I started the "Londonistan Follies" weblog entry in May 2003 and closed it down in August 2005 because it got too long. Since then, I try to resist the topic, but can no longer, for some developments in the United Kingdom demand to be recorded. So, from time, I will add to the list of shame, in reverse chronological order:
"Met allows Islamic protesters to throw shoes": I cannot improve on the Sunday Times (London) report:
Scotland Yard has bowed to Islamic sensitivities and accepted that Muslims are entitled to throw shoes in ritual protest — which could have the unintended consequence of politicians or the police being hit. News of the concession by the Metropolitan police has come to light amid a series of trials of more than 70 mostly Muslim demonstrators who were charged with violent disorder after last year's Gaza protests outside the Israeli embassy in London.
Aquib Salim, 21, an IT student at Queen Mary, London University, who was involved in a shoe-throwing incident, is almost certain to avoid a prison sentence as a result. Chris Holt, Salim's solicitor, said he was likely to get a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of throwing a stick at police lines. "The court accepted that the earlier shoe-throwing incident was simply a ritual form of protest and therefore not a criminal act of violence," Holt said. Judge Denniss agreed that the act of shoe-throwing should not be considered in a charge of violent disorder against the student because it was "a symbolic" political gesture.
Comment: If Galloway's attackers had limited themselves to showing shoes, they surely would not have been arrested. (April 11, 2010)
"Three Muslim extremists charged after attack on Galloway": George Galloway may be the Western politician who most panders to Islamists, but that does not protect him – quite the contrary, it buys him trouble, as this report on the website of his organization, Respect, explains:
George Galloway was set upon by a group of Muslim extremists while campaigning in East London this afternoon. Three men, believed to belong to the extreme sect Islam4UK, the latest name for Al-Muhajiroun, were arrested and subsequently charged with public order offences. … "They called me a filthy Kaffir" said Galloway, "and shouted that no one should shake the 'filthy Kaffir's hand'." … Galloway's assistant Kevin Ovenden had his phone smashed in the incident and other supporters were abused and jostled.
(April 10, 2010)
"Women get 'virginity fix' NHS operations in Muslim-driven trend": Today we learn that the National Health Service, Britain's taxpayer-subsidized medical plan, paid for 24 hymen replacement operations in 2005-06. The Department of Health acknowledged that "certain cosmetic procedures" are available on the NHS plan "to secure physical or psychological health." These are "virginity repair" efforts that cost up to £4,000 in private clinics to make sure that non-virgin Muslim females will suitably bleed on their wedding night. It can mean suturing the hymen or constructing a membrane, sometimes including a capsule of an artificial blood-like substance to put on a good show. The operation is usually performed just days before a marriage. (November 15, 2007)
"Police to brief Muslims before terror raids": "Police have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid. Members will be security vetted and will have to promise not to reveal any intelligence they are shown. They will not have to sign the Official Secrets Act." July 5, 2007 update: This plan is being shelved before it even started. Instead, individual police forces are free to decide whether or not to consult local figures.
"The cemetery where all face Mecca": "Burial plots have, by tradition, pointed east, in line with Christian beliefs. But a council in the East Midlands has taken the controversial decision to position thousands of headstones in a new £4 million cemetery facing in a north-easterly direction. … Christian groups yesterday expressed dismay at a policy that they say "marginalises" them and accommodates Muslims at the expense of other faiths. The Nottingham city council decision rubber-stamps a proposal by the local Cemeteries Consultative Committee (CCC), which claims it will give the new High Wood cemetery in Bulwell, 'a tidy appearance.' Local Muslims have welcomed the move as 'a sign of tolerance and acceptance'."
And last Sunday turned up one no less preposterous:
"Racist Rev Row": "A driver spent two nights in jail after being accused of "revving his car in a racist manner". Mechanic Ronnie Hutton, 49, yesterday described his court ordeal which finally ended when prosecutors dropped the allegation of racism. But he was still convicted of a breach of the peace for revving the engine of his £25,000 Lotus. Witnesses claimed he had been trying to intimidate a Libyan couple on the pavement." (September 24, 2006)
