Category Archives: Far right racists

Grimsby EDL supporter convicted of religiously aggravated threatening behaviour – Muslim defence lawyer launches attack on media

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Grimsby solicitor has launched a scathing attack on the media and politicians for “inflaming” hostility towards Muslims after the brutal murder soldier Lee Rigby in London. Ghaff Khan strongly criticised the use of words like “Islamists” and “Islamic – and claimed that comments over people’s origins were not used when “other heinous crimes” were committed by non-Muslims.

He launched his broadside during a court case which featured mentions of the Grimsby mosque at the centre of an arson attack and references to the English Defence League. Christopher Rodger, 25, of Lime Street, Grimsby, admitted using religiously aggravated threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour on June 8.

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Racist graffiti is left on Black Country mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Black Country mosque which was burnt to the ground in 2009, has been targeted by racist vandals. Racist graffiti has been plastered over one of the walls at Cradley Heath Central Mosque and Islamic Centre on Plant Street.

The graffiti which was discovered yesterday, was daubed in white paint on the red brick wall made reference to the English Defence League. This attack comes four years after the mosque was targeted by arsonists and burnt to the ground on Boxing Day in 2009.

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East End United rally vows to fight on after EDL march is banned

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Campaigners at a rally held last night in the wake of the Home Secretary’s ban on Saturday’s English Defence League march through London’s East End have vowed to continue fighting “the constant threat of neo-fascist organisations.” Around 150 supporters packed the rally by East End United anti-fascist campaign staged at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel.

Delegates from 21 community groups, religious organisations and trade unions joined politicians to reaffirm a ‘No Place for Hate’ campaign launched in 2010 when the EDL first attempted a march through Whitechapel. “There is the possibility that the EDL might again attempt to march through east London,” warned campaign orgaiser Weyman Bennett. “Neo-fascist organisations who seek to sow divisions in multi-cultural, working class areas are a constant threat.”

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EDL ‘linked to a third’ of online anti-Muslim incidents

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-Muslim Hate Crime and the Far RightThe mere presence of English Defence League (EDL) flash mobs is enough to induce fear without raising a brick or a baton. But new research by the Centre for Fascist Studies at Teesside University shows the EDL online presence is even more vitriolic and disturbing.

It’s the first study of anti-Muslim sentiment in the UK and is based on data from the monitoring and helpline charity Tell Mama where victims can report details of abuse either on the streets or online.

The data amounts to 584 recorded incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime in the year between April 2012 to April 2013. Almost two in every three cases were not reported to police. The majority of cases – 434 incidents – were online abuse: 300 were linked to the far-right movement, and 147 of those were linked to the EDL – a third of all online anti-Muslim incidents.

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Muslim graves in Newport cemetery desecrated by racist vandals

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Newport cemetery graffiti

Muslim graves at a Newport cemetery have been desecrated with racist graffiti.

The vandals used white paint to write “Lee Rigby murder”, “white power” and drew swastikas on four gravestones at Christchurch Cemetery. They also wrote the initials of the British National Party (BNP), the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and the National Front (NF).

People visiting nearby graves spoke of their disgust and shock at seeing the painted messages, which were still wet this morning.

South Wales Argus, 30 June 2013

Update:  See “Newport Muslim leader’s plea for calm after grave daubing”, South Wales Argus, 2 July 2013

Mad Mel not mad enough, Robert Spencer complains

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The very welcome ban on hate-mongers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer visiting the UK to join a disgusting publicity stunt planned by the English Defence League predictably had its critics. Equally predictably, one of them was Melanie Phillips.

“What on earth have we come to, after all, when the British Home Secretary is banning people on the basis that they criticise Islam and warn against jihadi violence?”, Phillips demanded indignantly. “Is this not exactly the menacing argument mounted by Islamic extremists, that any condemnation of Islamic extremism is to be banned as ‘Islamophobic’?”

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CAIR calls for hate crime probe of New Jersey mosque vandalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Center of Morris CountyThe New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) today called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate vandalism of a mosque in that state as a possible hate crime.

An official with the Islamic Center of Morris County in Rockaway, N.J., told CAIR that someone spray-painted a Nazi swastika on an exterior door of the mosque Friday evening. The alleged perpetrator was caught on surveillance video entering the mosque and then going out to a vehicle and returning to spend time at the site of the graffiti. Rockaway Borough Police are investigating the incident as “criminal mischief.”

The mosque had faced opposition several years ago when it was in its planning stage.

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English Defence League leaders arrested on way to Woolwich

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL leader arrestedTwo English Defence League leaders have been arrested as they attempted to visit the spot where Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered last month.

Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll were detained by police on Saturday on suspicion of obstructing officers in east London. The Metropolitan police said on Friday that anyone trying to march to Woolwich would be arrested and imposed a route for the walk between Hyde Park Corner and Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Lords.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said on Saturday: “At approximately 11.25am today, two men were arrested outside Aldgate East station for obstructing police. They have been taken to a south London police station.” In a statement posted on the EDL’s Twitter feed, the group said: “Tommy Robinson & Kev Caroll arrested for obstructing the police and carted off.”

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Half of Britain’s mosques have been attacked since 9/11

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Al-Rahma Islamic Centre fire (2)Around half of mosques and Muslim centres in Britain have been subjected to Islamophobic attacks since 9/11, academics have warned as the far-right English Defence League prepares to march to the south-London scene of Drummer Lee Rigby’s murder.

The figures are highlighted in a report which also found that the number of anti-Islamic attacks increased by as much as tenfold in the days following the Woolwich attack.

Meanwhile, research by The Independent shows Islamophobic attacks spreading across Britain, with mosques being set alight and Muslims targeted at home in the past month.

Despite the warning signs, a senior Government adviser told The Independent that there remains a “lack of political will” to take on the rise of Islamophobic attacks in Britain. The adviser, who did not want to be named, said that attempts to “tackle this issue – even before Woolwich – struggled to attract buy-in,” with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, identified as the primary source of frustration.

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