Former Shotton Lane Social Club demolished after arson attack

The charred remains of the old Shotton Lane Social Club building has now been demolished – one month after it was torched by arsonists.

The community building had been earmarked to become an Islamic cultural centre under plans put forward by Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society (FMCS).

But before a buyout could take place the building was destroyed in an arson attack in the early hours of February 4, and about 100 nearby residents had to be evacuated from their homes.

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Muslim centre in Ipswich burnt to the ground in ‘deliberate attack’

St Michael's Church fireFire investigators are “99 per cent sure” that a blaze which ripped through a church in Ipswich was started deliberately.

The fire at St Michael’s Church in Upper Orwell Street has left the Victorian building structurally unsafe. An inspection of the remains of the vacant church by experts has revealed the roof is too unstable for fire investigators to enter the building.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police said at this stage it is thought the fire started in the rear of the church shortly after 10pm on Monday. She said: “The roof is very unstable and so it is too dangerous to enter the building at this stage. It looks like the fire was started at the rear of the church and spread straight to the roof.”

Today the owner of the dilapidated Victorian church said the community’s “dream is over”, after 25 years of savings and fundraising “went up in flames”, revealing his has no insurance. Muhammad Manwar Ali, chief executive of Jimas, the organisation that owns the building, was at the forefront of plans to transform the church into a £1million Muslim-run community centre.

Dismayed, Mr Ali returned to the scene this morning as fire investigators and a building inspector assessed the extent of the damage. The roof is completely destroyed and parts of the church were still burning, according to firefighters.

Mr Manwar Ali is set to lose the £350,000 he paid for the church last year out of his own life savings, fundraising and loans from friends. And plans to spend up to £1 million over the next few years on transforming the run-down site have been shelved as the building teeters on the brink of collapse.

But incredibly, Mr Manwar Ali said that even if the police did manage to track down those responsible, he would rather invite them round for a cup of coffee than see them go to prison. He said: “The foolish things is we hadn’t insured it. Hopefully there is nobody who has been harmed or hurt – there could have been somebody inside. I will forgive them (those responsible) and let them know I don’t want to see them in prison. They can come and have free coffee in our shop.”

He stressed that the church would have become a community centre, not a mosque, and that it would have been open to everyone in Ipswich. He said: “We were not doing it for business or to make money for ourselves, even if people find that hard to believe. It wasn’t a Muslim or Asian thing – it would have been a fantastic place for Ipswich.”

Evening Star, 9 March 2011

Via ENGAGE

Orleans County, New York: men accused of harassing worshippers at mosque offered plea deals

Five Holley teens accused of harassing worshippers at an Orleans County mosque in August were offered plea deals after appearing in court Monday night.

Authorities allege the teens drove past the World Sufi Foundation Mosque in Carlton, firing a gun, shouting obscenities and beeping the horn. One worshipper was allegedly struck by the vehicle at the mosque.

Jeff Donahue, Anthony Ogden and Dylan Phillips, all 18; and Mark Vendetti and Tim Weader, both 17, were charged with harassment and disrupting a religious service, a misdemeanor. Vendetti was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon, a felony.

California: Sikhs may have been shot because they were mistaken for Muslims

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The daily stroll had become routine for two elderly Sikh men in a Sacramento suburb, as well as for neighbors and friends accustomed to seeing the men walk by with their long beards and turbans.

But the traditional headwear might have singled them out late last week when they were gunned down, one fatally, in what police are investigating as a suspected hate crime. On Monday, local religious leaders pleaded for the community to come forward with leads but also said they will not be deterred by violence.

“Our community will continue to wear our turbans proudly,” said Navi Kaur (NA’vee Kar), the granddaughter of Surinder Singh, 65, who died from his wounds. His friend, 78-year-old Gurmej Atwal, remains in critical condition.

They were walking through their neighborhood in Elk Grove, just south of the capital, Friday afternoon when someone in what witnesses described as a pickup truck opened fire. Police said they have no suspects nor any indication the shooting was a hate crime, but said the turbans could have made the elderly men a target of extremists.

During a news conference Monday at a Sikh temple, a spokesman said the recent violence has scared some temple-goers into concealing any indicators of their religion.

Sikhs often are mistaken for Muslims and have been the subject of occasional violence across the country since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sikhs draw particular attention because of their traditional beards and turbans, which are mistakenly associated with Islamic terrorists.

Associated Press, 7 March 2011

Filmmaker beaten because his name is Usama

Usama AlshaibiFAIRFIELD, Iowa — An independent filmmaker says he was beaten up after crashing a party in a small Iowa town and telling people his name is Usama.

Usama Alshaibi told the Chicago Tribune partygoers in Fairfield, Iowa, punched him in the head early Sunday and knocked him to the floor.

He quickly realized why he had been attacked when his assailants started calling him Osama bin Laden and making anti-Arab comments.

“I was pretty scared, and I felt like I had gotten myself in a bad situation,” Alshaibi said.

Alshaibi, who grew up in Iowa City and recently moved to Fairfield with his wife, also lived in Chicago for 16 years. He said that in Iowa City party-hopping is a common practice and he assumed he would be welcomed when a woman standing outside the house invited him in as he walked home.

“If they felt like I shouldn’t have been there, they could have called the cops. I wasn’t out to hurt anyone,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything but hang out with people.”

Fairfield Police Chief Julie Harvey said Monday the attack was being treated as a hate crime. But she said police had been unable to find the house where the party took place.

Alshaibi is best known for the documentary “Nice Bombs” about a trip back to Iraq with his family a year after the U.S. invasion.

UPI, 8 March 2011

Muslim cabbies angry as Manchester Airport prayer room closes after arson attack

An islamic prayer room at Manchester Airport which was damaged in a suspected arson attack has been shut – for “health and safety” reasons. The cabin was used by taxi drivers and airport staff for worship but was closed suddenly by airport bosses earlier this week.

Two ceremonial garments inside the room were deliberately set ablaze on September 11 last year – the ninth anniversary of the attacks on New York’s Twin Towers.

Now the centre, on the airport’s taxi feeder park in Ringway Road, has been axed permanently – because chiefs say the building is dangerous and would cost too much to repair. But taxi drivers have reacted with anger – claiming around 500 people use the site every week and that it forms a crucial part of their daily routine.

One driver, a member of the Manchester Airport Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: “Everyone is furious that we were not consulted. We went to use it as normal and found it was locked up with a sign on the door saying it had been closed.

“Many Muslims go there five times a day to pray – we’ve used it for about a decade and are disgusted that it has shut without warning. We were all very upset when it was set on fire on September 11 and this feels like another kick in the teeth.”

Manchester Evening News, 25 February 2011

Windows smashed and EDL graffiti left at Luton Labour HQ

EDL_Dudley2Bricks have been thrown through the windows and the initials of the racist English Defence League have been sprayed on the door of the Labour Party’s Luton office.

The incident follows a spate of similar attacks on homes, which began with EDL graffiti and broken windows at two homes on the edge of the Bury Park areas – where many of Luton’s Asian community live.

Now, the Luton and Dunstable Express reports that a total of seven buildings have been attacked, including the Labour Party office, in incidents that featured EDL grafitti and broken windows.

The paper quotes EDL leader “Tommy Robinson” – whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon – denying members of his organisation had caused the attacks. He said: “Why would we do that? If we wanted to damage anything we would have smashed stuff up on Saturday and we didn’t.”

But the first two houses were vandalised just a few hours after the EDL’s demo in Luton on Saturday 5 February.

The EDL is an organisation of racist thugs – with links to the British National Party and other fascist groups – which mainly targets Muslims.

Bedfordshire police are investigating the incidents.

UAF news report, 22 February 2011

Man charged with arson at Texas mosque

Dar El Eman Islamic Center playground fireA 34-year-old Arlington man faces federal civil rights charges on allegations that he set fire to playground equipment at a South Arlington mosque last summer.

Henry Glaspell faces a maximum of 20 years if convicted of damaging or destroying religious property in a July 25 fire at the Dar El Eman Islamic Center on Mansfield Road near Green Oaks Boulevard.

Glaspell is accused of setting playground equipment on fire there “because of the race, color and ethnic characteristics of the individuals associated with that property,” according to the criminal complaint.

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EDL supporters deface memorial bridge with ‘Kill Muslims’ graffiti

EDL 'Kill Muslims' graffiti

A memorial bridge to a young girl who died crossing the A249 has been defaced with far right nationalist graffiti. Slogans including “kill Muslims”, “keep Britain British” and “EDL” have been scratched into the moss on Jade’s Crossing in Detling.

The bridge was erected as a memorial to Jade Hobbs, who was killed along with her grandmother while crossing the busy road in 2000. The tragedy led to a successful campaign by Jade’s mother Caroline Hobbs and husband Paul to build a permanent footbridge.

Kent Online, 16 February 2011

Via ENGAGE

Update:  See also “Yobs daub racist graffiti on memorial crossing”, Kent News, 16 February 2011

Birmingham Islamic school receives firebomb threats after TV documentary

A Birmingham Islamic school which featured in a damning TV documentary has received malicious calls threatening to firebomb the building.

Darul Uloom Islamic High School, in Small Heath, will be closed until next month amid safety fears over an investigation which filmed a hate-filled speech to pupils.

The Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Lessons in Hatred and Violence, showed a preacher making remarks about Hindus and ranting: “Disbelievers are the worst creatures”.

The school’s head of curriculum, Mujahid Aziz, said since the documentary had been shown on Monday, the school has been targeted by “a barrage of hate calls” and that students felt “victimised”.

Mr Aziz said: “Even before the programme started, we were shocked that we were getting a barrage of hate calls and emails threatening with the most disgusting language which I can’t really say, and they were threatening to bomb the place.

“The student themselves feel in the spotlight, they feel victimised. This is the very kind of thing that creates extremism.”

Birmingham Post, 16 February 2011

Via ENGAGE