girl gang freed after kicking a girl in the head and racially abusing her.

[summer rain]

I feel for her, as I've been harassed in public by Muslims (for being Jewish). One of my female friends, also Jewish, has been harassed. She had broken ribs. A man attacked her at Camden tube station, and the security guard present did nothing as he was also Muslim.

A Muslim girl behind the cash register at La Senza on Oxford Street sneered and threw my credit card in my face when she looked at it and saw my obviously Jewish surname. In March, in the ladies toilets at Heathrow, a couple of women in burqas were washing their hands at the sink next to me. They noticed my Star of David necklace, leaned in close to me, and whispered the word 'sharmouta' over and over again. 'Sharmouta' means 'whore' in Arabic.

...And I'm Muslim and I've been attacked for being Muslim, including half a bottle of cider poured over my head and my hijab ripped, if a woman passer-by hadn't intervened I would have had my head kicked in. In that case I did know some of the youngsters involved and yes they were Churchgoers; doesn't mean I think all Christians are out to get Muslims and hate us by default. On other occasions I have been spat on and verbally abused. The perpetrators weren't Jewish in those cases but I do have Arab friends living in a mainly Chabad Lubavich area of Manchester, and some from that sect have links to extreme zionism, so they have been verbally abused and sworn at. People from the same sect have put bricks through the windows of their fellow Jews purely for belonging to a non-Zionist Haredi sect, in Salford. Also a few years ago I saw a Haredi Jewish woman yelling at a Muslim women in M&S and lauching a massive tirade against her purely because she perceived her to be Arab (I think the woman was actually Pakistani or Bangladeshi)-this was before I was Muslim but it was very upsetting to see that done to anyone and I would have been furious whoever perpetrated it. Also some extremist Jews have now joined forces with the EDL and BNP because they hate Muslims that much. So yes, there are people from all walks of life who are extreme and hate others for their religion, race or culture, it isn't exclusive to Muslims and it worries me you cannot make this distinction. Anyone reading your message who doesn't have experience of Muslims would believe that all Muslims hate Jews and go maurading around looking to attack Jews and non-believers, this simply isn't fair or true. Who knows if the security guard ignored your friend being attacked because he was Muslim or whether he was just a useless jobsworth like many of those working in such positions. Also no-one wears a 'burqa' in the UK, I think you mean a niqab...?

Most Muslims are very respectful of Jewish people because Islam teaches this; if you look at the community in Stamford Hill there are extremely good community relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities, with mosques and synagogues side by side, same with many other areas of London and the UK on the whole. My husband grew up with many Jewish neighbours/schoolfriends and got on really well with them and was brought up to be extremely respectful of Jews as they are Ahl ul Kitab (people of the book). Some of my best friends have been Jewish. Also some Arab Christians unfortunately also have this irrational hatred of Jews so it isn't a religious thing either. The bottom line is that statistically Muslims are more likely to be the victims of racial and/or religious hatred than perpetrators of it yet you wouldn't get this impression from the media. To prove my point this is a blog written by non-Muslims with no political or religious agenda though I would say they are quite left-wing; anyway they record incidences in the media of Islamophobia and Muslims being attacked specifically because of their dress etc-this is their section on violence against Muslims and their places of worship (and this is only stuff reported by the mainstream media; a lot of attacks on Muslims are not reported because it doesn't fit the overall picture they are trying to achieve)

https://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/category/anti-muslim-violence



Anyway I don't see why it was mentioned these girls were 'Muslim' in this case except with the intention of stirring up racial and religious tensions; they are only Muslim in the way that someone from the UK would be considered Christian by default, Somalis tend to be very secular, even when they were in Somalia most people there are not religious and yes many of them do drink and do drugs and live completely non-religious lives. Judging by these girl's features they do look like Northern Somalis (Somalilanders) and while you do get some really good ones; on the whole they are even more irreligious than those from other areas; and quite a few of the traditional Somaliland proverbs are based on cursing Islam and Allaah and would according to many scholars render someone outside of the Islamic faith. The community in Leicester are particularly irreligious and into all kinds of crazy stuff, some of my husbands family have lived there and its pretty shocking what they tell us. Their lawyers had to come up with an excuse for their clients behaviour and it was quite a pathetic one; I bet these girls have been drinking and doing drugs for years and they probably grew up with alcohol in the home. You do get some extremely good Somalis though both from the major tribes/groups and the minor. Somalia is an extremely ethnically diverse country anyway; there are Somalis who look Italian or Spanish, ones that look Iranian, ones that look like they come from India or Pakistan (and indeed some do originally), my husband is culturally Somali (amongst other things) but not from the main ethnic groups there and like most Somalis living in this country he is extremely hardworking, honest and well integrated into society. It isn't fair to judge the many on the actions of a few xx

 

[Quackquack99]

Well said summer rain, I think things work both ways. I briefly lived in prestwich, manchester and that has a big jewish community. I've had weird looks and whisper because they assumed I must have been muslims. But I've also had snide jabs from pakistani muslims because my dad is indian.
There are racist people in all forms of races, people etc. None of it is right!

 

[summer rain]

Yes Prestwich is the area I was mainly thinking of. If you so much as look Arab or Muslim there, there are some people who are extremely hostile, if you look like a religious Arab Muslim its even worse. I myself went into the Prestwich Tesco one Sunday to get a sandwich while my ex-OH was visiting a friend in the neighbouring mental health hospital, and I really felt like I must have stolen something by accident or something because the weird looks and whispers I got from shoppers (mainly Lubavich Haredi Jews) and staff alike was just astounding, and the girl on the checkout would not make eye contact, wouldn't give me my change and receipt in my hand, and when I said thank you and bye when leaving as I always do in shops, she just tutted and didn't say anything back. I didn't go in there with any preconceptions but I did get made to feel like I was doing something wrong by going there. Yet there are big supermarkets we visit here in London where most of the shoppers and some of the staff are Jewish, and we've experienced nothing but politeness and friendliness. My OH used to drive a bus round stamford Hill and the Haredi passengers were the ones who he looked forward to driving around; because they were polite, would chat to him and say thanks when getting off the bus, unlike most of the other passengers who would be rude and he even had a knife pulled on him a couple of times. xx

 

[Leafy]

After watching the video it's ridiculous that they should get away with it. Theres absolutely no excuse. The one girl goes back to kick her after the police have arrived even? :\

 

[Quackquack99]

Yes Prestwich is the area I was mainly thinking of. If you so much as look Arab or Muslim there, there are some people who are extremely hostile, if you look like a religious Arab Muslim its even worse. I myself went into the Prestwich Tesco one Sunday to get a sandwich while my ex-OH was visiting a friend in the neighbouring mental health hospital, and I really felt like I must have stolen something by accident or something because the weird looks and whispers I got from shoppers (mainly Lubavich Haredi Jews) and staff alike was just astounding, and the girl on the checkout would not make eye contact, wouldn't give me my change and receipt in my hand, and when I said thank you and bye when leaving as I always do in shops, she just tutted and didn't say anything back. I didn't go in there with any preconceptions but I did get made to feel like I was doing something wrong by going there. Yet there are big supermarkets we visit here in London where most of the shoppers and some of the staff are Jewish, and we've experienced nothing but politeness and friendliness. My OH used to drive a bus round stamford Hill and the Haredi passengers were the ones who he looked forward to driving around; because they were polite, would chat to him and say thanks when getting off the bus, unlike most of the other passengers who would be rude and he even had a knife pulled on him a couple of times. xx

I've been in that tescos a handful of times and I felt petrified. No one mad e any direct comment but I did get some horrible looks and some whispers too. Some people have confused me for an arab before maybe it is that. But on the other hand I've heard some foul comments from muslims. It works both ways.

 

[lindseymw]

I think it's absolutely disgusting at the sentence these girls recieved. What they did is GBH, being a muslim should not have made a difference to the sentences they receive.

Unfortunately, I think this story is going to incite more racism towards the muslim community as it would appear that muslims are above the law (or in the very least recieve less harsh sentences), especially when this story just follows the incident when that woman was shouting abuse on the Tram. She has had her bail refused & is in prison (rightly so) but in comparison, she never got her friends together & kicked the shit out of someone. It does appear (in these two cases) there is law for one & a law for another.

Obviously, I don't believe for one second that all muslims are like these girls (in the same way I don't believe all white woman go on the tram & shout abuse) but unfortunately there are some very narrowminded people in this country/world that will believe this.

 

[smelly07]

summer rain: the reason why being 'muslim' was bought into this was because of the alcohol excuse used to get them off.

Anyone with more than one brain cell will realise not every muslim will act this way and of course it works both ways.

like lindseymw said the tram incident lady in comparaison to these four ladies isnt fair is it...?
i can see why people are getting angry about this situtation as the whole justice system is wrong, people need to be treated as people, race,colour,religion shouldnt play any part in how people are treated.

 

[Quackquack99]

I agree with you smelly, that either way racism is not acceptable. They shouldn't have been let off with a slap on the wrist.
But I think these girls are muslim by birth ie they were born into that religion. But that similar to a person born into christianity. I don't see why their religion was brought into because if they are drinking then they are not practising muslim iygwim

 

[tina3747]

The 2 cases are hugely different, yes both are centered round racism but one was violent and the other just some idiot spouting her vile mouth off. This girl could have died and I just can't believe a justice system can let these girls off for that reason it makes no sense at all. I would imagine the Muslim communities here in leicester are just as outraged as for them it's doing the moral law abiding Islamic citizens no favours in race relations.
We have a mosque here in leicester that promotes all faiths getting together, I've seen a Muslim boy collecting for poppies not so long ago so it seems as thyre desperatly trying to be seen as intergrating but something like this sets them back. I may be seen as racist but I don't want anyone coming to this country who can't live by our laws black or White. The Somalis just can't seem in integrate well and on top of that they're bloody rude!!

 

[smelly07]

quackquack: They said they were muslim therefore not use to drinking alcohol. if they were just born into it but never practiced it they wouldnt consider themselves as muslim iykwim......whether they are or not....... they still used the religion as a reason to get them off a prison sentence which is why the whole muslim thing has come into it.
Plus is was a racial attack...........if it was a one on one fight and no racial abuse was being used and the person didnt come up with 'i'm muslim, im not use to drinking alcohol' as an excuse then this whole story wouldnt of made healdines. iykwim.

 

[summer rain]

The 2 cases are hugely different, yes both are centered round racism but one was violent and the other just some idiot spouting her vile mouth off. This girl could have died and I just can't believe a justice system can let these girls off for that reason it makes no sense at all. I would imagine the Muslim communities here in leicester are just as outraged as for them it's doing the moral law abiding Islamic citizens no favours in race relations.
We have a mosque here in leicester that promotes all faiths getting together, I've seen a Muslim boy collecting for poppies not so long ago so it seems as thyre desperatly trying to be seen as intergrating but something like this sets them back. I may be seen as racist but I don't want anyone coming to this country who can't live by our laws black or White. The Somalis just can't seem in integrate well and on top of that they're bloody rude!!

Talk about a generalisation; not all Somalis are like the community in your area. Some of the Somalis in some cities in this country, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester have been here for 50 years or even longer than that, there are people whose great grandads are Somali; even those who have come more recently differ enormously depending on where you are. There are some Somali women who post on baby and bump (and are quite prolific posters who you probably have spoken to) but you wouldn't know that they are as there isn't a big flashing sign on their avatar saying 'I'm a Somali' and they are polite and well-integrated which seems to be the opposite to what you'd expect.

Also just because of this one story people assume that in every case Muslims (or those who are nominally Muslim) get away with everything and the equivalent white person gets a harsh sentence in every case? This is totally untrue and again is just more proof of the media twisting things xx

 

[Quackquack99]

To be honest I haven't read the article, I really dislike the daily mail.
But I agree people shouldn't hide behind their religion. There is racism even between people who practice the same religion. Where I'm from in manchester I've pakistani muslims and indian muslims have fight and make jabs due to the other nationality.
I can't believ any justice sytem would let them walk free, I thought they would have learnt from the stephen lawrence case!

 

[summer rain]

btw there are other areas of laws where the punishment and media furore (sp?) is disproportionate when it comes to Muslims in comparison to white people; and that is terrorist offences. There have been many cases of Muslims being arrested for terrorism; them being completely innocent and cleared and later paid compensation for wrongful arrest-yet judging by the media coverage of those cases you'd assume that they were found guilty of actually bombing somewhere and put away for life. Muslims are also more likely to get harsher sentences for lesser terrorism related crimes than other people; for example one university student was looking for material relating to his course and was jailed for life because some of that information could have been used in a terrorist plot-he was/is appealing the sentence but when an extreme far-right lunatic stockpiled tons of weapons and explosives in his garden shed and made serious plans to assassinate the then Prime Minister Tony Blair; he only got 2 years and it was not even mentioned on the national news. There was also a case last year or the year before where an extreme far-right group made serious plans to bomb synagogues and mosques and kill Muslims and Jews in this country and it only made the Jewish chronicle and Muslim newspapers, yet it was a really credible threat that had those people not been caught there would have been massive bloodshed. I believe that anyone planning to kill and maim people should receive equal treatment under the eyes of the law and in the media too, but this simply doesn't happen. So I'm afraid the law isn't always biased towards Muslims xx

 

[smelly07]

summer rain i am mixed race, and i understand and see both points of view and have grown up around families of different races and religions..........i dont believe for one minute that all muslims are let off all cases due to their religion or get easier punishments etc etc and its true muslims are treated differently especially since 9/11 (not by everyone obviously) .......BUT with this case we are discussing they used their religion to get away with a crime and for a judge to let them off on those grounds is disgusting and bound to cause up roar.


once my husbands cousin who is mixed race, was due on a flight back home, he got on the plane and his name was annouced in front of all on board and he was told he had to get off the plane........when he was asked why they said it it was for further investigation as he had a muslim surname! he was embarrased treated like a terrorist and had to wait for another flight.

 

[summer rain]

I know this thread is not about that but some seem to think that ethnic minorities and in particular Muslims, are always treated favourably by the law when in most areas of the law there is actually a lot of discrimination, and I was giving examples. My OH and FIL have both been arrested/detained at airports and ports on several occasions (particularly Gatwick and Stansted) for being Muslim, they get asked all kind of weird questions like 'what do you think about jihad?', 'what mosque do you attend' (most Muslims will pray at whichever mosque is nearest at the time) and bizzarely, which football team they support-not sure why, maybe Arsenal supporters are more likely to be terrorists than Man U supporters ?. On one occasion in Stansted the police officer gave him this weird business card (he gave it to us and we had it until recently) and was told if he helps out the police by reporting people he knows are involved in terrorism then he won't have the trouble of being stopped again-but he doesn't know anyone involved in terrorism and if he did he'd report them to the police because thats right; not because he wants to get through airports more quickly. In the US it is even worse; my OH was born in the middle east and because it says a middle Eastern city as his place of birth on his passport; they say they 'have' to detain and question him, he has been detained up to 6 hours before with no food or water.

 

[MoonMelody]

I feel for her, as I've been harassed in public by Muslims (for being Jewish). One of my female friends, also Jewish, has been harassed. She had broken ribs. A man attacked her at Camden tube station, and the security guard present did nothing as he was also Muslim.

A Muslim girl behind the cash register at La Senza on Oxford Street sneered and threw my credit card in my face when she looked at it and saw my obviously Jewish surname. In March, in the ladies toilets at Heathrow, a couple of women in burqas were washing their hands at the sink next to me. They noticed my Star of David necklace, leaned in close to me, and whispered the word 'sharmouta' over and over again. 'Sharmouta' means 'whore' in Arabic.

...And I'm Muslim and I've been attacked for being Muslim, including half a bottle of cider poured over my head and my hijab ripped, if a woman passer-by hadn't intervened I would have had my head kicked in. In that case I did know some of the youngsters involved and yes they were Churchgoers; doesn't mean I think all Christians are out to get Muslims and hate us by default. On other occasions I have been spat on and verbally abused. The perpetrators weren't Jewish in those cases but I do have Arab friends living in a mainly Chabad Lubavich area of Manchester, and some from that sect have links to extreme zionism, so they have been verbally abused and sworn at. People from the same sect have put bricks through the windows of their fellow Jews purely for belonging to a non-Zionist Haredi sect, in Salford. Also a few years ago I saw a Haredi Jewish woman yelling at a Muslim women in M&S and lauching a massive tirade against her purely because she perceived her to be Arab (I think the woman was actually Pakistani or Bangladeshi)-this was before I was Muslim but it was very upsetting to see that done to anyone and I would have been furious whoever perpetrated it. Also some extremist Jews have now joined forces with the EDL and BNP because they hate Muslims that much. So yes, there are people from all walks of life who are extreme and hate others for their religion, race or culture, it isn't exclusive to Muslims and it worries me you cannot make this distinction. Anyone reading your message who doesn't have experience of Muslims would believe that all Muslims hate Jews and go maurading around looking to attack Jews and non-believers, this simply isn't fair or true. Who knows if the security guard ignored your friend being attacked because he was Muslim or whether he was just a useless jobsworth like many of those working in such positions. Also no-one wears a 'burqa' in the UK, I think you mean a niqab...?

Most Muslims are very respectful of Jewish people because Islam teaches this; if you look at the community in Stamford Hill there are extremely good community relations between the Muslim and Jewish communities, with mosques and synagogues side by side, same with many other areas of London and the UK on the whole. My husband grew up with many Jewish neighbours/schoolfriends and got on really well with them and was brought up to be extremely respectful of Jews as they are Ahl ul Kitab (people of the book). Some of my best friends have been Jewish. Also some Arab Christians unfortunately also have this irrational hatred of Jews so it isn't a religious thing either. The bottom line is that statistically Muslims are more likely to be the victims of racial and/or religious hatred than perpetrators of it yet you wouldn't get this impression from the media. To prove my point this is a blog written by non-Muslims with no political or religious agenda though I would say they are quite left-wing; anyway they record incidences in the media of Islamophobia and Muslims being attacked specifically because of their dress etc-this is their section on violence against Muslims and their places of worship (and this is only stuff reported by the mainstream media; a lot of attacks on Muslims are not reported because it doesn't fit the overall picture they are trying to achieve)

https://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/category/anti-muslim-violence



Anyway I don't see why it was mentioned these girls were 'Muslim' in this case except with the intention of stirring up racial and religious tensions; they are only Muslim in the way that someone from the UK would be considered Christian by default, Somalis tend to be very secular, even when they were in Somalia most people there are not religious and yes many of them do drink and do drugs and live completely non-religious lives. Judging by these girl's features they do look like Northern Somalis (Somalilanders) and while you do get some really good ones; on the whole they are even more irreligious than those from other areas; and quite a few of the traditional Somaliland proverbs are based on cursing Islam and Allaah and would according to many scholars render someone outside of the Islamic faith. The community in Leicester are particularly irreligious and into all kinds of crazy stuff, some of my husbands family have lived there and its pretty shocking what they tell us. Their lawyers had to come up with an excuse for their clients behaviour and it was quite a pathetic one; I bet these girls have been drinking and doing drugs for years and they probably grew up with alcohol in the home. You do get some extremely good Somalis though both from the major tribes/groups and the minor. Somalia is an extremely ethnically diverse country anyway; there are Somalis who look Italian or Spanish, ones that look Iranian, ones that look like they come from India or Pakistan (and indeed some do originally), my husband is culturally Somali (amongst other things) but not from the main ethnic groups there and like most Somalis living in this country he is extremely hardworking, honest and well integrated into society. It isn't fair to judge the many on the actions of a few xx

I responded to you on the other thread. First of all, no racism is ok. My experiences in no way imply that all Muslims behave this way. The Haredi and Hasidic Jews are known for being sketchy, and I've had trouble with them as well, especially in Israel, as I'm not very religious. They can be extremely violent, they contribute nothing to the Israeli economy, and are responsible for almost all of the trouble with Palestinians in the disputed territories.

The Somali womens' religion was mentioned in the article because they used Islam as an excuse for their behaviour. They said that they were not used to being drunk, because drinking is not allowed in Islam. My personal belief is that religion should not play a part in a court room. Both my father and husband are lawyers. It's actually illegal to use intoxication as an excuse for breaking the law, according to my husband. So the judge that allowed these women to have reduced sentences as a result of inebriation has actually broken the law himself. I agree with you that these girls were probably seasoned drinkers.

I'm sorry if I didn't address some of your points. My LO is very fractious at the moment, so I haven't been able to read your post as thoroughly as I'd like.

 

[MoonMelody]

I know this thread is not about that but some seem to think that ethnic minorities and in particular Muslims, are always treated favourably by the law when in most areas of the law there is actually a lot of discrimination, and I was giving examples. My OH and FIL have both been arrested/detained at airports and ports on several occasions (particularly Gatwick and Stansted) for being Muslim, they get asked all kind of weird questions like 'what do you think about jihad?', 'what mosque do you attend' (most Muslims will pray at whichever mosque is nearest at the time) and bizzarely, which football team they support-not sure why, maybe Arsenal supporters are more likely to be terrorists than Man U supporters ?. On one occasion in Stansted the police officer gave him this weird business card (he gave it to us and we had it until recently) and was told if he helps out the police by reporting people he knows are involved in terrorism then he won't have the trouble of being stopped again-but he doesn't know anyone involved in terrorism and if he did he'd report them to the police because thats right; not because he wants to get through airports more quickly. In the US it is even worse; my OH was born in the middle east and because it says a middle Eastern city as his place of birth on his passport; they say they 'have' to detain and question him, he has been detained up to 6 hours before with no food or water.

Racial profiling is insulting. I'm sorry your OH was treated like that. My mother was once detained at LAX on her way back from Israel when she was 17. They held her in a room alone for hours and strip-searched her. She's blonde and green-eyed. She must have fit some sort of bizarre profile at the time.

 

[smelly07]

I know this thread is not about that but some seem to think that ethnic minorities and in particular Muslims, are always treated favourably by the law when in most areas of the law there is actually a lot of discrimination, and I was giving examples. My OH and FIL have both been arrested/detained at airports and ports on several occasions (particularly Gatwick and Stansted) for being Muslim, they get asked all kind of weird questions like 'what do you think about jihad?', 'what mosque do you attend' (most Muslims will pray at whichever mosque is nearest at the time) and bizzarely, which football team they support-not sure why, maybe Arsenal supporters are more likely to be terrorists than Man U supporters ?. On one occasion in Stansted the police officer gave him this weird business card (he gave it to us and we had it until recently) and was told if he helps out the police by reporting people he knows are involved in terrorism then he won't have the trouble of being stopped again-but he doesn't know anyone involved in terrorism and if he did he'd report them to the police because thats right; not because he wants to get through airports more quickly. In the US it is even worse; my OH was born in the middle east and because it says a middle Eastern city as his place of birth on his passport; they say they 'have' to detain and question him, he has been detained up to 6 hours before with no food or water.

yes thats disgusting and totally wrong

 

[tina3747]

The 2 cases are hugely different, yes both are centered round racism but one was violent and the other just some idiot spouting her vile mouth off. This girl could have died and I just can't believe a justice system can let these girls off for that reason it makes no sense at all. I would imagine the Muslim communities here in leicester are just as outraged as for them it's doing the moral law abiding Islamic citizens no favours in race relations.
We have a mosque here in leicester that promotes all faiths getting together, I've seen a Muslim boy collecting for poppies not so long ago so it seems as thyre desperatly trying to be seen as intergrating but something like this sets them back. I may be seen as racist but I don't want anyone coming to this country who can't live by our laws black or White. The Somalis just can't seem in integrate well and on top of that they're bloody rude!!

Talk about a generalisation; not all Somalis are like the community in your area. Some of the Somalis in some cities in this country, Cardiff, Liverpool, Manchester have been here for 50 years or even longer than that, there are people whose great grandads are Somali; even those who have come more recently differ enormously depending on where you are. There are some Somali women who post on baby and bump (and are quite prolific posters who you probably have spoken to) but you wouldn't know that they are as there isn't a big flashing sign on their avatar saying 'I'm a Somali' and they are polite and well-integrated which seems to be the opposite to what you'd expect.

Also just because of this one story people assume that in every case Muslims (or those who are nominally Muslim) get away with everything and the equivalent white person gets a harsh sentence in every case? This is totally untrue and again is just more proof of the media twisting things xx

Ok , yes I suppose it comes across as a generalisation. I should have put every Somali I've come across has been rude I apologise. I don't care what colour race faith you are but if you call someone a White slag, black slag, Muslim slag ,And then batter them within an inch of their lives you deserve to be put in prison. I don't know how you can possibly say the media have twisted this?!?! They have been let off a custodial sentence because the judge felt because of thier religion they should not go to prison. Did you not say in an earlier post that alot of Somalis drink? So forgive me for being rude but then they are not living an Islamic lifestlye if they're drinking?! Your obviously very sensitive to the subject being Muslim but I can't see how you can say the media have twisted it.

 

[summer rain]

I didn't say the media have twisted this case in particular but yes they do twist generally the perception of legal bias towards Muslims and stories on discrimination against Muslims, I wrote

Also just because of this one story people assume that in every case Muslims (or those who are nominally Muslim) get away with everything and the equivalent white person gets a harsh sentence in every case? This is totally untrue and again is just more proof of the media twisting things

I don't see how that could be misconstrued that I was saying these girls should get off or that the media had twisted the story in this case? I was talking about on the whole. Yes many Somalis do drink and its a fallacy to call them Muslims just because of their country of origin, and yes the girls in this case were disgraceful I never said they weren't, but to reiterate the way the media would have people believe is that this type of thing is happening on a daily basis in courtrooms up and down the land and Muslims are getting away with allsorts on religious grounds; this simply isn't true. I have had a few friends who are or were journalists on national newspapers, and the stuff they have told me is pretty mind blowing, there is a definite agenda to portray Muslims in a certain light, whereas in the past it would have been Jews, or blacks, or communists, this is of course no longer acceptable and the media needs a current bogeyman. In the recent Leveson enquiry a Daily Star Journalist who resigned because of this type of thing, said it was his job really to make up false stories about Muslims to make it appear like Muslims had an agenda to take over the UK and really frighten people. Now please let me reiterate I am NOT saying this is the case here but the overall picture you would get from reading this story and others involving Muslims is that Muslims always get off because they plead religious grounds for their behaviour-not true at all. Then, if you believe the media, Muslims get fancy food and lodgings on the purportedly few occasions when they are in prison-again not true xx