Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Congressman threatens Islamic holy sites

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could “take out” Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons.

Rep. Tom Tancredo made his remarks Friday on WFLA-AM in Orlando, Fla. Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if terrorists struck several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.

“Well, what if you said something like – if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites,” Tancredo answered.

“You’re talking about bombing Mecca,” Campbell said.

“Yeah,” Tancredo responded.

Associated Press, 18 July 2005

Far right and football gangs plot ‘revenge’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Plans by an alliance of rightwing extremists and football hooligans to exact “revenge” on Muslims after last week’s bomb attacks are being monitored by police. The Guardian has learned that extremists are keen to cause widespread fear and injury with attacks on mosques and high-profile “anti-Muslim” events in the capital.

Football hooligans communicating over the internet have spoken of the need to put aside partisan support for teams and unite against Muslims. Hooligans from West Ham, Millwall, Crystal Palace and Arsenal are among those seeking to establish common cause.

As part of wider plans to generate a backlash, rightwing groups such as the Nationalist Alliance and the National Front are said to be planning marches. Extremists hope to hold a march along Victoria Embankment in London tomorrow.

It is also known that many mosques have received bomb threats since the attacks.

Guardian, 15 July 2005

Rise in anti-Muslim attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

About 500 faith-hate and race-hate crimes – ranging from arson attacks on mosques to Muslim women being spat at in the street – have been reported in Britain since the London bombings, writes Dipesh Gadher.

According to police sources, about 200 of these incidents are deemed significant enough to have potential repercussions within communities. They include mosques being set alight in Birkenhead, Merseyside, Telford, Shropshire and Leeds.

Sunday Times, 17 July 2005

Fears of backlash in Scotland as boy and mosque attacked

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police patrols have been stepped up around mosques and Muslim communities in Scotland amid fears of a racist backlash in the wake of the London bombings. The greater police visibility in Edinburgh follows an unprovoked attack on a teenage Asian boy, who was beaten up on a busy street in broad daylight by a white skinhead who shouted racist abuse.

The 16-year-old boy, who has not been named, was with an 11-year-old friend on Leith Walk when the man began shouting at them at about 2pm on Tuesday. The man then punched the older boy repeatedly, knocking him to the ground, before running off when an elderly Asian man intervened.

The teenager was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with a suspected fractured cheekbone, bruising and cuts. Police are appealing for witnesses.

The assault follows attacks on the Shah Jalal Mosque in the city and a Pakistani community centre, both of which were defaced with racist graffiti last Thursday. Doors were daubed with the words “Islam Scum” and “This centre sympathises with terrorists”.

Police, who described the attacks as appalling, said that reports of verbal abuse against Asians had increased in the past week in Edinburgh and Glasgow, home to Scotland’s largest Asian communities.

Muslim leaders warned the Asian community yesterday to be on guard and to report any racial incidents to officers.

Times, 14 July 2005

Islamophobia blamed for attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim man has been beaten to death outside a corner shop by a gang of youths who shouted anti-Islamic abuse at him, the Guardian has learned. Kamal Raza Butt, 48, from Pakistan, was visiting Britain to see friends and family. On Sunday afternoon he went to a shop in Nottingham to buy cigarettes and was first called “Taliban” by the youths and then set upon.

Nottinghamshire police described the incident as racially aggravated, not as Islamophobic, angering Muslim groups and surprising some senior officers. They say it was not connected to a backlash against Muslims following the London bombings, which has seen mosques firebombed and Muslims attacked in the street.

On Monday the case was discussed at the Muslim Safety Forum, where senior police officers and Muslim community representatives meet. Senior sources who were at the meeting last night said it was the view of all present that the killing was a hate crime triggered by his faith.

Muslim leaders last night said the killing and the fact that it was Islamophobic would heighten anxiety in their communities, which was already high before the London bombings and which has deepened with every report of attacks.

Guardian, 13 July 2005

Police pledge tough action as race hate attacks rise

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police have vowed to deal “robustly” with any religious or racist reprisals in the wake of last week’s bombings.

The Metropolitan police have recorded a sharp rise in hate crimes following the London attacks, including attacks on mosques, physical attacks and verbal abuse.

In the three days after the bombing, police in London recorded 180 racial incidents. A total of 58 faith-related crimes were recorded, compared with one in the same period last year.

Attacks have also been reported on mosques in Tower Hamlets and Merton, both in London, Telford, Leeds, Bristol, Birkenhead and Gloucester, and on a Sikh temple in Kent.

West Yorkshire police said the front door of the Pakistani consulate in Bradford had been damaged by fire.

In Birkenhead, Wirral, a Muslim man had to be rescued by firefighters as he slept in a room above a mosque which was attacked by arsonists.

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Campaigners call for action against Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Campaigners call for action against Islamophobia

By Louise Nousratpour

Morning Star, 11 July 2005

Peace campaigners called for urgent action against burgeoning Islamophobia in the light of the London bombings after news of a series of hate crimes in and outside the capital yesterday.

The most serious of these incidents was an arson attack on the Shahjalal Mosque in Birkenhead, Merseyside, in the early hours of Saturday morning. The building was empty at the time, but one man living in a flat above the mosque was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

Merseyside TUC secretary Alec McFadden said that the trade union movement will not sit in silence over these “fascist and criminal” attacks on innocent people. “We all feared that, following the London attacks, far-right groups would use them to attack innocent Muslim communities”, he added.

Commenting on the arson attack, Mr McFadden said that he was convinced it was the work of fascist BNP members travelling in from neighbouring areas such as Oldham and Burnley. “Our Merseyside Coalition Against Fascism and Racism is very strong and, wherever the BNP raises its ugly head, we are there to stamp it out”, he insisted. Mr McFadden added that the coalition would be getting in touch with Muslim leaders in the area and “taking it from there”.

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Auckland mosques attacked

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ponsonby mosque graffiti

Members of Auckland’s Muslim community are reeling following a string of attacks on their places of worship.

The overnight attacks on mosques in Ponsonby, Mt Roskill, Otahuhu and Ranui saw windows smashed and walls graffittied with the message “R-I-P London”.

Javed Khan of the Federation of Islamic Associations says it is clear the vandalism is a result of the terror attacks in Britain.

He says the mosque in Otahuhu was hit on Thursday night as well, soon after the London bombings, but police did not come around until the following afternoon.

Mr Khan says the New Zealand Islamic community has already condemned the British attacks as despicable.

Farhaz Rehmen was at the Ponsonby mosque when the attack happened. He says he was asleep out the back and he did not even hear it.

He says he is extremely upset about the attacks and he does not understand why people want to take their anger out on the New Zealand Muslim community.

Prime Minister Helen Clark was quick to condemn the attacks.

“New Zealanders across all communities are horrified by the terrorist attacks in London which are the work of evil people,” she said.

“But it is wrong to target the Muslim community here in retaliation. New Zealand’s Muslim community like all New Zealand’s communities is overwhelmingly a law-abiding and peaceful community.

“Times like these call for cool heads and for tolerance. The evil acts of some should not lead to scapegoating of minorities in our communities.”

New Zealand Herald, 10 July 2005

See also “Race Commissioner condemns mosque attacks”, New Zealand Herald, 11 July 2005

And “Editorial: Vandalism a showcase for bigotry”, New Zealand Herald, 11 July 2005

Update:  See “Mosque to install security cameras”, New Zealand Herald, 12 July 2005

Ponsonby mosque vandalism