A petition has been set up in protest at a far right group compared to the 1930s Black Shirts which paid unannounced visits to Gillingham mosques. The signature list has so far been signed by Cllr Vince Maple and representatives from Unison, The Green Party and Mid Kent College. John Wilson, Manager at Britain First said “It’s very undemocratic of them set up a petition against us.”
Britain First activists oppose plans for a new mosque which is awaiting approval from Medway Council. The application is for a place of worship in Canterbury Street and is proposed for Croneens car park next to Gillingham rail station. The plans were due to be presented to the planning committee this month but have been delayed.
Two weeks ago, BF representatives visited Nasir Mosque in Richmond Road, Gillingham, and the Jamia Mosque in Canterbury Street, Gillingham, threatening to begin an anti-mosque campaign. Some of the reasons stated for opposing the mosque were that the segregation of men and women was against British values and de-valued women.
After the “visits” to the mosques from Britain First, Ukip reacted by sending a representative, Mark Hans, to express solidarity. Ukip MEP Janice Atkinson said: “I whole heartedly support the petition against Britain First; they’re a dangerous group who need to be looked into. It’s the Black Shirts of the 1930s all over again. It’s just the same thing again, our representative went to meet with the local Iman when they were first visited by Britain First to show him solidarity, it’s a high immigrant area and we don’t want tensions.”
Mr. Anwar Khan, Community co-ordinator at Jamia Mosque said of the petition “We really appreciate the effort of the community to support us and have enjoyed the backing and support of many local politicians since we were visited by Britain First. They’ve really supported us throughout. The planning permission doesn’t inconvenience anyone; the council will be building a new car park to replace the one we want to build on.”
Boro have banned three fans for life for their part in a Koran ripping incident at an away match.
Police in Long Beach are investigating a possible hate crime committed against a woman wearing Muslim garb. The incident occurred earlier this month, authorities said.
Strictly Come Dancing star Craig Revel Horwood was duped into being pictured with a far-right extremist group. The TV judge posed for a shot with a man he thought was a fan – which was then used as propaganda on Britain First’s Facebook page.
The Muslim Council of Britain has warned education authorities “not to be sidetracked by culture wars initiated by divisive commentators”, as it rejected many of the findings of a government-commissioned report that found a co-ordinated effort by extreme Muslims to take over some Birmingham schools.
The Government should stop claiming Islam is a religion of peace in the light of the Trojan horse allegations, a former leader of Ukip has said. Lord Pearson of Rannoch said the problems could only be cured from “within Islam”.
Community leaders of all faiths gathered in Brooklyn on Tuesday to push back on what they described as hateful acts against local Muslim residents.
The residents of Birmingham ought to be able to sleep more easily tonight. Peter Clarke’s 129-page report into the city’s schools found no evidence of plots to indoctrinate, groom or recruit school pupils to an agenda of radicalisation, violent extremism or terrorism. This is also the key finding of the reports commissioned by Birmingham city council and Ofsted.
A brave bus passenger who challenged a woman’s drunken, racist rant was attacked and spat on, Newbury magistrates have been told. Afterwards, fellow Thatcham travellers praised victim Christine Dare’s courageous stand. Miss Dare later told police: “I had to act. It was too much to ignore.”
Two Muslim women were ordered to leave a swimming pool in a French holiday village on the southwest coast for wearing body-covering “burkinis”. The women had plunged into the pool at le Port Leucate wearing full body swimsuits, including a head-covering hijab veil, but were immediately told to get out of the water.