Christian Concern for Our Nation Makes Links with Eastern European Anti-Gay Church

The website of the New Generation Church in Ukraine has an interesting report of a visit to Northampton; Google Translate allows us to see the details (I’ve tidied it slightly):

Ukrainian pastor-evangelist Dmitry Makarenko spent last weekend with his wife Natalya in… the United Kingdom… where they arrived at the invitation of the local community movement “New Generation” in the town of Northampton… Dmitry Makarenko held an evangelistic ministry dedicated to the discovery [establishment?] of the New Generation Church in London… Also participating in this ministry was the administrator of the base church “New Generation” in Riga (Latvia) Ludwig Koshin,… British Christian human rights organization [Christian Concern for Our Nation] Andrea Miniciello Williams and Alex Spak, who talked about the position of the church and Christian values in modern society that legal methods to defend their organization.

Makarenko apparently gave a standard evangelistic speech, but the New Generation “base church” in Riga is known more for its virulent anti-gay activism; as I blogged here, the church’s head, Alexei Ledyaev (with whom Makarenko has worked closely), is a huge fan of Scott Lively and his book The Pink Swastika, which claims that the Holocaust was the work of homosexuals. I drew attention to a report published by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2007, which noted Ledyaev’s influence in the USA:

…Lively credits the popularity of Russian-language translations of The Pink Swastika to the support of Pastor Alexey Ledyaev, the head of the New Generation Church, an evangelical Christian megachurch based in Riga, the capital city of Latvia. New Generation has more than 200 satellite churches spread throughout Eastern Europe, Argentina, Israel and the United States.

…The New Generation theology Ledyaev preaches borrows heavily from R.J. Rushdoony, the late founding thinker of Christian Reconstruction. Pastor Ledyaev’s 2002 book, New World Order, calls for evangelical Christians around the world to influence the wealthy and powerful in their home countries to implement biblical law in order to stave off a supposed alliance of gays and Muslims hell-bent on destroying Christianity. “The first devastating wave of homosexuality makes a way for the second and more dangerous wave of islamization [sic],” writes Ledyaev.

…In addition to Lively and Robertson, Ledyaev has cultivated the support of Rev. Ken Hutcherson, the African-American founder of Antioch Bible Church, a Seattle-area megachurch. “Hutch,” as the ex-NFL player is known, played a key role in persuading Microsoft to temporarily withdraw its support for a Washington bill that would have made it illegal to fire an employee for their sexual orientation. In 2004, his “Mayday for Marriage” rally drew 20,000 people to the Seattle Mariner’s Safeco Field to oppose legalizing same-sex marriage.

One of Ledyaev’s nephews saw Hutcherson speak in Seattle at a March 2006 debate on gay rights and arranged a meeting with the Latvian pastor. By the end of the year, Hutcherson, Ledyaev and Lively had teamed up with Vlad Kusakin, the editor of The Speaker, to form an international alliance to oppose what Hutcherson characterizes as “the homosexual movement saying they’re a minority and that they need their equal rights.”

(I blogged on Hutcherson’s views here – he once famously declared that “If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I’d rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end”)

Following a protest against a gay-rights march in Riga, Ledyaev complained that “Security of the gay was more important than security of the people” and warned that

…Islamization goes full speed wherever homosexual lifestyle is legally accepted. Muslim organizations and committees, centers and mosques, schools are being opened overwhelmingly everywhere…. Homosexuality and islamization are two sides of the medal and integral elements of the one destructive process of European culture and civilization.

Christian Concern for Our Nation has close links with a US Christian Right organisation called the Alliance Defense Fund; I blogged some background on this here. CCFON is also particularly close to Nadine Dorries MP; prior to the election, CCFON members registered and created her campaign website.

Leo Igwe Asks for Justice for his Father

A letter in the Nigeria Nation:

SIR: I am writing to draw the attention of the general public to the incessant threats, attacks and harassment on me and my family members by some state and non-state agents in my community since 2007.

For over three years, a campaign of intimidation has been carried out against my family members by some thugs with the help of some local police officers following our attempt to bring to justice a 50 year old man who allegedly raped a 10 year old girl in the community some years ago.

Several police actions have been brought against us. I and my family members have been invited, arrested and detained by the police over 18 times based on fictitious and malicious allegations brought by these local thugs.

On August 4, 2010, two hired assassins invaded my family house in Mbaise. They attacked my parents and beat up my father, which resulted to his loss of an eye. These criminals are having a field day because of corruption and lack of rule of law in our country. Particularly because the police at all levels have failed in their duties to protect civilians and guarantee justice. Also because our police system is morally bankrupt.

I hereby call upon the Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Ringim, the Commissioner of Police in Owerri, Imo State and the Divisional Police Officer in Ahiazu Mbaise to rise up to their constitutional duties with integrity by protecting my family members and ensuring that we do not suffer further attacks and harassment.
Leo Igwe,

Ahiazu Mbaise,

Imo State

I blogged on this incident here, and the background here. Leo has many enemies in Nigeria, including the evangelist Helen Ukpabio, who hates Leo for his efforts to end the practice of children being accused of witchcraft.  Ukpabio’s followers have left comments on this blog expressing their joy that Leo’s father was attacked and their hope that more misfortune will come.

Anti-Gay Rabbi Handling Carl Paladino’s Visits to Synagogues

Quoted on 2006 Gay Pride event in Jerusalem: “I promise there’s going to be bloodshed, not just on that day, but for months afterwards”

Carl Paladino ‘s manager in his campaign to become governor of New York explains Paladino’s recent remarks in the K’hal Adas Kashau synagogue in Brooklyn (H/T LGF):

“He [Paladino] said the remarks were suggested by his “hosts at the synagogue.” His campaign manager, Michael Caputo, told The New York Post that the congregation distributed the draft in Paladino’s name without clearing it with the campaign. A message was left at the synagogue early Monday.

…”In my speech today to Orthodox Jewish leaders in New York City, I noted my opposition to gay marriage, inspired by my Catholic beliefs,” Paladino said in the statement. “I also oppose discrimination of any form.”

As has been widely reported, Paladino had also expressed opposition to gay pride events, adding that:

Don’t misquote me as wanting to hurt homosexual people in any way. That would be a dastardly lie… I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option—it isn’t.

However, the New York Times notes that Paladino’s outreach to ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups is being organised by the notorious Rabbi Yehuda Levin:

…a self-described right-wing Brooklyn rabbi named Yehuda Levin… had heard that other Jewish leaders were accusing Mr. Paladino of being an anti-Semite because of disparaging comments he had made about Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker. After Mr. Caputo explained Mr. Paladino’s side of the story, Rabbi Levin, a fierce critic of Mr. Silver’s, invited the Republican candidate for governor to address his congregation.

“I told him, ‘I have the credibility that when I go in front of the media and I am representing the Paladino camp, and that if he is coming to my synagogue, right before the holiday of Sukkot, it will mean something,'” Mr. Levin said in an interview on Monday.

 …Mr. Paladino first came to Mr. Levin’s synagogue in September. Mr. Levin then helped arrange his visits to a Williamsburg synagogue and a Borough Park yeshiva — both affiliated with relatively minor sects — on Sunday.

Levin’s vicious monomania on homosexuality rivals that of Fred Phelps: in 1997 he urged a boycott of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, because the museum had dared to mention homosexual victims of the Nazis, and in 2005 (as the Times notes) he described a gay rights march in Jerusalem as the “spiritual rape” of the Holy Land. In 2006, his invective against gays in Jerusalem included an apparent threat of violence. As was reported:

Much more ominously for Jerusalem, thousands of orthodox jews protested this week about the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Gay Pride to go ahead on November 11

…”I promise there’s going to be bloodshed, not just on that day, but for months afterwards,” New York rabbi, Yehuda Levin of the Rabbinical Alliance of America said in July at a joint meeting of Muslim, Jewish and Christian clerics, “In America, we are outraged and disgusted over this event.”

I blogged on this at the time. So, Paladino doesn’t want “to hurt homosexual people in any way”, yet he’ll take advice on what to say on the subject from someone shows no interest in making such a distinction.

On 22 July, Paladino received the endorsement of anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller; a few days later, Paladino came under fire for racist and obscene emails, and Geller responded by promising that “If it turns out that Mr. Paladino did indeed send those emails, I will withdraw my support from him…I will keep you posted”. What this amounted was that she stopped writing about him for a few weeks, until the fuss had died down. A couple of months before that, Geller and her sidekick Robert Spencer had distanced themselves from Martin Mawyer over (to quote Spencer) Mawyer’s “ugly, vitriolic rhetoric” on homosexuality; they had formerly been willing to turn a blind eye to what Mawyer stood for, but the controversy had eventually become too damaging. We look forward to a statement Paladino’s alliance with Levin, who is synonymous with “ugly, vitriolic rhetoric” on the same subject.

UPDATE: Alas:

…On Tuesday, after broad condemnation, Mr. Paladino apologized for his “poorly chosen words” and said he would “fight for all gay New Yorkers’ rights” if elected.

Rabbi Levin said that he considered the apology a betrayal, and that he pined for the “old Carl” who spoke from his heart rather than bending to political whims. 

…Rabbi Levin said Wednesday that Mr. Paladino probably did not write his apology either. He suggested that “militant gays” wrote it and handed it to a naïve Mr. Paladino…

Nadine Dorries: Vicious and Ridiculous

Bedfordshire-on-Sunday has picked up on Nadine Dorries’ attack on a Twitter user:

A prospective Labour candidate has hit back at her local Tory MP’s remarks about people claiming disability benefits who post on Twitter, which she says were aimed at her.

…Because she is unfit to work as a carer, Ms [Sue] Cullen receives longterm sick pay from the agency she is employed by, but says she doesn’t get any ‘health related benefits’.

Ms Cullen… also writes erotic fiction for a blog called Word Ejaculation.

…”I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it because the blog isn’t offensive and it’s for adults. I don’t see why disabled people shouldn’t be allowed to have a sex life and I wanted to show that.”

Ms Dorries said: “I know many decent members of the local Labour party who will be both shocked and embarrassed to realise they have selected a candidate who writes such sexually graphic literature supported by even more graphic photographs, all of which are easily viewed by children with access to a computer.
 
“To date, Ms Cullen has tweeted 37,000 times, a phenomenal amount, many of which have been about me personally.

“I do not regard someone who can strut around, use a keyboard with such dexterity and had displayed both stamina and an excellent attention span to be ‘disabled’.

“In fact, I think someone who can tweet so frequently is giving housebound disabled people a bad name.”

I blogged on the background to this situation here; Dorries’ attack came days after Ms Cushion (she prefers “Humphrey Cushion” over “Sue” or “Ms Cullen”) had complained about Dorries’ smearing of Tim Ireland as a “nutter”. Dorries has told numerous lies about Tim as a strategy to counter his on-line satire and criticism of her activities, the most egregious of which was the lie that she had deleted her old blog because she feared Tim might physically attack her. Dorries has persisted with her lies even though she knows that a cyber-stalker has been using her accusations as a justification for a campaign of harassment against Tim and his family.

In this context, Dorries’ attack on Ms Cushion is par for the course, and she has followed up her comments in the newspaper with a tirade on her new blog:

Interesting comments by Sue Cullen, the candidate the local Labour party has selected for the forthcoming local elections. She is also the Bedfordshire Labour party organiser who attends meetings in the Jubilee room in the House of Commons with Kerry McCarthy MP, the Labour party Twitter Tsar and whom Kerry McCarthy visits at her home…

I understand that Ms Cushion has never been to the House of Commons or the Jubilee Room. The reference to McCarthy is presumably an attempt to muster support from other right-leaning bloggers: McCarthy was the focus of a weirdly vitriolic campaign against her prior to the election, led by Iain Dale. Dorries has already co-opted the pseudo-libertarian blogger Paul Staines into her attack on Ms Cushion; Dorries intitially pretended that her initial attack on Ms Cushion was only prompted because Staines had “found” her.

Dorries then fires indiscriminate accusations of dishonesty against Ms Cushion, beginning with her public profile:

…Apparently, according to her Labour party bio, she also writes for Bella and the Guardian. Obviously put on the party web site in order to impress and win votes. Or is it con votes? Because it implies she is a fully paid up journalist, or has been for both publications, which is interesting, as when writing a blog post recently, the only writing achievement she referred to was one where she won a competition at the age of sixteen? Conned blog readers?

The site said that she had written items for Bella and the Guardian. The was no implication that she was ever “a fully paid up journalist”, and no way that anyone reading the profile in good faith could have gone away with such an impression.

Next, it’s back to the erotica:

…The adult web site she writes for is not specifically for disabled people in any way whatsoever, or claims to be… It appears Sue Cullen, who writes as Ms Cushion, conned the Beds on Sunday journalist into thinking it was a provision for disabled people.

In fact, Word Ejaculation is a group blog with various contributers. Ms Cushion doesn’t claim that the site “was a provision for disabled people”, just that this was her motivation for writing.

Dorries then moves on to Ms Cushion’s current job:

…She claims her agency is paying her long term whilst she is off sick. And the journalist believed her.  I am sure every carer would like to know the name of the agency, so good that if you are off work for months they keep on paying. So, who’s being conned there? The tweeters or the journalist?

The concept of “long-term sick-leave” is known in a number of jobs, and Dorries offers no evidence that Ms Cushion is not on it.

We then get to the main topic, Ms Cushion’s medical situation:

She has twittered that her disability is due to the Coalition Government cancelling operations she is waiting for on both of her feet.

Really? An operation on both feet for arthritis? Let’s put aside that surgeons never operate on both feet at the same time. This is a medical breakthrough. Hips and knees, yes, now feet! Amazing.  Twitter followers conned again.

Yes, Dorries is claiming that if someone says they are waiting for an operation on their feet, they must be lying because two operations would be needed. Commentary is superfluous here. Further:

…Sue Cullen is also absolutely not disabled, although she clearly gives that impression on her twitter account. Indeed, half of twitter was conned into thinking she was a poor disabled wretch, not the local Labour party organiser, under attack from a bad Tory MP. Not the case. Ms Cullen attended my local hustings. She stormed around the hall after me, shouted a great deal and even followed me outside, pacing up and down whilst I chatted to constituents. Odd that she has never mentioned once on twitter that she was the Labour party organiser. And believe me, she can walk pretty fast and shout very loud.

Tim deals with this on his own blog:

As Nadine Dorries is aware, I recorded that hustings event on two cameras…I have captured video and audio of every moment from her arrival to her departure.

I have now reviewed the footage, and it supports my recollection of the event:

Ms Cullen did not ‘storm’ after Dorries before or after the event… Nor did Ms Cullen ‘strut’ as Dorries claimed in an earlier post. These are exaggerations by Ms Dorries that prove nothing but her mind-boggling determination to portray Ms Cullen as a benefits cheat.

(Yes, Ms Cullen dared to walk, but this could best be described as an ‘amble’, and her ability to walk does nothing to disprove the condition of arthritis. All Dorries does here is stumble witlessly once again in the area that got her into so much trouble last week; not every disabled person is in a wheelchair.)

The only person at that meeting who could be described as a ‘shouter’ spoke in Dorries’ defence…

Dorries claimed during that meeting (after she realised I was filming, of course) that she had to leave early at a certain time because of an unspecified event that took precedent over the final hustings before polling day. She ended up leaving some 10-15 minutes before even this predicted time, and yes, Ms Cullen followed Ms Dorries outside. Certainly not to berate her as she implies, but merely to observe. And what Ms Cullen (and others) observed was Nadine Dorries standing around and smoking when she had just moments earlier claimed that she had to leave because she was in a hurry to be somewhere else.

But we’re not quite at the end yet: Dorries goes on to reveal that Ms Cushion

…also tweets that legislation prevents her from visiting the local people she used to care for, who apparently miss her as much as she misses them. Does it really? Legislation prevents you from visiting people in their home in your own time? I’m going to overdo the ‘con’ word here.

In fact, a number of jobs such as Ms Cushion’s have restrictions and rules around employees socialising with clients. The Daily Mail reported on one case in August.

Dorries then detours with a jibe against a rival politician named Linda Jack (Jack had taken fluffy handcuffs to the Lib-Dem conference as a satirical comment on the Coalition government; Dorries implies that she took them to the conference for sexual reasons), before explaining how much she does for the disabled. She ends by boasting of “the hundreds of constituents who have emailed my office in support of my earlier blog post”.

It is truly alarming that this person enjoys a position of national responsibility.

UPDATE: Ms Cushion comments:

…I am awaiting two operations on my feet for arthritis. I have been waiting since March 2010 for the operation on my right foot and since August for my left foot.  At no time have I ever said nor suggested that these will be at the same time, although I have heard from several people who have had such treatment.

Meanwhile, with laughable clunkiness, Dorries has made two blog posts meant to demonstrate her empathy with disabled people. In the first, she commiserates with someone who has dyslexia, reminding us that she is also dyslexic; and in the second, she tells us about how yesterday she had been concerned that she had seen a blind reporter’s guide dog being stolen and had contacted the police, but that it had turned out to be a false alarm.

English Defence League Making Links with US Groups

EDL to be addressed by US Rabbi who calls Anti-Defamation League “mind-control wizards” working for “One World Order”

The UK Observer has an article on emerging links between US Tea Party groups and the English Defence League (links added):

…An Observer investigation has established that the EDL has made contact with anti-jihad groups within the Tea Party organisation and has invited a senior US rabbi and Tea Party activist to London this month. Rabbi Nachum Shifren, a regular speaker at Tea Party conventions, will speak about Sharia law and also discuss funding issues.

The league has also developed links with Pamela Geller… Devin Burghart, vice-president of the Kansas-based Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, said: “Geller is acting as the bridge between the EDL and the Tea Party. She plays an important role in bringing Islamophobia into the Tea Party. Her stature has increased substantially inside the Tea Party ranks after the Ground Zero mosque controversy. She has gained a lot of credibility with that stuff…. As we move farther and farther away from the Tea Party origins, that were ostensibly around debt and bail-outs, social issues like Islamophobia are replacing that anger, that vigour. The idea that there is a war between Islam and the west is becoming commonplace.”

…In addition, two members of the EDL leadership, a British businessman called Alan Lake who is believed to fund the group and a man known by the alias Kinana, are regular contributors to web forum 4Freedoms. The forum claims to be “organising US activities” and has links to the anti-jihad group, American Congress for Truth, which in turn has supporters within the Tea Party.

Lake is also believed to have been in touch with a number of anti-Islamic Christian evangelical groups in the US…

I blogged on Pamela Geller’s enthusiasm for the EDL here,  and on Alan Lake’s endorsement of an attack on the theory of evolution (Stalin, Mao, and Hitler were all “Socialist Darwinist Communist killers”) here. American Congress for Truth, of course, is run by Brigitte Gabriel, who was repudiated by the United Jewish Communities in 2008 when she described Barak Obama as “anti-Semitic”.

It’s not clear why Nachum Shifren is described as being a “senior” rabbi; he’s famous in California as the “surfing rabbi” and for stunts such as calling Jesse Jackson a Nazi, but although he’s written a few popular books there’s no evidence that he is has any influence in American Judaism. His views on the Anti-Defamation League are somewhat outside the mainstream:

…Our history as a people has been divided, roughly, into two camps.

There is one camp that stood at Mt. Sinai, witnessed great miracles, received an awesome legacy, and despite the most horrific of human travails — pogroms, inquisitions, crusades, and more — decided to hand down that legacy from generation to generation.

…There is a second camp — a more sinister group, that has done more damage to the Jews and caused more murder and destruction than all of Israel’s enemies combined. To this troika belong Jews and non-Jews, and our Jewish heritage has been irrevocably altered by this movement.

This second camp is about control of human beings. It holds a vision of a One World Order, together with Marx, Trotsky, and Lenin — an evil that, to date, has claimed nearly two hundred million souls.

With these international bandits and mind-control wizards stands the ADL (Anti-Defamation League). Now, if anyone else would say this, that person would be labeled an anti-Semite. But as anyone that knows me will tell you, I am a Jew who strives always to do good, give to charity, and am diligent in study and prayer. Of my many shortcomings, anti-Semitism is not one of them.

…The entire world, including Christians of all faiths, knows and understands that there is only one people in the world that was given the Land of Israel as an eternal inheritance: the Jews. The only people in the world who rebel against this eternal truth is the ADL and their communist comrades and enablers. Why?

In order for there to be a ONE WORLD ORDER, man’s spirit and soul must be brought low, be subjugated to the level of the beasts. This was the communist credo, to claim that we are no better than animals that must be controlled. G-d must be destroyed, faith debauched, and religion — ALL RELIGION — extinguished.

The ADL has other Jewish critics, but they avoid describing it as an organisation of “mind-control wizards” out to create a “ONE WORLD ORDER”, for obvious reasons; the above has been cited with enthusiasm on David Duke’s website. A 1999 Salon profile notes that Shifren spent time living as an Israeli settler in the West Bank:

…he opted to reside in Kfar Tapuah, a West Bank settlement perched a half-hour from the “lousy” Mediterranean surf. Kfar Tapuah is considered an extremely militant, right-wing, anti-government stronghold. “I’d compare its residents to white militants in the United States,” says Hagit Yaari, an Israeli spokesperson for Americans for Peace.

Shifren is currently standing to be a State Senator in California, and he has been endorsed by Tom Trento, among others.

According to the “Liberties Alliance” website, Shifren

will be attending a rally outside the Israeli embassy [in London] on 24 October 2010 at 1pm. Join him and supporters of the English Defence League and support this rally.

The Observer quotes him as saying that

“One of the purposes of this visit is to put the kibosh on the notion in the Jewish community that they cannot co-operate with the EDL, which is rubbish”

l blogged on the nascent EDL “Jewish Division” here; the group was condemned by the British Board of Deputies and by the Community Security Trust – both presumably part of the “One World Order” Communist conspiracy.

(var: English Defense League)

Anjem Choudary, The Washington Times, and a Hadith on the “White House”

From the Washington Times (via Ed Brayton):

Islamists say the Koran is destined to rule America. In fact, the Muslim takeover of the White House is not just an unfolding action plan but a directive from Muhammad himself.

In an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” British radical Muslim activist Anjem Choudary made clear what he and his Islamist brothers have planned for the West. “We do believe, as Muslims, the East and the West will one day be governed by the Shariah,” he said. “Indeed, we believe that one day, the flag of Islam will fly over the White House.” He then quoted a hadith, or saying of Muhammad, as related by 10th-century Muslim scholar Al-Tabarani, that “the final hour will not come until Muslims conquer the White House.” Another version of the saying goes, “A small portion of Muslims will rise and conquer the White House.”

Many Americans believe this conquest is well underway, if not already secretly completed. President Obama was concerned enough about perceptions of his faith to address the question at one of his recent “backyard discussions” in New Mexico. Mr. Obama said he is “a Christian by choice,” which may or may not assuage the concerns of those who believe he is a Muslim by birth…

OK, Choudary first. His source is apparently the Kitab al-Imara, or Book of Government. Here, we read:

It has been narrated on the authority of Amir b. Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas who said: I wrote (a letter) to Jabir b. Samura and sent it to him through my servant Nafi’, asking him to inform me of something he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He wrote to me (in reply): I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say on Friday evening, the day on which al-Aslami was stoned to death (for committing adultery): The Islamic religion will continue until the Hour has been established, or you have been ruled over by twelve Caliphs, all of them being from the Quraish. also heard him say: A small force of the Muslims will capture the white palace, the palace* of the Persian Emperor or his descendants…

(*Presumably due to a dodgy scan, some websites have “police of the Persian Emperor” rather than “palace”)

Choudary’s interpretation of this text is absurdly ahistorical, although he learnt it from his mentor Omar Bakri: Jon Ronson’s book Them (page xiii) notes that Bakri posted “The final hour will not come until Muslims conquer the White House” on his website on 13 September 2001. Despite some on-line speculation, the idea that the Hadith predicts the existence and fate of the US White House does not seem to be widely held or to be a motivating factor in modern Islam. Tellingly, a search on Google Books for “Tabarani” and “White House” or for the two quotes brings up only two relevant citations, both from evangelical Christian books about Islam.

And as for the Times, this is not the first time that the paper has raised the question of whether Obama is secretly selling out the US to Islam. So, let’s remind ourselves once again who founded the paper and whose son (who, by the way, purports to be friendly to Muslims) still controls it…

Charlie Flowers and NiceOnesUK

A poster on Indymedia draws attention to a group calling itself “NiceOnesUK”; we’re told – amidst some overheated rhetoric – that

Among the group’s facebook admin and members are names that will be familiar to anyone who has followed the racist English Defence League, some of whom were there around the time of the EDL’s inception. There are also members of the group ‘Cheerleaders’ to be found in this group (they have quite a colourful history of their own)

…Their group description is basically a distraction away from their real intentions. So far they have had various outings in central London, with one outing ending up in an altercation in Whitechapel (the current favourite haunt for right wing groups). Exactly what went on we haven’t been able to get to the bottom of yet, though it involved members of the local Muslim community.

NiceOnesUK does not just include “members” of the “Cheerleaders”; the “Cheerleaders” logo is displayed prominently on the NiceOnesUK website, and both groups have very similar statements of intent:

It should be made absolutely clear that we oppose ALL fascism and racism, whether it comes from white, brown or beige groups. The reason for the focus on Islamism is that it does not receive the same dismissal from across the board as other extreme right ideologies. It is fair to say that the BNP encounters condemnation from all sections of society for it’s supremacism, homophobia and racial discrimination, while Islamist groups preaching worse than the BNP could dream up go unopposed. The likes of Hizb ut-Tahrir have been able to hold conferences for thousands of people unchallenged, while other Islamists such as the Islamic Sharia Council are given the thumbs up to operate in Britain.

…NiceOnesUK is pro-Islam and pro-Muslim. Anyone looking for a group to bash Muslims should look elsewhere.

As with the “Cheerleaders”, the nature of NiceOnesUK is somewhat obscured by pseudonyms: the group is led by a certain “Betty Cantrell”.

The IndyMedia posting has drawn responses both from Matthew Kaplan, who was formerly in the EDL, and from Charlie Flowers, who developed the “Cheerleaders” concept. According to Kaplan:

 I haven’t had anything to do with EDL for ages, and won’t as long as they continue to tolerate racism and lump all Muslims together as ‘the baddies’ (not holding my breath), among other things.

…As to the article itself, I’m excited to find out what this “altercation” in Whitechapel was. They can’t be talking about our encounter with the Hugo Boss Taliban, can they?

Flowers, meanwhile, distances himself from the EDL’s Guramit Singh and from Bill Baker (Flowers was filmed holding the megaphone when Singh made his notorious comment about Muslims burning in hell during a rally in support of Geert Wilders, and Baker’s anti-Muslim views have become increasingly sanguinary):

I disagree with some of what Guramit said- I think he’s wrong. Same goes for Bill’s attitude now- I think he’s wrong. Come to our groups and be astonished when you fail to find Rudolf Hess burnishing an eagle, and instead find people from all sections generally getting along…

?

I blogged on Flowers’ links to the EDL here; while this was interpreted as an attack on Flowers for associating with the EDL, my main point was actually that the link to Flowers was another reason to regard the EDL negatively.

The Indymedia author, predictably, sees the “NiceOnesUK” as an anti-Muslim group hiding behind some moderate stances, and he throws around accusations of “racism” and “fascism”. However, this misses the point. Flowers is not motivated by racism, and it’s clear that he has a nuanced and generally well-informed perspective on Islam. The problem with Flowers is that he’s a manipulative cyber-bully on a power trip, as I have blogged a number of times.

Last year, Flowers didn’t like the fact that Tim Ireland had exposed bogus postings made to a Muslim website; his response was to send Tim “I know where you live” type comments. A few months later, when Tim exposed the lies of Dominic Wightman (with whom Flowers had formerly worked), the “Cheerleaders” published Tim’s home address and boasted it would be sent to everyone he’d “ever pissed off” – that would have included the BNP. Tim’s not the only person he’s done this to; when the author of Kirklees Unity wrote something Flowers didn’t like, his one of his “Cheerleader” accomplices dipped into Redwatch to fish out a home address. However, the campaign against Tim was more sustained, and included threats of violence and a distasteful expression of malice against Tim’s family. The campaign has also recently re-started.

Further, while Flowers has falsely accused me of “making links” with  Islamists, the “Cheerleaders” have used a Muslim webforum to reveal that a recent (and mentally troubled) convert to Islam was gay; presumably they hoped that their tip-off would reach extremists and that this man (and perhaps his partner) would come to harm because of his sexuality. Not all of Flowers’ bullying is politically-related; a few months ago he warned a woman writer that he was “watching” her, apparently because this woman was in a dispute with a friend of his. Flowers is also not above creating distorted impressions about his associates: Flowers posted photos and sent messages to give the impression that members of his “Fighting Cocks” music band and other friends were involved with his various antics, when in fact they were not.

It is not known how many people have been involved with Flowers’ acts of harassment, although he has at least two accomplices: a man named Matthew Edwards, and an as-yet unidentified woman who left a goading message on YouTube. There may be others; the “Cheerleaders'” bullying campaigns have been largely conducted from the safety of pseudonymous Facebook profiles and email addresses. In recent months, a number of these profiles have been deactivated, and Flowers has been making new alliances with various individuals and groups (and rebuilding his band). Most of these persons have probably only seen Flowers’ good-humoured public persona, rather than the vicious keyboard bully, and are working with Flowers in good faith. Others, though, are likely to have been involved with his cyber-bullying campaigns. Since we can’t distinguish between them, Flowers tarnishes everyone he associates with.

That’s the real problem faced by “Betty Cantrell” and by NiceOnesUK.

UPDATE 1: In Pavlovian style, Flowers has reasserted his control by… creating two rather pathetic blogs attacking me. He’s too much of a creep to put his name to them, of course, but it’s him – he warned me he would do it if I tried to make his associates aware of what he’s really like, and once again he’s been surprised to discover that his threats are unimpressive.

The first blog accuses me of being ex-SWP and of having had “several dealings with Islamic Extremists and Nazi sympathisers”. This is all untrue (although I used to hang out with some SWP members – so what?), and given Flowers’ own associations and behaviour laughably hypocritical. The supposed “dealings with Islamic extremists and Nazi sympathisers” refers to when I received information from MPACUK about the use of IP addresses to post bogus messages on Muslim websites; this was no secret, and I mentioned it at the time. Flowers isn’t keen for anyone to look into this subject, for reasons that are obvious: he and his “Cheerleaders” have themselves been “dealing with Islamic extremists”, with the intention of inciting violence against a gay man, and they don’t want people like me drawing attention to the fact. What other shameful secrets are out there?

The second blog pastes a crude attack on me made by the followers of a Nigerian evangelist who were offended by my opposition to children being stigmatised as witches. Flowers endorses the attack, adding that it means I am “anti-religious”. This puts him into some particularly unseemly company, and of course makes a mockery of everything he purports to stand for.

But the wider point is that I don’t represent anyone and I’m not in charge of any sort of organisation. It doesn’t matter what sort of a person I might be: the facts of Flowers’ behaviour speak for themselves, and are not made less ugly if I turn out to have foolish or malign political views.

UPDATE 2: The discussion thread following the Indymedia article includes the claim that a NiceOnesUK associate of Flowers who uses the name “Arry Ajamali” also associates with EDL leaders at protests, and that this person is Flowers’ cousin. Soon after this comment was published, Flowers locked down the privacy settings of his “Cheerleaders” Facebook page. A comment from another person involved with NiceOnesUK then added that “Charlie has left the Nice ones”.

O’Donnell Claimed to Have Received “Classified Information” on China from Missionaries

One of the hazards of being a Christian missionary from the USA in certain countries is that one may be accused of being a spy or an agent for US interests. There have certainly been instances where missionary activities and intelligence work have overlapped, although missionary organisations themselves have been keen to discourage this. The practice of using missionaries or journalists as CIA cover was prohibited in 1977, although in 1996 CIA director John Deutch announced that this could be waived in exceptional circumstances. The announcement caused some consternation; World magazine reported at the time that:

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence heard testimony on the use of missionaries and journalists as spies; the National Association of Evangelicals had raised the issue at its annual convention last February…

Missionaries may be sensitive about having their patriotism called into question, but the agencies that sponsor them are unequivocally opposed to any possibility their workers will be hired to spy. The lobbying effort has brought to the same side of the issue [National Association of Evangelicals] members as well as the National Council of Churches and Church World Service, Maryknoll Fathers and Sisters, and U.S. Catholic Mission, among others.

Most important, according to NAE’s Rich Cizik, “It’s the appearance worldwide that mission agencies, religious workers, clergy, and others are open to being used by the CIA. It’s not from our vantage point a special and unique circumstances problem as much as it is an appearance problem.” The groups cite cases like Chet Bitterman, a Wycliffe missionary who was killed 15 years ago in Colombia after he was accused of spying for the CIA.

So, it’s probably not helpful when a political aspirant brags about receiving “classified information” about China from “nonprofit groups” working with missionaries. As is being widely reported:

Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell of Delaware said in a 2006 debate that China was plotting to take over America…”There’s much I want to say. I wish I wasn’t privy to some of the classified information that I am privy to.”

…When… challenged… about having secret information, O’Donnell didn’t answer specifically but suggested she had received it through nonprofit groups she worked with that frequently sent missionaries there.

It should also be noted that China has used accusations of spying as a justification for persecuting Christians: one case is that of Alimujiang Yimiti, a Uyghur house church leader sentenced to 15 years in 2008 for supposedly “providing state secrets or intelligence to overseas organizations and individuals”. O’Donnell’s foolish boasting perhaps hasn’t done him any favours, either.

Sock-Puppeting Cyber-Bully Convicted

As has been widely reported, lawyer Raphael Golb has been found guilty by a New York court of various charges relating to cyber-bullying and harassment. Golb had attempted to discredit scholars working on the Dead Sea Scrolls whose theories differed from those of his father, Norman Golb. Archaeologist Robert Cargill, who was one of those targeted, has the details:

The charges stem from a bizarre case where Dr. Golb used an army of internet aliases to falsely charge his father’s perceived rival, NYU Judaic Studies professor Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, with plagiarism, and then criminally impersonated Dr. Schiffman by opening an email account in Schiffman’s name, emailing Schiffman’s students and colleagues, and admitting to the “plagiarism” on Schiffman’s behalf. Dr. Golb was also charged with criminally impersonating and/or assuming the identity of Dr. Frank Moore Cross, Dr. Jonathan Seidel, Dr. Jeffrey Gibson, Stephen Goranson; the aggravated harassment of Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, Stephen Goranson, and Dr. Robert Cargill; and of the unauthorized use of a NYU computer.

Golb was also a prolific sock-puppeteer in defence of his father, using dozens of aliases to polemicise against academic rivals. Robert assembled and analysed the evidence at this website; the attention to detail sets the bar for the rest of us who like to unmask on-line deception. As he notes in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

“The verdict… should be a reminder that you simply cannot just say whatever you want behind a supposed veil of anonymity and get away with it. There is always someone watching online.”

One of Golb’s strategies was to complain that his father had been sidelined due to a conspiracy of Christian fundamentalists; interestingly, among those so accused are a couple of people I had contact with during my undergraduate days – and I know for a fact that in their case, the “fundamentalist” jibe is off-base.

Norman Golb, meanwhile, has been keeping a low profile – he did not attend the trial and has not made any statement. According to documents shown to the court written by Raphael, Norman had at least some knowledge of his son’s activities; Robert again has the details here.

Nadine Dorries Takes Revenge on Twitter Critic: Uses Paul Staines to Push Smear

A couple of days ago I wrote a blog entry on how Nadine Dorries MP had smeared the blogger Tim Ireland as a stalker, and persisted even though Tim has himself been targeted for personal harassment by someone using her false allegation as his justification. Tim recently wrote to Andy Rayment, the chairman of Dorries’ constituency party, but was dismissed both by him and by Dorries as a “nutter”. Rayment’s response also featured in a local newspaper.

One of Dorries’ constituents, who writes online as “Ms Humphrey Cushion”, followed up with an email to Conservative Party HQ:

I am writing to share my disgust at the letter written to Tim Ireland by Mid-Beds Conservative chairman Andy Rayment, as featured in today’s Beds on Sunday. I believe Mr Ireland is an intellegent individual who seeks to right wrongs, not stalk MPs! A quick look at his blog will prove me right on that.

…I am a constituent of Mid Beds and Vice Chair of the Luton & Mid Beds Co-Operative Party and Blogger for the Mid Beds CLP. I attended the hustings where Ms Dorries made very vocal accusations about Mr Ireland in full view of the entire audience. No apology for her outrageous smears has ever been made. Again, this is something I expect you to investigate.

I look forward to your reply. Regards

Tim blogged on Dorries’ extraordinary behaviour at the hustings here.

Yesterday, Dorries wrote on her blog about an article she has written for a book edited by Iain Dale:

In the article, in which I very clearly define the reasons why MPs should not blog or Twitter (yes, I know ) I mention someone who has posted 22,000 tweets in four months.

Today, someone has emailed my office with the details of a political/personal Tweeter who has posted 35,000 tweets in a similar amount of time.

…Is there such a thing as Twitter addiction? How can anyone live a normal life who can do that? Surely these people cannot be in employment because if they are, how can they work? if they aren’t then it’s time they got a job which involves being sat at a key board because there’s nothing much up with their fingers, brain or attention span!!

Ms Humphrey Cushion is a prolific Twitterer with currently 34,500 Tweets to her name, and she has posted many Tweets mocking and criticising Dorries. However, a politically-motivated “outing” of a critic as an alleged welfare cheat who ought to be working might be seen as a shabby ploy to silence or discredit an opponent – the phrase “someone has emailed my office with the details” is  a device to create a bit of distance, and I suspect refers to a staffer who has been given the job of compiling information.

The pretence of distance was further maintained with the help of Paul Staines, the right-libertarian blogger known as “Guido Fawkes”. Staines shares Dorries’ dislike of Tim Ireland, and on two occasions he has tried (and failed) to suppress information on Tim’s blog by threatening to use England’s distinctly unlibertarian libel laws. Staines was more than happy to smear Ms Humphrey Cushion on Dorries’ behalf (link added):

Nadine Dorries is trending on Twitter after she attacked benefit claimants who Twitter all day. “Ms Humphrey Cushion”, one of her constituents, has tweeted nearly 35,000 times in the last six months, often about nights out and her life of unemployed bliss.

She claims that she has chronic arthritis but it clearly isn’t affecting her thumbs. If she can operate Twitter there are plenty of jobs she could be doing on a computer. Alarm bells should be ringing at the Department of Work and Pensions.

Could this be this era’s “on yer bike” soundbite. @HumphreyCushion, get off twitter and get a job

Numerous abusive and anonymous comments are posted beneath.

The baton was then passed back to Dorries, who would have us believe that Staines had made the connection without any help from her (includes NSFW link):

So, Guido found one!

…The left wing Twitterati have apparently gone into overdrive today, and so they should. Guido informs me that his expose claims to be a Labour activist web site organiser for Bedfordshire – or something similar, AND she writes porn http://wordejaculation.wordpress.com/  Nice lady.

…If you are genuinely disabled, or like my mum, retired and love to use the internet to chat to friends etc (she makes me look like a luddite) then that is fantastic and I wish you many hours of pleasure.

If you Twitter all day, every day about claiming disability benefit in one tweet whist arranging a night out in the pub in the next. If you tweet about claiming six months rent from the social fund whilst tweeting how bad your hangover is and if you stride into political meetings and shout the odds with energy and enthusiasm with no sign of any physical disability and if you claim to work for the Labour party and write porn at the same time as claiming your disability benefit – then don’t expect someone like me not to a) inform the authorities and b) tell you to get of your Twitter and get a job.

Alas, however, it turns out that Ms Humphrey Cushion has a job: she’s waiting for an operation so that she can get back to work as a carer. She writes:

….I am currently awaiting 2 operations on my feet as arthritis has crippled them.  I have waited since March for these operations, sadly the hospital has been relieved of its “18 week guarantee”, thanks Coalition. I struggle to stand and walk, I also have arthritis in my neck.  I am a home carer. I love my job although the pay is dreadful and working with dementia clients can be as distressing as it is joyful.  My company are holdng my job open for me, I wish I could work from my chair at home but sadly the clients cant come to me!

…I miss working.  I also miss walking. I miss days out with my kids. I miss going to their sports days and plays.  I miss having the life I took for granted just a year ago.  But I have Twitter and I thank God for Twitter every day.

As for disability benefit, she wrote in June that

If I were entitled, I would use my allowance to pay for transport as I can only walk short distances and struggle to drive. I do not qualify however as I currently only score 6 of the necessary 15 points, despite being signed off working as a carer as I can only stand for 5 minutes at a time. Once my shoulders completely freeze and I can no longer raise my arms above my head, I will qualify.. something to look forward to then.

Also, she adds today that

…I do not now, nor ever have received disability or any other “health” related benefits. However does claiming disability benefit mean you are not entitled to enjoy a night in the pub?

…Nor have I ever attempted to ask for a loan from the Social Fund.  A tweeter suggested that I should ask for one this week as I couldn’t pay 8 months rent as a deposit on a house I had viewed.  The reason I was asked for this extortionate amount is because I am a part-time employee.  The same rule applies to people on incapacity benefits and the unemployed.  I was incandescent with rage and so tweeted about it this week.

Dorries appears in the latest New Statesman expressing her admiration for Sarah Palin, and she has been mocked as a UK Sarah Palin or a UK Michele Bachmann. Judging from the above stunt, maybe we should add “UK Andrew Breitbart” to the list.