Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Incitement to violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daud Abdullah“Where is this political opportunism taking us? Into the dark tunnel of national strife. The corrosive effect of the political and media onslaught against British Muslims is having its impact on all sections of society. What is claimed to be an assertion of free speech and democratic rights is rapidly becoming the demonisation of a community. Once they are dehumanised, who cares for their democratic, civil or human rights?

“Since John Reid demanded that Muslim ‘bullies’ must be faced down and Jack Straw declared the veil a ‘statement of separation’, ministers have fallen over themselves to make increasingly unbridled attacks on Muslims. The shadow home secretary, David Davis, has accused our communities of creating a ‘voluntary apartheid’ and colleges have taken action against veiled teachers and students. The tabloid press has declared open season on Muslims with one hostile front-page story after another.

“In practice this has amounted to incitement to violence. In recent weeks verbal and physical attacks on Muslims have surged alarmingly. Women have had their scarves ripped off. Mosques and Islamic centres in Preston and Falkirk have been attacked by mobs and firebombed.”

Daud Abdullah, deputy secretary general of the MCB, in the Guardian, 17 October 2006

Another week, another racist onslaught against Muslims

Posted on by Eddie Truman

Another week, another racist onslaught against Muslims

By Eddie Truman

“Ban The Veil” screamed the Daily Express, in Glasgow Imam Shamsuddin is subject to a violent assault, in Liverpool a Muslim woman has a veil ripped from her face by a man shouting racist abuse, in Falkirk a mosque was deliberately set ablaze.

The cause of this renewed wave of attacks on the Muslim community?

Home Secretary Jack Straw’s political ambitions. Such is the all pervading climate of Islamophobia, it is now regarded as a political badge of honour to outbid your political rivals in being seen to be racist towards Muslims.

So now we have a situation in which Labour Party, yes Labour Party, ministers are falling over themselves to match the rhetoric of the British National Party. Incredibly, Race Relations minister, yes you read that right, Phil Woolas, joined the row over the teaching assistant suspended for wearing a veil by demanding that she be sacked.

Continue reading →

Mayor says the freedom to dress in accordance with ones religious conscience is a fundamental human right

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:

“Britain today faces a concerted campaign by sections of the media and some politicians, fanned by fascist grouplets, aimed at sowing hatred against Muslims. This has now culminated in physical attacks, firebombings, and assaults on women. This constitutes an attack on civil and religious liberties including an attempt to suppress the right of persons of all faiths to dress in accordance with their religious convictions.

“Whatever a person’s view on the most suitable forms of dress they have no right to impose this on others – it is a fundamental human right that every person should be allowed to dress in accordance with their religious views, as dictated only by their individual conscience. This right had to be defended in the past for Sikhs and other communities and it must be today for Muslims or indeed any other community that faces such a challenge. It applies equally therefore to those who wish to wear crucifixes.

“The prosperity and cohesion of London as one of the most diverse city’s in the world is inextricably linked to respect for these basic principles of freedom of individual choice.”

GLA press release, 14 October 2006

Muslim leader assaulted at mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 53-year-old imam has been punched and kicked by a man who entered a mosque in the west end of Glasgow. Strathclyde Police confirmed that the incident, at the Dawat ul Islam centre, happened at about 1800 BST on Friday. Mohammed Shamsuddin was taken to the nearby Western Infirmary, but later discharged following treatment.

The suspect is described as white, possibly 35-45 years, approximately 5ft 7 to 5ft 9 tall, of medium build with short greying hair and wearing jeans.

Witnesses to the attack said the suspect verbally abused Imam Shamsuddin before punching and kicking him and then hitting him with a chair and other office equipment. Abu Mohammed, who was in the building at the time, said:

“I was downstairs getting ready for prayer when I heard a noise coming from upstairs. Me and a few other people went upstairs to see what was going on and we saw the Imam being attacked. He had blood pouring down from his face, the attacker saw us and ran away.”

Continue reading →

Attacks on Muslims rise after veils row

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamophobic attacks have surged in the past month in the wake of controversial remarks by ministers about British Muslims, say campaign groups.

The rise in verbal and physical assaults includes a spate of incidents in which Muslim women have been abused for wearing veils and scarves. They come in the week that the issue was raised by Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons.

Muslim groups blame part of the rise in incidents, which also include assaults, firebombings and racist e-mails, on comments made by politicians and negative media reporting.

At least six Muslim women have been abused for wearing scarves or veils after Mr Straw said last week that he asks Muslim women who visit his constituency surgeries in Blackburn to remove their veil.

In one incident a Muslim woman aged in her 20s had her hijab or headscarf pulled off her head and thrown to the ground by a young white man while she was at Canning Town Tube station in east London. The attack happened on the same day that a Muslim woman had the veil torn from her face by a white man who uttered racial abuse as she waited at a bus-stop in Liverpool’s Toxteth district.

Both incidents occurred last Friday – the day after Mr Straw described the veil as, “a visible statement of separation”.

There were also reports that a young Muslim girl wearing a veil in Mr Straw’s Blackburn constituency was confronted by three youths last Friday night. One allegedly threw a newspaper at her and shouted: “Jack has told you to take off your veil.”

Three days later, a 21-year-old Turkish student told Muslim News that she was standing outside a supermarket in Canterbury, Kent, wearing a hijab when she was verbally abused by a middle-aged white woman. The older woman told her she hated her being in Britain and wanted her to leave.

On the same day in Hackney, east London, a black Muslim woman wearing a veil was getting off a bus when a passenger shouted out: “Why don’t you show your lovely hair?”

The sixth incident involved a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, who reported that when she got on to the London Underground two men standing next to her deliberately started discussing their support for a ban on veils.

Continue reading →

Race attack on Muslim after July 7 ceremony

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A white Muslim convert was spat on and racially abused in front of her young children as they travelled home after attending a commemoration of the victims of the July 7 terror bombings.

Michelle Idrees, dressed in a traditional burkha, was targeted by a father and his two sons as she travelled on a Thameslink train travelling out of London. She was returning to her home in Luton, Bedfordshire, when Charles Adams called her a “Muslim bitch” before spitting on her face.

Charles Adams, 23, admitted religiously aggravated common assault and affray when he appeared alongside his brother Mark Edward Adams, 26, and father Mark Raymond Adams, 50, at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court yesterday. The three men, all from Colindale, northwest London, will be sentenced in November.

Times, 10 October 2006

See also “Father and sons spat at Muslim”, BBC News, 9 October 2006

Update:  See “Man jailed for 7/7 racial attack”, BBC News, 23 November 2006

And “We’re leaving the country after racists abused and spat at me”, Evening Standard, 24 November 2006

Shock over anti-Muslim graffiti

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kill Muslims graffitiA Teesside family have returned from holiday to find their house daubed with anti-Muslim graffiti.

The Joacph family home and its neighbouring garage, in the Saltersgill area of Middlesbrough, were covered with messages. These claimed that the family were terrorists, and also called for the killing of Muslims.

The Joacphs, who are practising Roman Catholics, say they are devastated by the incident. Originally from India, they have lived in the area for three years.

BBC News, 8 October 2006

Update:  See also “Anti-Muslim graffiti daubed”, Yorkshire Evening Post, 10 October 2006

Ban The Veil

Posted on by Eddie Truman

expressveilJack Straw’s playing of the racist Islamophobia card in pursuit of his career ambitions has resulted in a renewed deluge of anti Muslim poison.

The Daily Express is happy to further up the tension with a front page clearly calculated to incite hatred.

“Concerned Britons gave massive backing last night to calls for Muslim women to ditch the veil. An astonishing 97 per cent of Daily Express readers agreed that a ban would help to safeguard racial harmony. Our exclusive poll came a day after Leader of the Commons Jack Straw spoke out against the veils.”

Already the BBC has reported an attack on a Muslim woman because of the remarks of the Leader of the House of Commons. We shudder to think what the effect of the Daily Express front page will be on the racist morons just waiting to be incited by this.

Muslim woman in veil attack: Liverpool hate crime comes 24 hours after Straw comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim woman has had her veil snatched from her head and was racially abused as she stood at a Liverpool bus stop. The “despicable attack” came the day after former foreign secretary Jack Straw caused controversy by revealing he asked Muslim women to remove their veils. Merseyside Police are treating the incident, which occurred at 10am yesterday morning, as a hate crime.

The family of the a woman and community leaders in the city last night criticised Mr Straw, saying his remarks were to blame. Ilham Ali, the daughter of the victim of the attack, who has not been named, said: “He was saying ‘take that scarf off your head, you Muslim’ and using abusive language. I am 100% certain that what happened to my mum is a direct result of the comments Jack Straw made.”

The chairman of the Liverpool Mosque and Islamic Institute, Mohammed Akbar Ali, last night said the attacker had “taken advantage of Jack Straw’s statement to take the law into his own hands”.

The 49-year-old victim was standing at a bus stop at the junction of Kensington and Holt Road when a man shouted racial abuse at her and ripped her veil from her face. The woman, who lives in Toxteth, was said to be left “extremely distressed” by the unprovoked attack.

The offender is described as a tall white man in his 60s, with a slim build and silver-grey hair. He was wearing a light khaki jacket and grey trousers.

Continue reading →

Arson at Falkirk Islamic Centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Falkirk Islamic CentreA fire that caused 10,000 worth of damage to Falkirk’s Islamic Centre is thought to have been started deliberately. Officers are investigating the cause of the blaze in the doorway of the Burnhead Lane premises, but don’t believe it to have been an accident.

The fire was discovered at around 2.30 a.m. on Monday by a Muslim taxi driver, who then raised the alarm. The Fire and Rescue Service attended, but the the blaze was extinguished before they arrived. Islamic Centre member Shoeb Farooqui made the call to the emergency services after the taxi driver alerted him.

Mr Farooqui said the man, who did not wish to be named, saved the centre from burning to the ground. “He normally works the night shift and was visiting the centre for a night prayer,” Mr Farooqui explained. “He just opened the door and saw the fire – it was in the early stages and if he hadn’t gone there at that time it could have burned down the whole building. It was very brave of him and lucky for our community that the fire was caught in time.”

Shaken members of the Muslim community said the Islamic Centre had been located in Burnhead Lane for 13 years and had never been targeted in this manner before. Several representatives of the centre gathered outside later on Monday morning to assess the damage, which they believed could exceed the £10,000 estimate.

Continue reading →