asked about where Islamophobia takes place, the street was the most common answer ahead of public spaces such as shops or restaurants and public transport, then at work and places of education.

Just under a third (31%) said they have experienced Islamophobia at work, 18% at school and 13% at college or university.

The report has made a series of recommendations including that the Scottish Government should work towards adopting a formal definition of Islamophobia to promote understanding, to encourage reporting and to indicate its commitment to addressing it.

It also calls for proactively adopting a “no tolerance” approach; supporting initiatives to recruit more police officers from within Scotland’s diverse communities; integrating an understanding of Islamophobia into compulsory components of the Scottish education curricula and teacher training education; and funding and supporting initiatives that educate Scots about the damage Islamophobia does to Scottish society.

CPG chairman and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “We pride ourselves on being a welcome and tolerant country, but it’s clear how much more work we have to do.

“There are people in Scotland who feel scared to leave their homes for fear of verbal of physical attack; are withdrawing from public services with devastating knock-on consequences on their health and education; and feel they are outsiders in their own country.

“This should shame us all.

“It is clear to me that we must redouble efforts to challenge and overcome hatred and prejudice.

“This requires politicians to come together on a cross-party basis, because the fight against hate is a fight for all of us.”

The report was authored by Professor Peter Hopkins of Newcastle University, who has been researching issues of racism and Islamophobia in Scotland for 20 years.

He said: “The evidence submitted to this inquiry makes it clear that Scotland has a very serious set of issues to address in relation to everyday Islamophobia and racism.

“Inquiry evidence included numerous references to verbal and physical abuse, attacks in and around mosques and religious buildings, and experiences of threatening behaviour on public transport.

“Almost four fifths of respondents were fearful of experiencing Islamophobia and this had real consequences for how they lived their lives.

“Islamophobia permeates all domains of Scottish society; it is not only restricted to one context. It threatens education, limits employment prospects, and impacts everyday issues including health, well-being and housing.

“It is time to address the issue of Scotland’s Islamophobia rather than denying its existence.

“The recommendations make it clear that we all sectors, agencies and departments need to make long-term changes to eradicate Islamophobia from Scottish society.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to tackling hate crime and prejudice, including Islamophobia in all its forms and we will carefully consider this inquiry’s recommendations.

“New hate crime laws ensure our police and courts will have the powers they need so those who would deliberately target others due to their religion or other characteristics can be prosecuted.

“Later this year we will report on the progress of our Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan, which was published in 2017 and included actions on raising awareness of hate crime and encourage reporting.

“We will develop a new hate crime strategy later this year in consultation with stakeholders.”

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Categories: Anas Sarwar, anti-Muslim hate, Muslim women, News, Scotland

Statement: Compulsory voter ID in future elections

May 11, 2021 Article

Evidence shows that voting across the UK is safe and secure as plans to introduce ID risks disenfranchising marginalised communities.

In a wide-ranging report published last year, the Joint Committee on Human Rights spoke of their “serious concern” that 25 per cent of Black voters in Britain are not registered to vote, relative to the 17 per cent average across the population. In evidence for the report, Lord Woolley described how hundreds of thousands of young Black and minority ethnic people still see our institutions, particularly the police, as against us and not for us,” who speak of a “rigged system” that do not see politics working for them.

There are significant disparities amongst ethnic groups when it comes to possessing a driver’s licence – as governmental data shows – 38 per cent of Asian people, 48 per cent of Black people, 41 per cent of mixed-race people, and 39 per cent of those categorised as ‘Other’ do not hold a full driving licence, compared to 76 per cent of white people. Women are also far less likely than men to have a driving licence.

Data from the 2011 Census revealed that Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) communities are far less likely (66 per cent) to hold eligible passports, which evidence from grassroots groups like The Traveller Movement that community turnout is disproportionately low, owing to ongoing anti-GRT discrimination.

The Electoral Commission has previously warned that limiting accepting forms of ID to passports and photographic driving licences risks leaving almost one-quarter of the electorate without acceptable photographic ID to vote.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission warned that voter ID trials in 2018 would have a “disproportionate impact on voters with protected characteristics, particularly older people, transgender people, people with disabilities and/or those from ethnic minority communities.”

For older generations, the Mirror newspaper revealed how one-third of those aged 70 and over do not possess a drivers licence (including 55 per cent of women), as just over one third (35 per cent) of the age group not owning a passport.

In consultation with the Electoral Commission, charities representing people with disabilities, GRT, LGBT+ groups, and those from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups, and those with no fixed address had general concerns about the broader ramifications of such an introduction. Barriers include difficulties in access services requiring proof of identity – including ease of access to the internet. In addition, individuals without a fixed address are less likely to possess non-photo forms of identification, like utility bills. A trans or non-binary person’s ID may not reflect their gender expression or identity (and as Stonewall notes, they face challenge from staff if the name on their ID differs from that of their Deed Poll).

For people with learning disabilities, it raised questions about the availability of accessible information to ensure they are informed about ID requirements and could access ID. Finally, the consultation feedback added that the  “cost, inconvenience and time required to obtain ID may be prohibitive for some people.”

A pilot scheme in Derby, for example, found a strong correlation between the proportion of each ward’s population from Asian backgrounds with those not issued with ballot papers. In contrast, in Pendle, another pilot area, it found a weak correlation between each ward’s population and those from Asian backgrounds arriving at a polling station either with no form of ID or the wrong ID.

The Electoral Commission noted that a 2018 pilot in Watford indicated “a strong relationship between the proportion of Asian residents and the number not issued with a ballot paper.” It did not, however, see such correlations in Woking and Watford a year later, cautioning against drawing broader conclusions from the data available.

Awareness was a big issue in the 2019 pilots, as white respondents (46 per cent) were far more likely to know about the need to bring ID to vote than those from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups (27 per cent).

Age proved a factor. Those aged over 55 were also far more likely to have heard something about the scheme (54 per cent) than those aged 18 to 34 (31 per cent).

Awareness about the need for ID in the 2019 pilots proved lower amongst first-time voters (73 per cent) compared to those who had voted before (87 per cent).

When asked about how easy it would be to show ID, those from Black, Asian, and minority backgrounds were (87 per cent) less likely than white electors (92 per cent).

Black, Asian, and minority ethnic households across the UK are more than twice likely to live in poverty compared to white counterparts, experiencing disproportionate job losses and pay cuts during the Covid-19 pandemic, demonstrating how the pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and discrimination, which can make the fees for driving licences and passports harder to gain.

Regarding electoral fraud, there were just four convictions and two cautions in 2019, as almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of outcomes saw no further action. Just over one-third had a local resolution, as more than half of reported cases that year concerned campaigning offences.

In 2017, Almost half (165 cases) of all cases of alleged electoral fraud reported were a campaigns issue, a major of which concerned imprint offences (96 cases). Eight cautions and one conviction occurred that year.

In 2018, the police investigated 266 cases, resulting in four convictions, and two suspects faced police cautions.

Alternative plans, including automatic voter registration, which the Electoral Commission explored in 2017, should be looked at, reducing registration gaps and increasing democratic participation from marginalised and under-represented communities. The lessons of Windrush show the stark and unjust treatment faced, including access to public services due to a lack of formal ID.

Instead, we must protect fundamental rights when voting and cultivate an understanding of how best to meaningfully improve voter participation amongst marginalised groups, which should work in tandem with reducing existing structural barriers and inequalities in voting, including exploring the use of alternative schemes – like automatic voter registration.

 

 

 

 

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Categories: democracy, News, Parliament, statement, voting

Dozens hurt as Palestinians and Israeli police clash at Al-Aqsa Mosque

May 7, 2021 Article

Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police on Friday evening at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City as tensions soared again.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 53 people, mainly Palestinians, were wounded in clashes with police there and elsewhere in Jerusalem, including 23 who were taken to hospital.

It says most were wounded in the face and eyes by rubber-coated bullets and shrapnel from stun grenades.

The clashes were the latest in a deadly day that saw Israeli forces shoot and kill two Palestinians after three men opened fire on an Israeli base in the occupied West Bank.

They erupted when Israeli police deployed heavily as Muslims were performing evening prayers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan.

Video footage from the scene shows worshippers throwing chairs, shoes and rocks toward the police and officers responding by opening fire.

Israeli police also closed gates leading to Al-Aqsa inside the walled Old City.

Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The unrest has drawn attention from across the region, with neighbouring Jordan warning Israel against further “provocative” steps, and Iran seizing on the sensitivities around Jerusalem and encouraging the violence.

In the attack on Friday morning, Israeli police said three attackers fired on the base near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

The Border Police and an Israeli soldier returned fire, killing two of the men and wounding the third, who was evacuated to a hospital.

Some 70,000 worshippers attended the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, the Islamic endowment that oversees the site said.

Thousands protested afterwards, waving the green flags of the Islamic militant group Hamas and chanting pro-Hamas slogans before dispersing peacefully.

Israelis and Palestinians are bracing for more violence in the coming days.

Credit: PA News

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Categories: Al Aqsa, Israelis, News, Palestinians, Ramadan, Settlers, Silwan

New charity aims to erect war memorials to recognise Muslim contribution

April 23, 2021 Article

A new charity launched to recognise the sacrifices made by Muslims who fought in the British military in the past century is aiming to erect war memorials to commemorate their contributions.

The National Muslim War Memorial Trust (NMWMT) said it also wants to educate both students and adults about the role of Muslims in the Armed Forces, to dispel misconceptions and help create good relations between different people and communities.

The organisation’s chair, the Conservative peer Lord Sheikh, said the “heroic contribution” of Muslims in the British Armed Forces during both World Wars has been “undervalued”.

He said: “One of the key reasons we have set up the charity is to combat Islamophobia, and people should realise the sacrifices Muslims made to keep the Union Jack flying.”

He said those associated with the trust “very much hope to draw attention to and get more public recognition for the sacrifices made by Muslim personnel in the British Armed Forces”.

He added: “The War Graves Commission report illustrates how long overdue this is.”

An investigation published this week found the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) did not properly commemorate potentially hundreds of thousands of black and Asian service personnel who died fighting for the British Empire.

The NMWMT said the first memorial it will be involved in erecting will be at a location in London which is yet to be agreed.

So far, £29,000 of a £2 million target has been raised to erect a permanent memorial, the trust’s website shows.

According to the trust there were at least 400,000 Muslims fighting in the British Indian Army during the First World War, and this had grown to around one million by the time of the Second World War.

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Categories: British Indian, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Lord Sheikh, National Muslim War Memorial Trust, News

Dozens arrested after night of chaos in Jerusalem

April 23, 2021 Article

A total of 44 people have been arrested and 20 Israeli police officers were injured on a night of chaos in Jerusalem, as security forces clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby.

Tensions have risen in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Residents braced for possible further unrest ahead of Muslim Friday prayers as police stepped up security measures.

Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast.

Later on Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones and bottles at police, who fired water cannon and stun grenades to disperse them.

Dozens of Palestinians were injured during the unrest.

Meanwhile, a far-right Jewish group known as Lahava led a march of hundreds of protesters chanting “Arabs get out” toward the Damascus Gate.

The show of force came in response to videos circulated on TikTok showing Palestinians slapping religious Jews at random. Other videos made in response to them appear to show Jews assaulting Arabs.

Police used metal barricades to halt the far-right protesters a few hundred yards from Damascus Gate.

Later, they used water cannon, stun grenades and mounted police to push them back toward mostly Jewish west Jerusalem.

Videos circulated online showed smaller clashes and fires elsewhere in the city.

One video showed what appeared to be a group of Palestinians beating an ultra-Orthodox Jew near Damascus Gate.

They could be seen punching, kicking and throwing the man to the ground before police chased them off.

The police statement did not specify whether those arrested were Palestinian or Jewish and did not refer to any specific instances of violence.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Its fate has been one of the most divisive issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago.

Thousands of Palestinians were expected to attend weekly prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City later on Friday.

The site is the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

The sprawling hilltop holy site has been the scene of clashes on a number of occasions over the years, and was the epicentre of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

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Categories: Al Aqsa, Arab, Clashes, Jerusalem, News, Ramadhan, Temple Mount

12 on trial in Germany over ‘plot to attack Muslims and overthrow government’

April 13, 2021 Article

Twelve Germans have gone on trial accused of being part of or supporting a far-right group that plotted to carry out deadly attacks on Muslims with the aim of stoking civil unrest and overthrowing the government.

Members of the so-called Group S had allegedly hoarded firearms, axes and swords for the planned attacks, which prosecutors say were foiled by their arrests in February last year.

Federal prosecutors accuse 11 members of the group of seeking to “rock and ultimately overturn the state and social order of the Federal Republic of Germany”.

Their alleged targets included Muslims, political enemies and parliament.

Eight of the men are accused of founding a “terrorist organisation” in September 2019, led by two suspects identified only as Werner S and Tony E.

Their surnames were not released for privacy reasons.

Three others are accused of membership of the terrorist organisation, while the 12th defendant is charged with supporting the group.

The men largely communicated by phone and via messaging apps, but also met in person several times, prosecutors said.

The trial before the regional court in the south-western city of Stuttgart is expected to last several months.

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Categories: anti-Muslim hate, Far Right groups, Germans, Group S, News, Stuttgart

Egyptian court gives life term to Muslim Brotherhood leader

April 8, 2021 Article

A senior leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group was convicted on terror charges and sentenced to life in prison, the country’s state-owned news agency reported.

According to the Middle East News Agency, a Cairo court found Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting supreme guide of the country’s oldest Islamist organisation, guilty of terror acts that followed the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.

Last summer, 76-year-old Ezzat was arrested after police found him hiding in an apartment on the outskirts of Cairo.

According to authorities at the time, a search of the apartment uncovered computers and mobile phones with encrypted software that allowed Ezzat to communicate with group members in Egypt and abroad.

Documents with “destructive plans” were also found, police said.

Ezzat had been at large since the summer of 2013, after the military removed Mr Morsi, who hailed from Brotherhood ranks.

Mr Morsi’s short-lived rule proved divisive and provoked mass protests nationwide.

Mr Morsi died after collapsing in court during one of his trials in June 2019.

Ezzat was believed to have fled the country along with many of the group’s leaders following the crackdown on their organisation.

He was named the group’s acting leader in August 2013.

He was convicted of several terror-related crimes and sentenced twice to death in absentia.

Following his arrest, he was retried, as Egyptian law dictates.

Credit: PA News

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Categories: Egypt, Mahmout Ezzat, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, News

Egyptian court gives life term to Muslim Brotherhood leader

April 8, 2021 Article

A senior leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group was convicted on terror charges and sentenced to life in prison, the country’s state-owned news agency reported.

According to the Middle East News Agency, a Cairo court found Mahmoud Ezzat, the acting supreme guide of the country’s oldest Islamist organisation, guilty of terror acts that followed the 2013 military overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.

Last summer, 76-year-old Ezzat was arrested after police found him hiding in an apartment on the outskirts of Cairo.

According to authorities at the time, a search of the apartment uncovered computers and mobile phones with encrypted software that allowed Ezzat to communicate with group members in Egypt and abroad.

Documents with “destructive plans” were also found, police said.

Ezzat had been at large since the summer of 2013, after the military removed Mr Morsi, who hailed from Brotherhood ranks.

Mr Morsi’s short-lived rule proved divisive and provoked mass protests nationwide.

Mr Morsi died after collapsing in court during one of his trials in June 2019.

Ezzat was believed to have fled the country along with many of the group’s leaders following the crackdown on their organisation.

He was named the group’s acting leader in August 2013.

He was convicted of several terror-related crimes and sentenced twice to death in absentia.

Following his arrest, he was retried, as Egyptian law dictates.

Credit: PA News

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Categories: Egypt, Mahmout Ezzat, Morsi, Muslim Brotherhood, News