Author Archives: Faisal

BBC make £30,000 payout to the MCB

By Faisal | Published: May 30, 2009

“The BBC has offered to pay £30,000 and apologise to the Muslim Council of Britain after airing claims that it encourages the killing of British troops.

The Corporation caved in after a panellist on the Question Time TV programme accused the country’s most influential Muslim organisation of failing to condemn attacks on soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The broadcaster was threatened with legal action over comments by former Daily Telegraph editor Charles Moore during a debate about Islamic protests which marred a soldiers’ homecoming parade in Luton.”

Mr Moore’s comments:

‘The Muslim Council of Britain, which is the umbrella organisation for all Muslim groups in this country, I’ve gone to them many times, and I said will you condemn the killing and kidnapping of British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they won’t.

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Posted in Feature | 6 Comments

Less Racism, More Homophobia

By Faisal | Published: May 28, 2009

The Rev George Hargreaves leader of the Christian Party has a problem. He desperately wants to distinguish and distance his party from the BNP.

“Now is the time for the Church to practically show that the racist attitudes of the BNP have no place in the Church. We are making this election virtually a one-issue campaign: to distance the Church and all right minded people from the tactics, beliefs and attitudes of a party which seeks to further disintegrate Britain and damage community relations”

For Hargreaves, the BNP poses two tactical problems. Firstly, he believes that the BNP has benefited from  endorsement from the Church of England but he wants that spiritual respectability conferred to his extremist views. Secondly and more obviously, the BNP is an overtly racist party of white supremacists and for Hargreaves, who is black, this is problematic.

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Posted in Homophobia, UK Politics | 2 Comments

Jihadi Recruitment for Dummies

By Faisal | Published: May 27, 2009
The Art of Recruitment

The Art of Recruitment

Since its ‘publication’ last year, users have been able to download a PDF called A Course in the Art of Recruitment, by the suitably named Abu-Amr al-Qaidi (al-Qaidi means ‘of al-Qaeda’), after it was made available on various jihadi websites.

The 51-page Arabic manual has been described by Brian Fishman and Abdullah Warius in the CTC Sentinel as a guide “designed to provide less-skilled jihadist recruiters operating independently of any cohesive terrorist organization the tools to effectively recruit secular and moderate Muslims into the global jihadist movement.”

Although we do not know for sure whether the techniques explained in the book are being actively applied by al-Qaeda franchises to harvest fresh recruits, it does however provide an insiders look into the, thankfully, difficult practices used to turn individuals into violent jihadis.

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Posted in Islamism, Terrorism | Tagged , | 7 Comments

The Arab Spinoza

By Faisal | Published: May 26, 2009

Al-Afif al-Akhdar is a 74 year old Tunisian writer who lives in an apartment in a poor part of Paris. His right arm is paralysed and he can no longer use it to write. Three years ago, a fatwa was issued against him via the Al-Nahdha website which is under the control of Rashid al-Ghannoushi, the London-based demagogue of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al-Nahdha accused him of authoring the book The Unknown in The Prophet’s Life although it was written by an Egyptian Christian. In 2006 Akhdar’s name appeared on a hitlist because of his association with anti-Jihadism and secularism.

Akhdar lives alone, “but with my 4,000 books I don’t feel alone”, he says. Until 2002 he wrote a weekly article for the London-based Arabic paper Al-Hayat, but was fired after he gave an interview to Al Jazeera in which he condemned the barbarism of the corporal punishments that are meted out in Saudi Arabia, such as amputation of limbs.

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Posted in Islamism, Secularism, Terrorism | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Anti-Islamist” Riot in Luton

By Faisal | Published: May 25, 2009

Trouble and strife in Luton yesterday after an “anti-jihadist” march erupted into violence.

The Sun:

Banner-waving drunks, some disguised under balaclavas, trapped terrified Asian staff inside a restaurant.

The Daily Mail:

There were reports of violence, with onlookers claiming that an Asian man was hit across the face with a banner and left with a bloody nose.

Anti-Islamist extremists

'Anti-Islamist' extremists

Protestors wore masks with the horned face of Sayful Islam, who is lucky enough to be the public face of the protests against British soldiers in Luton in March. Those protests were launched by members of the Ahle Sunnah al Jamaah, a splinter group of Al-Mouhajiroun. The incident sparked off a nationwide wave of anti-Islamist tirades. And rightly so.

Sayful Islam and Beard of Terror

Sayful Islam displays his Beard of Terror

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Posted in Anti Muslim bigotry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Iran and the US “retreat”

By Faisal | Published: May 22, 2009

Persian Night by the Iranian author and journalist Amir Taheri is an eye-opening work of journalism. In his book, Taheri draws out the rich and beautiful tapestry of pre-Islamic Iranian cultural history and it’s influence on the flowering of Islamic civilisation, arts, architecture and literature in Iran. This was a different Persia, before it was blighted by the brutal Shah dynasty of the Pahlavi’s and latterly, the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini and the present regime, on which he is ruthlessly clear-sighted.

Taheri’s recent article in the WSJ on Iran’s designs of expansionism in the face of Obama’s “perceived” retreat from the Middle East is insightful. Covering the dynamics of Iran’s engagement and real-politik with six of its immediate neighbours, Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco, Kuwait and Jordan.

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Posted in International Affairs | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Man bites dog

By Faisal | Published: May 22, 2009

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, it’s good to see Inayat Bunglawala giving the truculent wierdness of Hizb ut-Tahrir a good kick.

Specifically, this is about HT’s use of the expenses scandal to underline the endemic “corruption, exploitation and treachery” at the heart of the democratic system and therefore the west. And naturally, for the Hizbis, any abuse of our political system is another nail in the coffin of democracy and only serves to demonstrate that the Khilafa, the Islamic Caliphate, must be the only viable and corruption-free alternative.

Bunglawala trashes this false dichotomy neatly:

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Posted in Democracy | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Filling the bogeyman role

By Faisal | Published: May 20, 2009

With both Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri Muhammed out of the loop due to either incarceration or ‘banishment’, it was only a matter of time before the British media presented the mantle of ‘Most Evil Islamist Fruitcake’ to another willing individual. Enter Anjem Choudary of Al Mouhajiroun. A glutton for media attention, Choudary’s deranged but calculated outburts have shown him to be more than willing to fill that role and, not to mention, column inches.

Anjem Choudary having a quiet moment to himself

Anjem Choudary having a quiet moment to himself

Edmund Standing’s breakdown of the media attention devoted Choudary discusses the demonisation ‘by association’ of Muslims as the inevitable result of this over-exposure. Here is an excerpt:

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Posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Islamism | Tagged | 1 Comment

“How can they take over?”

By Faisal | Published: May 20, 2009

Some mid-morning levity from Asif Zardari on the Jon Stewart show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c
Apakalypse Now
thedailyshow.com
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Full Episodes		 Economic Crisis Political Humor
Posted in Islamism | Tagged | 2 Comments

Diesel bombers convicted

By Faisal | Published: May 17, 2009
Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Three men, Ali Beheshti (41), Abrar Mirza (23) and Abbas Taj (31) who conspired to firebomb the residence of publisher Martin Rynja in September 2008, have been found guilty of recklessly damaging property and endangering life.

Rynja had been planning to publish a novel by US author Shelley Jones called the Jewel of Medina.

Fortunately all three men, who possessed the collective IQ of a cabbage, had been under police surveillance. Officers followed them on the night of the attack and arrested Beheshti, a former member of al-Mouhajiroun and Mirza at the scene. The fire was quickly put out. Taj was the driver of the getaway car.

The men were under surveillance by police who had warned Martin Rynja, 43, and his partner, to move out of their four-storey townhouse, which had an office in the basement.

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Posted in Books, Crime, Freedom of Expression | 8 Comments

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