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Legoland Cancels “Muslim Family Fun Day” After Threats From Violent Anti-Muslim Groups

LEGOLAND-Parks

The hysteria over “Muslim Family Fun Day” in the UK (h/t: Farhan) sounds very familiar, as a similar anxiety and hysteria was witnessed here in the USA last year when some Muslim groups organized a Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great America,

There has been a Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Amusement Parks in many cities across the U.S. for 10 years now, since 2000.  The idea was to plan a special day after Ramadan.  This year some of these Family Days will be held on September 12th, and that has set off a firestorm of objections.  Some even calling the event a “stab in the eye” of Americans, or “spitting in the face” of Americans.

Glenn Beck wonders why they (those Muslims) would be so insensitive as to pick a day so close to 9/11.  Obviously his crack research staff needs to be replaced.  That is the weekend after the end of Ramadan this year.  The Islamic calendar is lunar rather than solar, so events on the Islamic calendar move forward by approximately 11 days each year in the lunar calendar.  In a couple of years this event will be coming in August rather than September.  In 2009 the events were planned around September 21, in 2008 around October 1, in 2007 around October 14 – you get the idea.

The Tea Party Patriots website (the same folks that brought you the “bring your dogs” protest of the Temecula mosque) has a page which posts the rantings of all sorts of bigots claiming that this is a“symbolic victory”, “this is all about conquest”, “Islam is not a religion”, “STOP THE SILENCE. STOP THE NONSENCE. STOP THE MUSLIM DAY – THEY ARE NOT AMERICANS. THEY DO NOT ABIDE BY OUR CONSTITUTION – THEY ARE NOT ONE OF US – YOU ARE EITHER WITH US OR AGAINST US – MAKE YOUR DECISION.”, ” Islam tells people it is OK to be two-faced liars”, ” they cannot ever respect our constitution because it’s in direct violation with Sharia and how they must abide by a set of laws called dualism, compelling them to lie to others”, “there is no such thing of (sic) a ‘mild’ muslim”.

Legoland cancels Muslim family fun day in fear of “guest and employee safety”

(5Pillarz)

The family fun day which was organised by Sheikh Haitham al Haddad of the Muslim Research and Development Foundation (MRDF) for Sunday 9th March will not be going ahead after a barrage of violent messages were made by far-right Islamophobic extremists.

The English Defence League, Casuals United and other far-right groups vowed to hold a protest outside Legoland, many threatening to use violence to prevent the family outing.

Legoland issued the following statement:  

“The Legoland Windsor Resort prides itself on welcoming everyone to our wonderful attraction; however due to unfortunate circumstances the private event scheduled for Sunday 9th March will no longer take place. This was an incredibly difficult made after discussions with the organisers and local Thames Valley Police, following the receipt of a number of threatening phone calls, emails and social media posts to the Resort over the last couple of weeks.

“These alone have led us to conclude that we can no longer guarantee the happy fun family event which was envisaged or the safety of our guests and employees on the day – which is always our number one priority.

“Sadly it is our belief that deliberate misinformation fuelled by a small group with a clear agenda was designed expressly to achieve this outcome. We are appalled at what has occurred, and at the fact that the real losers in this are the many families and children who were looking forward to an enjoyable day out at Legoland.

“We would like to apologies to them and to the organisers, and to thank them for their understanding. We hope that they will all be able to come to visit us during the season.”

Read the entire article…

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    • Salaams to all, Well it must be my lucky day; this is the second time I’ve thanked someone in as many posts. Oh, I suppose I’d better thank you. Thank you, and Jazakallah khair!

    • SarahAB

      But it really is (partly) about Haddad. This sounds, from what I’ve read in the article, quite different from the US equivalent story where the objections just seem purely bigoted. It is true that this story was reported (by EDL type groups) in a hyped up way in the UK – for example, it was implied that the park would otherwise have been open as usual, that this was a Muslim-only event which was excluding others. But it was a private booking at a time when the park would otherwise have been shut – in line with Legoland’s normal practice.

      Of course associating those going with terrorism is over the top and Richard Littlejohn is known in the UK for his offensive and provocative style. But, although I was sympathetic to those objecting to the letter, it wasn’t at the worst end of the scale because it did make an effort to make clear that not all Muslims were being targeted by the ‘satire’ and that the objections were to Haddad’s views, not to Islam in general. Of course it may well be read by people who aren’t alert to those distinctions, and that for them it just confirms prejudices.

      But although it’s awful if the event is being cancelled due to threats of violence, I do think it is the case that some Muslim individuals and organisations are quite as hateful as far right organisations that a business such as Legoland wouldn’t want to be associated with for fear it hurt their brand.

    • Solid Snake

      Ahh yes, the benefits of being an oxygen deprived Islamophobe. -Claim that Muslims are suppressing free speech when they sign a petition to remove Islamic imagery from a video. -Turn right around and celebrate the cancellation of a Family Fun Day due to threats of violence as a victory for freedom.

    • mindy1

      Pathetic-just let the families have there fun for crying out loud

    • GaribaldiOfLoonwatch

      No doubt someone will want to turn this into being about Haddad. You don’t have to agree with his views, in fact you can hate his views and condemn them but to claim that there was some terrorist threat by his group’s presence at Legoland is ridiculous, bigoted and inflammatory. These same people are quiet about the EDL and their threats of violence to Muslims and Muslim families.

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