Chances are you’ve seen this BNP leaflet circulated or have had it passed through your letterbox:
BNP leaflet
It is a pernicious piece of race-hatred and anti-Muslim bigotry that has been around for years and has long required some form of legal action taken against it. The good news is that senior prosecutors are calling for laws on race hate crimes to be strenghtened which will counter the distribution of leaflets like this by the British National Party. From the Guardian:
Several BNP leaflets have been referred to the CPS over the last five years – some by senior police officers and one by a judge – but no further action has been taken.
Peter Herbert, the chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers and a part-time judge, submitted a complaint last year over a leaflet called The Changing Face of London that had two pictures, one depicting an all-white street party from the 1950s, the other showing three Muslim women wearing a niqab, one of whom is making a V-sign towards the camera.
“Under the law, it has been extremely difficult to mount a prosecution against extremism and hate speech,” said Herbert. “But with the rise of the BNP, and the subsequent rise in racist attacks and the fear the party’s leaflets can provoke, it is essential we are given the tools to deal effectively with this threat.”
Herbert said the law should protect people from material that creates a fear of racist attacks as well as those that are deemed to incite racial hatred. “All the evidence suggests that it is people from minority communities and the faith communities that are put in fear of violence when racist leaflets are delivered in town centres or on estates. If someone handed out the same thing in the workplace, most employers would consider that gross misconduct; if someone does the same thing in the street, there is very little we can do.”
With anti-Muslim bigotry manifesting itself increasingly in the form of rising levels of physical attacks of Muslims and firebombing of mosques and places of worship, pressure should be further exerted on the government to increase legislation to close these loopholes.
4 Comments
I know I’m preaching to the converted here, but to any innocent passer by just dropping in, this BNP leaflet is just the thin end of the wedge, it starts with this photo, then they’ll flip a coin to see whether it should be ‘Home boys’ or the ‘Black hat, sidecurls and beards brigade’ on the next one.
Somebody needs to stamp on the BNP very heavily and very soon.
I don’t agree…at all.
The fact is, is that there’s no ‘race’ hate here; Muslims aren’t a race. Sure, it could be argued that the BNP are targeting ALL Muslims in their literature, but that’s just one perspective. They could just as easily argue, as no doubt they would, that they’re drawing attention to the increased visibility of munaqabat, especially in London.
Now, I don’t advocate the banning of the niqab, as some do, as I feel it’s a freedom of conscience issue. However, I do make assumptions about munaqabat: they would not approve of interfaith relationships; they’re unlikely to want to engage me in conversation; they’re unlikely to sit near me at a bus stop, welcome my assistance with shopping or respond after a request for information. Anybody else who held to any or all of these proclivities based on my gender or perceived ritual purity would not command my respect, so neither should munaqabat. Women who wear the niqab practise discrimination and are an insidious influence on society at large.
Perhaps the biggest irony of all is that some (if not all) of the complaints were raised by the Society of Black Lawyers, a racist cabal set up to campaign for preferential treatment according to skin colour.
I don’t support the BNP.
However, this leaflet is perfectly reasonable & accurate.
We were never consulted about the importation of millions of ultra right wing aliens
who subscribe to Hitler’s favourite religion. We are not a racist nation, obviously, or so many people would not have been accepted peacefully..
However it is not reasonable for us, especially the proletariat, to be expected to tolerate these people with their ugly & anti Western ideology
Martin – this may be news to you but most Muslims don’t have an ugly anti-western ideology.