We know only too well that Bristol City Council’s pair of jargon obsessed New Labour leadership dronebots, Bum Disease Ormondroyd and Helen Holland, are very keen on this whole ‘partnership working’ malarkey.
Martin Whitelock even reports on this blog that just this evening Helen was banging on about her administration’s ‘increased partnership working’. But just how keen she is on this nonsense is evident from one of her recent Cabinet meetings where they gormlessly rubber stamped one of the council’s most extraordinary partnership arrangements yet.
Because, thanks to the bunch of aging Trots, Bennites and weird old remnants of Militant in Jan ‘n’ Helen’s Community Development team, partnerships between Bristol City Council and – I kid you not! – some of the country’s most notorious Jihadist organisations are now in place.
A brief read through the minutes of the last Cabinet meeting reveals, under the item ‘Voluntary and Community Sector Investment Budget – Allocation of Funding 2009/10‘ (pdf), that £50k has been given to the Bristol Muslim Cultural Society (BCMS) to help “strengthen and promote community cohesion in the city, particularly in new communities, faith communities and promoting understanding and respect across community divides”.
Sounds like a suitably vague New Labour social cause. While the BCMS is, of course, the power base of our friend ‘A Muslim in Bristol’, Farooq Siddique, who – despite his wacky 9/11 conspiracy theories and obsessive comparisons between the state of Israel and Nazi Germany – has been embraced unquestioningly by the city’s liberal establishment as a progressive and moderate Muslim voice.
Indeed so popular are Farooq and the BCMS that they are not only funded by the city council to promote ‘community cohesion’, they are also insinuating themselves into another whopping slice of the funding pie as part of the the Home Office’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism‘ strategy in the city, which is aimed at stopping Muslim youngsters becoming radicalised.
This means Farooq will be perfectly placed to flog his view to the city’s receptive liberal establishment that Muslim radicalism is entirely the fault of the UK’s foreign policy and has nothing whatsoever to do with certain strains of Islamism that are surprisingly easy to come across in the UK.
The BCMS’s nice cosy relationship with Bristol City Council is openly reflected on their website. The city council takes pride of place on the ‘Meet the Team‘ section of the site and is first on the list of BMCS’s ‘Current Parnerships’ alongside many of the usual local suspects – GOSW, Voscur, the coppers, Avon Fire & Rescue, Bristol University and so on.
But wait! Who’s this also listed as a ‘Current Partner’ of the BCMS?
Only the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC). Who the hell are they you ask? Well, here’s what the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism (pdf) has to say about them:
The activities of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, MPACUK, have given cause for concern. Although its rhetoric is often extremist, MPACUK identifies itself as part of the mainstream British Muslim community, describing itself as “the UK’s leading Muslim civil liberties group, empowering Muslims to focus on non-violent Jihad and political activism” … MPACUK has been criticised for publishing material on its website promoting the idea of a worldwide Zionist conspiracy, including the reproduction of articles originally published on neo-Nazi and Holocaust Denial websites, and is currently banned from university campuses under the NUS’s ‘No Platform’ policy.
The use of ‘Zionist’ as a replacement for ‘Jewish’ is common on the MPACUK website.
MPACUK has also articulated Jewish conspiracy theories through the language of Zionism describing it as an “octopus that now penetrates every western nation and pushes it to start world war three upon Muslims” and warning that “Any man who knows anything of Zionists, knows that they will not stop until the Muslims ‘followed by mankind’ are dead or enslaved.
News articles referring to the Jewish community have appeared on the MPACUK website and white nationalist websites.
Charming bunch eh? But don’t worry … It gets worse.
Back in 2006 it was revealed that Asghar Bukhari, the founder of MPAC, sent notorious Holocaust denier David Irving a £60 donation and a gushing letter of support proudly headed with a misquote he attributed to John Locke, “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to stand idle”. (The better informed will already know that it’s Bristol’s Edmund Burke who didn’t say this)
When questioned about this, MPAC brushed aside criticism, hilariously claiming that the media were “twisting an innocent gesture of support (even if gravely mistaken) into more than it is”.
Yet another dodgy ‘Current Partner’ of the BMCS’s is the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
This lot are big fans of the Ayatollah Khomeini, the brains behind Iran’s Islamic revolution, and they advocate ‘absolute rulership of the clerics’ and ‘Islamic government’ among other things.
The Stephen Roth Institute have this to say about them:
Shadjareh and the IHRC subscribe to the radical Islamist belief that Jewish conspiracies are afoot to undermine Muslims, and they liken Jews and Israelis to Nazis. Members of the IHRC’s board of advisors have even called on Muslims to kill Jews. They include the Saudi Islamist Muhammad al-Mas’ari and Muhammad al-‘Asi, an American convert to Islam who was banned from preaching at his mosque in Washington, DC, and has been a frequent visitor to Britain
Tasteful stuff isn’t it? Jan ‘n’ Helen truly have us on the threshold of a whole new era of exciting partnership working here don’t they?
But what you really have to ask is what checks are Bristol City Council, its Cabinet and its ridiculously mis-named Scrutiny Commissions carrying out before handing over £50k of our cash to an organisation?
Certainly doesn’t seem to involve bothering to look at their website does it?
This kind of guilt by association is easy though.
People reading this blog should note that thebristolblogger proudly links to blogs by the “class war youth death brigade”, a group that openly encourages revolutionary violence against society and Ian Bone, a founder of Class War and once described as “Britain’s most evil man”.
BCMS is no more a jihadist, radical Muslim organisation than thebristolblogger is a bomb throwing anarchist.
I think you’ll find that Bone’s interest lies in the power and authority of the mob, not in bomb throwing/terror/’propaganda of the deed’. You’re welcome to provide evidence to the contrary.
And how much state funding is Bone receiving to promote ‘moderate’ Anarchism?
I wonder if you’d be waffling on about Bone if I exposed a local charity that listed the BNP, Stormfront and Migration Watch as ‘Current Partners’?
So says the St. Paul’s wingman of Mark Watson! 😀
The Anarchism movement in this country is a joke. They attend protests and smash-up american fast food outlets whilst giving statues of Churchill mohawks made from grass. Islamic nutters have bombed buses, trains, airports and restaurants and that’s only in this country not that evil centre of zionism; Israel. I don’t believe Siddique Farooq is anti-semetic but he is very bad at choosing his friends. Capering around with holocaust deniers and zionist conspiracy nuts will make you look anti-semetic purely by association. Surely the anwser is to distance ones self from these nutters because this bollocks about “my enermy’s enermy is my friend” thing has blown up in the faces various nations and it will blow up in the faces of these Muslim Groups and Farooq Siddique’s too.
“class war youth death brigade”, a group that openly encourages revolutionary violence against society
Is actually a blog that encourages people to read John Stuard Mill and F. Scott Fitzgerald and written by a girl who constantly laughs at protests?
Dumb fuck needs to learn 2 REED.
There’s obviously a DELIBERATE spelling mistake in there as part of your lesson.
That isn’t reed oh my god I give up.
STUART
The mob? Shame most of the mob have eaten too many chips and choccies and seem too busy playing with their ninstations or watching the box to actually go out there and wield any power or authority, ne?
As a former colleague of Ian Bone’s I would like to take this opportunity to say that he is a thoroughly decent fellow, makes a very fine brew and is not slow in getting the buns in. And if he was very rude to David Blunkett once, who are we to complain? As for being Britain’s most evil man, as far as I remember when he worked in our office he wasnt buggering children or waging war on innocents in foreign climes. In fact, as far as I remember, he even put the lavatory seat down after making pee pee, so I suggest that contributors should check their facts before making scurrilous allegations agains good anarchist folk.
A decent piece of journalism thebristolblogger. Nice one.
While I doubt all these “partners” are really covers for gangs of murderous fifth columnists, I applaud you for highlighting the tacit acceptance often given by such groups to the violence wrought by others:
When questioned, time and again you hear British Muslim voices refer to the decadence of western society as if to say “If you lived more like us you wouldn’t be under attack.”
It’s going to be a long road, but we must all insist on being tolerated. Although the numbskulls at BCC are just following the large-print instructions sent from the Cabinet Office, perhaps it is wise to gather in this particular fringe of society.
‘This kind of guilt by association is easy though’
totally agree with Inks on the above. But hey, gives BB a chance to blow off steam, and the other ‘Dumb fucks’ who get off on these sorts of personality attacks.
I must remember not to speak to anyone on the bus before I get the Intelligent Agency to check them out first – who knows, they might have failed to return their library books or some other heineous crime like having dodgy neighbours whose cat they feed when they’re on holiday.
Remember that it’s not ordinary people-Muslim or otherwise-who are gaining from all this drivel. Why are Labor-lite promoting organisations who blame their policies for problems? Politics is twisted road.
Our leaders are fools & crooks. That applies to Muslim leaders as much as all the others. Neither more nor less.
All “our leaders are fools & crooks”
The “predictable propaganda machine will naturally try to put a spin on things to suit the government and to scare the masses into conforming to their power and wealth-obsessed agendas …
…. Our so-called scholars today are content with their Toyotas and their semi-detached houses …”
Very cute, Someexplainingtodo, Inks. Nice use of the Straw Man technique.
Meanwhile thanks to your right wing fundie buddies, the UN Declaration of Human Rights is now history.
http://www.iheu.org/vote-on-freedom-of-expression-marks-the-end-of-universal-human-rights
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-despite-these-riots-i-stand-by-what-i-wrote-1608059.html
A new Dark Age has arrived in which religious fanatics can play the “respect” card whenever their behaviour is questioned. And you and Inks and our city council are among its useful idiot apologists.
wot are you on about badnewswade.
human rights abuses are even worse when disguised as ‘introducing democracy’, ‘liberating’ other countries.
When someone is as barking as eg BNP who apparently have dropped their anti semitism in favour of anti islamism, everyone can see the nonsense spouted.
Such a pity the more ‘developed’ countries carry out so many atrocities and seem to get away with it, cos they use words that seem so nice and polite while they carry out aggression and occupation
Islamophobia seems to be based directly on good ole anti-semitism.
Replace the work Muslim for Jew and we are back in the 1930’s.
I’d be interested in hearing your rationale for that one. Mavericks like Wilders and Griffin have nothing like the support, reach or power of the fascist movements of the 30s.
None of which changes the fact that it is now socially acceptable to bash Jews and utterly unacceptable to question Islamic fundamentalism.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that the Palestine movement makes a point of picketing / smashing up Jewish-owned or run businesses (Tesco, Marks ‘n Sparks, Starbucks) rather than pointing out just how much blood is on pretty much all consumer goods – the coltan in electronics for example, which comes from a very real genocide of Africans, or the oil that powers cars, which funds both sides in the War on Terror, the geegaws from China, our favourite trading partner which also happens to be a totalitarian regime, and the gas that keeps us warm which comes from neo-Soviet Russia, a regime that incidentally has killed more Muslims than Isreal could ever dream of.
Essentially, this is the old trick of blaming minorities during hard times… it works alongside those fashionable conspiracy theories which also let capitalism off the hook.
People just don’t seem to want to know these uncomfortable facts, preferring to ride along with a nice little moralistic campaign that adresses injustice in one tiny part of the world, blame those good old trusty scapegoats, when in fact we live at the heart of a crumbling global empire that is directly responsible for millions of deaths.
Another side of the intrinsic racism of concentrating on Palestine to the exclusion of all else is who this leaves out. Most of those who die at the hands of the capitalist system are Africans, but since they don’t have friends in the media and are black, nobody seems to care much about them, do they?
badnewswade: it was bad news, but well said.
whereas in this blog badnews, it is socially acceptable to bash muslims and utterly unacceptable to question anything to do with Jews.
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Many people do care about and take action on issues in other parts of the world and know very well the horrors of capitalism and find ways to minimize eg minimal use of resources, second hand goods etc .
Its wrong to ignore any horror in the world.
If the reverse was going on then there’d be demonstrations to speak up for Israeli Jews. Don’t overplay the ‘anti semitic’ demonising. Its dishonest and doesn’t do the Jewish community any favours.
PS you may wish to support organisations such as WDM (World Development Movement) and Survival – both speak up for and defend human rights in some of the less media covered corners of the world, along with Greenpeace etc
“Replace the work Muslim for Jew and we are back in the 1930’s.”
Yeah right you red lettuce, you and nutterbean are really starting to sound like a knackered record.
The similarities are indeed striking. I remember my old man telling me about how jews were blowing themselves up in suicide attacks, killing hundreds of innocent people. I also remember reading about how a group of jews hijacked a plane and flew it into Buckingham Palace. They had a thing about bombing nightclubs too (they’re all slags, none of them are innocent).
In the past I have had several rows with John Kiely, and I can honestly say that there are few things that could pursuade me to vote for the tomato headed one (have you seen his face when he’s angry?) – the demented posturing of our local Green Party, with their steely determination to march with one leg only (Left, left, left left left.), combined with their desire to cuddle up with the most reactionary groups (as long as they hate the USA) – is one of those few things!
I’ve got completely fucking sick of all this crap. I’m off to get pissed. Satan’s urine – nothing like it!
It would be nice if someoene started a political group of some kind for progressive, lefty, libertarian type people who aren’t in love with Jihadists and fundies.
I note that a lot of the people who do defend and support these guys are what psychometric testing identifies as “left-wing authoritarians”; Inks for instance has expressed admiration for Stalin to me on numerous occasions as well as justifying some horrific atrocities in Iraq (the shooting of children to provoke a sectarian shoot-out) because they were done by “the resistance” (maaaan).
Basically we’re dealing with Stalinists – moralistic, authoritarian individuals who believe themselves always to be in the right. Although of course in the past the old enemy did at least have the patience to wait for a revolution to actually happen before they betrayed it…
BTW – I note with interest that the Pales-tards have pissed off Antifa. Putting other people’s names to a statement without permission… naughty naughty!
‘This kind of guilt by association is easy though’
well it seems increasingly hard to resist for the intellectually challenged. Just read your own venomous outpouring badnews. Your ranting reveals so much about you.
Whatever you do, don’t address the actual points made by anyone else. Points you consistently ignore. Just keep taking the easy way out of an arguement by consistently attacking and trying to demonize, believing yourself to always be right. (Oh gosh, does that make you a Stalinist by your own definition).
oh its so, so easy to manufacture ‘ guilt by association ’, the cowards choice.
BNP supports Israel, therefore Israel must be a country of violently right wing racists. (oh perhaps you’re on to something afterall)
@badnewswade
We have just added this follow-up to the Bristol Indymedia comments on the EDO statement:
It’s incorrect to say that we’re ‘pissed’ off’ with Dr C 😉
It’s entirely your business and I understand why, but, personally if I were your organisation I wouldn’t have anything to do with the Palestine crowd- observe their censorship of debate, trolling, and (my main problems, this is national not just local) targetting of Jewish owned / run businesses, use of Nazi comparisons and paraphinalia and failure to condemn the rise in anti-Semitic attacks that their Israel/Palestine obsession has occaisioned.
The last is similar to how there were attacks on Muslims after 9/11; except that those were very publicly condemned at the time. We’re not seeing anything like that now. I think that as anti-fascists you should know that Indymedia has a long track record of promoting anti-Semitic material, conspiracy theories and now physical attacks on what they consider to be “zionist” targets. Here’s an example:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/01/418334.html?c=all
You may or may not like Starbucks’ brand of capitalism, but I think you’ll agree that it’s kind of racist to set fire to a coffee shop because you heard a rumour that it “supports Zionism”.
(I turned out the manager was inside at the time, btw. If that guy gets caught he’s looking at a stretch inside).
“someone is as barking as eg BNP who apparently have dropped their anti semitism in favour of anti islamism”
Huh? What’s wrong with anti-islamism? Opposing an oppressive, intolerant, hate-filled and imperialist ideology like islamism is the only option for anybody who cares about freedom and human rights, it seems to me.
Well said badnewswade and bristol blogger.
Thank you ‘someexcusingtodo’ for so elegantly proving my point.
Congratulation BB and badnews on your marriage with BNP
Someexplainingtodo – there are many, many people who oppose Islamism, including Muslims. Trying to make out that we’re all somehow connected to the BNP is bogus nonsense. You’re just making yourself look ridiculous.
I don’t think anyone here would have anything to do with the BNP and someexplaining to do is probably “over egging the pudding”.
I have never sucked up to Islamists, just am concerned about the racist bile coming from the BNP and the Mail/Express etc and was pointing out that Muslims in general not Islamists were being targeted.
“Bored in Easton” if you find my opinions “boring” then why do you bother to respond? And you, not I, am confusing Muslims with Islamists.
If you want to attack a party for sucking up to Islamists try Respect!
I’m Jewish so hardly likely to be in love with Hamas!
Badnewswade I’d Agree with you on Indymedia and anti semitism.
They fail to take it seriously at at and have even barred the Anti Zionist Jewish activist Tony Greenstein from their pages for pointing this out.
They still feature Tony Goslings shite on Bristol Indymedia.
““Bored in Easton” if you find my opinions “boring” then why do you bother to respond?”
This might come as news to you, but I don’t read this blog to read the tosh you spout – though I do find that many of the others who come here have some very interesting things to say. I respond simply in the (vain) hope that you will one day change the record.
“And you, not I, am confusing Muslims with Islamists.”
It might interest you to know that Inayat Bunglawala, media secretary of the MCB, Grauniad CiFer, amongst many other things, seems to be of the opinion that Islamists don‘t really exist. He seems to think that the concept of “Islamist” was dreamed up by the meeja and Home Office… but then I suppose that you’d know more about his beliefs than he does eh? Me, I’m not that cocky!
Interesting how you want to compare the Jews of the 30’s with Muslims now though – one major difference is that most of the oppression, rape, slaughter, etc. of Muslims is done by – oh yeah, other Muslims (Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia, etc.). This kind of throws the victim status bit right out of the window, and leaves any 1930’s analogy lying in a heap on the pavement below.
“If you want to attack a party for sucking up to Islamists try Respect!”
Now, I’d happily attack any bell-end from the Disrespect Party, only I don’t think that any of them are here – you seem pretty close, you’ll do!
“I’m Jewish so hardly likely to be in love with Hamas!”
I know you‘re Jewish. You’ve told us all that enough times now, we do have memories, we are not goldfish (well, I hope none of us are)!
But I agree with you that Tony Gosling writes complete and utter shite!
Bored one in Easton, I seem to be winding you up, that’s not the intention. You seem a very angry person!
I was comparing how muslims are victimised now to how jewish people have been victimised in the past, they do seem to be “public enemy number 1” in a vast cross-section of the medias eyes.
Simple as that.
Fair enough you disagree with what I say, but I haven’t started insulting you for having different opinions to me.
Whatever Inayat Bunglawala thinks, thats his opinion and I wouldn’t agree with him that there is no “Islamism”
Still I ask you where have I spoken well of “Islamists”?
At least we agree on something though! ; ) (Gosling)
”there are many, many people who oppose Islamism, including Muslims. Trying to make out that we’re all somehow connected to the BNP is bogus nonsense.”
exactly my point!
Hmmm, let me gues what someexplainingtodo’s next post is going to be:
yadda yadda FROTH RANT BNP blah blah j00000000000000000000000zzzzz yip yip eeeeeasrael f’tang! f’tang! wibble wibble I’m a teapot! aaaaaardvark! WHY DO YOO H8 R VALUZ? Y RU A NAZI U NAZI?!?!?!
etc, etc, etc
badnews on the weed again
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