https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJZWtY5ESKQ
See also reports at Hope not Hate here, here, here and here.
Update: See “EDL’s vicious attack on Muslim bystanders”, MPACUK press release, 20 June 2011
Update 2: See “Brothers who faced racist attack after EDL march talk to Socialist Worker”, Socialist Worker, 25 June 2011
See reports at Hope not Hate here, here, here and here.
Update: See also “EDL’s vicious attack on Muslim bystanders”, MPACUK press release, 20 June 2011
Update 2: See “Brothers who faced racist attack after EDL march talk to Socialist Worker”, Socialist Worker, 25 June 2011
An English Defence League member who threatened two elderly Asian men has been handed a suspended prison sentence. Darren Buck, 50, was involved in the demonstration with the far-right group in Halifax town centre on April 16.
Calderdale Magistrates Court heard how around 200 EDL members turned out for the demonstration which they claimed was in protest at two of their number being attacked the week before. At around 2.30pm police reported that a large gathering of protestors were congregating outside The Plummet Line pub, Bull Close Lane, Halifax, and were trying to break through the police line.
It was at this time that officers saw Buck, a former sheet metal worker, acting aggressively towards the two elderly asian men. Officers said he was seen trying to punch the two men but he missed and was consequently arrested.
Buck was interviewed by police and admitted the offence saying he was demonstrating to show solidarity with his fellow members. He also told them he had been an EDL member for about a year but didn’t have any racist beliefs. Buck pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting or abusive language with the threat of violence.
Judith Poole, chair of the magistrates, said: “We feel this offence is so serious that only custody is appropriate. You were part of a group of 200 people, over 200 police officers had to be in attendance and it was a Saturday afternoon with a lot of people around who must have been really frightened.”
Buck, from Wombwell, Barnsley, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison which was suspended for 12 months. He will be subject to a curfew on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 9pm for 20 weeks and must pay costs of £85.
A former soldier has appeared in court charged in connection with an arson attack at a mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.
Simon Beech, 23, of Hartshill Road in the city, denied arson with intent to endanger life, committing arson recklessly and criminal damage.
Live CCTV footage showed smoke coming from the mosque in Regent Road, Hanley, last December.
He was a serving soldier at the time of the fire, but was discharged by the 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment.
Garreth Foster, 28, of Hartshill Road, also pleaded not guilty to the same charges when the pair appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Friday.
They were both released on bail are due to appear before the court again in December.
For Beech’s links to the EDL, see Exposing the English Defence League, 28 March 2011
A thug who was arrested after trouble flared at a protest outside a mosque has avoided going to jail after a judge said his hands were tied.
Blaise Silvester was part of a group of people demonstrating outside the Jami Mosque in Victoria Road North, Southsea. The group were protesting on November 13 last year after a small group of Muslim extremists burned poppies in London during the minute’s silence on Armistice Day.
The police arrived and set up two cordons to keep the protesters and members of the mosque and its supporters apart. But when 20-year-old Silvester saw his opportunity he ducked under the police tape and ran into the gathering, swinging punches. He was quickly arrested and carried off.
The offence was committed while Silvester had a six-month suspended prison sentence hanging over him for a previous assault. But Judge Graham White said that while it was his instinct to activate the suspended sentence he couldn’t because the probation service had failed to contact Silvester about rehabilitation. That mistake kept him out of jail.
Community and faith groups are planning a counter protest after a far right group announced plans to march in Tower Hamlets.
UK-wide group Unite Against Fascism has called on people to protest – under the banner of the East End’s No Place for Hate campaign – against the English Defence League’s plans to march through the borough. Ranging from community and faith groups to trade unions, they are joining forces as East End United for the counter event on August 27 – the same day as the planned EDL protest.
The EDL claims Tower Hamlets is under siege from radical Islamic forces and that someone has to take a stand. It’s a picture not recognised by chair of Tower Hamlets Inter-Faith Forum Rev Alan Green.
Rev Green, who is also chair of the No Place for Hate Forum, added: “It’s a chance for us to show we are a very diverse community and we have very good relations here. There are individuals who seek to cause trouble but they aren’t the majority.” He said even if the EDL march doesn’t go ahead it will be a good opportunity to show what is “good about life here”.
A spokesman for the East London Mosque said it will face the threat as part of the East End United coalition.
Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman said he wanted to reassure residents that attempts to create fear and instability in the community will not be accepted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EKkgsAez1w
Lawsuits based on Muslim discrimination are on the rise in Europe.
That’s what Jean-Paul Costa, president of the European Court of Human Rights, pointed out when Press TV asked him about the spreading of crimes triggered by religious and ethnic hatred.
Costa was on an official visit to Bulgaria and state authorities declared before him that they intend to impose a special law to compensate victims of human rights violations, as well as to establish a governmental unit to enforce more effectively convictions toward Bulgaria.
The European Court of Human Rights has sentenced Bulgaria 63 times in 2010 alone. This makes it the 6th most convicted country among 47 members of the Council of Europe – and in the lead of the most convicted in the EU-27.
The most recent and brutal act of human rights violations in Bulgaria took place here, at Sofia Grand Mosque, where Muslim worshippers were attacked by far-right activists during a peaceful Friday prayer.
A month after the incident, the Parliament issued a declaration, condemning such provocations as threats to the ethnic peace and the national security. However, many Muslims say they still do not feel safe as the declaration has done little to protect them.
The demand was raised after a Muslim worshipper was beaten on his way to a morning prayer. His attackers also tried to break into the Mosque.
Ibrahim tells us he would gladly join any type of citizen patrols, he’s not afraid of attacks and won’t stop coming here for prayers.
Muslim leaders across London are on high alert after fake anthrax was posted to five mosques by suspected far-Right extremists. Detectives from Scotland Yard’s Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after imams at the mosques received bags of white powder.
One package, sent to the Finsbury Park mosque, also contained “evil drawings” of the Prophet Mohammed similar to cartoons published in Denmark. TheEvening Standard understands up to five other mosques outside London – thought to be Luton and Birmingham – were targeted in the past 10 days.
Scotland Yard is so concerned about the threat to community cohesion that it has sent a warning to more than 200 mosques in the capital. An email from the Association of Muslim Police warns staff to avoid touching any mail they deem suspicious.
It says: “The inquiry relates to suspicious but non-hazardous packages sent to mosques. Inquires are ongoing and no arrests have been made at this stage. We recognise the distress and disruption caused by such incidents and will continue to investigate them, and any others which come to light, robustly.
“Anyone receiving an item they think is suspicious should treat it seriously and follow the following advice: Call 999; 1. Do not touch or handle it any further; 2. Remain calm; 3. Move everyone away to a safe distance; 4. Safely communicate instructions to staff and public; 5. Ensure that whoever found the item or witnessed the incident remains on hand to brief the police.”
Detectives are studying hours of CCTV footage as many of the packages did not have stamps and are thought to have been hand-delivered to the mosques. Some of the mosques were evacuated while specialist officers in protective suits checked the suspect material. When a package arrived at the Finsbury Park mosque last Thursday, police closed the building and surrounding roads for four hours.
Ahmed Saad, the imam at the mosque, told the Evening Standard: “Our security guard was in the office when I opened the letter and he called the police right away. He told me to wash my hands and face just in case the powder was dangerous. The police arrived with ambulances and evacuated the building. It could have been anything in the envelope, my first thought was that it could be anthrax, or it could be some kind of [other] poison. It was very frightening. Something like this should not happen, we live in a multi-cultural society.”
Mohammed Kozbar, the manager of the mosque, said: “We often get a lot of malicious communications but this is worse than anything that happened before. The envelope also had nasty, devil, evil drawings of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim women in hijab clothing. It is very bad – we have worked hard to change the culture of the mosque since the case of Abu Hamza [the extremist former imam]. These racists won’t succeed and we will carry on with our work.”
Mr Kozbar believes the package was sent by someone with far-Right views.
The first two English Defence League members charged after a town-centre demo have appeared in court. Peter Craven, 28 and Michael Riley 23, both from Hull, each admitted stealing a pool ball and possessing an offensive weapon.
The men admitted they were in Halifax for the EDL protest that engulfed the town centre on April 16. They were part of a 16-man group who left the main organisation and moved to the Beehive and Cross Keys pub in King Cross Street near Park ward – an area police were trying to shield from EDL members.
In the pub, EDL members chanted racist songs, snapped pool cues and hunted through waste bins for bottles. Police arrested the men outside the pub shortly after they left.
They will be sentenced at Bradford Crown Court July 19.
Banner at an English Defence League ‘support Israel’ demonstration in October 2010
What a popular man Peter Tatchell is. His article on the Mohammed Hasnath case, titled “Gay Free Zone conviction is disturbing”, which originally appeared on the New Statesman blog, has been crossposted at both Pink News and Harry’s Place, not to mention on a website rejoicing in the name of 9-11 Do more than Never Forget – Stop ISLAM. It has also been reproduced by the English Defence League’s Casuals United faction, who have provided their own approving headline, “Peter Tatchell piles into the Islamists”.