Government Rubber-Stamps Sharia Law Courts in Britain

The government yesterday officially cleared Islamic sharia courts to deal with family and divorces disputes. The sharia courts will now have authority over how Muslim couples divide their money and who has custody of the children.

The Justice Ministry gave just one proviso; a formal law court must rubber-stamp the ruling in the form of a two-page form sent to a judge sitting in a family court. The divorcing couple would not have to attend.

The official endorsement of sharia was announced to MP’s yesterday by Bridget Prentice, a junior justice minister. She said the councils would still have no jurisdiction in England and that rulings by religious courts have no official legal force.

But Miss Prentice seemed to contradict herself when she added: “If, in a family dispute dealing with money or children, the parties to a judgment in a sharia council wish to have this recognised by English authorities, they are at liberty to draft a consent order embodying the terms of the agreement and submit it to an English court.

‘This allows English judges to scrutinise it to ensure that it complies with English legal tenets.”

As it is up to the Muslim couple as to whether they want the sharia ruling recognised by English law, there were fears yesterday that many would ignore English law, thus creating a separate justice system for Muslims in this country. And given the sexist nature of Islam, many believe that sharia courts will naturally favour men in any dispute and women will be pressurised into not seeking legal recognition from English courts.

As Robert Whelan of the think-tank Civitas commented:

“The problem with the Government’s attitude is the big question over how far submission to sharia courts is voluntary among Muslim women.

“Women who live in some communities may have no option but to go to the sharia court. The case is then rubber-stamped by a family court without any of us knowing how the decision was reached.”

There are four areas of Islamic life covered by sharia law: worship, commerce, marriage and divorce and crime and punishment. Sharia courts already have authority in the UK to make decisions on business and financial disputes where both parties agree to accept arbitration. With the new granting of sharia rulings on divorce, it perhaps is only a matter of time, given the continuing appeasement of Islam, until we see sharia rulings on crime and punishment in Great Britain.  

Compare and Contrast: Double Standards from Sony

Video game manufacturer Sony stood accused of gross hypocrisy today with the news that they have halted production of a video game in case it offends Muslims. Yet when similar concerns were raised last year over a Sony game by Christians, their complaints were ignored.

In June 2007, the Church of England complained to Sony about a PlayStation game called “Resistance: Fall of Man.” The game featured a violent shoot-out in the nave of Manchester Cathedral in which the player has to kill hundreds of opponents.

The Church complained that Sony did not have permission to use Manchester Cathedral in the game and concerns were expressed about the morality of using the cathedral’s interior in a violent video game.  The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, said:

“It is well known that Manchester has a gun crime problem.

“For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible.

“Here in Manchester we do all we can to support communities through our parish clergy. We know the reality of gun crime and the devastating effects it can have on lives. It is not a trivial matter.”

The Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, added to the Bishop’s condemnation of the game:

“We are shocked to see a place of learning, prayer and heritage being presented to the youth market as a location where guns can be fired.”

Sony refused to remove the section of the game featuring the cathedral, saying: “Resistance: Fall of Man is a fantasy science fiction game and is not based on reality.”

Fast-forward to this month and Sony are yet again embroiled in some trouble over concerns over one of their games raised by a religious group. But this time the complainants are Muslims.

They have postponed the release of the game “LittleBigPlanet” after it was discovered that a background music track contained two phrases from the Koran.  Copies of the game are being recalled from shops where they are already on sale and Sony has issued the following statement:

“We’re sure that most of you have heard by now that one of the background music tracks that was licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Koran.

“We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence this may have caused.” 

France Bans Burqa in Immigrant Classes and Denmark Secularises its Courts

France has banned the wearing of burqas in French classes for immigrants. The High Authority for the Fight Against Discrimination and for Equality (HALDE) has ruled that “the burqa signifies female submission that goes beyond its religious notion and can be seen as breaching republican values.”

The ruling will result in the barring of the burqa or the niqab, another full-body veil, in French classes for immigrants. French language classes are mandatory for immigrants applying for work papers, residency permits and citizenship.

Louis Schweitzer, the head of HALDE, told the newspaper La Croix that religious freedom is “not absolute” and could be limited if there is a valid reason. He denied any “extremism” in France’s implementation of its secularism.

The HALDE said its decision was based on rulings from the European Human Rights Court’s ruling and took into account the demands of the French constitution.

A 2004 law bars students from wearing prominent religious symbols in schools or universities, including the Christian cross, the Jewish skullcap, the Muslim veil or the Sikh turban. The rule prompted demonstrations across the country.

But the French are having problems with consistency in applying the law. At an appeals court in the eastern city of Nancy, a woman was ordered to pay compensation to a family and the Human Rights League because she refused to let women guests wear veils in her bed and breakfast.

In July, France’s highest court denied a Moroccan woman citizenship, saying her burqa and her religious practice, a fundamentalist branch of Islam called Salafism, didn’t fit with “essential values of the French community.”

Meanwhile, in Denmark, the government has decided that its courts will be secular and that no religious symbols will be permitted. Danish judges will not be allowed to wear Muslim headscarves in court — and the Christian cross, the Jewish skullcap and the Sikh turban will also be banned.

“We have decided to prohibit the wearing of (all) religious or political symbols while exercising the function of a magistrate, because a judge must be neutral and impartial,” the Justice Minister Lene Espersen told reporters.

The wearing of Muslim headscarves in courtrooms was authorised in December, although the country has no Muslim judges at present. The decision was only revealed by the media recently, causing a public outcry. New legislation is required to overturn the December ruling, but the support of the Danish People’s Party means the government will carry a comfortable majority. Espersen is due to present draft legislation to parliament in the autumn.

Child Porn Link to Islamic Terrorists

Police raids across Britain and Europe have unearthed a link between hardcore child pornography and Islamic extremism as thousands of images of child abuse have been found on the computers of numerous suspected jihadists.

It is alleged that secret messages are being encoded and embedded into child pornographic images which are then placed on secure paedophile websites and decoded by other terrorists.

The Metropolitan Police found so many child porn images on the computers of Muslim terror suspects that there was a plan to instigate a research project which would explore the link. The project was shelved, however, for the bizarre reason that the police were overwhelmed with the number of cases it was having to deal with. 

The police first became aware of the link in 2006 when anti-terrorist police officers found hardcore child pornography on the PC’s of two unrelated Muslim terror suspects. One of the suspects, Abdul Makim Khalisadar, was a preacher at the East London mosque who was later revealed to be the so-called “Whitechapel Rapist” who attacked women earlier in the year.

He was jailed for 10 years for rape but also had numerous images of child porn on his computer. These charges were allowed to lie on file. The other suspect was a young Muslim who had a few dozen child abuse images on his computer.

It appears that the problem is not just confined to Britain. Italian police found child pornography on several computers of terror suspects after raiding the Via Quaranta mosque in Milan in 2001. The Italian police believe that some images were encoded with messages. In Spain, a forthcoming trial will reveal how an Islamic terror cell downloaded thousands of child sex images and videos.

Other examples include a case in Yorkshire where child protection officers unearthed a potential nail-bomb attack and, in Salford, police officers who were investigating a Muslim chemistry student who was visiting explosives websites also found that he was downloading child pornography.

The police say it is not yet clear whether the Muslim suspects were using child sex material for their own personal gratification or as a secure way of sending coded messages. In some cases only a dozen images were found whereas in another, 40,000 child abuse images were discovered.

Stefano Dambruoso, Italy’s anti-terror chief, is convinced that there is nothing to worry about:

 ”I would exclude the idea that they have paedophile tendencies. The most you can attribute to them is a relationship between men and women different from that of us Westerners, in which - as in many parts of the Arab world - wives are often very young girls of 11, 12 or 13 who because of family negotiations are given in marriage to men much older than them. But that is not paedophilia, it is a question of Arab culture.” 

Shock Horror! We DO Treat Islam Differently Says BBC Boss

Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, has frankly admitted that his corporation does treat Islam with kid gloves due to political correctness.  Speaking at the annual public theology lecture of the religion think-tank Theos, Thompson responded to comments made by left-wing comedian Ben Elton that the BBC was scared to make jokes about Islam.

Thompson commented: “What Christian identity feels like to the broad population is a little bit different to people for whom their religion is also associated with an ethnic identity which has not been fully integrated.

“‘There’s no reason why any religion should be immune from discussion, but I don’t want to say that all religions are the same. To be a minority I think puts a slightly different outlook on it.”

Thompson’s admission would seem to bear out Elton’s criticisms of the BBC made earlier this year to Christian magazine “Third Way”:

“I believe that part of it is due to the genuine fear that the authorities and the community have about provoking the radical elements of Islam.

‘There’s no doubt about it, the BBC will let vicar gags pass but they would not let imam gags pass.  They might pretend that it’s, you know, something to do with their moral sensibilities, but it isn’t. It’s because they’re scared. I know these people.”

The BBC caused controversy recently over the screening of “Jerry Springer - The Opera” on BBC2 which featured up to 300 expletives and portrayed Jesus, Mary and God in a way that many Christians considered blasphemous, prompting over 47,000 complaints to the BBC about the programme.

The Jerry Springer Opera was criticised for its low-brow content and attacks on Christianity. Thompson claimed that the BBC would make programmes that were critical of Islam. But only if they were of “sufficient quality.”

Thompson’s admission has been greeted with anger and disbelief from Christian and media monitoring groups.  Stephen Green, director of Christian Voice, said: “Mr. Thompson seems to be saying that because Islam is a minority religion it should be treated with kid gloves.

“This is ridiculous. All religions should be treated equally and with the same approach. I think the reality is that the BBC treats coverage of Islam and Muslims differently because it is terrified of offending them. It is political correctness. The BBC is simply not bothered about offending Christians despite the majority of this country being of that faith.”

John Beyer, director of Mediawatch, commented: “All religions need to be treated in the same way, otherwise how can the BBC claim to be impartial?

“I think that any approach to religious debate and discussion that is not impartial is not what the BBC should be doing.”

Earlier this year Thompson spoke of “growing nervousness about discussion about Islam.” Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the beleaguered Director General. After all, it takes a special kind of courage to admit that you’re a coward. 

Astonishing Appeasement of Islam by French President

With riots by immigrants almost a weekly occurrence in France, it might be expected that French President Nicolas Sarkozy would be taking steps to combat this pressing problem. After all, Sarkozy largely came to power on the anti-immigration ticket, his hard-line words on this topic stealing the thunder of Jean Marie Le Pen’s Front National, the party usually associated with tackling this problem in the minds of the French people. 

But at a conference earlier this month, Sarkozy showed his true colours, and that of establishment politicians everywhere on the immigration issue, with a quite astounding U-turn on his pre-election rhetoric.

The French National Assembly was the setting for the inaugural Conference on the Teaching of Arabic Language and Culture earlier this month where the French Government strongly advocated the teaching of Arabic language and culture and civilisation in French schools.

In a blatant attempt to court the ever increasing Arabic and Islamic voter base in France, Sarkozy called Arabic “the language of the future, of science and of modernity” and expressed the wish that “more French people share in the language that expresses great civilisational and spiritual values.” He continued:

“We must invest in the Arabic language because to teach it symbolizes a moment of exchange, of openness and of tolerance, and it brings with it one of the oldest and most prestigious civilizations of the world.

“It is in France that we have the greatest number of persons of Arabic and Muslim origin. Islam is the second religion of France.”

He then lauded the “advances in terms of diversity” that were occurring in French society, including the increase in Islamic sections of cemeteries, the training of imams and the appointment of ministers from diverse backgrounds.

Sarkozy’s words echo those of London Mayor Boris Johnson’s recent gushing appraisal of all things Muslim as reported by the BNP News Team. Both Sarkozy and Johnson are typical of the mainstream politicians who talk the talk on the campaign trail but capitulate to the Muslim voters once they have secured the reins of power.

As with Margaret Thatcher’s “swamped by immigrants” carrot to the voters in the 1979 General Election, the mainstream parties can never be trusted to carry out their election pledges on immigration. The only party that will tackle this issue, and walk the walk as well as talk the talk, is the British National Party. 

Iran to Bring Back Death Sentence for Apostasy

Iran is poised to re-introduce the death penalty for apostasy, the crime of the rejection of Islam by word or deed by someone who has been a Muslim. According to sharia Law, all Muslim men who change their religion must suffer execution.

Last month the Iranian parliament voted by 196 votes to 7 in favour of a draft bill called the Islamic Penal Code which would officially codify the death penalty for Iranian men who have left the Islamic faith. Female apostates would be given life imprisonment.

The new law requires another vote in the Iranian parliament and then the signature of the Ayatollah to become law. But given the overwhelming vote in favour of the draft bill and the promotion of the bill by Iranian clerics, it is thought that the law could come into force in a matter of weeks.

The last person to be executed for apostasy in Iran was Hossein Soodman who was hanged in 1990. The first Iranian who could be executed under the re-introduction of the death penalty is Soodman’s son, Rashin, a 29 year old Iranian Christian. He was arrested in August and has yet to be charged, fuelling fears by his family that he may be executed when the new law comes in as a high profile warning to other Iranian Christians.

There are an estimated 10,000 Christians in Iran and several hundred followers of the Baha’i faith, a religion founded in Iran in 1863.

The right to freedom of religion is one of the most basic human rights in the modern era, written in stone in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in the European Convention of Human Rights.

Yet the response to the sinister developments in Iran from the “International Community” has been decidedly muted. The normally vocal United Nations have made no pronouncement on the situation. Neither has the European Union, and in fact Iran’s largest foreign trading partner, Germany, has just increased its business deals with Iran by more than half.

In sharia law, the sentence for apostasy is unequivocal: execution. With the ever increasing appeasement of Islam and the recent establishment of official sharia law courts in London, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Nuneaton and Scotland, will we soon see the day when Islamic courts in Great Britain are calling for the execution of apostates?

Muslim Values Are Tory Values Says Welsh Conservative Leader

With Blue Labour still ahead in the opinion polls, it would appear that there is a section of British society that is still working under the assumption that the Conservative Party will address the many ills of this society.

The regular readers of this website will have already dismissed this fantasy. But for any readers who still hold out some hope for David Cameron as the saviour of Britain, we present to you the words of Nick Bourne, the leader of the Conservative Party in Wales.

Bourne spoke last night at the inaugural meeting of the Welsh Conservative Muslim Forum where he sought to capture the Muslim vote. He recognised that Muslim communities usually saw Labour as their natural home but he was keen to change that image and bring Islamic voters over to the Tories:

“Following our landslide defeat in 1997, the Conservative Party recognised that it had to change.

“If we were to regain power, we had to become more representative of the people we wanted to serve in government. A party capable of representing all Britain and all Britons.

“On his election as Leader, David Cameron promised to reach out to minority ethnic communities and to recognise the contribution immigrants have made to our prosperity and culture.

“And I am determined that we should do so in Wales as well. I believe the Welsh Conservative Muslim Forum marks an important milestone on the road to increasing Conservative engagement with the Muslim community.

“In many ways, Muslim values are Conservative values. We all believe in strong families, in enterprise, in self reliance and in individual responsibility.

“I believe that diversity is a positive force and should not be a barrier to social cohesion.”

The mission statement of the Conservative Muslim Forum is as follows:

“A Voice for British Muslims by working with local constituency associations, councillors and parliamentary candidates, the CMF (Conservative Muslim Forum) is building strong links with mosques, faith schools and local associations to ensure that it accurately reflects the views of British Muslims. The CMF will provide a well-informed and credible voice in the media for the massive majority of moderate British Muslims. A national network of regional branches, a student wing & a business & women’s group.”

As was reported yesterday by the BNP News Team, Islamic terrorists are targeting Muslim prisoners in Welsh jails. Extremists are believed to have tried to convert 1 in 10 of all Muslim prisoners being held in Welsh jails. We wonder whether Mr. Bourne and the Welsh Conservative Muslim Forum will also be setting up a Prison Wing to court the jihadist vote?

Muslim Youths to Become Personal Advisers to Cabinet Ministers

Twenty young Muslims are to become personal advisors to three cabinet ministers in a new scheme set up by an increasingly desperate Labour Government in an attempt to halt extremism in Muslim youth.

A new group, The Young Muslims Advisory Group, is being set up to give advice to Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham and Ed Balls as to how young British Muslims are feeling in the UK.

The group, to be launched in October, will also work with Arts Council England and Sport England to see if cultural and sporting opportunities can reduce tensions in Islamic communities, with such projects as music festivals and football tournaments being touted.

The focus of the new group will be to give cabinet ministers a personal understanding of the issues that affect young Muslims, including employment opportunities and education.

The Young Muslims Advisory Group will also be publicised in the media where it will promote positive role models and “build the capacity of young people, in terms of skills, knowledge and confidence, to counter extremist ideology.”

One of the first tasks of the group will be to organise a National Youth Conference which will address the challenges facing young Muslims in Britain.

Hazel Blears outlined her vision for the group:

“Ensuring young Muslims have access to constructive, democratic channels for dealing with concerns is crucial to our efforts to build communities that are resilient to extremist messages.

“We need to equip young Muslims to take the lead in challenging prejudice and preconceptions both within their own communities and in wider society.

“The Young Muslims Advisory Group is about identifying the next generation of Muslim community leaders and providing a platform to speak out on issues that are important to them.”

In a similar move, Blears announced the establishment of the Young Indigenous Britons’ Forum that will have the ear of cabinet ministers to talk about issues that affect British youth. The group will hold its inaugural meeting in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Islam4UK: Hate on our Streets

An Islamofascist group has organised a series of lectures across the Midlands where vile preachers of hate are espousing the violent doctrine of jihad.

Islam4UK, an offshoot of the banned Al Muhajiroun group, are conducting the lecture tour to spread the message of hate to young Muslims. The group, followers of exiled fanatic Omar Bakri Mohammed, recently caused outrage when they arranged a public meeting in the Midlands where posters advertising the event carried the message “Kufr Laws to be Extinct.”

One such star of the Prat Pack tour is Abu Waleed, who has given speeches in Birmingham, Derby and Leicester. His rants are one of over 140 extremist speeches that have been put on Youtube by the Islam4UK group.

In his lectures on Youtube, entitled “Youth Sparks of Fire”, Waleed gives a chilling insight into the violent and hate filled rhetoric being peddled on British streets by extremist Muslims.

In one speech he ridicules the British intelligence services and says that they have vastly underestimated the number of members of the jihad movement in the UK:

“MI5 got it wrong when they said there is 2,000 so-called radicals within Britain and they all got trained in Afghanistan.

“Really? And you’re supposed to be intelligence and you saw them all go there and come back. What are you going to do about it now?”

Waleed then pours scorn on the Government’s attempts to tackle the problem of him and his ilk:

“They say Muslim groups will be given £70 million to help tackle extremism in ungoverned places.

“What are ‘ungoverned places’? Internet chatrooms, snooker halls, youth centres? As if there’s going to be someone from Al-Qaida saying, ‘I’ve got a couple of rucksacks there in the back, do you want one, what size are you? Obviously not.”

He also called on his listeners to reject the laws of Britain and chastised other Muslim groups for handing terror suspects to the police, telling his audience to “stand with your brothers” no matter what they had done.

Saleed was quite candid about his intention of bringing Islamic rule to Britain: “The Government knows we are a threat because they’ve studied our history.

“The British, they always have this strategy of rule and divide. But we the shabab (youth) will wake up here in the West and we will bring the Sharia here to the UK.”

Birmingham City Council has recently earmarked £3 million to try and tackle extremism in local Muslim youth. Saleed mocked this piece of appeasement, saying, “This just goes to show how desperate these Kuffar are.”

Abu Waleed is not the only hate peddler on Islam4UK’s tour. Another of their speakers, Abu Uzair, gave this message to the people of Britain:

“We don’t live in peace with you anymore.

“The banner has risen for jihad inside the UK, which means it’s allowed for bombers to attack.”

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