Guest post by CSC intern Julia Pettengill

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has decided to boycott the observance of Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), held annually on 27 January to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz.  In an official statement,  the MCB explains that it undertook this decision during a meeting of its Central Working Committee during which it emerged that '...there was no one in that meeting who was prepared to attend the HMD this year without making a visible protest about the genocide in Gaza.' (N/A online, obtained upon request to the MCB)

Over the years the open letter has become a very popular tool for the Islamists (Hizb ut-Tahrir on the veil, MCB co-ordinated August 2006 open letter to Tony Blair), and one which they utilised yet again yesterday in a crass attempt at influencing the Obama administration to base its foreign policy on how appease Islamists and thus prevent them from killing people all over the world. 

Dutch politician Geert Wilders, leader of the controversial Freedom Party, faces trial "for inciting hatred and discrimination" against Muslims.

The retrial of three men accused of helping the 7/7 bombers prepare their attack in London - an attack which killed 52 civilians - begins in Kingston Crown Court.

Waheed Ali, 25, Sadeer Samleem, 28, and Mohammed Shakil, 32 from Leeds are accused of spending two days in London on a reconnaissance mission with two of the London bombers -  Germaine Lindsay and Hasib Hussain. They are accused of visiting potential targets in December 2004, which the prosecution alleges as an 'important first step' in the 7/7 plot.

Guest blog from CSC Research intern, Julia Pettengill

'Jews shouldn't be attacked for expressing their views in public.'

So says Daniel Lowe, an orthodox Jew from Hendon beaten by two Palestinian-supporters after leaving a protest outside the Israeli Embassy last week.

An interesting take on how British Muslims should respond to the situation in Gaza is provided by Shiraz Maher in today's Daily Telegraph.

The article can be read here.

On Monday, Asghar Bukhari's MPACuk ran an article entitled Gaza's Murderers have Iman, Muslims Don't.  In this piece the author urges Muslims 'stop being "Muslim" in name...and prove you're a Muslim by partaking in Jihad'.  The reader is told that by only protesting and giving money to Palestinian charities, Muslims are simply not doing enough to help their brothers and sisters in the disputed region and in turn are not fulfilling their Islamic duty.  No, they must stop deluding themselves that through prayer and observance of the five pillars of Islam they are properly observing their religion.