Category Archives: Feature

Call to action on June 26 to commemorate Neda and in solidarity with the people of Iran

By Guest | Published: June 24, 2009

From Maryam Namazie

Neda Agha-Soltan, the 27 year old shot in the chest by the Islamic regime of Iran’s Baseeji security forces on June 20 died before our very eyes.

We witnessed her last breaths; and felt the rage of the millions on the streets of Iran.

In an interview with Persian media, her fiancé, Caspian Makan, said that some news sites had erroneously reported that she was a supporter of Mousavi. ‘This is not the case’ he said, ‘She was never supportive of either of these two groups. She wanted freedom; freedom for everyone.’

There are times in history when individuals or tragic events become symbols and, today, Neda has become ours.

She symbolises all the beloved we have lost to this indiscriminate killing machine. But she also represents the refusal to kneel and the desire for a life worthy of 21st century humanity.

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Also posted in Democracy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Support Our Comrades in Iran

By Guest | Published: June 17, 2009

Support the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy and freedom

There are demonstrations in front of the Iranian Embassy every day.

Protest this Thursday 18 June, 6-8pm – or any day – outside the Iranian Embassy in London,

16 Princes Gate, SW7 1PT

Spread the word via twitter, facebook, myspace and your email address book.

Show the Iranian people that they are not alone.

Show the Tehran regime that the humane world is against its vote-rigging and tyranny.

We don’t want to  post pictures of the murder and brutality that is being meted out to ordinary Iranians right now.  The photos and footage coming out of Iran are extremely bloody and very disturbing.

If you would like to see what is happening in Iran, here is one picture and one piece of footage.  The picture is from the protest clashes in Shiraz, the film footage is an Isfahan university student.

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Also posted in Democracy, Human Rights, International Affairs | Tagged | 1 Comment

Iranian authorities bans protests and orders an “Inquiry”

By Faisal | Published: June 15, 2009

Iran‘s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered an investigation into claims of vote-rigging and fraud in last week’s presidential election, Iranian state TV reported today.

The report said Khamenei had told the guardian council, the clerical body that oversees elections, to examine the pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi’s claims of widespread rigging in Friday’s poll.

The government declared the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to have won in a landslide victory.

Today’s news represents a surprising turnaround for Khamenei, who had previously welcomed the results.

Mousavi has cancelled a rally planned for later today after being warned that militias responsible for policing it would be equipped with live ammunition.

The rally had earlier been banned by Iran’s interior ministry, but it remained unclear whether protesters would take to the streets or not because many may be unaware that the demonstration had been cancelled.
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Also posted in International Affairs | Leave a comment

Men questioned in UK over white supremacist terror plot

By Houriya | Published: June 10, 2009

Nicky Davison, an 18 year old from Durham County, accused of plotting a terror attack, appeared in Westminster court yesterday.

Nicky – initially arrested for inciting racial hatred – and his father, Ian Davison, were arrested on the 6 June 2009 under the Terrorism Act 2000, on suspicion for being part of a global network of white supremacist terrorists, plotting to attack ethnic minorities by using the deadly substance ricin. A tiny grain of ricin is enough to kill someone if they came into direct contact with the substance. Police found in the men’s home a jam jar that contained the poison, and is believed to have been kept in a kitchen cupboard for two years.

In uncovering the white supremacist plot, Durham’s assistant chief constable Mike Barton rightly stated “This shows that the terrorist threat in the UK is real and present.”

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Also posted in Anti Fascism, Terrorism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Breaking News: Pakistan Mosque Attack Kills 30

By Retired | Published: June 5, 2009

The BBC are reporting that upwards of 30 people have been killed in a bomb attack on a mosque near the Swat valley in north-western Pakistan. It appears to be part of a wider offensive timed to coincide with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke’s visit to the country, as Reuters report:

“Earlier on Friday, police arrested suicide bombers in Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s interior minister said, as U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke consulted the country’s leaders on what needs to be done once the army wipes out the Taliban in Swat valley.

Roadblocks have multiplied in recent days in both the capital and Rawalpindi, where the army is headquartered, over fears of attacks in retaliation against the Swat offensive.”

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Also posted in Terrorism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Breaking News: Hazel Blears resigns

By Shikwa | Published: June 3, 2009

Sky News say the beleaguered Secretary of State for Communities, Hazel Blears has resigned.

It’s a terrible shame if she’s gone. Over recent months she has shown great moral clarity and conviction by challenging the nasty views of men like Daud Abdullah in the Muslim Council of Britain. Earlier this year he essentially endorsed attacks against the Royal Navy and promoted the Islamist view that Muslims should wage a perpetual war against Israel until it is finally overwhelmed.

Blears’ departure is a real blow to a cabinet in need of serious leadership. It underscores that Gordon Brown is rapidly losing both his authority, and also all sense of reality if he thinks that holding on for an election next summer will deliver anything other than the defeat of his administration. In the meantime, the unravelling of his government is undignified and a national embarrassment.

We need an election now.

Also posted in Politics, UK Politics | 3 Comments

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

The subtext to the Pakistan bombing

By Shikwa | Published: May 27, 2009

Terrible news from Pakistan this morning where another terrorist attack has caused carnage and loss of life. It’s an obvious act of retaliation from the Taliban who are currently being hammered in Swat.

Beyond the tragedy of this bombing there is an important subtext to all this.

Events like this bombing should remind ordinary Muslims – that’s you and me – who believe in the faith of Islam that we’re the primary target of these terrorists who believe in implementing their ideological and politicised version of Islam. They persecute and kill far more Muslims than anyone else.

Just look at what those animals from Taliban did to this 17 year old girl once they had control of Swat (I should warn you that the video is very, very distressing):

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Also posted in Islamism, Terrorism | 19 Comments

Welcome to the Spittoon

By Faisal | Published: May 10, 2009

A spittoon is a metal bowl-shaped vessel, often with a funnel-shaped cover, into which tobacco chewers periodically spit. The chewing of tobacco is an especially discursive habit of mind and body which tends to produce copious quantities of both expectorated saliva and the exchange of ideas. The spittoon as the receptacle for “gob” and as a symbol of fomenting conversation is, we think, an appropriate euphemism for this blog.

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