Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Man shouted ‘jihad’ at Indian men outside Michigan bar, police allege

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BAY CITY — A Bangor Township man was charged with ethnic intimidation after Bay City police alleged he shouted “Osama bin Laden” and “jihad” at two men outside a bar in Bay City’s Midland Street Historic District.

Delane D. Bell is scheduled to appear Thursday for a preliminary evidence hearing before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly.

Bell, 25, is charged with single counts of ethnic intimidation, a two-year felony, malicious destruction of property, a one-year misdemeanor, and assault or assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor.

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Man urinated on Muslim’s trainers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Bracknell man who admitted urinating in a Muslim man’s trainers, during a racist “happy slapping” incident, will be sentenced for the “vile and disgraceful” act in January.

IT worker Darren Scott and his friend Aidan Ostintelli, of Camberley, were drunk and high on cannabis when they abused and attacked Mustapha Himedean after a trip to Amsterdam in July.

Scott, of Northbrook Copse, Forest Park, admitted religiously aggravated common assault, religiously aggravated harassment and aggravated harassment. Ostinelli, who denied the charges, was jailed for six months at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, December 12, for his part in the attack.

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Arab-Israelis protest ‘mosque bill’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Israel mosque bill protestHundreds of Arabs across Israel took to the streets Saturday to rally against attacks on mosques and the so-called ‘mosque bill,’ which aims to prohibit mosques from sounding public calls for prayer.

The protesters carried signs reading: “We won’t agree to silence the Muezzin”, “A democratic state doesn’t attack freedom of religion” and “Transfer state.” Demonstrators also chanted against the torching of mosques in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered in the Arab-Israeli towns of Umm al-Fahm and Shfaram, with more protestors joining in various other communities, including Baka al-Garbiyeh, Tira, Taiba, Sakhnin, Tarshiha, Nazareth, Rahat, Jaffa, Kabul and Jisr az-Zarqa.

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Arson attack may have been directed against halal abattoir, councillor suggests

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Burnt electricity pole HattonArsonists who brought down a power line leaving 1,100 homes without electricity were trying to target a Muslim-run slaughterhouse, it has been claimed.

An electricity pole in Bradshaw Meadow, Hatton, has been burned down five times, including the latest attack early yesterday. Now the councillor for the area has voiced his concerns that the incidents are directed at a nearby abattoir, which produces ritually slaughtered halal meat. But Councillor Andy Roberts’ claims have been denied by both the owners of M Najib and Sons, based in Miry Lane, Foston, and police investigating the attacks.

It took more than seven hours to restore power to all the affected homes after the latest blackout happened at 3am yesterday.

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Another mosque torched in West Bank

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Burqa mosque arson2Vandals set fire to another mosque in the West Bank on Thursday and defaced it with Hebrew graffiti.

The governor of Ramallah, Laila Ghanam, said arsonists doused the mosque in the village of Burqa with gasoline, then set it afire. The Hebrew words for “war” and “Mitzpe Yitzhar” were painted in red on a wall, and the Israeli military said carpets and chairs were burned.

Mitzpe Yitzhar is an unauthorized Jewish settlement outpost in the West Bank where Israeli security forces demolished two structures early Thursday.

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Jerusalem mosque set alight in another ‘price tag’ attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nebi Akasha mosqueArsonists set fire to a deserted mosque in central Jerusalem during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.

There was no structural damage reported and the damage mainly consisted of the blackening of walls and graffiti reading “Price Tag,” and anti-Islamic phrases.

The Nebi Akasha mosque, apparently built under the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century with additions made under the Mamluk dyanothernasty in the 13th century. It is believed that the mosque was founded on the burial site of combatants in Saladin’s army, though an ancient tradition designates the site as the place where Akasha, a friend of the Prophet Muhammad, was buried.

Graffiti spray painted on the historical site included inscriptions such as “Mohammad is Dead,” “Mohammad is a Pig,” and “Price Tag.”

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Seeing yobs get punished helps us to move on, say Leicester Muslim family who suffered years of abuse

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sabana and Salim AmodA family who were forced to flee their home after years of racist abuse said seeing their tormentors punished in court has helped them move on.

Sabana and Salim Amod left Leicester’s Saffron Lane in June, after two years of abuse and vandalism. Yobs smashed the windows of their Helmsley Road home, slashed their car tyres, sprayed racist graffiti about their Muslim faith on their front door and threw stones at the couple and their children. Several people have now appeared in court charged with racially-aggravated offences.

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Stoke-on-Trent mosque arsonists jailed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Simon Beech and Garreth FosterTwo men have each been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of deliberately setting fire to a Stoke-on-Trent mosque.

Ex-soldier Simon Beech, 23, and Garreth Foster, 29, both from Stoke, were found guilty of setting fire to Hanley’s Regent Road mosque on 3 December. The pair both denied running a pipe into the building from a nearby gas meter in a bid to spark an explosion at the mosque, which suffered about £50,000 damage as a result of the fire.

Speaking after the verdicts were delivered, Rana Tufail, a member of the mosque committee, said it was “difficult” to describe the arson attack. He said: “It is a community project. They have put their soul into it. They have put their earnings into it and they [Beech and Foster] tried to destroy it. We are happy that it’s still standing.”

Ch Supt Bernie O’Rielly, from Staffordshire Police, added that he had no doubts that the pair’s intention was to “blow the mosque up”. “Without doubt that would have caused hate in the community, division in the community and broken down all the cohesion and good work we do,” he said. “The community around this area have been an absolute credit. They’ve acted with such restraint and so dignified in the face of such provocation.”

BBC News, 8 December 2011

See also “EDL soldier and crony jailed for 10 years for Stoke mosque arson”, UAF news report, 8 December 2011

The IRR’s recent study The new geographies of racism: Stoke-on-Trent provides some useful context to the case. It can be downloaded here.

Hanley mosque arson accused’s links to far right parties

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Simon BeechOne of the men accused of setting fire to a Stoke-on-Trent mosque was a member of the British National Party (BNP) and English Defence League (EDL).

Simon Beech was a serving soldier with the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, based at Weeton Barracks near Preston, Lancashire, when he is alleged to have set fire to the City Central Mosque in Regent Road, Hanley, in the early hours of December 3 last year.

He is accused of entering the mosque, which was still under construction, with his co-accused Garreth Foster. The Crown Prosecution Service allege the pair were responsible for starting a blaze on the ground floor and feeding a gas pipe upstairs, from a neighbouring property.

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