Category Archives: Democracy

Gita Sahgal vs Islamist Hecklers

By ziryab | Published: February 9, 2013

On the BBC Radio 4 show ‘Hecklers’, Gita Sahgal takes on the combined force of the Islamists Tahmina Saleem (Islamic Society Britain), Tariq Ramadan (freelance Islamist), Nazir Ahmed (House of Lords), Moazzam Begg (Cage Prisoners) and Daud Abdullah (Muslim Council of Britain)

Also posted in Hindu Fundamentalism, Islamism, Jamaat-e-Islam, Nutters, Religious Right Wing, Secularism, UK Politics, War Crimes | 1 Response

a window of opportunity for an independent kurdistan?

By bananabrain | Published: August 10, 2012

i must start by declaring an interest here, not only as someone who supports a fair and equitable end to the arab-israeli conflict in which israel’s future is secured and a wider lasting peace in the middle east for all its peoples, but also as someone many of whose ancestors came from mosul and kirkuk in kurdistan. i have met many talented kurds and they have invariably been the sort of people who i could get along with and do business with; reasonable, rational and sensitive to the realities of history and politics.

for all these reasons, the issue of kurdistan has been close to my heart for a number of years; it felt very much to me as if it was a pipe-dream, given the geopolitical status quo. the basics are this:

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Also posted in Activism, History, Human Rights, Identity Politics, International Affairs, Misc, Politics, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Rise of the Salafists

By Effendi | Published: December 4, 2011

The unexpected victory of the Salafists in the Egypt and Tunisia elections has caught many by surprise, not least the Muslim Brotherhood who once thought that they would clean up, but now are faced with the prospect of having to share power with a segment they regarded as marginal. The rise of the Salafists is seen by some as the authentic reaction to the repression of Islamic practice by secular Arab despots. The Salafists regard the first century of Islamic history as the perfected state for humanity,  and now they see themselves as the real inheritors of the voice of the repressed Muslim majority. Their stake has been under-reported because attention has always been directed on the Muslim Brotherhood as the stakeholders of the Islamist vote.

The rise of the Salafists is arguably the most alarming dynamic unleashed by the Egyptian revolution.

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Also posted in Islamism | 3 Responses

Mona Eltahawy Assaulted in Cairo

By Effendi | Published: November 25, 2011

Here’s Mona Eltahawy discussing being physically and sexually assaulted by the Cairo police yesterday:

My right hand is so swollen I can’t close it.

5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers.

They are dogs and their bosses are dogs. Fuck the Egyptian police.

Yes sexual assault. I’m so used to saying harassment but those fuckings assaulted me.

The past 12 hrs were painful and surreal but I know I got off much much easier than so many other Egyptians.

God knows what wuld’ve happened if I wasn’t dual citizen (tho they brought up detained US students) & that I wrote/appeared various media.

The whole time I was thinking about article I would write; just you fuckers wait.

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Pickles “Curry College” Integration Strategy

By Effendi | Published: November 21, 2011

Eric Pickles, the Conservative UK secretary of state, has plans to build a “curry college” to train unemployed British youth to cook pakora, the samosa and the chicken biriyani to replace cooks formerly hired from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

While this is a good initiative for the British workforce, let’s hope it doesn’t turn into this:

The new “curry college” initiative is bound to generate hilarity. No scheme which Pickles leads will fail to engender a good deal of good humoured ribaldry, but there is a serious side to these plans.

In addition to the jobs angle, this initiative also has some worthwhile and far reaching motives for the increasing integration. So instead of the New Labour language of “promoting local community cohesion” will be simpler and tighter ideas like “promoting integration” and increasing “tolerance” as the new watchwords.

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Also posted in Immigration | Leave a comment

Sic Semper Tyrannis

By Effendi | Published: October 20, 2011

The Mad Dog is dead. Libya can move on!

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the big society, riots and “spiral dynamics”

By bananabrain | Published: August 15, 2011

obviously, a great deal has been written about the riots to date and a great deal of predictable outpouring has also taken place. what i wanted to offer to this debate is, however, along more behavioural lines.

i have for some time been aware of the powerful analytical frameworks for bio-psycho-social systems developed by the american psychologist dr clare graves and systematised for practical application by don beck and chris cowan in the excellent book “spiral dynamics” (i’m not affiliated with anyone concerned, incidentally). at the risk of sounding like somewhat of a “fanboy”, as i believe it is called on teh interwebs, i am convinced it constitutes an important piece of intellectual real estate for the understanding of complex socio-political systems, particularly in behavioural terms.

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Also posted in Activism, Blogosphere, Civil Rights, Communalism, Crime, Education, Ethics, Exegesis, Human Rights, Identity Politics, Media, Misc, Moral relativism, Multiculturalism, Political Correctnes gone mad!, Politics, The Far Left, The Left, The Regressive Left, UK Politics | Leave a comment

Maajid Nawaz: A global culture to fight extremism

By Effendi | Published: July 16, 2011

This is Maajid Nawaz on TEDGlobal discussing why extremist organisations, whether they are far-right or of the extremist religious-right Islamist variety are succeeding in a globalised way whereas those who aspire to democratic culture are falling behind.

He frames his discussion on 4 points:

  • Complacency
  • Political Correctness
  • Political and Economic failure
  • Ideology of Resistance

Also posted in Islamism | Leave a comment

Not waltzing with Bashar

By Effendi | Published: June 23, 2011

Huge public protest from Hama last night chanting, “Do you want Bashar?” to the reply, “By God, NO!”

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is honest dialogue compatible with the exposure of dishonest dialogue?

By bananabrain | Published: May 12, 2011

we at the spittoon seem spend a lot of time both criticising people who appear to be disingenuous, swivel-eyed fundamentalist weasels and their stooges, as well as calling for honest, open-hearted dialogue and support for a stronger, more liberal society in which both jews and muslims have a role to play, not just as citizens, but as jews and muslims. we believe both in the robust defence of liberty and the principles of democracy as well as aspiring to a better, more peaceful future in which people of differing religions, cultures and points of view will be able to live together – call it a messianic vision, if you like, or even “roddenberry-lite”, but we don’t see why people can’t “sit under their vine and fig-tree, with nobody to make them afraid“.

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Also posted in Activism, Anti Muslim bigotry, Antisemitism, Blogosphere, Civil Rights, Entryism, Freedom of Religion, Human Rights, Identity Politics, Interfaith, Islamism, Jewish Extremism, Multiculturalism, Racism, UK Politics | 27 Responses

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