Category Archives: Human Rights

Jamaat-e-Islam’s “Bangladesh in Crisis” Rally

By Guest | Published: October 4, 2011

This is a guest post by Ashik

Last night I went along to a political rally organised by the Bangladesh Crisis Group which is an offshoot of the British Jamaat-e-Islam front, Islamic Forum Europe. I arrived at the Water Lily Centre which was the advertised venue to be told that the event had been moved to the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel. It was later expressed in the rally that the meeting had been moved because of “political pressure”. My guess is that the Water Lily Centre, which is controlled by Awami League supporters, decided not to host any political lobby involving Toby Cadman in case it irritated their leaders in Awami League HQ in Dhaka.

I thought that it was fitting that the rally had been moved back to London Muslim Centre, the nerve centre of the Jamaat-e-Islam in the UK. After all, it was the DCLG which correctly observed that the ELM/LMC is the base for Jamaat-e-Islami in the UK.

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Also posted in 1971 War, Islamism | 21 Comments

“Barely A Token Gesture”

By Effendi | Published: September 27, 2011

In Saudi Arabia women’s ‘rights’ are a favour granted by the King. Over the weekend, King Abdullah granted Saudi women the right to vote in local elections. Not straight away but in 2015. If you’re a hundred or so years out of step with the rest of humanity, what’s another 4 years?

In the Guardian, Nesrine Malik is wary of the pronouncement since similar assurances have been made in the past but have never been implemented because of inertia at beauracratic level.

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Who Cries For Kurdistan?

By Effendi | Published: September 23, 2011

Whereas the Israel-Palestine issue remains a flashpoint, and a sore one at that, which induces waves of empathic solidarity for the Palestinians from your average Muslim, primarily concerned about the welfare of their co-religionists, the struggle for other co-religionists struggling for statehood receives scarce attention. Why is that? Why does the notion of an indepedent Kurdistan for the Kurds engender little more a blank stare despite the fact that the modern history of the Kurdish struggle for separate political status goes back more than eight decades and involves incidences of brutal human violations on a massive scale?

As this fascinating essay about the history and the current political dynamics in the struggle for Kurdish emancipation from Outernationalist shows:

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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, Democracy, Education, Ethics, Exegesis, 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

more precision needed – and include me out!

By bananabrain | Published: July 13, 2011

from the excellent-but-ferocious ophelia benson at butterflies and wheels:

“More precision needed. There should be a stamp for that. MPN should be like LOL or TMI.”

i agree. what narks me somewhat (and no doubt there are all sorts of reasons why i am wrong about this) is that this is *precisely* what bothers me about statements about a) religious people and b) the tendentious-as-feck word “judeo-christian”.

“But there again – that’s a matter of fact, not something that can just be declared from the armchair as if it were self-evident. Are Muslims as “diverse” as any other group of people living in the UK? Are all groups living in the UK exactly as diverse as each other, neither more nor less? I don’t see why that would be the case. It’s certainly not impossible that there is something about Islam and/or the history of people who emigrate from majority-Muslim countries that makes Muslims as a group tend to be different from other people as groups, including being less “diverse.” That’s something to find out, not just to announce as a necessary truth. Or a sacred cow…”

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Also posted in Anti Muslim bigotry, Antisemitism, Blogosphere, Freedom of Religion, Homophobia, Islamism, Jewish Extremism, Moral relativism, Multiculturalism | Leave a comment

Death of a journalist

By avicenna | Published: June 1, 2011

Saleem Shahzad, the Pakistani journalist who exposed the link between the ISI and al-Qaeda and its infiltration into the Pakistan Navy has been murdered. According to some commentators, he was killed by the ISI.

Shahzad was the Pakistan bureau chief of Asian Times Online and had recently authored a book entitled “Inside Al Qaeda and the Taliban: Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11”. From what I’ve read of his work Shahzad provided unique insights on militancy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Syed Saleem Shahzad’s killing was payback, other journalists and human rights activists said they believed — not from militants, but from Pakistan’s fearsome spy agencies. Shahzad had written before about their dealings with Islamist insurgents, and intelligence officers had warned him.

Update: This is Saleem Shahzad’s last recorded interview

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Also posted in Islamism, Terrorism | 3 Comments

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, Democracy, Entryism, Freedom of Religion, Identity Politics, Interfaith, Islamism, Jewish Extremism, Multiculturalism, Racism, UK Politics | 27 Comments

Pumping Irene

By Effendi | Published: February 20, 2011

Via normblog, reported today in the Sunday Times (behind paywa££):

Amnesty International has given payoffs totalling more than £860,000 to its two most senior former officials, angering its supporters.

The human rights charity says it had no alternative but to pay Irene Khan, its former secretary general, £533,104 after she completed her second four-year term in 2009.

Khan’s deputy, Kate Gilmore, received up to £330,000 at the same time, according to Amnesty’s latest financial records.

The combined payments are equivalent to approximately 4% of Amnesty’s £21.9m annual budget…
…..
Amnesty insiders are outraged Khan was paid more than four times her annual salary of £132,490. “They basically gave her the equivalent of working for another term,” one informed source said. “It is a ridiculous waste of money that will anger a lot of donors.”

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Posted in Human Rights | 4 Comments

The First Anniversary of Gitagate

By Effendi | Published: January 30, 2011

On the 7th February, 2010, Gita Sahgal was suspended by Amnesty International from her post as Head of the Gender Unit after writing an article voicing her fears that Amnesty International has damaged its reputation by partnering with Moazzam Begg and Cageprisoners.

Worldwide outrage, a facebook campaign and a global petition to restore integrity to human rights followed.

The result?

A vicious slander campaign against Sahgal, coordinated by pro-extremist reactionary bloggers and useful idiots – amongst them Sunny Hundal, Andy Worthington, Islamophobia-Watch etc.

Amnesty International initially claimed that they were not promoting Begg’s views, only his experiences. Then they decided that his view on jihad in self defence was ‘not antithetical to human rights‘.

Gita and Amnesty International parted company.

An internal review found that management had failed in their duty of ‘due diligence’ and had not investigated Cageprisoners. Although no investigation has been conducted, Amnesty International and other human rights groups have lined up to support Cageprisoners.

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Also posted in Islamism, Misogyny | Leave a comment

Karima Bennoune: North African People Power

By Cross Post | Published: January 16, 2011

This is a cross-post by Karima Bennoune

After more than 23 years in office, Tunisia’s President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, “Zinochet” as he was dubbed, was forced from power yesterday by popular protests.

These protests began after Mohamed Bou’aziz, an unemployed university graduate in the town of Sidi Bouzid, attempted to burn himself to death on December 17 when the produce he sold on the street to earn a living was confiscated. (He later died of his injuries.)

How could Mr. Bou’aziz know what the implications of his desperate act would be in just one month’s time? His sacrifice inspired huge demonstrations that spread across the North African country, organized in part through resourceful use of Twitter and Facebook. These were met with brutality by the security forces, a grim reality that simply provoked more protest. Unarmed demonstrators were regularly teargassed. Many were arrested. As many as 70-80 people were shot or beaten to death. But the protesters marched on.

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Also posted in Feminism, International Affairs | 2 Comments

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