Le Progrès reports on an arson attack on a mosque in Tarare. Petrol was poured outside the front door of the mosque and set alight, but the fire doors were able to contain the blaze.
A few months ago the letters “FN” – the initials of the far-right Front National – were painted on the mosque’s wall. ”
Graffiti, arson. And what will it be next?” the mosque secretary asked. “A small bomb?”
The warden of the main mosque in downtown Sofia has suffered a brutal assault at the hands of unidentified attackers just minutes before the start of the morning prayer on Sunday, the Chief Mufti’s Office announced.
“Today we witnessed yet another attack against Sofia mosque. This morning, 20 minutes before the morning prayer, the warden of the mosque in Sofia was cruelly beaten. Unknown people have jumped over the fence of the mosque, beaten the keeper, destroyed the security room and burst into the mosque,” says the statement.
The man was found by worshippers who came to the mosque for the morning prayer, covered in blood and unconcious, it said. He has been taken to the emergency Pirogov hospital.
“Hate crimes, acts of xenophobia and Islamophobia have risen dramatically in recent months,” says the statement of the Chief Mufti’s Office.
The news comes just a month after a Muslim man and five policemen were hurt in clashes between supporters of Bulgaria’s ultra-nationalist Ataka party and worshippers outside the Banya Bashi mosque in Sofia on May 20.
Update: See Sofia Echo, 13 June 2011
Police have launched an investigation into a West Bank mosque arson attack on Tuesday. Palestinians from the village of al-Muayar, near Ramallah reported that a carpet in the mosque was set fire in the early hour of the morning. A joint police IDF investigation was launched.
“We believe suspects set fire to a tire inside the mosque,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. “No actual damage was observed on the walls,” he added. A police forensics team arrived on the scene and began taking evidence.
Far-right graffiti was also found at the site, including the words “El Ain,” the name of a settlement outpost which was evacuated by security forces last week, sparking a clash which resulted in several injuries among right-wing activists and police. Police suspect the arson incident could be linked to last week’s outpost clearance.
A racist thug who abused and attacked a passer-by in a shopping precinct is being hunted by police.
The man, who was wearing a T-shirt promoting the English Defence League, targeted a 31-year-old Asian man as he walked through the Wheatsheaf Centre in Rochdale town centre. Images from CCTV cameras have been released by police in a bid to identify him.
The thug began to racially abuse the man as he walked past then grabbed hold of his shirt collar and pressed a ballpoint pen to the side of his face. Police said the victim could also feel a sharp item being pressed to his back. He struggled free but the abuse continued until security guards intervened.
The thug then escaped. He is white, in his late 40s to early 50s, around 6ft tall and skinny. He was wearing a T shirt labelled “EDL Stockport”.
Sgt Colin Macdiarmid said: “The abuse this victim suffered can only be described as vitriolic and appalling. Thankfully he was not hurt though the behaviour of the offender led him to fear for his safety. Racist thugs are not welcome anywhere in Greater Manchester.”
Call police on 0161 856 9961 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A Muslim family have been targeted by yobs again – even as they prepared to flee from their council house. Salim and Sabana Amod decided to move out earlier this year after they were persecuted by thugs in Saffron Lane, Leicester.
After the Mercury reported their story in April, the abuse initially died down. However, during the past two weeks it has flared up again, culminating in bricks being thrown through their window on Thursday night.
The family were today moving into their new house in Highfields, Leicester. Mrs Amod, 40, said: “It did go quiet after our story was in the paper. We thought people had realised how hurtful it was to call us names and to vandalise our home. But then the problems started again in the past few weeks. We are going to a new home, why can’t these people even let us move out in peace? It is sad to leave Saffron Lane, but all the things that happened to us were my worst nightmare. We just want to live in peace.”
The couple and their children have repeatedly been persecuted by thugs who have slashed their car tyres, sprayed offensive graffiti on their home in Helmsley Road, where they lived for just over two years, and thrown stones at them. The couple, who are from India, were also racially abused. Some of the foul language was directed at their Muslim faith. Last weekend, yobs again covered the family’s car in paint and smashed three of the vehicle’s windows.
Earlier this year, a youth was arrested and admitted spraying offensive graffiti on the family’s home and car. He was later ordered to carry out community service.
In recent weeks, officers from Welford Road police station have arrested four people. Two 16-year-old boys are being investigated in connection with incidents of vandalism, while a 21-year-old man is to face trial later this year for allegedly breaching a court order which barred him from the neighbourhood. A 54-year-old woman has been charged with using threatening words or behaviour to the family.
Leicester Mercury, 4 June 2011
Via ENGAGE
The incident in front of the downtown Sofia mosque is a victory of democracy, Kapka Siderova, wife of the leader of the Bulgarian far-right, nationalist Ataka party, Volen Siderov, says.
On May 20, Ataka supporters, led by Siderov, shocked Bulgaria as its rally protesting against the use of loudspeakers by the mosque in downtown Sofia got out of hand, and activists of Ataka assaulted praying Muslims in front of the mosque.
The incident has had wider repercussions, all the way from Bulgarians flocking to lay flowers at the mosque as a sign of apology, to the start of investigation of Ataka for stirring ethnic and religious hatred and the consolidation of the voters of the Bulgarian ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms).
In a Sunday interview for the TV channel bTV, Siderova said the “so-called clash was a way to earn the right to not be exposed to the wail of the Imam”. She insisted the boundaries of tolerance have not been overstepped because there was no fighting, just some pushing, adding things like this happen everywhere and all the time, giving as an example the visit of US President, George W. Bush, in Brussels when demonstrators threw eggs at him.
A group of Christians and Muslims have shared a meal to show “solidarity” in an area that has seen protests about plans for an Islamic cultural centre.
The event, Sharing Tables, Sharing Stories, was held at the Bengal Dynasty restaurant, Shotton, Flintshire. Organiser Mike Harrison said it showed harmony was possible in Shotton.
Last month, English Defence League protesters marched at the former Shotton Lane Social Club, proposed site for the new cultural centre. Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society had been planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre. The building burned down in a suspicious fire in February.
Tuesday’s event was organised by a local volunteers group, Together Creating Communities. North Wales organiser Mr Harrison said:
“This gathering demonstrates that despite the perceptions voiced in some sections of the media, Christians and Muslims can stand together. We hope that Sharing Tables, Sharing Stories will be the first step in showing protest groups that a multi-faith community can live together in harmony in Shotton.”
Four police officers accused of beating up a Muslim terrorism suspect and mocking his religion were cleared of any wrongdoing by a London court on Friday.
The officers from London’s Territorial Support Group (TSG) were on trial on charges of violently assaulting Babar Ahmad during a dawn raid on his home in December 2003 as part of a counter-terrorism operation.
In 2009, the Metropolitan Police admitted wrongdoing over the arrest and paid Ahmad £60,000 in damages. However, the officers’ lawyer said a listening device planted in Ahmad’s home before his arrest backed their account of events.
A jury at Southwark Crown Court took less than an hour to clear Police Constables Roderick James-Bowen, Mark Jones, and Nigel Cowley and Detective Constable John Donohue of causing actual bodily harm. “The officers look forward to returning to work. They are hoping that they will be able to put these unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations behind them,” their lawyer Colin Reynolds told reporters.
Ahmad, 37, was never charged in relation to his arrest but is in custody awaiting extradition to America for alleged terrorism offenses. British courts have granted the extradition but Ahmad appealed and the case has not yet been resolved.
Prosecutors told the court that before the raid on Ahmad’s south London home, officers had been briefed that he had received terrorism training and had fought overseas in support of holy war.
Police had feared Ahmad would resist but prosecutors said in fact he had remained submissive. It was alleged that he was assaulted despite being restrained and officers had put him in a Muslim prayer position and asked him “Where is your God now?” When he arrived at the police station, pictures showed he was battered and bruised.
However, the four constables denied Ahmad’s claims and said he had violently resisted and that had led to his injuries.
A Sacramento man was sentenced to 13 years in prison for beating up a cab driver because he thought that he was Muslim. Pedro Ramirez made a plea bargain with the prosecutor’s office to get 13 years instead of life in prison, which was possible if he was convicted at trial.
Ramirez, his wife and another couple got a ride home from a Sacramento club last November – and got into a dispute over payment with the cab driver. The prosecution said Herbehjan Singh was savagely beaten because he wore a turban, which led the attackers to believe he was Muslim.
Bulgaria’s nationalist party Ataka will be fined BGN 2500 – the maximum amount allowed – over the assault on praying Muslims at the Banya Bashi mosque, announced Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova.
On May 20, the far-right party led by Volen Siderov shocked Bulgaria as its rally protesting against the use of loudspeakers by the mosque in downtown Sofia got out of hand, and activists of Ataka assaulted praying Muslims in front of the mosque.
The incident has had wider repercussions, all the way from Bulgarians flocking to lay flowers at the mosque as a sign of apology, to the start of investigation of Ataka for stirring ethnic and religious hatred and the consolidation of the voters of the Bulgarian ethnic Turkish party DPS (Movement for Rights and Freedoms).
“A breach of the public order is punishable by a fine of BGN 100 to BGN 2500. In this case, the violation is of crucial importance to society, which is why we are will impose the maximum penalty”, Veska Georgieva, Director of the Sofia Municipality Inspectorate explained.
Converted into pounds sterling 2,500 Bulgarian levs amounts to £1,114.