Yearly Archives: 2012

Three arrested in Thurnby Lodge religious incident investigation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police have arrested three people in connection with an investigation into a religiously motivated incident, which happened in Thurnby Lodge on Boxing Day, Wednesday December 26.

Officers were called at approximately 7.30am on Boxing Day, after a pig’s head was found outside a door leading into the Community Centre, in Thurncourt Road.

The centre was being used by a local Muslim group the day the head was left.

Three people, a woman age 40-years-old and two men aged 37 and 46, were arrested in connection with the incident today, Friday December 28, and are currently in police custody.

Leicester Police news report, 28 December 2012

See also Daily Mirror, 28 December 2012

Posted in UK

Arsonist faces 20 years in prison for attack on Toledo Islamic centre – but this doesn’t address wider problem of anti-Muslim hatred

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Randy LinnRandolph Linn is behind bars after pleading guilty to federal arson and related crimes committed at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, but local Muslim leaders are concerned there may be more people like him out there.

Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver and ex-Marine from St. Joe, Ind., was initially charged with one count each of intentionally damaging religious property and using fire or explosives in commission of a felony for the Sept. 30 arson attack. A third charge, of using a firearm to commit a crime of violence, was added by a grand jury Dec. 18.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Dec. 19 as part of a binding agreement and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. He will also be required to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution that may exceed $1 million.

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‘We are not some slaves who can be passed around from one owner to another’ – Mahdi Hashi’s father speaks out

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mahdi HashiThe family of a former Haverstock School pupil say they are shocked and relieved after the FBI revealed he had been captured in Somalia and charged with serious terrorism offences in New York.

The New Journal reported last month on serious concerns for the welfare of Mahdi Hashi who had not been seen or heard from since the summer. It was feared that the 23-year-old, who grew up in Camden and lived in Gilbeys Yard, Chalk Farm, was being held captive in an African prison camp.

It followed a controversial decision by Home Secretary Theresa May to revoke his citizenship over alleged links to “Islamic extremism”.

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Athens – the only EU capital city without a mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt
Golden Dawn anti-Mosque poster

Golden Dawn poster

Mark Lowen has an interesting piece at BBC News on the struggle by the Muslim population of Athens to build the first mosque in the city.

As things stand, Muslims are forced to pray in cramped underground prayer rooms, in breach of the law and facing the threat of attacks by the anti-migrant fascist party Golden Dawn.

“It is a very big tragedy for us Muslims that there is no mosque here,” Syed Mohammad Jamil of the Pakistan-Hellenic Society is quoted as saying. “Greece produced democracy and civilisation and the respect of religion – but they don’t respect our Muslims to provide us with a regular, legal mosque.”

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New York: veiled Muslim woman sues over exclusion from buses

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim woman claims she’s being booted off city buses because of the way she dresses.

Maria Louis, of Hollis, Queens, says she has twice been kicked off buses by MTA and NYPD personnel – the agencies she’s suing in Brookyn federal court – after people berated her for her religious garb. Her clothing, which she calls a “bolka,” is a “long, flowing black garment that covers her completely – including a mesh section over her eyes that allows her to see,” the suit says.

The first incident happened April 3 in Jamaica, when a passenger yelled at her and the driver refused to move until she got off, the suit says. The next month, she claims, a passenger hit her in the face after another lectured her, and police forced her to get off the bus.

New York Post, 27 December 2012

Wilders to step up international anti-Islam campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

PVV leader Geert Wilders is to step up his campaign against Islam in 2013, the parliamentarian told Nos television in an interview.

The fight against Islam is a mission for life, Wilders told the broadcaster. Wilders said he would step up his fight against “the biggest sickness” the Netherlands has had at home and internationally, “from Australia to America, from Switzerland to wherever”.

Wilders also again renewed his statement that the Netherlands has a “Moroccan problem”. It is Moroccan racism that they rarely rob each other, Wilders said.

Dutch News, 27 December 2012

See also Xinhua, 27 December 2012

Islamification of USA still some way off: Gallup poll finds 77% of Americans are Christian, 0.6% Muslim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

America is largely a Christian nation with 77 percent of adults identifying themselves as Christian, according to a Gallup survey, while only 0.6 percent identified as Muslim.

“The United States remains a largely Christian nation; more than 9 in 10 Americans who have a religious identity are affiliated with a Christian religion,” reported Gallup on Dec. 24. “There has been little change in this portrait of religious identity in the U.S. from last year.”

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Thurnby Lodge: Pig’s head left outside community centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Thurnby Lodge pig's head

After facing months of harassment the Muslims of Thurnby Lodge faced a new horror in the campaign of hatred against the proposed prayer centre at the abandoned scout hut in Thurnby Lodge when a pig’s head was left for them on Wednesday morning.

Muslims have faced nightly protests at the community centre they use for prayers at the moment, sometimes attended by the BNP and EDL. These are racist, anti-Muslim organizations known for their extreme views and violence at which 9 people so far have been arrested.

Though local Muslims have every sympathy for the feelings of non-Muslims in our community who feel neglected by the authorities and powerless to stop things getting worse on our streets, we do feel they are being manipulated by far right groups active in Thurnby Lodge recently.

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Colorado faith leaders combat anti-Muslim ads with ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Love thy neighbor launchStanding in Denver’s main mosque on Christmas Eve, Christian, Muslim and Jewish community leaders launched an ad campaign promoting understanding and tolerance between the religious groups. “Love Thy Neighbor” ads on Denver buses are intended to combat anti-Muslim ads produced by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. The controversial group attracted attention with hateful posters in New York subways and DC metro stations.

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