Monthly Archive: February 2006

Legacy of Afghan war

The BBC’s File on Four programme has broadcast a programme about the appalling security situation in southern Afghanistan – major maladminstration by provincial governors with links to such people as drug traffickers, “mujahideen” commanders...

Hockney, smoke and stupidity

There are three letters in today's Guardian attacking David Hockney, pop artist nowadays noted for his campaign against smoking bans in public places where people have to work. The letters are in response to...

Bookwright on “ban Qur’an” call

I got the following message in an email from Bookwright, the Danish publisher of Islamic texts. It concerns the call from the anti-Islamic rent-a-column writer Patrick Sookhdeo AKA Sookhdevil for Aisha Bewley's translation of...

Muslims march against bombers

For anyone who still thinks Muslims "never protest against terrorism", here's a report on such a march – in London, not a state-sponsored march in Damascus or Riyadh: BBC NEWS: Muslim march over shrine...

Green light for abuse of power

In the Guardian today, Jenni Russell has a column describing the danger you are in when you argue with a petty "public service" jobsworth: One of them aggressively thrust a BAA [British Airports Authority]...

Debate on the cartoons in Prospect

Prospect Magazine (a British Lottery-funded left-leaning intellectual magazine) has published an exchange of letters between Prospect contributing editor Kamran Nazeer and Emel magazine editor Sarah Joseph (Should Muslim turn a blind eye to the...

Brat Camp and the “Teen Gulag”

Cherry Potter has an article in today's Guardian (Train them like rats) regarding the Channel 4 series Brat Camp, in the latest version of which a group of recalcitrant teenage girls are taken out...

Monbiot on RFIDs

George Monbiot has an article in today's Guardian about the emerging "radio frequency identification tags", used in one company in Ohio to identify two workers who are entitled to enter the strongroom. The chips...

Amani Hissi update

For anyone who remembers the story of Amani Hissi, a Palestinian lady who lost her sight in childhood after she was hit in the face by an Israeli tear gas grenade, a guy called...

No apology from the Express

Last week I posted about the Daily Express's slander on our community (also see here and here) and, in particular, on the Muslim Council and Muslim Association. The leader, in particular, accused the community...

Civilised Muslim demo in London

Another weekend, another Muslim demonstration in London regarding those wretched cartoons. What with rioting in Libya and now Nigeria and a KFC getting burned out in Pakistan, some people might not have expected a...

Spectator: Render Unto Dubya

The Spectator, a right-leaning political weekly magazine, has an article by Tom Walker (diplomatic correspondent for the Sunday Times) on how he attempted to investigate the "extraordinary renditions" of Muslim terrorist suspects to Morocco...

Lotfi Raissi update

The BBC reports that an Algerian-born pilot accused of links to terrorism, jailed for five months in Belmarsh, slandered in the popular press, and then released when a judge ruled there was no evidence...

Windoze Vista to encrypt hard drives

The BBC reports about the UK government's concern that Windows Vista, the upcoming new version of Windows, will make it more difficult for the police to search people's computers for illegal materials. Guess why...

John Simpson: how Gitmo came to be

John Simpson, in a BBC commentary on the recently-released footage of British soldiers beating the daylights out of some Iraqi teenagers (probably in 2003) and why nobody is surprised, explains how many, and probably...

Time to complain about Express slanders

Osama Saeed has reprinted an article from yesterday's Sunday Express (via PhobeWatch) which trots out a number of tired canards regarding the Muslim community's response to terrorism, claiming that Labour are getting tired of...

The end of the Jenkins affair?

One of the biggest news stories of the past week was the acquittal of Siôn Jenkins ([1], [2]) during his third trial for the murder of his foster-daughter, Billie-Jo Jenkins (from an unrelated Jenkins...

Bin Bayyah fatwa a fake

Much discussion ensued on Deenport when someone posted a synopsis of a supposed fatwa from Abdullah bin Bayyah to the effect that the fake jumu'ah prayers held with Amina Wadud as the "imam" were...

From Imam Zaid Shakir

In the absence of a proper post since Wednesday (work!), here’s a link to Imam Zaid Shakir’s as-ever (*ma sha Allah*) measured response to the cartoon affair: [Clash of the Uncivilized: Insights on the...

A proper rally this Saturday

A peaceful protest is to be held this Saturday, regarding the cartoon affair, to counteract the yobbish antics of last Friday (hat tip: [Osama](http://www.osamasaeed.org/osama/2006/02/proper_rally_af.html)): Rally against incitement & Islamophobia, Saturday 11th February 2006 Date:...