The BNP and other far-right parties across Europe have called for referendums on minarets after the Swiss banned the construction of the Muslim symbol
Anti-immigration movements in Belgium, Denmark, Italy and The Netherlands have also urged their governments to debate similar measures. But the UN and human rights groups condemned the move as illegal and claimed it was the equivalent to banning spires on churches.
The BNP said it was ‘very pleased’ with the Swiss vote.
‘These sort of referendums should be allowed to take place on issues such as the death penalty for child murderers, minarets and mass immigration,’ said a spokesman.
Italian cabinet minister and ally of Silvio Berlusconi, Roberto Calderoli, of the xenophobic Northern League, yesterday said the country should confirm its Roman Catholic roots and hold a vote as soon as possible. The Swiss decision was a triumphant ‘yes to bell towers and no to minarets’, he added.
Amnesty International said it was ‘deeply worrying if Europe’s far-right parties seized upon’ the Swiss result. A spokesman for the Islamic Human Rights Commission said calls in more countries for referendums ‘could give more voice’ to anti-Muslim sentiment.
Metro
Showing posts with label Islamic Human Rights Commission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islamic Human Rights Commission. Show all posts
December 02, 2009
September 14, 2009
Far-right supporters confront pro-Palestinian protesters
Police say no arrests made as English Defence League supporters involved in standoff at central London demonstration
Far-right supporters of the English Defence League were today involved in a standoff with pro-Palestinian demonstrators in central London. There were several brief confrontations as EDL activists chanted "We hate Muslims" and "Muslim bombers off our streets".
Hundreds of police officers kept the two sides apart as the march made its way to the Mall. Scotland Yard said there were no arrests. Around 30 police officers in fluorescent yellow jackets walked ahead of the procession as it snaked along Park Lane. Meanwhile, a long line of officers accompanied the crowd, which filled two lanes of the road. Cars queued, with traffic limited to one lane.
Pro-Palestinian protesters held up banners with slogans including 'Justice for the murdered children of Gaza', 'We are all Palestinians', 'Boycott Israel' and 'Judaism rejects the Zionist state'. People from a number of organisations and groups, both Muslim and non-Muslim, joined the demonstration, held during Ramadan every year. Coaches brought people to the event from throughout the UK.
The demonstration's organiser, Raza Kazim, from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "It's in aid of the oppressed people of Palestine in particular, but the idea of al-Quds is more general than that. It's for people who have been oppressed. We look through the prism of Palestine and the kinds of things that have happened to the Palestinian people. We have come out to say that we are with them."
Asked about opposition to the rally, Kazim said people including supporters of Israel usually protested. But with them, he said, were "the BNP, the EDL, the racists, the extremists - all of this unholy alliance have got together" to say oppression should continue. We are going to say: 'No, that this is not going to happen'. That is why we are here – to raise our voices against that," he added.
Motahare Yadegarfar, a 23-year-old pro-Palestinian demonstrator who had travelled to the march from Manchester, said: "We are gathered here to say we want the end of the occupation of Palestine and the siege of Gaza. We want Israel to stop killing innocent people."
She said anti-Islamic opposition to the rally was based on ignorance.
"There are some Muslim extremist groups who do things that are not Islamic," she added. "There is a lot of misunderstanding and ignorance. If they [anti-Islamic groups] got to understand what this [protest] is about, I don't think they would oppose it."
Guardian
Far-right supporters of the English Defence League were today involved in a standoff with pro-Palestinian demonstrators in central London. There were several brief confrontations as EDL activists chanted "We hate Muslims" and "Muslim bombers off our streets".
Hundreds of police officers kept the two sides apart as the march made its way to the Mall. Scotland Yard said there were no arrests. Around 30 police officers in fluorescent yellow jackets walked ahead of the procession as it snaked along Park Lane. Meanwhile, a long line of officers accompanied the crowd, which filled two lanes of the road. Cars queued, with traffic limited to one lane.
Pro-Palestinian protesters held up banners with slogans including 'Justice for the murdered children of Gaza', 'We are all Palestinians', 'Boycott Israel' and 'Judaism rejects the Zionist state'. People from a number of organisations and groups, both Muslim and non-Muslim, joined the demonstration, held during Ramadan every year. Coaches brought people to the event from throughout the UK.
The demonstration's organiser, Raza Kazim, from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "It's in aid of the oppressed people of Palestine in particular, but the idea of al-Quds is more general than that. It's for people who have been oppressed. We look through the prism of Palestine and the kinds of things that have happened to the Palestinian people. We have come out to say that we are with them."
Asked about opposition to the rally, Kazim said people including supporters of Israel usually protested. But with them, he said, were "the BNP, the EDL, the racists, the extremists - all of this unholy alliance have got together" to say oppression should continue. We are going to say: 'No, that this is not going to happen'. That is why we are here – to raise our voices against that," he added.
Motahare Yadegarfar, a 23-year-old pro-Palestinian demonstrator who had travelled to the march from Manchester, said: "We are gathered here to say we want the end of the occupation of Palestine and the siege of Gaza. We want Israel to stop killing innocent people."
She said anti-Islamic opposition to the rally was based on ignorance.
"There are some Muslim extremist groups who do things that are not Islamic," she added. "There is a lot of misunderstanding and ignorance. If they [anti-Islamic groups] got to understand what this [protest] is about, I don't think they would oppose it."
Guardian
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