Who’s fuelling the fire of Islamophobia in the UK?

Following the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, and the terror attacks in Paris at the start of this year, are the media to blame for growing anti-Islamic sentiment? Trevon Muhammad reports.

Islamophobia, the irrational fear or hatred of Muslims appears deeply rooted in certain parts of Britain. However, while far right movements such as the English Defence League have held numerous public rallies against the religion of Islam and its followers, they have little credibility in the mainstream. Nonetheless, there are growing fears that the recent attacks in France – alongside negative media coverage – have introduced a subtler, more acceptable form of Islamophobia.

Forced to defend her religion : Rahila Monajed says public attitudes toward muslims are growing more negative.

Rahila Monajed, a 20-year-old Muslim university student, says she has experienced a growing misconception of Islam in her own social circles.

“I’ll go to lunch with my friends and they’ll want to talk about ISIS and all the horrible things Muslims are doing – everyone seems to think that most Muslims support what is happening when almost all us are against it.

“These people kill more Muslims than Christians, Jews or anyone else.”

However Rahila says friends and acquaintances from different religious and cultural backgrounds often repeat the mantra of Muslims needing to stand up and confirm that they aren’t supporters of terrorists.

“It’s like we have to defend our religion. You can’t just be a Muslim and live peacefully, you have to prove that you’re not a terrorist Muslim.”

Islamophobia is on the rise in Britain – Muslims in the community feel this is being fuelled by the government and the media.

Media bias: newspapers have been widely accused of increasing and promoting anti-Muslim sentiment.

Negative attitudes towards Muslims have been well documented in recent years with polls showing 47% of Britons view Muslims as a threat and 58% associate Islam with extremism.

The question is where do these perceptions come from?

Abdul Haqq, an Islamic counselor, says the media are largely responsible.

“When a Christian or a Jew commits a crime their religion isn’t called into question. I haven’t heard anything on the news or in the papers about a Christian terrorist or a Jewish terrorist.

“When it comes to Islam though there its always Muslim terrorist, Islamic fundamentalist and I think it’s very clear this is being done on purpose.”

The media’s impact on the public’s perception of a report published by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) found that 74% knew “nothing or next nothing” about Islam. Separate studies have shown that 64% of the British public acquire what they know about Islam from the media and that 91% of published news-stories about Muslims were negative.

https://dailymotion.com/video/x27gizn

“The way to solve this problem is for people to challenge their own negative perceptions and gain an understanding of Islam for themselves and really engage Muslims for themselves,” says Mr Haqq.

“Then they’d see that we aren’t what we’ve been portrayed to be in the media.”

Are the UK police above the law?

Thousands have died – yet no police officer has so far been successfully prosecuted for a death in custody in 50 years. Trevon Muhammad investigates why.

The battle continues : The Duggan family and their supporters believe justice has not yet been done.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising. After last year’s public inquiry ruled that Mark Duggan had been lawfully killed – despite being unarmed – the latest development in his case is only following a longstanding narrative.

No matter how much evidence is presented, or how many questions are raised – the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the justice system seemingly has neither the capacity nor the will to hold police officers to account when deaths occur in their custody.

Take Jacob Michael, for instance.

In 2010, his neighborhood allegedly witnessed as many as 11 police officers brutally assault him even while handcuffed during his arrest for affray. He died later that day and an inquiry found his death to be as a result of a cocaine-induced delirium rather than police actions.

In 2000, CCTV evidence showed police officers laughing and making monkey noises as Christopher Alder, a Falkland’s war veteran, choked to death on his own blood with his trousers around his ankles.

Nonetheless, the officers were exonerated, granted early retirements on stress-related medical grounds and received lump sum payments between £44,000 and £66,000. Mr Alder’s family received just £22,000.

Since 1990 over 1,500 people have died in police custody and yet not one officer has been successfully prosecuted for a death in their custody.

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Marsha Rigg, whose brother Sean Rigg died in at Brixton police station in 2010, said the Mark Duggan case had showcased the ongoing failure of the IPCC.

“We have to keep fighting because there is no justice – it’s just us.”

Civil rights campaigner Minkah Adolofo said nothing had changed in his 40-plus years of campaigning against deaths in police custody.

“It’s the same story every time: whatever the evidence or the investigation, ultimately those responsible for the death of our loved ones are never brought to justice.”

The Real Political Earthquake

Green Party MP candidate for Brixton, Rashid Nix, discusses with Trevon Muhammad his plans to shake up the establishment and inspire a generation of disaffected youngsters back to the ballot.

A quick glance at Rashid Nix should tell you he isn’t your average politician. Yet if the dreadlocks and snakeskin shoes don’t give it away – a short conversation will do the trick.

The prospective MP didn’t go to Eton College or Cambridge University. He grew up on the tough streets of Brixton, making his name as a DJ and a promoter with a passion for excitement. Getting him to answer a straightforward question isn’t like trying to nail jelly to a wall – it’s well…straightforward. He’s not into politics for prestige or the security of a career. Brixton born and bred, his goal is to chart a new course for a district which is as famous for its cultural roots as it is infamous for its high levels of crime, unemployment and social deprivation.

To do that though he’ll have to break the Labour party’s vice-like grip on Brixton, particularly among black voters which he acknowledges is no easy task.

The Labour Party Machine

“About 70% of people vote Labour based on tradition,” he says.

“When black people first come over to this country in the 50s and the 60s they were a working class party and we were working class, so it made sense.

“What many don’t realise is that they aren’t a working class party anymore; they sold out years ago when Tony Blair came into power.”

As a result he says the party have been able to treat their constituents in Brixton with “contempt”, knowing that they will remain in power regardless of their performance.

“The Labour party could put a lamp-post or a toaster in the election and chances are people would vote for it because of the Labour stamp.”

Nonetheless, times are changing. After finishing second in last year’s local elections ahead of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, Rashid is determined to go one better this time around and his progress seems to be making the establishment nervous.According to Labour party insiders many are “worried” that voters are getting behind the Green candidate in growing numbers.

Why the Green Party?

On the campaign trail : Rashid is determined to usher in a new era on May 8th

Across the country, traditional Labour voters are said to be defecting to the Greens and Rashid believes his party offers “far and away” the most progressive option for voters who want to see real changes made. The party’s focus on long term plans for the benefits of generations to come seems to be resonating with people from different backgrounds and classes.

“The idea of sucking every mineral resource from the earth, chopping down every single tree just to generate profit is not going to service generations to come; it’s not sustainable.”

It’s the Green party he argues who have recognised this while the other parties are focused on the short term – particularly the economy.

“For the other parties economic growth has replaced God at the altar of worship but its such a loaded term.

“Building prisons and getting people locked up is economic growth, people getting sick and going to hospital or buying medicine causes economic growth but they don’t break the figures down like that.

“We’ve been made to think economic growth is important – but what will it really deliver? Profits to shareholders mainly.”

A fresh start

As one of Brixton’s most recognisable faces, Rashid’s key strength lies in his authenticity. He’s unafraid to speak out on real issues and as a result of his experiences is able to relate to a wide range of people.

As a family man & dedicated father he’s able to relate to parents just as readily as he’s able to communicate with the youths on the street corners.

With rents rising, more and more wealthy people are moving into Brixton and there are growing concerns that black and poor residents are being pushed out of the area. Rashid says this gentrification has been of no real benefit to the up and coming generation of young people.

“We’ve got young people, who are teenagers, some in their early twenties, whose best years are ahead of them but there’s nothing here for them – no opportunities.

“So what will their best years be spent doing? Drugs? Jail time? In the mental asylum?”

“We owe our children more than that – we have to do something about it.”

Community projects, mentoring programs and political education are key aspects of Rashid’s plans to help bring about significant changes for Brixton’s youth.

“The reason I’m running is to show these young people that regardless of where they are from they can stand up, rise above their environments and make a difference.”

To find out more or about Rashid’s campaign visit RashidNix.Com

Ed Miliband: a political asset or Labour liability?

Will the Labour leader win or lose the election for his party?

In theory, booting David Cameron out of Number 10 and sending his Coalition government tumbling out of Parliament should be relatively straightforward for the Labour party. After all, the past five years have seen the both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats fail miserably in the eyes of many. Countless stories have been written on the shed load of broken promises made by the current government from balancing the national debt by 2015 (we’re still spending £80bn more than we earn every year) to reducing immigration. Novels will surely follow.

However, with the latest polls showing the Labour party tied with the Conservatives, it appears they are struggling to capitalise on their obvious advantage. One of the main reasons for this, according to outspoken Labour MP for Rochdale, Simon Danczuk, is Ed Miliband himself. Simply put, the “British public don’t like him”.

The MP claimed voters saw Ed Miliband as more of a “toff” than David Cameron and as a result would not vote for the Labour party. It’s not the first time his leadership credentials have been questioned. A survey last year found that 26% of Labour voters disliked Ed Miliband, compared to just 20% of Conservative voters.

So, is Ed Miliband more of liability than an asset to the Labour party?

YES

Audio Opinion.Yes, Ed Miliband is a liability

Cristine Geoffrey, a former Labour party member ended her support for them last year in favour of the Greens instead. She believes that widespread distaste for the Labour leader has played a role in many voters defecting to other parties. “I think a lot of people do not trust him – he basically piggybacked on the name his brother made and stole the leadership from him. If he’d do that to his own family, how loyal can we expect him to be to us as voters?

“At the same time there’s a feeling that he isn’t tough enough to be prime minister. Could you see him negotiating with the likes of Vladimar Putin and Barack Obama? I don’t think so.”

NO

Audio Opinion. No, Ed Miliband is an asset

David Simpson, a community worker and educator who serves as part of the Social Solutions Institute believes that the Labour party is ultimately a bigger brand than Ed Miliband. As a result he still expects the party to take victory in May.

“Maybe he isn’t as charming as Tony Blair once was but I most voters understand that he’s just a figurehead. It’s the Labour party people are voting for and while some people don’t like him as an individual – I don’t think he is hated.”

“His support is growing and although it will be tight, I have a feeling the Labour party will ultimately win.”

Street Views

Your view

Is Ed Miliband an asset or a liability to the labour party?

Definitely an asset – people will vote for him as an individual

Not sure

He’s a liability – people won’t vote for Labour because of him

Poll Maker

Nation Of Islam Takes Oxford

50 years after Malcolm X’s historic visit, Nation of Islam ministers and hip hop heavyweight Jay Electronica speak to Oxford University Students. 

In a spirited debate hosted by the Oxford African Caribbean Student Union, the Nation of Islam’s European representative minister Hilary Muhammad, critically-acclaimed rapper Jay Electronica and Islamic scholar Dr Wesley Muhammad discussed a wide range of controversial issues in one of Britain’s most famous institutions.

Flanked by the Fruit of Islam – the male members of the Nation of Islam – the trio were first given a tour of the university which has a reputation for hosting a number of world leaders and influential figures including Malcolm X, who lectured at the University in 1964

The event, titled ‘Islam and the West: Understanding the clash of civilizations’ gave attendees a rare opportunity to hear from the notoriously elusive Jay Electronica. Swaggering across the famed Oxford debate chamber, The Roc Nation artist spoke on the impact teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam had on his life.

Like most black people in America and Europe, the Electronica said he had been born with a case of “mistaken identity”, highlighting his British birth name Timothy Thedford as an example of his disconnect with his heritage.

“If you don’t know your real name, you’re like a person with amnesia, like Jason Bourne – you don’t who you are, where you are, what’s happening around you – and you’re reliant on information from others about yourself.”

However after being introduced to the Nation of Islam by fellow speaker Dr Wesley Muhammad –he explained his life was transformed like many before him.

“I was out in streets, selling drugs but the Nation of Islam changed my life – it saved me and saved the greats you know like Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali from a dead state and put them on the world stage.”

Dr Wesley Muhammad spoke next, discussing the escalating conflict between Islam and the West, arguing that the root problem facing both was white supremacy.

While the idea that white people are inherently superior to black and other people is widely known to have strong roots in the West, Dr Muhammad said Islam was infected with the same mindset centuries ago: “Islam underwent a process which had made it profoundly misogynist today, it was not that under the rightly-guided Khalifa’s (successors of Prophet Muhammad).

“This process introduced racism and white supremacy.”

In a more intimate setting, Minister Hilary Muhammad held an open discussion with students and expanded on the problem of white supremacy, which he said was tied to the myth of black inferiority.

“If we as black people learn how to love ourselves more – to have more confidence in our heritage, in who we are today and our futures – we could not be kept in an inferior position.

“Most of us as black people have to deny who we are in order to make social progress so we engage in a form of spiritual suicide on a daily basis which does not allow us the right to enjoy who and what we are,” the minister said.

Quoting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), minister Hilary told students that it was not skin color that made one person better than another but the moral standard by which they live.

“The ideas, the teachings of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan are not to replace white supremacy with black supremacy. It’s to replace white supremacy with freedom, justice and equality for all.”

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Lift the ban

A key part of the discussions throughout the day revolved around the UK’s continuing ban on the Minister Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam leader was initially banned in 1986 before the ban being lifted in 2001, following a successful campaign led by minister Hilary and the UK members of the Nation of Islam.

However the ban was reinstated shortly afterwards, following an appeal by the Government on the grounds that his presence would be a threat to public order.

“What civilized, intelligent country would ban someone because of their ideas especially when the man espousing these ideas has never been arrested in his life – not even for a parking ticket?” Minister Hilary asked students.

“Minister Farrakhan’s philosophy would not just reduce crime in the UK it would eliminate it, it would not reduce ignorance, it would eliminate it, it would not reduce immorality, it would eliminate it – but does the UK want that type of society?”

Ultimately, students from a wide range of backgrounds agreed that the British public had a right to hear and judge Minister Farrakhan’s message for themselves bringing an end to a hugely successful event.

19-year-old student Khadeejah El Haddadi was among the attendees and said she had enjoyed the event from start to finish,

“It was really good, (we have) a lot of things to think about in terms of what we can do to help bring peace and stop all the injustices we talked about today.”

Fellow student Sherai Simpson was similarly enthusiastic,

“I enjoyed it, it’s good to discuss important issues like racism and freedom of speech and look for solutions.”

Five things you were made to forget about Mark Duggan

He was wrongfully vilified in the press

His name has been dragged through the mud over the past couple of years, and now the verdict over his killing has been reached. But, as Tara Williams reports, what have the general public generally made to forget about Mark Duggan?

The three and a half year investigation by the Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC) cleared London Metropolitan Police of any wrong-doing this week finding that their target was appropriately within law.

This coming August will mark the fourth anniversary from when 29 year old Mark Duggan was shot dead in the streets of Tottenham and when the country saw the its biggest riots but what are the five things you have probably been made to forget about the young black youth?

1. He was never a part of any gang or had ever been to prison despite claims that he was a gangster or one of the most dangerous and wanted men in Europe.
2. The famous photo the media used of him was cropped to look villainous when he was actually at his daughter’s graveside holding a heart.
3. The officer who shot Duggan in the chest and killed him said that he had been carrying a handgun although it was later proven that he was unarmed. – The same officer is anonymous and is referred to as V53.
4. When the investigation into the murder began three years ago, numerous files were missing and the Jury were said to be missing crucial bits of information about the incident that had taken place.
5. According to Mark’s Aunty Carole Duggan, he was actually on his way home to have his dinner when he was shot.

In response to the IPPC’S findings London-based Teacher and Writer Robert Kazandjian took to Twitter to say that the results of the long awaited investigation is a “cynical failure.” The message was sent to Stafford Scott who is the coordinator of the Tottenham rights campaign and who covered a lot to do with Duggan’s death.

Kemoy Walker, who is a young advisor, youth ambassador and education secretary, told Zero Sum that the results were disappointing but to be expect: “the reality is that there are too many deaths in custody and cases of contact and brutality concerning young black males.

“I deal with too many young people in Moss Side who have been unfairly treated by the police because they are black”

“Black males are known to be around eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than a white man and because of that I have joined the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) to voice my opinions of the stop and search procedure to police officers themselves.”

Mark’s death sparked the 2011 London Riots

#Justice4Mark

Kemoy Walker meets the Queen

Walker work’s hard to empower black youths of Moss Side

vilified in the press

See what the Guardian said about the riots: https://embed.theguardian.com/embed/video/uk/video/2011/aug/08/london-riots-shop-looting-enfield

Are the UK Libraries on verge of extinction?

“They invested nothing in it – NOTHING! Nothing in the book stock, nothing in the fabric of the building. What they deliberately did with Hanwell Library was to let it run down to the point where it become so expensive for upkeep. The roof was leaking, the walls were all damp, so they said we cannot afford this anymore,” Sean Ashcroft

By Faiz Baluch  

The condition of libraries across the country is not any better. More than 10% of libraries in the UK are facing closure and many are now either run by volunteers or have been privatized. Hundreds of staff lost their job due cuts to funds for libraries.

Alan Wylie who is leading member of Voice for Libraries, said, “The main trends are cuts to staffing so we have lost between 900 – 1000 staff of the libraries in the last five years. The other trend is volunteers led libraries in boroughs like Lewisham, Barnet, and Camden.”

Depending on location, size and shape of the building the local authorizes decide the shape of the building once it is close down and no more used as a library.

Wylie explains what will happen to the building after the library is closes, “They either hand it over to volunteers like they have done in Barnet and in Lewisham or they sell the building. It depends how valuable the building is, if it is an old Victorian Carnegie library they might get a lot of money out of it.”

Stop disappearances in our homelands

Diaspora communities who have suffered directly or indirectly by the actions of British colonial occupation gather in the heart of Britain to share their experience about life under occupation and repression. Faiz Baluch reports from the event organized by Inter-Community Forum in SOAS University.

Around three dozen activists from different communities from Central Asia to Latin America and Africa gathered in Khalili Theater at SOAS University in London to discuss ways how to help each other and promote their ‘causes to wider world’.

The event was divided in two parts in the first half the speaker from each community talked for about five minutes to present his/her case to the audience and talked about the background and latest updates on disappearances from their countries.

The London Mexico Solidarity Group representative reported that on the 26th September 2014, 43 student disappeared from the State of Guerrero on their way to a protest.

This marks a long list of disappearances that have been taking place since the 60, official figures show that 26,000 people went missing and were never found.

“These kind of facts are hardly ever followed by investigations and stay unpunished and unexplained.”

A fair hearing in the year of electioneering?

Chilcot, the general election and the view of 9/11 victims’ relatives across the pond. Michael Cornin reports on the report that is yet to uncover the road to Iraq.

A retreat to safety? Sir John Chilcot’s report into Britain’s play in Iraq will fly in after the May elections

Jeremy Corbyn MP is showing remarkable restraint with his answers. A veteran Labour politician, he has not always agreed with the party leadership.

Iraq is one of a number of issues he’s publicly campaigned about. It’s a war which has again this year wrong-footed Westminster politics after Sir John Chilcot announced in February – to much media speculation – that his report into Britain’s inclusion for invasion will not be published until after May’s election.

Immediately it was seen as a political move. The inquiry concluded its hearings over four years ago, and the subsequent report has been ‘ready’ since last year.

Corbyn, a clued-in Westminster insider, says, “[The report] will call into question the validity of the security services. Now, I don’t think the prime minister is particularly keen on spending any of the election campaign having to defend the security services, because he and previous prime ministers have introduced legislation which has helped the security services.”

Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North

Whatever the report will say, the MP is “utterly convinced of two things: one is that there’s been a massive effort by the officials on both sides of the Atlantic to prevent publication of the Blair/Bush letter and conversation exchange, especially what happened at Crawford, Texas in April 2002.

“Secondly, its publication will come out at one point heavily redacted or it’s going to take the lid off the way the security services deceived Parliament and deceived everyone else about the supposed weapons of mass destruction.”

Chilcot’s report (redacted or not) has stalled, but among pressure groups and academics in America there is an understandable question over why independent inquiries aren’t being set up within their own political system.

Valerie Lucznikowska’s nephew, Adam Arias, died outside 2 World Trade Centre on the morning of 9/11. Since then she has campaigned for Peaceful Tomorrows, a movement set up to unravel and reveal the Bush/Cheney policies which sent troops to Iraq in 2003.

“[I think Chilcot is] very important – too bad we here in the US don’t have a similar inquiry.  Although the answers are clear to many of us, it will nonetheless be an added, well-considered judgement,” she says. “So unfortunate that those men responsible [will be] censured only in other countries.”

Phyllis Rodriguez is also part of Peaceful Tomorrows. She lost her son Greg on 9/11, however since then she has gone on a mission of forgiveness, culminating in a 2010 meeting with the mother of failed September 11^th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui.

“I believe it would be very important for this [an independent inquiry into Iraq] to take place in the US and Iraq, as well as other nations whose governments sent in troops and aid.”

Yet she also wary of them, “If such hearings do not criticise those who led us into the invasion, we’d have to conclude that they were not really looking for the truth.”

Academic Jim O’Brien, co-chair of Historians against the War, thinks past wars can tell us about today’s conflicts.

“I wish I could believe that it would lead to a similar inquiry in this country, but I’m still waiting for that to happen in regard to the Vietnam War, decades earlier,” he says.

“Why do we have to follow what the US does all the time? Why do we have to accept NATO all the time? And why are we so close to the USA?

Candidly, O’Brien believes that “if the Chilcot report ends up as an unsparing account of how the British and US governments prepared for the invasion of Iraq, it would be a major contribution to understanding an extremely costly episode in twenty-first century history.”

Jeremy Corbyn thinks that the report may “reopen the debate” about events in 2003, perhaps even “lead to an increase in pressure for a war powers act in Britain which we still don’t have”. Assuredly he says it should “spark a policy debate”, in that “Why do we have to follow what the US does all the time? Why do we have to accept NATO all the time? And why are we so close to the USA?”

Ellen Judd, most tragically of all, lost her partner and brother-in-law in the 9/11 attacks. Perceptively she sees what all this led to, “All of this not only a matter of 2003. It has opened the door to what is now continuing in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere. I know the cost and do not wish this on anyone anywhere.”

How to counter the Jihadists cyber propaganda?

In recent years hundreds of British Muslim youth, especially young girls, have gone to Syria to join Jihadists (holy warriors) from the so called Islamic state (IS). This trend continues to this day but who is responsible for preventing these youth and what should be done to counter the cyber preaching of Jihad (holy war)?

Faiz Baluch

British public and parents of young Muslims children are worried about the increasing number of youth who have already travelled to Syria to join the fight of terrorist organisations such the IS who waged a war against Kurdish people and other modern Muslims because they view them as anti-Islamic.

Human rights activists and experts also allege that Turkey has a soft approach toward the ISIS and that is why most of British youth flee to Turkey and cross the border into the Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State fighters.

Amy Gray Conservative Party candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington doesn’t agree with allegation against Turkey.

She said: “I don’t know if that is true. There are Kurdish fighters on the Turkish border area who are allowed to go to Syria to help Kurds fighting against IS,” adding that our government is working with Turkish government sources if these allegations are true they should be asking such questions to them.”