digitaltoast

Last night, Channel 4 bravely defied the West Midlands Police and showed a followup to Undercover Mosque, cunningly titled Undercover Mosque: The Return (forum)

Undercover Mosque – The Original

Undercover Mosque – The Return:

A good article by The Guardian’s Andrew Anthony who asks the programmes critics – isn’t it time to say sorry?

But that’s not all that some representatives from the religion of peace have been up to:

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2580350/Teenage-boys-forced-to-whip-themselves-during-Muslim-ceremony.html

Syed Mustafa Zaidi, a devout Muslim, forced two teenage boys to whip themselves with a Zanjeer Zani – a wooden-handled implement fitted with five chains, each of them bearing a curved knife – during a religious ceremony.

In it Zaidi is seen repeatedly flailing at his own body with the multi-bladed instrument. His back is soon reduced to a mass of cuts, with blood running down onto his jeans.

At one point he is taken out of the throng because of concerns about the injuries he had inflicted upon himself.

Minutes later, his back now covered by a white T shirt, he is apparently seen to approach the younger of his alleged victims.

The child joins men in the centre of the room and begins to ritually beat himself with the Zanjeer.

Elsewhere in the video men – and some boys – are seen beating their chests so violently with their hands that they inflict bright red marks.

At set times in the ceremony some of the men break into a chant before swinging their individual Zanjeers in order to gouge wounds into their backs.

They occasionally withdraw to have dressings applied to the cuts. At other points helpers spray the devotees with antiseptic.

By the time the ceremony is over one man, his back bloodied, is slumped against a black drape. Others are weeping and wailing as the fervour of the ceremony rises to a crescendo.

The court heard that once the ceremony was under way Zaidi struck himself so forcefully with the Zanjeer that other devotees “feared for his safety to such an extent that they sought to calm him down”.

The older of the two alleged victims was among those who approached him. Zaidi is said to have responded by washing his Zanjeer and handing it to the boy so he could use it.

According to the prosecution, the child “felt he had no choice but to do so”. He was pulled away after inflicting a number of lacerations to his back. Zaidi then allegedly turned to the other boy, took off his top and put the Zanjeer in his hand.

So is it any wonder that Pat Condell’s articulate voice of reason and clarity continues to be #1 in so many categories on youtube? Here’s his latest: