** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Rights group Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND) have launched a new report The Great Debunk: Challenging Islamophobic Conspiracy Theories, which examines how false narratives about Muslims once limited to the far-right fringes have entered mainstream political,...
The European Commission issued a statement last month on new laws to be adopted which will make it difficult for far-right and specifically racist and xenophobic parties to obtain EU funding. From United Against Racism’s e-news report: “Last month, the European Commission finally backed a...
The Guardian yesterday reported that the former foreign secretary Jack Straw and former head of counter-terrorism, Sir Mark Allen have been identified as key players in a court case pursued by Libyan rebel leaders against the Government. The Libyans, Abdel Hakim Belhadj and Sami al-Saadi allege...
The Independent Voices blog yesterday published an article by the Independent’s religious affairs correspondent, Jerome Taylor, in which he wrote of the absurdity of the sentencing of teenager Azhar Ahmed for a ‘grossly offensive’ message which he posted on Facebook, and the wider debate on...
The Huffington Post, Independent, Daily Mail and the Sun have all reported on an embarrassing gaffe by football commentator, Gary Lineker, who described French footballer Karim Ait-Fana who was prostrating on the pitch as ‘eating grass’. From the Huffington Post: “Gary Lineker accidentally...
Islamophobia Watch draws attention to a protest by far right supporters called ‘Britain First’ outside Downing Street over the weekend calling for ‘justice for victims of Muslim grooming’. From Islamophobia Watch: “[Britain First] demonstrated outside Downing Street before marching down...
The Daily Star and Daily Mail have both published scaremongering articles about the “hardline Islamic enclave” that would come about if plans submitted for a new mosque in east London are approved. The Daily Star goes as far as describing it as Britain’s first “Sharia-controlled zone”....
Islamophobia Watch alerts us to a report in the Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express last week on the guilty plea and sentencing of a man who racially abused a Muslim police officer. From the local paper: “A man has pleaded guilty to subjecting a police officer to a torrent of racist abuse....
Roy Greenslade on his Guardian Media blog last week wrote about the prominence of apologies and corrections published by newspapers, commenting on cases involving the actor Nicolas Cage and the BBC against the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail apologised for an article describing Cage as a ‘tax...
Sky Tyne and Wear reports that two people have been charged with being drunken and disorderly following protests at the site of a newly approved mosque in Sunderland. Police initially arrested thirteen people. From the report: “Police made 13 arrests when a protest at the site of a...
The Daily Mail and Huffington Post have both reported on an incident that occurred at the Freshers Fair at Reading University where the university’s Atheist, Humanist and Secularist Society (RAHS) labelled a pineapple with the name ‘Muhammad’. From the Daily Mail: “A group of atheist...
