Police are seeking to ban marches in Islington because of fears a far-right group could target Finsbury Park Mosque, a leaked e-mail has revealed.
Scotland Yard is seeking to stop the English Defence League (EDL) staging a planned protest in Walthamstow in Waltham Forest on Saturday.
Officers have asked the home secretary, Theresa May, for a temporary order prohibiting marches across Waltham Forest and three other boroughs including Islington.
Labour councillors are blocking plans to honour campaigning journalist Christopher Hitchens with a statue, with one of them branding the late writer as a “pro-war Islamophobe”.
A trail of emails leaked to the New Journal show a sharp exchange between the British Humanist Association (BHA), which wants the statue to be erected in Red Lion Square, Holborn, and politicians representing the ward.
A group which opposed the building of a £500,000 mosque in Lincoln has now promised to work alongside the Islamic association.
The proposed, two-storey place of worship at the Old Boultham Dairy, could win full planning permission on November 7. If approved, the mosque could be up and running in about two years.
Boultham Residents’ Association started a petition against the plans last year. Members were concerned about the level of traffic the building would bring to the area.
A joint statement has now been issued by Jean Flannery, chairman of the residents’ association and Dr Tanweer Ahmed, trustee of the Islamic association which says they are happy to work together.
A new school headscarf is set to be introduced following pressure from pupils. Pleckgate High School, Blackburn, saw girls rebel after bringing in a uniform hijab, complaining it was ill-fitting or against their Islamic principles.
The leader of an extreme right-wing Jewish group has been condemned for claiming that a proposed Muslim community centre would lead to attacks on Jews.
Roberta Moore, head of the UK branch of the Jewish Defence League, wrote to Camden Council complaining about the proposed conversion of a shop in Cricklewood, north London.
Ms Moore, ex-head of the English Defence League’s Jewish Division, said turning the former shop into a Muslim community centre could lead to Jews being threatened and roads becoming “constantly crowded by Muslims preaching on the streets”.
Police have launched an investigation after a man pushed a lit firework through the door of a mosque. The Jamia Mosque, on North Lodge Terrace, in Darlington, suffered minimal damage in the incident but officers say they are taking the matter seriously and cannot rule out a religious or racial motive.
The far-right English Defence League (EDL) and counter protesters say they will still demonstrate in Walthamstow this weekend despite police attempts to ban all marches.
Discrimination, abuse and Islamophobia. France’s Muslim population reveal their experiences of bearing the brunt of anti-Muslim hate crimes in a new book published by the Islamic Human Rights Commission. The study looks into how France’s institutions, political culture and attitudes towards Islam have created a hostile and dangerous environment against Muslims.
In London, an event was held to address the growing concerns of Muslim demonization in Europe. Communities were encouraged to foster better understanding in order to counter the inflammatory propaganda against Islam.
Police had to be called in halfway through a planning committee meeting after far-right protesters became “abusive”.
Members of the English Defence League were at the meeting of Chelmsford Council’s planning committee and are said to have caused a disturbance. The incident happened shortly after councillors agreed to plans for a Waitrose supermarket, along with 39 apartments, to be built on Royal Mail’s sorting office site.
A pig’s head was found outside Newbury’s mosque in Pound Street this morning (Tuesday). Police say they are treating the incident as a hate crime.
Officers were called at around 9.30am and cordoned off the area while they investigated. They are now reviewing CCTV footage and working closely with the mosque’s Imam.
Neighbourhood police team officer, Insp Al Lloyd, said: “This is a matter that we are taking extremely seriously and we will not tolerate hate crime in this area. We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry and I would urge anyone in the community who has any information about this incident, or who knows who may be responsible, to contact police urgently.”
The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on the mosque.
Newbury Today, 23 October 2012
In 2010 two youths were convicted for their part in the harassment of the Newbury mosque’s imam, Olid Khandokar, who had been “repeatedly singled out by jeering youths who hurled foul abuse and even attacked him with stones as he walked in the town centre”.