Tatchell: oppose ALL fascism
This statement from Peter Tatchell first appeared at Harry’s Place, a site we don’t usually have much in common with. But in this case, it’s impossible to disagree:
The BNP & EDL claim to oppose Islamist extremist bigotry but in reality they generalise and abuse all Muslims. Many of their protests are menacing, even violent.
Islam is not the main problem. Islamist fundamentalism and violent jihad are what we should focus on opposing. It is important to make a clear distinction between Muslims and Islamist extremists. Don’t confuse the two. Unite to isolate the main threats: the Islamist far right and its BNP and EDL equivalents.
I support today’s Unite Against Fascism (UAF) counter-protest against the BNP. But UAF is not consistent. UAF commendably opposes the BNP and EDL but it is silent about Islamist fascists who promote anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism and sectarian attacks on non-extremist Muslims.
This silence and inaction by the UAF is a shocking betrayal of Muslim people – abandoning them to the Islamist far right.
Islamist fascists want to overthrow democracy, establish a clerical dictatorship, suppress human rights and kill Muslims who don’t conform to their hard-line interpretation of Islam.
It is time the UAF campaigned against the Islamist far right, as well as against the EDL and BNP far right.
Tatchell on O’Brien and Catholic hypocrisy on gays
Above: O’Brien coming out?
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has reacted to the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic, who has been accused of inappropriate behaviour with male priests.
He will not take part in electing a new pope, leaving Britain unrepresented.
In a statement, Peter Tatchell said:
Cardinal O’Brien condemned homosexuality as a grave sin and was a long-time opponent of gay equality.
He supported homophobic discrimination in law, including the current ban on same-sex marriage.
In the light of these allegations, his stance looks hypocritical.
He appears to have preached one thing in public while doing something different in private.
Several other prominent opponents of equal marriage are guilty of double standards and vulnerable to similar exposure. They include anti-gay clergy and politicians.
It is estimated that around 40% of Catholic priests in Britain are gay, which makes the church’s opposition to gay equality so two-faced and absurd.
Nearly half of all Cardinals worldwide are thought to be gay.
The Vatican is shamelessly championing homophobia and the denial of legal equality to gay people, while hosting a hotbed of secret, guilt-ridden clerical homosexuality.
Freedom of expression IS the right to give offence
“Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently” – Rosa Luxemburg
An unpleasant-sounding character called Barry Thew wore the t-shirt shown below, in the Manchester area, on the day that two women police officers were murdered there. He has now been given a four month jail sentence for the crime of giving “insult” under Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act.
Mehdi Hasan, political director of The Huffington Post UK, called for a crackdown on the culture of Islamophobia and argued freedom of speech was not an “absolute right” during a debate on Thursday.
Speaking opposite Times columnist David Aaronovitch at a HuffPost/Polis debate, on the right to offend, Mr Hasan argued free speech was being “fetishized” and claimed many free-speech campaigners in the west were guilty of “brazen hypocrisy.”
“We have a civic duty not to offend others,” he told the a packed audience at the London School of Economics.
“How can you construct a civilised, cohesive society if we go round encouraging everyone to insult each other willy nilly?
“Yes we do have a right to offend but it’s not the same as having a duty to be offensive. You have a responsibility not to go out of your way to piss people off.
“I have the right to fart in a lift, but I don’t do it because it is offensive.
“Some people want the right to be offensive but then get cross when people are offended.”
[NB: Peter Tatchell on the Barry Thew case and "the right to be offensive" here]
London protest against Bahrain Grand Prix
From the Peter Tatchell Foundation
Bahrain protesters urge cancellation at Formula One HQ
Date: Saturday 21 April 2012
Time: 12.30 -1.30 pm
Address: Formula One HQ, 6 Princess Gate, London SW7 1QJ
Bahrain exiles and their British supporters will gather outside the London headquarters of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone tomorrow (Saturday) at 12.30 pm.
They are calling for this Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix to be cancelled, citing “the violent suppression of pro-democracy protesters” by the King of Bahrain. They have condemned Bernie Ecclestone’s decision to “put profit before human rights.”
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will join the protest. He said:
“There should be no sport as usual, while the Bahraini regime is killing and torturing its own citizens. Holding the Grand Prix in Bahrain is collusion with tyranny. It gives the regime respectibility. I urge British drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button to take a stand against dictatorship by withdrawing from Sunday’s race. It will be a tainted competition, steeped in shame and blood. There is a high risk that democracy protesters will be killed by the Bahraini security forces.”
Founder of the Justice for Bahrain movement, Mohammed Sadiq, added:
“Hosting the Grand Prix is part of the King’s bid to convince the world that the repression is over and the situation in Bahrain has returned to normal. It hasn’t. There are daily human rights abuses perpetrated on peaceful protesters. It is a shocking, callous misjudgement by Bernie Ecclestone to proceed with the race at a time when pro-democracy campaigners are being arrested, beaten, jailed, tortured and killed. Holding the Grand Prix is a slap in the face to the victims of repression. Formula One bosses should be siding with Bahrain’s democrats, not with the dictatorship.”
Mr Tatchell added:
“If the duty to protect civilians applies in Syria, why not in Bahrain?
“Britain should be working with the rest of the international community to impose sanctions on the Bahrain regime.
“Those sanctions should include a halt to arms sales and military cooperation, a travel ban and assets-freeze on top regime officials and a prohibition on the export to Bahrain of luxury items for the rich ruling elite.
“Bahrain’s leaders should be referred to the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council on charges of torture and crimes aginst humanity,” he said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has condemned the brutal tactics of the Bahraini regime as “shocking and illegal conduct.”
According to a November 2011 report by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, 45 pro-democracy campaigners have been killed by the regime, 1,500 arrested, nearly 1,900 have suffered torture and ill-treatment. The arrested and abused include doctors and nurses who treated injured protesters.
Read the report in full here.
Even before the current wave of repression, Bahrain had a poor human rights record; having been previously criticised by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Further information:
Peter Tatchell – 0207 403 1790
Peter@PeterTatchellFoundation.org
Mohammed Sadiq, Justice for Bahrain – 07766 500 524
ENDS
