Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

CAIR calls for investigation into hate crimes

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on law enforcement authorities to investigate possible bias motives in two recent incidents involving Muslims in New York and Oregon.

CAIR’s New York chapter (CAIR-NY) has asked the NYPD Hate Crimes Taskforce to investigate a possible bias motive in the brutal beating of a Muslim man in East New York on Saturday. According to media reports, the 57-year-old man of Bangladeshi origin was jumped by four assailants who beat but did not rob him. The man’s daughter and nephew reported that the attackers referred to the his being Muslim at the start of the assault.

“Attacks motivated by racial or religious animosity are directed at entire communities,” said CAIR-NY Civil Rights Director Aliya Latif. “Such incidents should be investigated from all angles to serve as both a deterrent and repudiation of intolerance.”

CAIR also called on the FBI to investigate a possible bias motive for a bomb scare at a Muslim family’s home under construction in Oregon.

According to news reports, a 30-year-old Muslim man of Afghan origin was watching the house in Tigard, Ore., while his parents were away. He was woken Sunday night by the smell of gasoline and the sounds of intruders, who ran when the man yelled. He called 911 when he found the floors of the home covered in gasoline and a ticking device in one room.

CAIR press release, 25 May 2010

Jewish club offers to help with repairs to firebombed mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The soot has been washed away but evidence from the May attack on a Jacksonville mosque is still visible. Now, a group of a different faith is offering to repair it. “I simply called Ash (Shaikh) to find out if there was anything to do to help out,” said Ken Organes, who represents the Jacksonville Jewish Center Men’s Club.

Organes said he was dismayed when he heard about the attack and offered the services of some of the Men’s Club members to repair the damage caused by the pipe bomb. “We have a group of guys who like to do carpentry, painting or whoever we can to help out,” he said.

Ash Shaikh, spokesman for the Islamic Center, called the offer heartwarming and said they are grateful for the assistance. “No matter what the extent of the repairs, the very fact that someone of another faith tradition is going to take the time and is so concerned to show his compassion and the compassion of his community,” Shaikh said of the tremendous support they’ve received from the Jewish community.

First Coast News, 25 May 2010

French lawyer abuses and attacks veiled Muslim woman

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 60-year-old lawyer ripped a Muslim woman’s Islamic veil off in a row in a clothing shop in what police say is France’s first case of “burka rage”.

The astonishing scene unfolded during a weekend shopping trip after the woman lawyer took offence at the attire of a fellow shopper resulting in argument during which the pair came to blows before being arrested. It came as racial tensions grow in the country as it prepares to introduce a total ban on burkas and other forms of religious dress which cover the face.

A 26-year-old Muslim convert was walking through the store in Trignac, near Nantes, in the western Loire-Atlantique region, when she overhead the woman lawyer making “snide remarks about her black burka”. A police officer close to the case said: “The lawyer said she was not happy seeing a fellow shopper wearing a veil and wanted the ban introduced as soon as possible.”

At one point the lawyer, who was out with her daughter, is said to have likened the Muslim woman to Belphegor, a horror demon character well known to French TV viewers. Belphegor is said to haunt the Louvre museum in Paris and frequently covers up his hideous features using a mask.

An argument started before the older woman is said to have ripped the other woman’s veil off. As they came to blows, the lawyer’s daughter joined in.

Daily Telegraph, 18 May 2010

Ian Davison gets10-year prison sentence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ian DavisonA white supremacist who dismissed other extreme groups as weak and gutless was jailed for 10 years today after becoming the first Briton to be convicted for producing a chemical weapon.

Ian Davison, 42, whose Aryan Strike Force idolised Hitler and flew swastika flags on secret training days in Cumbria, was castigated by a judge for recruiting his teenage son Nicky, a part-time milkman and would-be soldier, who was given two years’ detention for possessing material useful to commit acts of terror.

A sentencing hearing at Newcastle crown court heard that other alleged members of the ASF, which recruited some 350 people worldwide online, will face trial later this year.

Ian Davison had discussed poisoning Muslims’ water supplies with an avowed Nazi in Serbia, as well as emailing other ASF members about posting cockroaches through letterboxes of Asian restaurants and businesses to start infestations and for their closure.

Although the hatred was often focused on Muslims and ethnic minorities, the group’s propaganda – fed online by Nicky Davison – often attacked “Zionist governments”. Ian Davison wrote on an internet forum: “The Jew is the Aryan’s sworn enemy above all.”

Guardian, 14 May 2010

Racist attack on Islamic centre in Renfrew

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A frightening attack by a gang of hooded thugs on an Islamic centre was last night being treated by police as racist.

The group of neds in their late teens and early 20s who hurled eggs into the building while prayers were being held in the afternoon were yesterday branded despicable by one shocked worshipper.

At first those gathered at the centre were astonished at what was happening and didn’t have a clue what had been thrown. All that was heard were shouts of abuse and the loud noise of a main door banging shut. The alarming incident happened on Friday, May 7, at the Dar-Ul-Quran Islamic Centre in Paisley Road, Renfrew.

One man, who spoke to the Paisley Daily Express, said: “At the time it was scary. The attackers were very abusive and shouting at the tops of their voices. Then something was hurled into the building and we didn’t know what it was at first. This has never happened here before and we’re all disappointed. It was a despicable act.”

Police said there was a “racist incident” around 2.15pm while prayers were being held. There were a few worshippers inside when a main door of the centre suddenly opened and eggs were thrown inside.

Paisley Daily Express, 12 May 2010

Arson attack on Florida mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center JacksonvilleJACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People going in and out of a mosque on the Southside are having to pass through police.

The Islamic Center of Northeast Florida is under tighter security Tuesday morning following an explosion and fire the night before. The incident is under investigation as a possible hate crime.

Worshipers at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida heard a loud noise outside the mosque shortly before evening prayers Monday night. “There was a blast outside and a couple of gentlemen got up, they opened the back door and there was fire,” said Ashraf Shaikh of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida. “I think we need to be more tolerant and understanding of each other.”

Witnesses went outside and found some type of incendiary device started a fire. The fire was put out with a fire extinguisher. No one was hurt.

First Coast News, 11 May 2010

See also CAIR news release, 11 May 2010

Update:  See “FBI: explosion caused by pipe bomb”, WJXT Jacksonville, 12 May 2010

‘This is your Eid present’ attacker told Muslim woman

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A robber wrapped a Muslim woman in a carpet and set fire to her after he raided her home.

The attacker gained entry to the woman’s Westminster flat by claiming to be an inspector from her local council, but once inside he bashed her and tied her up before stealing thousands of pounds worth of valuables. As he left, he wrapped her in a carpet and set it alight, telling her: “This is your Eid present, you Muslim.”

The woman, aged in her 40s,  was saved by neighbours who broke into her flat after hearing her screams.

Daily Mail, 6 May 2010

Muslim soldiers’ graves desecrated in France

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vandals have desecrated the graves of seven Muslim soldiers who died fighting for France in World War II, the defence minister announced, expressing “deep indignation.”

“I wish to express my deep indignation at this ignoble and cowardly act,” Herve Morin said in a statement Thursday after the tombstones were toppled at a military cemetery in the southern city of Tarascon.

“I bow before the memory of these soldiers with more emotion now that the ultimate outrage appears to have targeted them for their religious beliefs,” he said.

Morin said the soldiers had given their lives for a “free, just and generous” Europe and France.

The regional Muslim council said the tombstones had been toppled and three of them were smashed. There are 130 graves in the cemetery, of which 17 belong to Muslim soldiers.

France is home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, estimated at between five and six million.

AFP, 7 May 2010

UN envoy voices concern at mosque fire, calls on Israel to curb settlers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lubban al Sharqiya mosque arson

A senior United Nations official today called on Israel to curb extremist settlers following a report that a blaze earlier this week in a mosque in a Palestinian village on the occupied West Bank was probably the result of arson.

“There have been a number of attacks upon mosques in recent months, as well as violence against Palestinian property and individuals by extremist settlers,” Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said, voicing deep concern at a fire service report that Tuesday’s blaze in a mosque in Lubban al Sharqiya was probably started deliberately.

“I condemn these attacks. It is vital that the Israeli Government impose the rule of law and that those responsible for such crimes are brought to justice,” he added in a statement.

UN News Centre, 6 May 2010

The Neo-Nazi who planned to poison Muslims and Jews

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ian DavisonThis is the first picture of the neo-Nazi planning terrorist attacks using one of the world’s most deadly poisons. Ian Davison intended to use ricin poison to target Muslims, Jews and blacks in an extreme right-wing plot. The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to preparing for acts of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon and is awaiting sentence.

His son Nicky Davison, 19, was convicted of possessing so-called “terrorism manuals” at a trial at Newcastle Crown Court last week.

Both had set up right-wing group the Aryan Strike Force and talked of “overthrowing” the Government, because they believed it had been taken over by Jews.

Documents found on two computers at the home in Annfield Plain, County Durham – which Nicky Davison shared with his mum and siblings – were called The Anarchist’s Cookbook and The Poor Man’s James Bond.

These “manuals” included details on how to make deadly ricin, bombs, explosives, detonators, guns and silencers. Father and son were remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 14. Detective Superintendent Neil Malkin, the officer who led the investigation, said the racist gang was fully intending to use the deadly ricin.

Daily Mail, 4 May 2010