News Flash: 15 April 2013: There are reports that Amina has escaped from her detention but is still not fully safe or free. We await the day she is free and safe – hopefully soon. More information here. 13 April 2013: Today, FEMEN activists stormed a conference at which Tunisian president Marzouki was speaking at in …
Tag Archive: Islamism
Apr 11 2013
On 25 April 2013 we stand with Bangladeshi bloggers and activists!
In January, 29 year old blogger Asif Mohiuddin was stabbed. In February, 35 year old atheist blogger involved in the Shahbag protests, Ahmed Rajib, was brutally killed. Islamists continue to threaten prominent bloggers and have called for the “execution of 84 atheist bloggers for insulting religion”. Rather than defend freedom of expression and protect freethinkers, …
Apr 07 2013
You must use the word Islamist!
The AP has revised its stylebook to no longer include the term Islamist. They explain why: Islamist” is frequently used as a label for conservative Islamic political movements, particularly Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, the group’s Palestinian offshoot. It generally carries a negative connotation. Has the AP thought that maybe it carries a negative connotation because …
Apr 03 2013
On 4 April, we will breast them!
On 4th April, actions will be held in Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Brussels, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Kiev, London, Malmo, Milan, Montreal, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, San Francisco, Stockholm, Vancouver, Warsaw and more to mark 4 April, the International Day to Defend Amina. (See actions listed below.) These actions along with countless other activities including posting topless photos, …
Mar 11 2013
Institutional incompetence or moral cowardice?
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was horrified to learn of sex segregation at an Islamist-organised event in University College London last weekend. Whilst the behaviour of the organisers is wholly predictable (it has since come to light that UCL were repeatedly informed of their intention to segregate the audience beforehand), the university’s failure to …
Mar 11 2013
Sex segregation not miscommunication
On March 9, the Islamic Education & Research Academy (a nice sounding front for Islamism) organised a “debate” at the University College in London between atheist Lawrence Krauss and Hamza Andreas Tzortzis entitled “Islam or Atheism: Which Makes More Sense?” I guess that’s what they call it when they don’t have political power. Just in …
Mar 10 2013
Impossible not to see
Below is my speech at the wonderful International Women’s Day event in Frankfurt. • 15 year old Malala Yousefzai shot by the Taliban for defending girls’ education. • Egyptian atheist Aliaa Magda ElMahdy’s nude scream against misogyny and hypocrisy. • The outrage over the assassination of socialist leader Chokri Belaid in Tunisia. • The “Harlem …
Feb 16 2013
La lucha continua
Atheist blogger, 35 year old Ahmed Rajib known by his online identity Thaba Baba, had his head hacked apart with a machete one day after attending anti-Islamist protests in Bangladesh. This is the usual Islamist response to any opposition: assassination, decapitation and sheer barbarity. But nothing – not even the brutal murder of yet one …
Feb 06 2013
A few things about Sharia and Islamism
Haven’t had time to write a blog post today but wanted to bring attention to a few things: * Several Ahmadi Muslims have been arrested for publishing ‘blasphemous’ books about their faith. This is what happens when Islamist values are seen to be one and the same with Muslim values. Then a large number of …
Nov 13 2012
Iran: two sides to the story
Jafar Panahi’s “This is Not a Film” provides an important glimpse into the extent and nature of the Islamic regime of Iran’s oppression and the injustices of Sharia law. His entire film-making career has been – in his own words – “constructed around the notion of restriction, limitation, confinement and boundaries”. Take any week in …
Sep 23 2012
This is about politics not religion
Below is my speech at the 22 September National Secular Society conference in London: Sometimes I really don’t know what more to say. What else can be said about Sharia law that– at least in your gut – you don’t already know? It is based on the Koran, the Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence. Its criminal …
Sep 13 2012
The other film: The Innocence of Muslims
Another film that has hit the headlines – ‘The innocence of Muslims’ – merits comment particularly since it has sparked protests that have resulted in the death of several US officials in Libya. Have you seen the film? It is absolutely ludicrous. It’s low budget (though they say they spent $5 million on it), poorly …
Jun 20 2012
You’re on the wrong side
I was recently criticised for ‘picking on Iran’. Well, yes if you side with the Iranian regime, or don’t see anything wrong with it, then my opposing it may seem this way to you. It is all about taking sides really. The same applies to the discussion we are having here on the veil. You …
May 16 2012
Conspiratorial nut-jobs, Nazis and extremists
Here’s a wonderful letter I received recently from a thoughtful ex-member of the far-Right British National Party. There is a lot we can learn from Alistair Barbour in challenging the far-Right. As I have said before, when the pathetic excuse of an ‘anti-fascist’ and Post-modernist Left allies itself with Islamic fascism, it leaves the space …
Feb 10 2012
To Human Rights Watch: Separation of religion from state is the most basic guarantee of rights
An Open Letter to Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Dear Kenneth Roth, In your Introduction to Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2012, “Time to Abandon the Autocrats and Embrace Rights,” you urge support for the newly elected governments that have brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Tunisia and Egypt. In your …
Jan 22 2012
Human Rights Watch – You are Disgusting!
Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth says in the group’s annual report that the past year’s Arab Spring uprisings across the region have shown it is vital for the West to end its policy of backing ‘an array of Arab autocrats’ in exchange for supporting Western interests. So far so good. But then the organisation …
Jan 19 2012
We are behind you
The UCL Atheist president has resigned. To those who have resigned and the ones who will take their places: Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. We are behind you and we aim to win… As an aside, the UCL Union said in a statement: ‘The atheist society has agreed they will take more consideration when drawing …
Jan 18 2012
It’s not just about you or Jesus and Mo
Recently, there have been a number of high profile attacks on free expression by Islamists often supported by educational institutions and others. What I find most absurd about it all is how the fundamental debate on Islam and free expression has become framed within a context of offence, racism and discrimination. What has happened here …
Dec 28 2011
That is better
Do you remember I posted a link to the Islamic Diversity Centre team where the women were all represented by one photo of the same woman in a niqab with only her eyes showing. Well, they have now removed the photo for the women on their team altogether. Much better! (Via Anne Marie Waters)
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