Writing in today’s Australian newspaper, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Concetta Fierravanti-Wells described such comments as simplistic and lacking an understanding of the basic facts about Islam.Senator Fierravanti-Wells, who did not refer to Mr Abbott by name, said “megaphone politics” were a potentially dangerous distraction.”Recently we have seen calls for a reformation of Islam. This requires a reality check and some basic facts being instilled into the debate,” she said.”Our neighbour [Bali] is the largest Muslim country, where not only does moderate Islam prevail but the coexistence of the diversity of faiths and tolerance is a good example for others to follow.Media player: “Space” to play, “M” to mute, “left” and “right” to seek.VIDEO: Watch an excerpt of Tony Abbott’s interview (ABC News)”Megaphone politics not only distracts from this, but has implications for our relationships with our neighbours.”
Category Archives: racism
The jihadist of the Islamic State behead three well-known imams in Mosul – Fides News Agency
Mosul (Agenzia Fides) – The self-styled Islamic State of jihadists (Daesh) beheaded three well-known Sunni imams in Mosul in the public square accused of not obeying orders that forced them to recruit young people for the Jihad. The three imams, known by the local people for their profile of authentic men of God: Kazim Abdulkarim, Bilal al- Sheikh Agha and Abdullah al-Hayalli, had opposed to the atrocities committed by jihadists in the name of their bloody religious ideology. They were killed on Monday, December 14, in front of dozens of people gathered to witness the beheading. On the same day – report local sources to ARA Kurdish News Agency, also Ashwaq al-Nouaymi was murdered, a professor of Mosul who refused to give his students the teachings included in the new school curriculum imposed by Daesh.Already in June 2014, a few days after having conquered Mosul, jihadists of Daesh had killed many Sunni imams of the city, including the Grand Imam, for refusing to swear allegiance to the Islamic Caliphate. The slaughter of the imam in Mosul was virtually ignored by the Western media. All Christians in the second Iraqi city managed to escape, and their houses were expropriated by jihadists.
Source: The jihadist of the Islamic State behead three well-known imams in Mosul – Fides News Agency
Video: Israeli settlers blast “Muhammad is dead” song at Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obH84k46g_k
This video shows a group of Israelis from the Kiryat Arba settlement “playing hate songs through a loud speaker to residents of the Hebron neighborhood of Jabal Johar,” according to Israel’s B’Tselem human rights group, which published it last month.The song heard in the video, filmed by Mai Dana on 11 October, includes the repeated refrain “Muhammad is dead” – disparaging the prophet. Its lyrics say:He is no prophetJust another ArabHe has a moustache with fleasAnd he eats goat cheeseHe is a construction laborerEven when he’s fasting on RamadanAnd he has an orange ID cardMuhammad is gay and the son of a prostitute.The video shows many settlers, including young children, laughing, singing and pumping their fists as the music blasts.The song refers to the Israeli-issued ID – which used to come in an orange-colored case – carried by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank which restricts their movements, in contrast to settlers who can go where they please.In other words, the settler song celebrates apartheid.
Source: Video: Israeli settlers blast “Muhammad is dead” song at Palestinians | The Electronic Intifada
Community on Racist Mascot: “This is Who We Are”
Despite this hostile atmosphere, this courageously 14-year-old girl, took the microphone, to explain what it is like to be a Native student in a school with a racist mascot. She bravely told them about harassment, despite her voice shaking. When speaking about the killing of Native men, women, and children, and the selling of their scalps (known as r*dskins), she became emotional and had to stop for a moment to compose herself. Because of this pause, her time ran out, but she tried to conclude her thought, just as the many of adults who spoke prior to her had.However, adults in the crowd began shouting at her, just as they had us, prior. She courageously told them “I’m almost finished”, to which someone in the crowd shouted “Get off the stage, squ*w!” Understandably upset at being called the worst vulgarity that can be directed towards a Native women, she expressed her disgust at the barbaric behavior and returned to her seat, as the crowd yelled “Go, R*dskins!” at her.So, yes, she did become emotional and stormed off, for which she personally apologized to each board member. However, as a Native women, I think that her response showed a great deal of restraint and grace, considering the verbal assault that she had just been subjected to. That the board would tolerate such verbal violence in their presence, and still characterize keeping the very mascot that embodies and encourages such racism as an “ethical” choice, gives me grave concerns for the safety and welfare of Native children in their district.You see, the emotional pleas from mascot supporters who tearfully said “it’s more than a mascot” are absolutely correct. It is more than a mascot. It is evidence of a much deeper problem that continues to divide our communities, and plague our future generations. When towns like McLoud, and many others, are presented evidence of the harms, yet take the stand that “this is who we are”, embracing the racism and accepting the resulting victimization of members of their community, the impact is not limited to only their closed minded communities. We all have to interact in this world with the generations who are reared in that environment. Racism and division hurt us all.
As Cruz rises in presidential polls, Trump calls him ‘maniac’ | Reuters – {Right versus right versus right}
But last week he questioned Trump’s judgment at a private fundraiser, according to the New York Times, after the billionaire businessman advocated temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States.That got Trump’s attention.”I don’t think he is qualified to be president,” Trump said on “Fox News Sunday.””I don’t think he has the right temperament. I don’t think he’s got the right judgment. When you look at the way he has dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a, you know, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac – you are never going to get things done that way.”Trump touted his ability to get along with liberals and conservatives and said that was the hallmark of the “world-class businessman” he is.The front-runner, whose comments on Muslims drew widespread criticism but may not dent his lead in several national public opinion polls, made a sarcastic reference to Cruz’s respectful treatment of him.”He’s been so nice to me. I mean I could be saying anything and he’d say, I agree I agree,” Trump said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”On the Fox program, he also criticized Cruz for talking about him behind his back.Cruz rose to 31 percent, above Trump’s 21 percent, in an Iowa poll released on Saturday by the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg News. That’s a 21-point jump from October.His rise came at the expense of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who dropped to third with 13 percent in the poll, while U.S. Senator Marco Rubio hovered at 10 percent. Jeb Bush was at 6 percent, a 1 percent increase from October.Rubio, who has seen an uptick in his own poll standings in recent weeks, criticized his Senate colleague on defense spending, saying Cruz talked about carpet-bombing Islamic State while voting to cut the military budget.Rubio was measured in his criticism of Trump on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” saying, “There’s a lot we have a difference of opinion on, but we can’t ignore that he’s touched on some issues that people are concerned about.”Trump made the same point on Sunday, saying Americans are living in fear of being attacked. He linked his proposal to ban Muslims temporarily to his tough-on-immigration ideas, which included building a wall at the border with Mexico.”One of the reasons I’m sitting here and one of the reasons I’m so high in the polls is because it all started with the borders,” Trump told CNN. “I took much more heat when I said illegal immigration and southern borders and the wall and all of that than I ever took for this.”
Source: As Cruz rises in presidential polls, Trump calls him ‘maniac’ | Reuters
Statue to Hungarian fascist sparks outcry | News | DW.COM | 13.12.2015

Around 300 protesters gathered Sunday in the city of Szekesfehervar where a life-size bronze statue of Balint Homan is slated to be unveiled at the end of the month.Homan was a civic leader and academic widely seen as an architect of anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s. He also called for the deportation of Jews from Hungary in 1944, while part of a fascist Hungarian government propped up by Nazi Germany.The prospect of paying tribute to Homan with a statue has led to widespread outcry inside Hungary and among international diplomats.”An openly anti-Semitic, fascist politician should never get a statue anywhere in this country,” Andras Heisler, head of Hungary’s largest Jewish group, the Federation of Jewish Hungarian Communities (Mazsihisz), told the crowd at the protest
Source: Statue to Hungarian fascist sparks outcry | News | DW.COM | 13.12.2015
Exit Polls in France Show National Front Losing Regional Elections – The New York Times
A week after the National Front came out on top in the first round of voting, France sent a far different message, with the party losing even in a northern region where its charismatic leader, Marine Le Pen, had been widely expected to win.
Source: Exit Polls in France Show National Front Losing Regional Elections – The New York Times
Why Fascism is Rising Again (And What You Can Learn From It) — Bad Words — Medium
My story is nuanced. I have tried to distinguish between proximate cause, and ultimate cause. The ultimate cause of fascism is the right — but the proximate cause is the left. More simply, the origins of fascism are in the right’s extremism — but it is the left’s self-imposed irrelevance that allowed it to rise, and perhaps propelled it. You may disagree with my story, and you are welcome. It is just one synthesis among many. And yet, I caution you against the oppositional extremism that so defines our age. To fully account for fascism’s rise, because it is the most poisonous alloy of both, we must speak openly and honestly about the failures of both the left and right.For in the story of the rise of New Fascism, we see precisely the same elements at work as in Eternal Fascism. The pie shrinks. Leaders and institutions squabble — while the pie keeps shrinking. And then, the critical moment. The center breaks. The demagogue is free to sing his song of darkness. Night falls. And the golden age of the volk, the long march to the promised land, through the valleys of blood and despair, begins.I have written too much. I am tired now, as are you. So let us stop here to pause and reflect. Fascism, the poisonous admixture of the worst of both left and right, is a cancer that may infect the body politic at anytime that body is dulled and slowed, rendered infirm and frail, by stagnation. And the obligation of all reasonable people is to fight it. Not just because it destroys, and calls destruction glorious destiny, nor because it kills, and calls murder noble justice. But because in its glorification of destruction is the end of all that civilization can be said to stand for. Not just the fabric of our societies, but the possibility of our humanity.
Source: Why Fascism is Rising Again (And What You Can Learn From It) — Bad Words — Medium
Expert: New England police union that endorsed Trump doesn’t represent most officers’ views – Nation – Boston.com
“They’re trying to give the impression that they represent Boston police officers, but they’re not a labor union that actually negotiates contracts,” he said. “This organization is largely constituted by small departments in New Hampshire that are attempting to get a big splash.”The association first garnered attention in September when it announced a boycott of President Barack Obama’s Labor Day speech in Boston because it felt his administration was silent on violence against police officers.
FBI investigating fire at Coachella Valley mosque – LA Times {Trump this!}
Vandals scrawled the word “ISIS” on a truck outside an Orange County Sikh temple just days after the shootings. The Sikh community is often mistakenly targeted in anti-Islamic attacks because their dress and grooming is similar to that of people of Muslim faith.Buena Park police are investigating the incident at the temple, but they have not labeled it a hate crime.“Obviously it’s really upsetting and it’s very unfortunate. In this case, in Coachella, we don’t know the motive behind it yet,” Ahmad said. “It just comes to show how real ‘Islamophobia’ is, how scary and how threatening it can become and how dangerous Islamophobia is to our nation and fellow Americans.”
Source: FBI investigating fire at Coachella Valley mosque – LA Times






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