Brick Lane Identity Crisis

Alice Kemp-Habib, GQ, The battle for Brick Lane's curry houses goes to the heart of British-Bangladeshi identity

"A row over a plot of land in East London has ignited mass protest. Could this mark the end for Brick Lane’s iconic curry houses, a focal point for the Bangladeshi community's identity and resistance?" Interesting article. Let's hope Brick Lane's character is maintained.

Beyond Banglatown

Metro, Why Brick Lane is at risk of losing its curry capital crown "As part of a two-year research project focusing on Brick Lane’s restaurant and retail sectors, the report, called Beyond Banglatown, highlights the unique contribution of the Bangladeshi community to Brick Lane and its world-renowned curry houses."

Runnymede Trust report: Beyond Banglatown[PDF]

Brick Lane

Interesting article: A Walk Down Bengali Brick Lane. (I'm looking forward to going there again soon). https://t.co/qFRhED3F0H [tip @YBirt}

— Gary Bunt (@garybunt) July 6, 2020

Altab Ali

May 4th is such an important date for British Bangladeshis. In 1978, Altab Ali’s racially motivated murder was a watershed moment that marked a significant turning point for race relations. #AltabAli #SocialJustice #Equality #NeverForget @ConversationUK https://t.co/nTwZSWBbhr

— Aminul Hoque (@BrIslam2015) May 4, 2020

Kadiza Sultana

Guardian, Isis promised Kadiza Sultana utopia, but in Syria she found fear and death, 12 Aug 2016

Teacher's attackers jailed

Nadia Sam-Daliri, East London Advertiser, Gang jailed after attacking teacher for giving lessons to Muslim girls, 27 May 2011

"Akmol Hussain had pre-planned the attack with the others because the teacher was “mocking Islam” and “putting doubt in people’s minds”, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard in evidence."

BBC, RE teacher Gary Smith's Muslim attackers jailed, 26 May 2011

"Four Muslim men who assaulted a religious education teacher because they did not approve of him teaching Muslim girls have been jailed."

Duncan Gardham, Telegraph, Men who beat up RE teacher were terrorist suspects, 27 May 2011 "Jailing the gang at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge Hand said they had “literally smashed Mr Smith’s face in.”

"He said the motivation for the attack was solely down to the victim’s religious beliefs. He told them: “You believed there was a higher authority to which you were responsible and that authority dictated you must attack Mr Smith.""

East London Mosque, East London Mosque Condemns Attack on Religious Education Teacher, 11 Feb 2011 ""This horrendous attack on teacher Gary Smith by young thugs was all the more shocking because they made religion an excuse," said Dilowar Khan, Executive Director of the East London Mosque. "Their abhorrent actions are entirely contrary to the teachings of Islam.""

Tower Hamlets

Dave Hill, Guardian, Britain's first Muslim executive mayor vows to 'reach out to every community', 11 Nov 2010 "Lutfur Rahman, the former Labour leader of Tower Hamlets council who won the borough's mayoral election as an independent, remains out of favour with many former party colleagues."

Tower Hamlets

Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph, Labour: London borough becomes 'Islamic republic', 22 Oct 2010 opinion piece

"For the last eight months – without complaint or challenge from Mr [Lutfur] Rahman – this blog and newspaper have laid out his close links with a group of powerful local businessmen and with a Muslim supremacist body, the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) - which believes, in its own words, in transforming the “very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed… from ignorance to Islam.” Mr Rahman has refused to deny these claims."

Tower Hamlets

Jerome Taylor, Independent, Respect, Religion, Race and the battle for Tower Hamlets, 28 Apr 2010 "... Respect's best chance of holding on to a parliamentary seat rests in Bethnal Green and Bow, where Abjol Miah, a youth worker and local councillor with strong ties to east London's mosque network, is taking on Labour's Rushanara Ali in a contest that will finally provide British Bengalis with a representative in Parliament (Bangladeshis remain one of the only significant ethnic communities without an MP). "

Library loans

Telegraph, Hardline Muslim clerics' books still publicly available, 29 Mar 2010 "Works by the jailed preacher Abdullah al-Faisal and the controversial Islamic leader Bilal Philips are available to borrow from the controversial Tower Hamlets council in East London."

Tower Hamlets

Abul Taher, London Evening Standard, Muslim councillor defies hate campaign after death threats over 'western' appearance, 10 Mar 2010 "A Muslim councillor says she has changed the way she dresses after receiving death threats because of her “western” appearance, but insists she will not quit politics."

Islamic Forum of Europe

Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph blogs has been making comments during the past week on the Islamic Forum of Europe via his blog, mainly under the header 'Islamist Blogpost of the Day'. The Islamic Forum of Europe's blog presents its own perspective, and has also commented on Andrew Gilligan's posts, for example Azad Ali, I tell you there is a wolf there, there is!, 5 Mar 2010. This looks like it might run on for some time.

Islamic Forum of Europe

Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph, We must not be afraid of taking on Islamic extremists, 5 Mar 2010 "The East End has one of the best local papers in Britain, a genuine mirror of its community. But curiously, this week's issue seems to have missed a story which has been making some serious waves in that very community. One of the local MPs, Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick, was quoted in The Sunday Telegraph, and on national television, as saying that his party had been infiltrated by a secretive, fundamentalist organisation, the Islamic Forum of Europe – which he compares to the Militant Tendency in the 1980s."

See Islamic Forum of Europe website for their perspective:

"Britain's Islamic Republic" [on TV]

Dispatches, Britain's Islamic Republic, 1 March 2010 "Dispatches investigates a fundamentalist Islamic group headquartered in Britain, and its claims to have placed its 'brothers' in positions of political power here.

"Using undercover recordings, investigative journalist Andrew Gilligan reveals the group's ambitions to create a worldwide 'Islamic social and political order,' and the concerns of a mainstream party that they are being 'infiltrated'; and talks to the Muslims who want to stop it."

I haven't seen this one yet (it's available online in the UK).

The taboids got excited by this:

Daily Star, The Islam Tendency, 1 Mar 2010, "Muslim extremists are plotting to take over the Labour Party and turn Britain into an Islamic state, it was claimed last night.

"Labour minister Jim Fitzpatrick said they have been placing people within local branches to gain control of key party positions."

The local papers also covered this:

Evening Standard, Tower Hamlets accused of being infiltrated by Islamic extremists, 1 Mar 2010

Coincidentally, Dispatches' reporter Andrew Gilligan had a piece in the Daily Telegraph, Sir Ian Blair's deal with Islamic radical, 1 Mar 2010 "The activist, Azad Ali, was accepted by the Met as a trusted interlocutor. The force also agreed to give him information on forthcoming anti-terror raids. – Mr Ali has previously justified the killing of British troops in Iraq, believes al Qaeda is a "myth," and has praised a key mentor of Osama bin Laden. "