Here is some news from East London:
TOWN Hall leaders tonight have called for an Islamic conference to be scrapped in London’s East End on June 20, in the wake of a demo planned outside by the English Defence League.
The date was deliberately chosen by the EDL to coincide with the conference at the Troxy venue in Commercial Road, said Tower Hamlets council.
The Troxy must comply with the law and have regard to the impact such an event will have on social cohesion in the East End, the council warned today.
Deputy Leader Josh Peck said: “This Islamic conference is not supported by the council and we call on the Troxy to call it off in the interests of public safety and social cohesion.
“If necessary, we will review our working relationship with the Troxy.”
Council Leader Helal Abbas has been holding talks with police urging them to find any way to make sure both the conference and the EDL demo don’t take place.
“Neither is representative and will cause great distress,” said Cllr Abbas. “I call on the community to hold their nerve, but be vigilant in the face of the EDL’s blatant attempt at division along crude racial and religious lines.”
That threat worked:
A controversial Islamic conference due to take place on June 20 has been scrapped by the Troxy.
The Commercial Road venue was set to host ‘The Book that Shook the World’ but has changed its position after signing a council pledge.
A spokesman for the Troxy said: “We recently signed up to the council’s No Place for Hate campaign and feel that some of the speakers have the potential to clash with the terms of the pledge.”
The Troxy conference was organised by members of a student group – the Islamic society (ISOC) of City University. They are extremist fans of al Qaeda preacher Anwar al Awlaki. Their recent antics, such as the harassment of university staff, have been so offensive that City has withdrawn formal recognition of the society. Now Tower Hamlets council too has publicly rejected them. Good.
The organisers may try to find another venue for the conference. If they do and they succeed, it will be time for the Home Office to take a stand.
Here’s one reason why:
US singer Chris Brown has been forced to postpone his UK tour after being denied a visa to enter the country, it has been confirmed.
Brown was refused permission on the grounds of being guilty of a serious criminal offence, the Home Office said.
He was sentenced to a community service order for assaulting his ex-girlfriend, singer Rihanna, last February.
How about preaching that wife beating is OK? What’s the Home Office line?
Hussein Yee, a Malaysian with no residency rights in Britain, was one of the scheduled speakers at the Troxy event.
In March he attended a conference in Norway. He was asked about wife beating. This was his twisted answer:
“A Muslim man doesn’t have a right to beat his wife in anger or in order to injure. But you can do it if you do it in love, out of consideration,” answered Yee, according to the author.
The preacher said that in the Muslim country of Malaysia, parents have a right to beat their children out of love.
“In the same way men have a right to beat, but only if it’s in love and out of consideration for the wife. Moreover, it shouldn’t be on the head or other places that can be harmful to beat on, but only on other places in the body,” Yee answered.
Yee is a famous Malaysian preacher who has his own program on the Islamic TV channel Peace TV.
Mr Yee is also an antisemite and a supporter of jihad. Most notably, he hailed the “mujahideen” of Iraq in 2006, when British troops were among the countless targets of the fanatics at the peak of their murderous frenzy.
If Chris Brown has been declared persona non grata, how could the Home Office justify allowing Mr Yee to enter the UK?
As for the EDL, it has already chosen a new target: an event at Wembley on 26 June where Indian troublemaker Zakir “every Muslim should be a terrorist” Naik will speak.
Here too the Home Office could deprive the EDL of an easy target while delivering on David Cameron’s pledge to act against foreign hate preachers by banning Naik from the UK.
