Today the EDL held a demo in the village of Shotton Colliery in County Durham. The protest was prompted by the decision of a locally resident businessman named Kaiser Choudry to transform a closed pub into what has been described as ‘a Muslim education centre’.
Given the name of the village, it will come as no surprise to the reader that it grew up around the eponymous pit which was closed by the NCB in the early 1970s with the loss of around 800 jobs. The village has never recovered from this swingeing economic blow, and the proposed ‘Muslim education centre’, which was once the Melrose Arms, is but one of eight former local pubs that have now been shut. Clearly, what Shotton Colliery requires is economic investment and job opportunities, not such a pointless entity as a ‘Muslim education centre’.
The pointlessness and unwelcome nature of such an intrusion into the life of an English village was overlooked by the Hartlepool Mail, which naturally chose to cover the story from a pro-Muslim perspective under the heading of ‘Muslims fear EDL demo’. Apparently, the village is home to five or six Muslim families. Presumably they are all familiar with Islam, so why would Shotton Colliery require a ‘Muslim education centre’? Obviously, it does not, and is simply intended as a base for Islamic proselytisation – dawa – amongst the resident English population. There is nothing favourable that can be said either about such an intent or this specific move, so the EDL were certainly right to demonstrate in this instance, for such a centre can bring good to nobody. The less that Islamic doctrine is preached and spread in our country, so much the better for all.
Residents of the village should be aware that Easington MP Grahame Morris has sided with the proponents of the Muslim propaganda centre. At the very least, those who object to its presence should write to him and complain about his stance, asking him directly what benefit he thinks such a proselytising mission centre could possibly confer upon the area and the lives of local residents. There is nothing positive in Islamic doctrine that cannot be found in any other faith or general system of ethical conduct, but there is much in it that is inherently negative and inimical to the public good. We do not need more Islam in Britain, but less of it. We should not grant planning permission for Muslim mission centres. It would be better if the former Melrose Arms were to be bulldozed.
As for the turnout at the demo today, there has been scant information, although one opponent of the EDL, a self-styled ‘anti-fascist’ claimed in a tweet that some 200 EDL turned up in Shotton. On the other side of the divide, someone named Peter Sloanasserted that there were between 500 and 600 EDL and locals demonstrating against the proposed Muslim centre. From the picture of the demo below, it is impossible to estimate numbers, as it only shows part of the crowd. If you were in Shotton today, what were your impressions of the protest? Were you for it, or against it? What happened? Feel free to leave comments below, because the press will not report it in an objective fashion. A poll has been added to the blog column on the right where you can make clear your opinion on Shotton’s proposed ‘Muslim education centre’. Multiple answers can be submitted, and the poll will close on 21 December. It will be interesting to see what readers think.UPDATE:
On 2 December the Sunday Sun reported that two men were arrested at the demo ‘for breach of bail conditions’ and cited a police estimate of the number of EDL present as 200. However, it is not clear as to whether or not this figure also included locals who turned out to protest against the proposed ‘Muslim education centre’. The article also noted that Durham County Council has already ‘received a 102-signature petition and 13 letters against the conversion.’ Clearly, much more opposition will need to be effectively marshalled to put an end to this plan for the former Melrose Arms. According to theHartlepool Mail, which decided to describe the demonstrators as ‘far-right extremists’ in its Sunday edition, Durham County Council has already approved plans for the centre to go ahead. Are you a local resident who opposes this centre? If so, how do you feel about being labelled a ‘far-right extremist’? “
Although I’m not a supporter of the EDL (I think they go about things in the wrong way), I do feel they are on the side of right in this case. ‘The question does need to be asked ‘does Britain really need more Islamic propaganda centres set up?’ My answer and the answer of many others would be no.
The building of an Islamic propaganda centre is normally the first step in taking over an area, corrupting the local authority and forcing out the original inhabitants.
I’m coming more and more to the point of view that it is foolish in the extreme to treat Islam the same as other minority religions, because only Islam has done so much harm physically and otherwise to the UK. Would we have let the Germans set up a German Educational Centre in Coventry in 1944? Of course not. Why then are we allowing the Islamic enemies of freedom to set up propaganda centres in the UK.
You have to be kidding, right?
There’s no reason under English law why any group should be restricted from missionary activity. To say that the Council should block a development on such illegal grounds is therefore to advocate a useless and counter-productive gesture, one which flies in the face of hundreds of years of development of a tolerant philosophy of freedom of speech.
If the UK were to adopt such measures, then it would be in a worse position to advocate liberalism in the Islamic world, where Christian missionaries are often treated harshly.
To single out Islam in this way would also justify and reinforce the cries of ‘persecution!’ which more than anything else work to encourage communal solidity amongst Muslims – it is this sectarian way of thinking that makes Islam an objectionable force and to strengthen it further would be incredibly undesirable.
Finally, opposing Islamic extremism is one thing, but opposing Muslims who only wish to do the same as Christians, and even Buddhists, etc, is just weird, surely?
CB in TH, good to have you here.
Unfortunately none of the other religions that ask for new adherents are causing the same level of problems that Islam is. Are those who follow some of the new churches, committing terror or being involved in the widespread organised abuse of children? They are not, these things are being mostly committed by the followers of Islam.
If the first duty of a Government is to protect its citizens. Therefore why shouldn’t there be restrictions on the movement, settlement and expansion of those groups that are quite plainly promoting a way of life that is incompatible with that of the UK?
Although I would like to agree with you that any restrictions on Islam in the UK would place the UK in an invidious position regarding making moral judgements on the Islamic world, I find that I cannot. Whether or not the UK imposes restrictions on Islam, the Islamic world would still complain and whine and play the ‘victim’ card. Whether or not Britain acts against Islam, Islamic nations will still treat members of minority religions like shit, it’s what they do.
As regards tolerance and free speech. How much tolerance and free speech are there in areas of the world where Islam dominates? Not a lot to save you the job of looking it up. In the long term making accommodations for Islam will eventually damage free speech and tolerance here in the UK. Sadly, Islam doesn’t accept such concepts as free speech and tolerance, that is not prejudice, that is from my observations of the Islamic world.
Regarding increasing the sense of Islamic grievance, well they don’t need any help with that do they? Even where grievance is not justified.
You mentioned Islamic extremism and yes that does need to be tackled but first you need to understand that violent extremism isn’t an anomaly in Islam it is its core (see Pew attitudes survey 2006) . Yes there are Muslims, quite a few infact, who reject this violence and they should be protected and praised, but the spread of Islam especially within the west has brought problems, and restricting the spread of Islam and its influence is a start to tackling those problems.
The people in Shotton Colliery who object to this symbol of Islamic expansionism (would mainstream Jews want a synagogue for just five or six families, would Buddhists or anybody else do the same? I think not) have probably looked to the problems that Islam has caused in other UK towns and thought, not here please.
Finally, just so you don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not one of those ‘final solution’ freaks that sadly are thrown up by some sections of the anti jihadist world, I recognise that Islam is a problem and has been a problem for centuries but I want this problem dealt with by Law not by mobs with flaming torches. My fear is that if the law and the state doesn’t catch up with the anger that many feel about the untrammelled and in some cases state encouraged growth of Islam, then the mobs with flaming torches will be out, and that will be devastating for both the guilty and the innocent.
Sadly Islam as a philosophy is a clear and present danger to western societies, we should be confronting it, helping it to reform where necessary and saying NO to the promoters of Islam a lot more often than we do at present.
I would recommend that you look at the post on this site about historical Islamic attacks on non Muslim nations to see just how much of a problem Islam has been in the past. Has the Islamic leopard changed its spots, I don’t think so and we shouldn’t take the chance.
Its long past time that islam in the UK was treated in the same way that Christianity is treated in the islamic world.
I don’t think we should be that harsh, but there certainly needs to be novel controls on Islam. At the very least there needs to be an end to pandering to Islam.
We need to control Islamic propaganda centres, to not do that would be suicide.
Hi I live near Shotton and I saw the demo I was supprised at the Hartlepool male headline. that about the muslim people of Shotton leaveing in fear it was a very pesefull and light hearted march young and old walked together as they aproached the Old Albert building a muslim woman came out with a bag of shit in her hands and she went to through it at the marches but a quick bobby saw her and stopped her there was no fear by her there, There were about 200 protesters there and as for CbINth if you want a Mosque next to your house invite them there and make no mistakes it will be a mosque and as for the Labour mp he lost my vote and a lot of other peoples votes and a last word about Durham Police well done for a well policed day and a good example for other forces
D Smith, welcome to Farenheit211 and it is good to get a local report on the situation.
Unfortunately regarding the Hartlepool Mail piece, bent local journalism is becoming more common where Islam is concerned. See this link for details
http://farenheit211.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/hereford-mosque-plan-censorship-or-not-part-ii-you-decide/
It is interesting to hear how this demo was policed as it is appears considerably less oppressive than how similar demos have been policed elsewhere for example in London.
I agree with you about Labour, they are rapidly becoming the ‘Islamic apologist party’ (IMO because of the rise of the ‘middle class left’ ) and are rapidly retreating from being the party of the working classes.
I concur with the opinion that this will not be for the benefit of the tiny number of Islamic families in the town and will purely be an Islamic propaganda centre.