Category Archives: Democracy

religious people need to recommit to and engage with critical thinking

By bananabrain | Published: August 23, 2010
following an unusually thoughtful broadcast last week by richard dawkins (he’s obviously trying to take on board how much his militancy turns people off by some of the pleas he made on behalf of sacred texts as fine language, cultural literacy and so on) i am grappling again with some of the issues raised by [...]
Also posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Antisemitism, Blogosphere, Christian Evangelical Nutters, Exegesis, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Religion, Hate Speech, Hermeneutics, Human Rights, Interfaith, Islamism, Jewish Extremism | 16 Comments

Is this the “counter-Enlightenment”?

By bananabrain | Published: August 6, 2010
i’ve not posted for a while, mostly because of pressure of work, but there are a number of things which are currently causing me to more or less lose sleep. recently, i gave up posting on pickled politics, partly because of the level of personal animosity i was facing, but mostly just in frustration at my [...]
Also posted in Anti Fascism, Anti Muslim bigotry, Antisemitism, Blogosphere, Christian Evangelical Nutters, Civil Rights, Entryism, European Fascism, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Religion, Human Rights, Identity Politics, Interfaith, Islamism, Jewish Extremism, Moral relativism, Multiculturalism, Obscurantism, Sectarianism, Secularism, The Far Left, The Regressive Left, UK Politics | 37 Comments

A Depressing Little Story in the Sunday Times

By Guest | Published: August 1, 2010
This is a cross-post by Lucy Lips of Harry’s Place The Sunday Times today (behind a paywall) breaks the news that Home Office adviser, Sabin Khan, has been suspended. You will remember that the Home Secretary, Theresa May, excluded the Indian hate preacher, Zakir Naik, from the United Kingdom in May. This is what happened behind the [...]
Also posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Islamism | 13 Comments

meanwhile, in israel…

By bananabrain | Published: June 4, 2010
with the flotilla imbroglio (or fiasco, if you prefer) in full swing, yours truly has just arrived back from the zionist entity, where numerous representatives of clan bananabrain continue to live as normal a life as one might expect in what hussein shobokshi of asharq al-awsat describes as “a state established on a lie based [...]
Also posted in Civil Rights, Freedom of Religion, International Affairs, Israel/Palestine, Jewish Extremism, Politics | 13 Comments

No They Ain’t Voting (Can’t Trust Them!)

By Effendi | Published: May 5, 2010
Catchy tune and lyrics from Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Quilliam Foundation gets a name-check and Noam Chomsky gets a “big shout”. Shame about the dodgy content and sentiments. Our reaction: Khilafah? CYAN’T TRUST IT! Hizb-ut-Tahrir? CYAN’T TRUST IT! WHY COZ THEY IDIOTS AND THAT’S A FACT AND I AIN’T JOKING…
Also posted in Islamism | 4 Comments

seven modest proposals for the british jewish community

By bananabrain | Published: March 16, 2010
the ferocious but charming miriam shaviv over at the jc is blogging a number of “daily proposals to transform the british jewish community” during march. i was discussing this with my redoubtable other half over friday night dinner and we thought the following might be worth submission: 1. transparency at the jewish leadership council ok, we know [...]
Also posted in Activism, Antisemitism, Education, Entryism, Environmental, Identity Politics, Interfaith, Israel/Palestine, Jewish Extremism, Misc, Obscurantism, Politics | Tagged , | 6 Comments

A Tribute to Iranian Women

By Faisal | Published: March 8, 2010
On International Women’s Day, a tribute to the courageous women fighting for freedom and justice in Iran. Hat tip: Potkin via Gene.
Posted in Democracy | 1 Comment

Press TV sinks to new lows

By Effendi | Published: January 7, 2010
Well, this is just pathetic. Few things have angered me as much as watching this outrageous clip from Press TV. It is the worst and most blatant propaganda I’ve seen for years. Exactly the kind of rubbish I’d expect from a station that is little more than a mouthpiece for Ahmadinijad’s murderous regime. Ofcom has rules on [...]
Also posted in Anti Fascism, Human Rights, International Affairs, Politics | Leave a comment

Muslim Brotherhood Rig Their Own Elections

By Abu Faris | Published: January 5, 2010
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood are having a hard time of late, much to the delight of their many political opponents inside Egypt. On Tuesday, 22nd December 2009, MB announced the results of the first elections held in 15 years to its leading Guidance Bureau. Unfortunately for the Brothers, the results of the election were strongly [...]
Also posted in Islamism | 2 Comments

Khamenei Trampled Underfoot

By Abdul Hamid al Manchesteri | Published: December 29, 2009
Effective metaphor for the popular movement against the Islamist regime that is underway in Iran in this video:
Also posted in Activism | 1 Comment