Organization:Stop Islamisation of Europe

Short description: British anti-Islamic organisation

Stop Islamisation of Europe

Abbreviation	SIOE
Motto	Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia is the height of common sense
Formation	2007
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Website	Stop Islamisation of Europe

Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), also known as Stop the Islamification of Europe, is a group with the stated goal of "preventing Islam from becoming a dominant political force in Europe". It is a political interest group which has been active in Denmark and has conducted anti-Islamic protests in the United Kingdom . The group originated out of the joining of the Danish group Stop Islamisation of Denmark with English anti-Islam activists.Template:IslamizationThe group says that its aim is to oppose Islamic extremism; they have the motto "Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia is the height of common sense".

Ideology

The group describes itself as an alliance "with the single aim of preventing Islam becoming a dominant political force in Europe." The organisation calls for the total boycott of Muslim countries. The group advises boycotts of companies including Fisher-Price, Asda, Kentucky Fried Chicken and The Radisson Hotel chain because of their marketing of products to Muslims.

History

Stop the Islamisation of Europe was inspired by a Danish group of the same name who have held protests outside Danish mosques since the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The group has 6,600 supporters on its Facebook page. Social networking sites have been used to plan protests.

Leaders

Stephen Gash

Chairman of Stop Islamisation of Denmark Anders Gravers Pedersen (left) and spokesman of SIOE in the UK Stephen Gash (right)

Stephen Gash (born 1953) stood in the 2007 Sedgefield by-election (triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister Tony Blair) for the English Democrats Party. Gash gained 177 votes (this represented 0.6% of the votes cast at the election) . According to his election literature the main themes of his campaign were support for an English Parliament, resolving the West Lothian question and immigration control. Gash has also contested local elections for Carlisle City Council.

Anders Gravers Pedersen

Anders Gravers Pedersen was born in Denmark and lives in the small town of Storvorde. He contested municipal elections in Aalborg in 2005 and gained 383 votes and the group Stop the Islamisation of Denmark received a total of 1,172 votes. This represented less than 1% of the votes cast in the election. At the 2007 Danish Parliamentary Election Pedersen stood in Jutland and gained 73 votes.

England

Central London

In October 2007 the group staged a demonstration in central London.

Harrow Central Mosque protest

On 11 September 2009, SIOE co-sponsored a demonstration with the English Defence League (EDL) in Harrow which generated national and international media attention. The purpose of the demonstration was to campaign against the building of a five-storey mosque, Harrow Central Mosque, which was under construction. The group had pledged to hold a peaceful protest after the EDL cancelled a planned protest on 29 August 2009.

In response to the protest, several Jewish community leaders condemned the group, after SIOE openly appealed to the Jewish community in an effort to encourage 1,000 Jews to carry the Israeli flag and support the protest. Rabbis Kathleen Middleton, Frank Smith, Aaron Goldstein, Hillel Robles and Mike Hilton sent a letter supporting the Harrow Mosque, saying SIOE use "outrageous lies" to try to divide Harrow's community, adding "As leaders of the Jewish community in Harrow, we are writing to express our support for our Muslim friends and neighbours, especially those at Harrow Central Mosque, who are under attack from those whose only purpose is to spread hatred and fear." The protests were also condemned by Councillor Susan Hall and Tory councillors Anjana Patel and Jeremy Zeid (who are Hindu and Jewish respectively), by The Jewish Chronicle newspaper, and the Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors discrimination on behalf of the Jewish community in the UK. The CST asserted that SIOE "...provides the fuel for terrorism. British Jews should have no part of it." Unite Against Fascism was present to oppose the demo, as well as Muslims there to defend the mosque. In all, over 1,000 people gathered outside the mosque. Counterdemonstrators clashed with the police, throwing bricks, bottles and firecrackers. Ten arrests were made during the protests, including the organiser of the protest Stephen Gash.

Denmark

A demonstration staged by Stop Islamification of Europe being policed in Brussels, Belgium.

Stop the Islamification of Europe was originally a Danish anti-Islamist group which originated out of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The group was founded in 2007 by Anders Gravers Pedersen, the leader of a small Danish party called the Stop the Islamisation of Denmark (Danish: Stop Islamiseringen af Danmark). On 11 September 2007, the group staged a demonstration in Brussels, Belgium.

Affiliate organisations have been created in 11 European countries including Denmark, Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Sweden, as well as the United States of America.

Poland

A branch SIOE was established in 2007 in Poland.

Criticism

In September 2009, John Denham, Labour's Communities Secretary, criticised the group and stated that it was "trying to provoke violence on Britain's streets" and called it "right-wing". Unite Against Fascism have opposed the group. The British National Party has consistently denied any links with SIOE.

See also

• Criticism of Islam
• Criticism of multiculturalism
• English Defence League
• Eurabia
• Islam in Belgium
• Islam in Denmark
• Islam in Europe
• Islam in the United Kingdom
• PEGIDA
• Stop Islamization of America
• Stop the Islamisation of Norway

External links

• Official web site