Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Vigil at Southern Cemetery, Manchester

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim graves attacked, as EDL prepare for Manchester fascist rally

Oppose attacks on our cemetery!
Unite against racist attacks!
Never Again!

4pm Emergency Vigil at Southern Cemetery, Barlow Moore Rd, Manchester
Sunday 4th October

Twenty Muslim gravestones have been attacked at Southern Cemetery Manchester. Police say it is a racist hate crime as only graves in the Muslim section were pushed to the ground last Thursday night.

Next Saturday the EDL have said they will rally in Manchester. They want to rid the country of all Muslims. This attack on the gravestones shows what the EDL are really about.

When Jewish gravestones were attacked in North Manchester the whole community came out in an act of solidarity with a cry of Never Again! We all know what the politics of fascism leads to.

We call on all decent people to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Muslim community, who have had the final place of rest for their loved ones violated in this attack.

Stand together in silence outside our community cemetery

Called by UAF

Muslim graves targeted in hate attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Up to 20 Muslim graves have been vandalised in a racially motivated attack at a south Manchester cemetery. Vandals struck at the Southern Cemetery on Barlow Moor Road sometime overnight on Thursday. Staff arrived at the cemetery to find up to 20 gravestones had been deliberately pushed over, and a number had broken. The attack is being treated as racially motivated as only Muslim graves were targeted.

Det Con Rob Southern said: “This is the worst sort of vandalism imaginable. The graves of your loved ones should be a place where they can rest peacefully and that is absolutely sacrosanct. Sadly, we are treating this as a hate crime as only the Muslim section of gravestones were attacked. This sort of mindless, racist behaviour must be utterly condemned and I’m sure the whole community will be outraged.”

Manchester Evening News, 2 October 2009

See also the Hope Not Hate blog, where Nick Lowles comments: “Coming just a week before the planned EDL protest in the city, this horrendous act has either been carried out to whip up tensions or is the consequence of the current wave of Islamophobia.”

Muslim teenager was killed in ‘drunken racist attack’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mohammed al-MajedA teenage Muslim student was killed after he and his friends were attacked by a gang of drunken racist thugs, a court heard yesterday.

Mohammed al-Majed, 16, suffered serious brain injuries when he was punched in the face by George Austin. The blow sent him flying and he hit his head on the road.

Al-Majed, who was days from returning to Qatar after studying English here, was chatting with fellow foreign students outside a kebab shop when a group of young white men and women allegedly began taunting them.

Paul Rockett, 21, allegedly took a drunken swing at Mohammed’s 17-year-old black friend Peter Henworth after demanding: “Where are you from?” His attempted punch missed and Peter fled – as one thug yelled: “Come back here, you n****r,” the court was told.

Rockett and Quinn later told police that Mohammed’s friends had started the midnight fracas and claimed the students were a gang who were “trying to turn all the kids into Muslims”.

Daily Mirror, 22 September 2009

Update:  See “Man convicted of killing Qatari student”, Guardian, 16 October 2009

We won’t return to Birmingham – it’s too violent, says EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL in BirminghamLeaders of a controversial group which led protests against Islamic extremism in Birmingham have vowed never to hold demonstrations in the city again, because it is too violent.

The EDL spoke out as police chiefs from across the UK met in Birmingham to discuss ways of preventing extremist protests from wreaking havoc across the country.

Ninety people were arrested in Birmingham following a march on September 5 when supporters of the EDL, claiming to be protesting against Islamic extremism, clashed with Muslim youths.

In an article in a national magazine, Birmingham councillor Salma Yaqoob has accused the EDL of being a racist organisation attempting to “demonise and terrorise” Muslims. Ms Yaqoob claimed it was “predictable” that the English Defence League and young Asians would be involved in violence in the city earlier this month.

In an article for the New Statesman, she said: “If the violence of the EDL was predictable, it was also predictable that some Asian youths would ignore calls for restraint from myself and others. Many young people are simply not prepared to turn the other cheek when faced with this brand of violent racism.”

Birmingham Post, 18 September 2009

Man hurt in mosque ‘race’ attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gatton Road mosqueYouths have attacked a man outside a mosque in the same London suburb where an OAP was allegedly murdered by youths as he left a mosque.

The 30-year-old Asian man was attacked by a group of youths as he left the mosque in Gatton Road, Tooting, south-west London, at 2215 BST on Tuesday. He suffered head injuries in what police describe as a racial attack. It followed a fatal attack on Ekram Haque, 67, as he left Church Lane mosque in the area on 31 August.

On Tuesday, the 30-year-old man was approached by a group of youths as he left Gatton Road mosque. One of the youths assaulted him with a weapon, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

BBC News, 10 September 2009

See also “Second race attack on Muslims outside a Tooting mosque”, Wandsworth Guardian, 10 September 2009

And “‘No Tooting race problem’ despite two mosque attacks”, Wandsworth Guardian, 10 September 2009

CAIR concerned by ‘spike’ in anti-Muslim incidents in Ramadan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy organization today expressed concern about a recent “spike” in reports of anti-Muslim incidents nationwide during or just prior to the month of Ramadan. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the most recent incident involved a hate-motivated attack on a Muslim family’s home in Oregon.

“We are concerned that the rising level of anti-Islam rhetoric in our society is contributing to this apparent spike in hate crimes targeting Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Our nation’s leaders must speak out against the increasing use of anti-Islam hate speech on the Internet, on talk radio and in editorial pages.”

CAIR press release, 10 September 2009

Tooting race attack victim Ekram Haque dies

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Tooting grandfather who was viciously beaten in a race-hate attack by schoolboys has died.

Ekram Haque, 67, was battered in front of his three-year-old granddaughter Marian outside a mosque in Tooting, south-west London, where he had been attending evening prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

The devout Muslim was ambushed from behind and hit over the head as he held the child’s hand on 31 August. Although the gang was chased off by worshippers at the Idara E Jaaferiya mosque in Church Lane, retired care worker Haque collapsed to the floor with horrific head injuries.

Scotland Yard said the “racially motivated” attack is now being treated as a murder investigation.

thelondonpaper, 8 September 2009

Mosque fear over pensioner attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Worshippers at a south London mosque today said they were living in fear after a brutal gang attack that left a pensioner fighting for life and two other men injured.

A 67-year-old Muslim, named locally as Ikram ul-Haq, is on life support in hospital after being attacked from behind as he stood with his five-year-old granddaughter outside the Idara-e-Jaaferiya Islamic centre in Tooting.

Today one of the other victims described how a gang of 20 teenagers in hoodies ambushed them outside the mosque, on Church Lane, as they emerged from a prayer session. Minicab driver Imdad Buhkari, 39, who was standing with another victim, who is in his 70s, said:

“They came down the road and about six of them broke off from the rest and surrounded the two of us. They asked me for the time. I said I don’t wear a watch and suddenly someone from behind punched me hard on the jaw. I was attacked from behind with no warning. Then they hit the old man, whose name is Atameer, and ran off.

“I went round the corner and I was shocked when I saw Ikram lying unconscious on the ground. He was bleeding from his mouth and ear. Now he is in a coma. The doctors want to turn off his life support machine but his family say no. It is terrible. Who would do such a thing?”

Evening Standard, 4 September 2009

Update:  See “Pensioner attacked in street dies”, BBC News, 7 September 2009

Muslim worshippers pelted with eggs near Epsom and Ewell mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man pelted Muslim worshippers at a mosque with eggs in a racist attack.

The assault occured during the Muslim festival of Ramadan as worshippers entered the Epsom and Ewell Islamic Society, situated on Hook Road. The incident, described by police as a racially aggravated assault, took place at about 11.15pm on Sunday evening.

Visitors had been attending evening prayers in the build up to Ramadan when several vehicles drove by and hurled eggs as men, woman and children left the mosque.

After a tip off from the local community a 20-year-old man, from Epsom, was arrested on Tuesday yesterday and he remains in custody where police said he is helping detectives with their enquiries.

Epsom and Ewell Neighbourhood Inspector Ailsa Quinlan said: “We will not tolerate this behaviour and we always treat any form of hate crime as a serious offence.

“Following the incident on Sunday evening we increased our police presence at the mosque which enabled us to act quickly and robustly in making this arrest.

“I would like to encourage members of the Muslim community who have suffered a hate crime to report it to us.”

This Is Local London, 2 September 2009

Leyton scheme to empower young Muslim women

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A project aimed at helping young Muslim girls to gain confidence and skills, including those who have suffered abuse and hostility because of wearing the headscarf, has been launched.

The Young Muslim Women Professionals Project was given a grant of nearly £500,000 from the Big Lottery fund and was set up after women came forward to describe the abuse they suffered. Aimed at girls and young women aged 10 to 25, the scheme will include mentoring projects, “skills for life” such as ICT and counselling training and advice on how to deal with abuse safely.

Project director Zahir Fatima said: “We’re helping young Muslim women to build confidence regardless of whether they wear the veil. It’s about giving them skills and empowering them to become more active in the community.”

Set up by the Leyton-based Kiran Project, which has traditionally supported Asian women and children suffering domestic violence and abuse, the scheme is set to run for three years.

Fiaz Akhtar, who works for Kiran as a project co-ordinator and wears a head scarf, said: “I’ve experienced it myself on two or three occasions. After 7/7, I was in my car with my daughter and a guy came up behind me. He came out of his car and started swearing and saying ‘get back to your country’. It came to the point where I was petrified.”

Mrs Akhtar also had a lit cigarette thrown at her and said many women have been spat at, verbally abused in the street and even had their veils pulled off in the years following 9/11 and 7/7. She said: “My clothes almost caught fire – luckily I was sitting forward. I cried a lot – it’s something that could have been harmful to me.”

She described how her 12-year-old daughter, who also wears the veil, had been verbally abused in Walthamstow market because of the way she was dressed. Mrs Akhtar added that a number of young women had come forward to say they had suffered similar problems and the project grew from there, as a way to rebuild their self-confidence.”

Waltham Forest Guardian, 28 August 2009