This is not about "freedom of speech". It’s not about a "war of civilisations". It’s about racism. Anyone who doubts that need look no further than the right wing Danish paper that commissioned the notorious anti-Muslim cartoons last September.
We live in a society where if a Catholic bishop talks reactionary nonsense about homosexuality there is some mild tut-tutting in the media. But if a Muslim does the same, articles are written about the "failure of multiculturalism" and the need for Muslims to collectively embrace secularism.
Some 600 people took to the streets of Plumstead last weekend to protest over the death of Nuur Saeed. He died on 24 January from injuries sustained following a police raid on a flat in south east London.
The anger expressed by Muslims over the caricatures of the prophet Mohammed is rooted in the growth in Islamophobia since 9/11. That was the overriding message of Muslims interviewed by Socialist Worker.
Anti-racist campaigners reacted with anger last week as Nick Griffin, leader of the fascist British National Party (BNP), and his sidekick Mark Collett walked free from a Leeds court.
Babar Ahmad, the south London IT worker threatened with extradition to the US on trumped up terrorism charges, will go to court later this month to fight attempts to deport him.
Much has been made in recent days of the commitment to free speech in the Danish press.
The Egyptian state, a key US ally the Middle East, revealed the hypocrisy of George Bush’s vision of democracy for the region when it detained Respect MP George Galloway last weekend.
What happens if you are a postal worker who starts making notes in your diary about harassment by managers? In Belfast the manager seizes your diary and accuses you of harassment!
Belfast is not the only flashpoint as Royal Mail launches a massive national campaign to cut costs and jobs in order to "compete against private operators".
It's less than two weeks before the first groups of an eventual 1.5 million workers are due to begin balloting for strikes. From 20 February ten unions will start strike ballots over the threats to local government workers’ and firefighters’ pensions.
Around 1,300 delegates from all corners of Britain came to London on Wednesday of this week for Defend Council Housing’s lobby of parliament. The lobby called for an end to the selling off of council housing, and for direct investment.
