Celtic Player Scott Brown Photographed With SDL Members

The Edinburgh Evening News has a story about Celtic player Scott Brown being photographed with members of the Scottish Defence League (SDL), which the newspaper absurdly refers to as a "fascist group".

CELTIC FC have today vowed to take action to have a photo, which appears to show their captain Scott Brown posing alongside supporters of the far-right Scottish Defence League (SDL), removed from the internet.

Brown, a former Hibs star, was said to be horrified after the picture of him posing with the men - some apparently wearing clothing featuring SDL logos - was posted on an SDL Facebook page.

A comment left under the photo by Graham "SDL" Walker, who appears to have uploaded the snap, reads: "scot brown new menber of the sdl(sic]".

Mr Walker's own Facebook profile page shows two men grasping a Saltire bearing the words "Edinburgh SDL".

Today a spokesman for Celtic said Brown, 26, was "very concerned and disappointed" and said the club would seek to have the offending picture, which was uploaded to Facebook in February this year, removed.

He said the Scotland international had no way of knowing the political views of the group when the picture was taken.

"Anyone can see that Scott Brown simply has been asked to have a photograph taken with people who he does not know.

"It's nonsense to think that Scott Brown should be aware of the political views of everybody who he has had his photograph taken with.

"For anyone to think he would endorse these views is simply ridiculous.

"The club will be taking steps to see what can be done in terms of having the picture removed."

The SDL - whose members describe themselves as "the infidels" - claim to be against the "Islamification" of the UK.

...No-one from the SDL could be contacted for comment today.

Source

How absurd is it that they are threatening to take legal action to prevent publication of a photo that the man clearly willingly posed for?

As the video shows, Scott Brown has a track record of standing up to aggressive Muslims, so it might have been thought that he would be sympathetic to the SDL. Apparently not.

News Clip on SDL Demo

Source: STV

SDL Protest Passes Without Incident

A protest by a far-right group in Edinburgh has ended without incident, police have confirmed.

The Scottish Defence League (SDL) staged a static protest on Saturday after their request to march through the city was turned down by the council.

A counter-rally also took place with groups from across Scotland coming together to under the banner of United Against Fascism (UAF).

The UAF rally, which began at The Mound from 11am, was followed by a march through the city centre involving over 250 participants. Meanwhile, approximately 150 SDL activists gathered for their demonstration at the bottom of Waterloo Place.

Lothian and Borders Police said there was a "substantial" police presence in the city centre, with officers deployed along the route of the UAF march.

The force said that no arrests had been made during the day.

Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We are satisfied with the conduct of the vast majority of those who visited Edinburgh for their respective demonstrations.

"The day passed without significant incident and allowed local residents and businesses to go about their day with minimum disruption.

ACC Livingstone went on to thanks the Edinburgh public for their patience and support throughout the event.

He said: "Edinburgh remains a hub for various demonstrations to take place and Lothian and Borders Police have a wealth of experience in facilitating both planned and spontaneous gatherings."

Lothian and Borders Police was supported by colleagues from Strathclyde, Tayside, Fife and Central forces for the operation.

A previous SDL march held in Edinburgh in February 2010 saw five people arrested.

Source: STV

Preparations for the SDL Demo Today

Note the bias in this news clip. They sympathetically interview a member of the UAF (an organisation that exists for no other purpose than to use violence and intimidation against political opponents) but no member of the SDL.

The reporter also describes the SDL (or EDL) as "unashamedly anti-Muslim". This is incorrect. Being anti-Islam is not the same thing as being anti-Muslim. Islam is an ideology. Muslims are people. In any case, the EDL at least (I would assume the SDL follow them in this) insists that it is opposed only to Islamic extremism, not Islam in general.

I disagree with them in this. I think, in its division of the world into two classes of people to whom differential moral standards are applied, Islam is an inherently extreme, conflict-generating ideology. There is no other major ethical system in the world that violates the Golden Rule (do as you would be done by), as Islam does. It's time we started acknowledging the problematical nature of Islam, rather than being cowed by political correctness into uttering only half truths about it.

People from Across Britain Coming to SDL Demo in Edinburgh on Saturday

Look at the extraordinary bias in this article: "bringing fascists from the west of Scotland". Those are the words of the journalist writing the article, not a quote from a UAF member. There is not even a pretence of impartiality.

Assistant Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, who will be in command of the police operation, said there would be a strong police presence in the city centre as both groups assemble.

His comments came as it emerged the Scottish Defence League's rally had also attracted members of an English group called North West Infidels, whose opponents say they are even more right-wing than the English Defence League.

Right-wing protesters are planning to travel from across England and Wales to attend Saturday's SDL march. A Facebook page set up for the event shows members planning journeys from as far afield as London and Clacton in Essex. A coach is due to travel from Teeside, with individual protesters coming from places such as Macclesfield and Deeside in North Wales.

Another coach is also understood to be bringing fascists from the west of Scotland.

The event page says the group plans to gather between 1pm and 4pm, but does not reveal where, although Regent Road is thought to be the most likely site.

The same people who set up the page have also set up a second site on Facebook encouraging members of the North West Infidels to attend.

Spokesman for counter- protest group United Against Fascism, Luke Henderson, said of the group: "A lot of them appear to be coming up to Edinburgh, unfortunately, and they seem to have split from the EDL, saying that they're too moderate.

"It looks like the SDL are coming from across Scotland and the north of England and we're asking the people of Edinburgh to come out and say no to their race hate."

United Against Fascism plans to counter the SDL protest with two separate rallies on Saturday, including speeches from Malcolm Chisholm, MSP and Dave Moxham of the STUC.

In February last year more than 2000 people joined an anti-fascist march through the city when the SDL attempted to protest, but were instead penned in at Jenny Ha's pub in the Royal Mile.

The anti-fascist protesters plan to gather at 11am on The Mound on Saturday for their first rally, and then be escorted by police to a second event at around noon by the Wellington Statue at the east end of Princes Street.

Assistant Chief Constable Livingstone said police were experienced in dealing with both planned and spontaneous events in the city centre.

"In February of last year, we faced a similar situation and policed that occasion very effectively with only minor disruption to the city and a handful of arrests," he said.

"Looking to Saturday, I would like to reassure the people of Edinburgh and visitors to the city that they can go about their business as usual.

"We have followed closely the applications made to City of Edinburgh Council by both SDL and UAF. To anyone involved in organising demonstrations, we look for full co-operation with the police and have no issue with peaceful protest.

"However we will take a very firm line with people who seek to become involved in disorder. Our planning has been detailed, we are well prepared and we will have a strong police presence in the city centre."

Source: Edinburgh Evening News

Ground Zero Mosque Imam Calls for Sharia to be Incorporated into UK and US Law

It will all be fine, just as long as we accept multiculturalism and submit to sharia.

Ground Zero imam gives Scotland his recipe for successful multiculturalism



Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf: multiculturalism is key

BY VICKY ALLAN



28 Aug 2011



AMERICA’S most controversial imam – the man at the centre of the storm over plans for the “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York last year – flew into Edinburgh yesterday to tell the Festival of Spirituality and Peace that greater integration between Islam and the West depends on the incorporation of Sharia law into the legal systems of the UK and the United States as well as Muslims adopting the culture of their host countries.



Many see Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as an Islamic moderate even though he has been vilified in the US press as an apologist for radical Muslims. In an interview with the Sunday Herald, Rauf said he believes the world is in the grip of a “dangerous myth” and “self-fulfilling prophecy” that “Islam and the West are at war. But the real battleground is not between Islam and the West, but between the wise, fair-minded people of all faith traditions and the extremists.”



Although he is a pro-US imam who has argued that America is the embodiment of Islam’s ideal society, Rauf became a hate figure in the US over the so-called Ground Zero Mosque. The plan offended relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and led to a US pastor proposing a “Burn a Koran day”.



Rauf says that when the project – a community centre containing a mosque – was announced on the front page of the New York Times [in December 2009] there was no reaction. But six months later, it was picked up by conservatives like Sarah Palin and became one of the most divisive subjects in US society. Rauf later said: “If I had known this would happen, cause this kind of pain, I wouldn’t have done it.”



Was he naïve? “What surprised me is that I’ve been in the United States for 46 years and I think of it as having a very strong concept of separation of church and society, and yet a house of worship was used in a political campaign,” Rauf said.



But most of his work is about dousing fires rather than fanning them. He often talks about the interweaving of Muslim and Western culture. Multi-culturalism, he believes, is the way forward, and the state we are globally shifting towards. America, he points out, has been more successful at this than Europe.



It is, he says, a paradigm because it is “structurally multi-cultural”. As he puts it: “Americans are predominantly hyphenated. They are Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans and so on. So there is a recognition and celebration of variety. That’s a very important factor in creating a space for Muslims to be integrated.” He notes that a greater percentage of Muslims in America are wealthy and highly educated and “those who are better off and educated have an easier time integrating”.



An essential element of this interweaving of cultures, he says, will have to be the incorporation of Sharia law into the legal systems of Europe and the US. In this, he is in agreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury who said that the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law “seems to be unavoidable”.



Rauf points out that “the only truly clashing area is the penal code, and no Muslim has the intention of introducing that to America. The penal code is the area that people in the Western world are worried about – but these are things that aren’t even observed today in most of the Muslim world. Apart from the Taliban and a few places like that, where do you see this happening?”.



In the UK, he says, we need to recognise that the radicalisation of Muslim youth is not a problem of religion. “You have to consider how we would approach it if these people were not Muslims, but were Christian, for instance. The source of the problem is not religion, but an economic one.”



Another myth which Rauf tries to counter is the idea that Islam is at odds with Western concepts of gender equality. “Look around the world, and you see six or seven predominantly Muslim countries that have had heads of governments and heads of state who were women. Glass ceilings have already been broken for many countries in the Muslim world.”



The rise of the extreme right in Europe is something he perceives as a “reaction of fear to a threat of the loss of identity”. He says: “What it means to be Dutch, or what it meant to be British, in terms of ethnicity or language, is undergoing a shift.” The tensions this provokes have to be “addressed by both the host community and the immigrant community ... We need to develop a local Muslim culture. Dutch Muslims have to become increasingly Dutch. The same for British Muslims. We should dress like the people of our country.”



His emphasis is always on what binds, not divides. “I’ve been around and seen a lot,” says the Kuwait-born Imam, who grew up in England. “The fact is that the Western world and Muslim world are very enmeshed ... To me those mutual interests are very bonding.”



Rauf supported the decision by Edinburgh City Council to ban the far-right Scottish Defence League from marching on the eve of the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 amid safety fears.



He also supported the Scottish Government’s decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.



Imam Feisal is to meet Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf, who has been vocal on Muslim issues. He will hold a second talk in Glasgow on Wednesday, and will receive a peace award from the Festival, the city of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Interfaith Association and the Conference of Edinburgh’s Religious Leaders.

Source: The Herald

Ground Zero Mosque Imam Supports Ban on SDL

Apparently devoid of any sense of irony, the ground zero mosque imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, advocates suppressing the freedom of those who, in his opinion, wish to suppress freedom.

An American Muslim leader who spearheaded plans for a controversial Islamic community centre near the site of the World Trade Centre has supported the decision to ban a far-right group from marching in Scotland on the eve of 9/11.



Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, whose proposed Park51 Islamic community centre was dubbed a "megamosque" by critics who objected to its proximity to New York's 'Ground Zero', has given a talk in Scotland's capital.



He was invited to speak at the Festival of Spirituality and Peace by Edinburgh University's Prince Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam.



His visit comes almost a fortnight ahead of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 2001 attacks, and six days after Edinburgh City Council turned down an application from the Scottish Defence League to march on September 10 amid public safety fears.



Speaking after the talk, Imam Feisal said: "I don't think we should allow, in our communities, space for those who wish to abridge the freedoms of another person on the basis of their religion, race, language or gender. I think we have to combat those tendencies."



He added: "I do believe that freedoms are not absolute. A famous American judge said: 'Freedom of speech does not give you the right to shout fire in a crowded theatre'. The outcome will result in innocent people being made victims. So the freedom comes with a responsibility."



Imam Feisal added that he supported the Scottish Government's decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan Muslim who is the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, but he would have been equally supportive if they had decided to keep him in prison.



He said: "I am not a Scotsman so I don't have the jurisdiction to comment, but if the government of Scotland deem that it is in its best interests to do something then it is up to them, but I would have supported their decision either way."



Imam Feisal is also due to meet Glasgow MSP Humza Yousaf, who has been vocal on Muslim issues in Scotland since his election to the Scottish Parliament in May.



He will hold a second talk in Glasgow on Wednesday, and will receive a peace award from the festival, the city of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Interfaith Association, and the Conference of Edinburgh's Religious leaders.

Source: The Herald

City hailed for blocking bid to stage far-right parade

This Scotsman story on the ban of the SDL march contains some more detail. Listen to rent-a-quote Muslim presuming to speak for the city of Edinburgh.

The Scottish Defence League's rally would have seen around 200 people take to the streets on the day before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.



The controversial march attracted a flurry of objections over the group's "racist and homophobic" views, with Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill claiming it "could pose a threat to public safety".



The council's licensing committee voted unanimously to throw out the plans yesterday.



Aamer Anwar, a human rights lawyer and organiser of Scotland United, said: "We welcome the council's decision to ban the SDL march. Neo-Nazis masquerading under the flag of Scotland will never be welcome in our capital city."



During the meeting yesterday, Councillor Joanna Mowat said she feared the parade could turn violent.



"Given the tension there is in the UK, along with what has happened in England, I think this could be a flashpoint.



"There could very well be a risk to public safety."



Asked to explain the views shared by SDL members, regional organiser Paul O' Donnell told councillors: "The main issue is the rise of militant Islam in the UK and how we feel the Government is not doing anything about it.



"We feel that when peoples' lives are being put at risk because of Islamic extremists, we've got to stand up."



Fellow organiser Graham Fleming added: "The EDL have members who are BNP members, we ourselves are trying to get these people out. We do offer moderate Islams the chance to stand beside us."



But the pair were grilled over photographs of an SDL event in Irvine, which showed participants carrying banners proclaiming "No more mosques".



Mr Fleming insisted the people carrying the banners had no connection with the SDL, but Councillor Louise Lang said: "The concern I have is over the lack of proactive action over those placards.



"I would not be comfortable in supporting this on the basis of public order."



Lothian and Borders Police did not object to the bid, but Superintendent David Carradice said in a statement: "If previous experience in February 2010 is anything to go by, any opposition rally is likely to be significant in size with some of the opposition wanting to find themselves near to SDL with a view to registering their concerns at the views being expressed."



Asked whether the SDL would appeal the decision, Mr Fleming said: "We will need to sit down and work out what is the approach now for the SDL."

Source: Scotsman



The results of the Scotsman's online poll on the topic are currently as shown below:

Yes, there’s no place for their hate-mongering here 53.85% (70 votes)





No, everyone has the right to free speech 36.15% (47 votes)





All marches should be banned, they’re a nuisance 10% (13 votes)

People who don't support free don't deserve to live in a democracy.

SDL March Banned

A march planned by a far-right group through the streets of Edinburgh has been rejected over fears for public safety.



Edinburgh City Council's licensing sub-committee turned down the application from the Scottish Defence League (SDL), which wanted to march on September 10. The council said the decision was taken unanimously.



Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Council (STUC), said: "The STUC welcome the decision of the regulatory committee to reject the application by the Scottish Defence League to spread their hatred on the streets of Edinburgh. This sends out a clear message that racism and fascism has no place in Scotland's towns and cities."



Aamer Anwar, a human rights lawyer and organiser of Scotland United, said: "We welcome the council's decision to ban the SDL march. Neo-Nazis masquerading under the flag of Scotland will never be welcome in our capital city. As the only place in the UK that has successfully stopped these thugs marching through our streets, we repeat our message: you are not welcome in Scotland.



"I want to thank the thousands of decent minded people, the trade unions, 47 MSPs, the Scottish Government, the party leaders and the First Minister who backed Scotland United's objections to this march. Today is a good day for freedom and democracy and unity against racism."



Lothian and Borders Police had no formal objection to the application, but raised some concerns in light of "major unrest" across the country.



The proposed route would have taken an estimated 200 people along Regent Road and Waterloo Place to the Wellington monument at the end of Princes Street. The route passes the Scottish Government ministerial headquarters and is close to the US consulate.



A report to councillors who decided the application said that the police acknowledged there may be some disruption to city centre business. But the report also said that with sufficient planning in place, it should be possible to accommodate the SDL procession and any other "resultant demonstrations".



Councillors were given copies of objections, including one from the STUC which had concerns about the proximity of the march to the 10th anniversary of the terror attack on the Twin Towers in New York.



Committee convener councillor Rob Munn said: "The council holds dear the values of freedom of speech, of the right to assemble and march, and we would go to great lengths to protect those rights. We have taken great care to consider all of the issues raised by council officials, Lothian and Borders Police, the SDL and by objectors. Today's decision was wholly based on the information available to us regarding the potential impact on public safety, public order and possible disruption to the life of the community."

Source: Herald

Humza Yousaf Attacks the Government's New Anti-Terror Strategy

Humza Yousaf has an article in the Scotsman today in which he attacks the (London) government's new anti-terror strategy.

The article carries the headline "If extremism is to be conquered, the Muslim community must be given tools for the job" but he never actually explains what these tools are. His view seems to be that Muslims should simply be left alone. Interestingly, he speaks up in favour of free speech (for Muslims, of course).

The strategy of empowerment must be underpinned by the belief that good speech will always defeat bad speech, something I think we have demonstrated many a time in Scotland.

In 2010, the Scottish Defence League announced they would be marching through Glasgow. Instead of badgering the government to ban such a group, the voices of reason took to the streets under the banner of "Scotland United". Whereas the extremists numbered around 70, the Scotland United group was more than 3,000. While not being complacent, the spectre of the SDL has since dwindled and is almost out of sight.

Somehow I think that his support for free speech won't extend to getting rid of the laws that currently restrict it.

Furthermore, Westminster's attack on university Muslim associations across Britain is also in danger of alienating the moderate majority, who will now be reluctant to put their head above the parapet and challenge extremist ideology should it rear its ugly head.

Ah, ye old Muslim classic argument. "Give us what we want or else we'll kill you" dressed up as something moderate and reasonable.

He endorses our friend Mona Siddiqui and someone called Shaykh Amer Jamil, who I've never heard of but will now need to research.

Dr Mona Siddique at Glasgow University to Shaykh Amer Jamil of the Solas Foundation we are lucky to have some extremely well qualified and moderate voices that are established and respected within the Muslim community in Scotland.

Be sure and leave your comment on his article as unlike the pitiful Herald, the Scotsman doesn't do "prior restraint" censorship. I'm sure some comments will be deleted, but they can't delete them all. All in all, the article is poorly written and structured. He demands that Muslims be given "the tools for the job" without ever explaining what they are. It almost reads like a stream-of-consciousness piece that a not-too-bright student would fling together one morning when he realised he had an essay to hand in that day but had forgotten all about it. This shows his meagre intellectual calibre, but then the Scottish Parliament isn't exactly a highly competitive environment in that respect, is it?

[UPDATE: Actually I see this was actually published a week ago. I missed it at the time.]

Hanzala Malik, Labour's Muslim MSP

Hanzala Malik, former Glasgow Labour Councillor, became an MSP following the elections to the Scottish Parliament held on 5 May 2011. Like his fellow Muslim, Humza Yousaf, Malik was appointed to his position, rather than elected, thanks to his top placement on the Labour party's Glasgow Regional List.

For years, Hanzala Malik and various other Muslims have been attempting to instil guilt in indigenous Scots about the supposed lack of ethnic minority representation at Holyrood, insinuating that Scots were evil racists. A Herald article on the topic from 2006 included this quote from Malik:

Hanzala Malik, Glasgow Labour councillor:"The parties themselves use terms like 'disgrace' to describe their feeling about the lack of ethnic minority representation, but the fact that since 1999 not one has been elected shows that they are being disingenuous about these claims. The situation is quite shameful and their attempts to introduce ethnic minority voices into the parliament has clearly been tokenism."

In 2007, Bashir Ahmad became the first Muslim member of the Scottish Parliament. Like Hanzala Malik and Humza Yousaf, he too got his position through the Regional List, rather than direct election. The estimated Muslim population in Scotland around this time was 40,000, constituting less than 1% of the whole. So the extent of Muslim representation then roughly corresponded with their share of the population. Despite this, the Muslims wanted more. They agitated for years within the party structures for more representation. And, in 2011, that agitation finally bore fruit, gaining two seats for the Muslims, again through the undemocratic mechanism of the Regional Lists.

In 2009, while serving as a Glasgow councillor, Hanzala Malik connived with Glasgow police to see that the Scottish Defence League (SDL) was denied permission to hold a demonstration in Glasgow:

The news came at the public meeting organised by SIF on Wednesday. On behalf of GCC, Baillie Hanzala Malik said that the council could not act solely on this, but could refuse permission if police lodged an objection. Inspector Brian Gibson of Strathclyde Police who was also present said that the police would have objections based on the racial and religious hatred implications of the protest.

When the Herald reported how many of Glasgow's city councils were boosting their earnings by taking positions on various pointless quangos and remunerating themselves handsomely for it, Hanzala Malik was one of those involved. He pocketed £6335 for sitting on the Surplus Land and Property body set up by the council.

In 2009, when members of a Pakistani pipe band due to perform in Scotland were denied a visa because the band had a track record of leaving Britain with fewer members than it came in with, Hanzala Malik stepped up to the plate to defend them.

Glasgow councillor Hanzala Malik said around 65 people in total had their applications refused, which he said was a “ludicrous” situation as many had visited Glasgow before.

He added: “We’ve advised the authorities of their names, their passport numbers and done everything we could, so for them still to be refused - I am pulling my hair out.”

When disgraced Glasgow Council leader and junkie Steven Purcell started to scheming for a way to make his comeback, he created a new Facebook page. Hanzala Malik quickly signed up as a friend.

Hanzala Malik was the "brains" behind the daft idea of twinning Glasgow with Lahore. I didn't actually realise Glasgow was twinned with Lahore. This is actually embarrassing.