With a hat tip to the indefatigable Islamophobia Watch blog:

Dutch far-right Parliament Member Geert Wilders (Freedom Party) today called for a ban on the Qur'an, calling it "fascist" and likening it to Hitler's Mein Kampf, and saying it encourages its followers to "kill...non-believers, beat and rape women, and to establish an Islamic state by force."

Wilders, who heads the far-right Freedom Party, which holds nine of the 150 seats in parliament, argued for the ban in a letter published in the De Volkskrant newspaper.

Wilders compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf and said that it has "no place in our constitutional state."

"I have been saying this for years: there is no such thing as a moderate Islam," he wrote, arguing that several chapters in the Koran called on Muslims "to oppress, persecute, or kill Christians, Jews, dissidents, and non-believers, to beat and rape women, and to establish an Islamic state by force."

Wilders wrote the letter after a weekend attack on young local politician Eshan Jami who founded a group to support people who have renounced Islam.

Jami, who was not visibly injured in the attack, is now under constant police protection like Wilders.

"Ban this wretched book like Mein Kampf is banned! Send a signal to Jami's attackers and other Islamic radicals that the Koran cannot be used in the Netherlands as an inspiration or an excuse for violence," Wilders said...

"I am fed up with Islam in the Netherlands: no more Muslim immigrants allowed. I am fed up with the worship of Allah and Mohammed in the Netherlands: no more mosques," he finished his letter.

The ban Mr. Wilders is calling for actually goes further than the ban on Mein Kampf, as Wilders would like to see possession of the Qur'an criminalized (whereas it is only illegal to sell Mein Kampf).

This is not the first time Wilders has come out against Islam: he called for a burqa ban in 2005 (and a "face-covering garment" ban -- i.e., niqab AND burqas -- in 2006) , which sought to make the wearing of a burqa punishable by 12 days in prison or a 3,350 euro fine. Wilders also called for a ban on Islamic banking (i.e., banking which complies with Islamic law). [Would he ban heter iska and Jewish Law-compliant banking?]

Attorney Els Lucas brought a lawsuit against the Islamophobic MP, calling his actions "very sad" and calling it "unseemly that a member of Parliament is expressing himself in this manner." Lucas accused Wilders of "insulting a section of the community," an offense punishable with a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of up to €16,750 ($23,065). Wilders retorted, saying:

"I do not want to incite hate; I want the Koran to be banned. That is a political opinion. I am in Parliament in order to express my political opinion," Wilders said.

The original Volkskrant article (in Dutch) is here.

Things like this are beyond counter-productive, they are blatantly Islamophobic, blatantly xenophobic and bear more of a resemblance to Hitler than any text ever could. This man "was warned by the Dutch anti-terrorism chief that his anti-Islam statements had stoked anger in the Middle East, and that he was going too far" -- but when prejudice is at the forefront, all else takes a backseat.

Someone needs to hand him his brown shirt. This man should not be in Parliament. To give this man any less than an official sanction -- maybe the fine, maybe the prison term, maybe censure -- would be very insulting to the community and would be damaging to the Dutch image of openness and understanding.

The Netherlands deserves better. Hate-mongering politicians are never assets; they are only liabilities for the nations in which they hold office.

Posted by Y-Love at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

From EastBayRI.com:

Meg Natale, owner of the House of Little People on Maple Avenue, didn't mind that an agent from the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth & Families visited her childcare center last month to investigate a complaint made against one of her employees.

What infuriated her was that it seemed as though the only thing the employee was guilty of was being black.

"I wouldn't have a problem if they had a good reason," she said. "But it was because he was African that they were concerned."

Mr. Saine has been living in America for 12 years, and has long held American citizenship.

This is not the first time Mr. Saine has been victimized by racism:

Though Mr. Saine said that he has had a "very nice experience" overall in Barrington, he is not unfamiliar with prejudice.

While working at a bank prior to joining the House of Little People this summer, Mr. Saine recalled the time a southern white man questioned how he had even gotten his position as a black man.

"Right to my face," he said. "It offends me, but I try to seize to the opportunity to educate more people."

Mr. Saine said he made it a point to treat the customer nicely despite the insult, but even then the man would only concede that "he had more respect for people" because he was an African.

And of course, Mr. Saine was "respectful" because he's African...as opposed to African-American. (The sad thing is, were a pollster to ask this man after his exchange with Mr. Saine, "are you a racist?", his answer would probably be a resounding "no".)

One would be well-served to bear in mind that the entire "immigration debate" is not going on in a vacuum: the far majority of these self-styled good Samaritans (watching out for the "poor American worker") are not raising the banners of nativism over the heads of Russians, Germans, or Canadians -- but rather over the heads of non-white people with accents.

Posted by Y-Love at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." -- from "Ship of Fools" by Johann Hari

Johann Hari, writing for The Independent (UK) gives us a startling insight into many of the neocon minds which are lamentably in vogue in the Capitol Hill circuit these days. Mr. Hari went aboard the National Review cruise, and the conversations he was unfortunate/fortunate enough to overhear were brimming with racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia so virulent that it should make any progressive person shudder.

I am travelling on a bright white cruise ship with two restaurants, five bars, a casino – and 500 readers of the National Review. Here, the Iraq war has been "an amazing success". Global warming is not happening. The solitary black person claims, "If the Ku Klux Klan supports equal rights, then God bless them." And I have nowhere to run.

From time to time, National Review – the bible of American conservatism – organises a cruise for its readers. I paid $1,200 to join them. The rules I imposed on myself were simple: If any of the conservative cruisers asked who I was, I answered honestly, telling them I was a journalist. Mostly, I just tried to blend in – and find out what American conservatives say when they think the rest of us aren't listening....

I would be remiss if I didn't quote the following:

Ward Connerly is the only black person in the National Review posse, a 67-year-old Louisiana-born businessman, best known for leading conservative campaigns against affirmative action for black people. Earlier, I heard him saying the Republican Party has been "too preoccupied with... not ticking off the blacks", and a cooing white couple wandered away smiling, "If he can say it, we can say it." What must it be like to be a black man shilling for a magazine that declared at the height of the civil rights movement that black people "tend to revert to savagery", and should be given the vote only "when they stop eating each other"?

I drag him into the bar, where he declines alcohol. He tells me plainly about his childhood – his mother died when he was four, and he was raised by his grandparents – but he never really becomes animated until I ask him if it is true he once said, "If the KKK supports equal rights, then God bless them." He leans forward, his palms open. There are, he says, " those who condemn the Klan based on their past without seeing the human side of it, because they don't want to be in the wrong, politically correct camp, you know... Members of the Ku Klux Klan are human beings, American citizens – they go to a place to eat, nobody asks them 'Are you a Klansmember?', before we serve you here. They go to buy groceries, nobody asks, 'Are you a Klansmember?' They go to vote for Governor, nobody asks 'Do you know that that person is a Klansmember?' Only in the context of race do they ask that. And I'm supposed to instantly say, 'Oh my God, they are Klansmen? Geez, I don't want their support.'"

This empathy for Klansmen first bubbled into the public domain this year when Connerly was leading an anti-affirmative action campaign in Michigan. The KKK came out in support of him – and he didn't decline it. I ask if he really thinks it is possible the KKK made this move because they have become converted to the cause of racial equality. "I think that the reasoning that a Klan member goes through is – blacks are getting benefits that I'm not getting. It's reverse discrimination. To me it's all discrimination. But the Klansmen is going through the reasoning that this is benefiting blacks, they are getting things that I don't get... A white man doesn't have a chance in this country."

He becomes incredibly impassioned imagining how they feel, ventriloquising them with a shaking fist – "The Mexicans are getting these benefits, the coloureds or niggers, whatever they are saying, are getting these benefits, and I as a white man am losing my country."

But when I ask him to empathise with the black victims of Hurricane Katrina, he offers none of this vim. No, all Katrina showed was "the dysfunctionality that is evident in many black neighbourhoods," he says flatly, and that has to be "tackled by black people, not the government. " Ward, do you ever worry you are siding with people who would have denied you a vote – or would hang you by a rope from a tree?

Posted by Y-Love at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We've got racist hate speech par excellence coming out of this Central European republic.

Senator Liana Janackova from Ostrava (Northern Moravia, Czech Republic) is causing a ruckus with her openly anti-Roma (who we unfortunately still refer to as "Gypsy") sentiments, as filmmaker Zuzana Brejcha quotes:

"I don´t have space for them. I know it's unjust towards you, but I would just have to take dynamite and shoot them..."

"I don´t agree with any integration of the Gypsies in the district, sorry, I am a racist. We have chosen (the part of) Bedriska, so they will be there, from my point with a high fence, (under) electricity, I don't care..."

Janackova conceded, however, that she did say that she had no place to move Romanies so she would rather take dynamite and blow them away.

Disgusting.

Posted by Y-Love at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From the LA Times, a hate crime from an LA-area Starbucks:

A man was charged with a hate crime Tuesday for allegedly taunting and pulling a knife on a customer speaking Arabic at a Starbucks coffeehouse.

Anthony Tabarsi, 41, mocked three men who were speaking Arabic at the shop in the 2700 block of Harbor Boulevard, saying that all Arabs are terrorists and that he hates them, according to prosecutors.

After one of the men followed him outside, they said, Tabarsi lunged at him with a knife before fleeing from the parking lot.

Because of previous convictions, prosecutors said, Tabarsi could face life in prison if found guilty

Posted by Y-Love at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

If there's anyone that I could imagine Jean-Marie Le Pen supporters revering, I can't say Muhammad pops into my mind. But that's precisely what's happening, according to the Washington Times. French Muslims are apparently rallying behind Monsieur Xenophobe in increasing numbers:

A small but significant minority of French Muslims intend to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right National Front leader in this month's presidential elections -- a remarkable achievement for the politician known for his anti-immigrant stance.

Some of the country's 5 million Muslims do not want a new wave of immigrants to arrive. They also support Mr. Le Pen's anti-American rhetoric and his publicized "friendship" with the people of Iraq. Others are attracted by his traditional stand on moral issues such as abortion, family and the death penalty.

If Le Pen thought the World Cup soccer team had "too many colored players", I hardly see how -- his moral stands aside -- he can be trusted to provide equal services and opportunities to "colored" families and neighborhoods.

Posted by Y-Love at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

From Reuters AlertNet:

Hungary's Jews should stay at home for their own safety when protesters take to the streets again on a national holiday next week, the country's biggest Jewish organisation said on Thursday.

The main parliamentary opposition and radical fringe groups plan anti-government rallies on March 15, a national holiday which was a day of protest under communism. Hungary is home to eastern Europe's largest Jewish population of over 100,000. Violent anti-government protests in September and October last year featured flags associated with fascism, anti-Semitic chants and banners.

There were no recorded incidents of people being attacked because they were Jewish.

"We are advising people, especially if they are elderly not to go out, to stay at home," Peter Feldmajer, head of Jewish organisation Mazsihisz said on Thursday.

"If you followed the events, they constantly blamed Jews for all Hungary's problems with the harshest words," he said.

Posted by Y-Love at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Kiwi TVNZ:

Russian police have detained a group of youths suspected of killing an Uzbek migrant worker while filming the attack on a mobile telephone.

The four are supporters of far-right extremist groups and are suspected of inflicting fatal stab wounds on the victim out of racial hatred, the agency said, citing prosecutors in the southern Russian region of Orenburg.

Russia has seen a spate of violent racist attacks that tap into widespread resentment against immigrants - many dark-skinned Muslims from ex-Soviet states - coming to Russia in large numbers to work in the booming economy.

Posted by Y-Love at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...now that a journalist from Newsweek has been assaulted?

Let's hope so.

Posted by Y-Love at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do me a favor.

Just save me the justifications. Islamophobia like this needs to be called out, because it's a different kind of Islamophobia than I usually write about. From the UK's The Register:

The town of Herouxville in Quebec, which boasts one immigrant family among its 1,300 inhabitants, is at the centre of a race-relations rumpus after issuing a town council declaration on culture which reminds newcomers that "stoning [women] in public, burning them alive, burning them with acid, circumcising them etc", is an absolute no-no.

The guidelines on the town's website read:
"We wish to inform these new arrivals that the way of life which they abandoned when they left their countries of origin cannot be recreated here. We consider it completely outside norms to...kill women by stoning them in public, burning them alive, burning them with acid, circumcising them etc."

The BBC adds that the site "points out that women are allowed to drive, vote, dance and own their own homes". It also insists Sikh children are not allowed to bring "ceremonial daggers to school", despite a Supreme Court ruling to the contrary.

Salam Elmenyaw, president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, slammed the council, claiming it had "set back race relations decades". He told Reuters: "I was shocked and insulted to see these kinds of false stereotypes and ignorance about Islam and our religion."

"We would like to inform our visiting Catholic clergy that pedophilia is illegal, and as our province respects those of all faiths, we request that you refrain from burning any heretics at stakes in public."

"Our visiting Hindu legislation is advised that burning stores is illegal in our jurisdiction."

Do people in Herouxville really believe that even a sizable PERCENTAGE of Muslims in the WORLD -- let alone Quebec -- are actually throwing acid on women? Is this even on TV?

And the sad thing is -- there is ONE immigrant family in Herouxville. How do they feel knowing that they are assumed to be woman-maiming terrorists?

Does CAIR have an extra 1,300 "About Islam" packages for sending?

Posted by Y-Love at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

The far-right wing Belgian political party Vlaams Belang, headed by one of the most successful extreme-Right leaders in Europe, Filip Dewinter, recently called on the Jewish public to join his campaign against radical Islam and support his party, Ynet reported today.

Dewinter heads Belgium's Vlaams Belang party, which advocates strict limits on immigration and has been denounced as xenophobic.

The politician called Antwerp’s large Jewish community a natural partner “against the main enemy of the moment, radical Islamic fundamentalism,” according to a report in The Independent....

"If they won't accept our way of life, if they won't accept those principles which are very clear and very necessary for Western democracy, I don't think we have to recognize Islam as an official religion in our country,” Dewinter said recently.

It must be made clear to aliens and immigrants in Flanders that they are expected to comply with our laws, and also to adapt to our values and morality, to our habits and to important traditional principles of European civilization, such as the separation of church and state, democracy, freedom of speech and the equal status of men and women.

For those aliens and immigrants who reject, ignore or contest the above, a policy of repatriation will be implemented, through appropriate legislation regulating political asylum, nationality, security and expulsion. Illegal and criminal aliens must be repatriated. Voting rights are reserved for citizens.

The Vlaams Belang strives for the secession of Flanders from the artificial Belgian state. Our aim is to dissolve Belgium and establish an independent Flemish state.

Continue reading "Extreme Right Belgian Party Seeks Jewish Support" »

Posted by Y-Love at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)