Goldsmiths' Islamic society president resigns over Twitter comment about homosexuality
Source: dailymail.co.uk
A university’s Islamic society president has resigned after homophobic messages were found on his Twitter account following a row over a human rights activist's speech.Muhammed Patel left the society at Goldsmiths, University of London after it was revealed tweets such as ‘homosexuality is a disease of the heart and the mind’ had been found on his account.
Other homophobic tweets attributed to the @mopey96 account, which has now been deleted, are said to have referred to ‘fag lovers’ on his Twitter timeline and ‘stupid’ gay pride marches.
Twitter discovery: Muhammed Patel left the Islamic Society at Goldsmiths, University of London after it was revealed tweets such as ‘homosexuality is a disease of the heart and the mind’ had been found on his account
Controversy: The society at Goldsmiths said a meeting was called to discuss a motion of no confidence in Mr Patel following ‘recent allegations’ against him - and he later resigned
Statement: The Goldsmiths Islamic Society said the committee will now 'appoint an acting president to serve for the remainder of the academic year'
The group said a meeting was called to discuss a motion of no confidence in Mr Patel following ‘recent allegations’ against him - and he later resigned, reported the London Evening Standard.
A society spokesman added: ‘In the interim, the committee will appoint an acting president to serve for the remainder of the academic year… Hate speech of any kind has no place in our society.’
The tweets appear to have been brought to the student union’s attention after the university’s LGBTQ Society backed the Islamic group in a row with the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society.
This came after radical Muslim students made death threats while interrupting an Ash lecture on blasphemy by prominent human rights activist Maryam Namazie, who fled Iran's repressive regime.
Tehran-born speaker: The resignation comes days after radical Muslim students made death threats while interrupting a lecture on blasphemy by prominent human rights activist Maryam Namazie (pictured)
Separate incident: The university's student union previously ran into controversy when its diversity officer, Bahar Mustafa (right), banned white male students from a meeting and tweeted '#killallwhitemen'
The event last week was disrupted by students from the Islamic Society, who claimed that it would 'violate their safe space' because of the Tehran-born speaker’s outspoken views.
One student switched off the projector after the speaker showed a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, while a member of the audience claimed that an activist pointed his fingers at his head in the shape of a gun and said 'boom' in a bid to intimidate him.
And the LGBTQ Society’s official stance on the split is said by the Evening Standard to have apparently angered some of its own members, who screen-grabbed and shared pictures of the tweets found on Mr Patel’s account.
The Islamic Society spoke out in advance of the talk entitled 'Apostasy, blasphemy and free expression in the age of ISIS', insisting Ms Namazie, 49, should not be allowed to speak because of her 'bigoted views'.
They pointed to a number of controversial comments she had made in the past, including describing the veil as a symbol of 'far-Right Islamism' and calling the niqab a 'bin bag'.
Following the talk, the Islamic Society accused the atheist group of 'harassment' and called Ms Namazie a 'vile Islamophobe', denying that any of its members issued death threats.
Goldsmiths Islamic Society has previously hosted a number of radical speakers including Moazzam Begg of Cage, the charity which described ISIS terrorist Jihadi John as a 'beautiful, kind man'.
Another recent Goldsmiths speaker was Hamza Tzortzis, who believes that non-Muslims 'should be killed' if they ever fight against Muslims and once proclaimed: 'We as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech.'
The university's student union previously ran into controversy when its diversity officer, Bahar Mustafa, banned white male students from a meeting and tweeted '#killallwhitemen'.
A spokesman for Goldsmiths said: 'As a university we have a long-held reputation for promoting and supporting free speech and providing an inclusive and welcoming campus.
'We are therefore concerned at the reports from last week’s student society event.
'The university is reviewing the event to establish whether any of the attendees who are Goldsmiths students have breached the university’s regulations.
'The Students’ Union is independent of the university and we have no direct involvement in their decision-making, events, policies or procedures or their student clubs and societies.'
Source: dailymail.co.uk
