Category Archives: UK

Stoke cab companies were forced to suspend service due to EDL threats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Taxi firms suspended services in Stoke-on-Trent following police warnings and threats from right-wing extremists. Most of the city’s largest private hire companies stopped running between 11pm on Saturday and 4am yesterday to protect drivers and passengers. It followed advice from Staffordshire Police in the wake of violence which erupted at the English Defence League (EDL) rally, in Hanley, on Saturday afternoon. And it has emerged some taxi firms also received phone calls from individuals threatening to target Asian and Muslim drivers.

Basharat Hussein, who runs Auto Cab Private Hire, in Normacot, said his firm was among those targeted. The 41-year-old manager said: “We were having threatening calls over the phone and were scared for the safety of our drivers and our customers. They were threatening to target our drivers because many of them are Asian or Muslim. We had also been getting advice from the police before the demonstration and therefore decided not to go out.”

Mohammed Mushtaq, aged 36, manager of Tunstall-based City Centre Private Hire, said he took the decision to suspend services following a call from the police. He said: “One of the sergeants at Tunstall rang and warned us that if we did go out, it would be at our own risk. The police said anyone working in and around Cobridge was particularly at risk. We carried on until about 10pm, but, after the police warning, we decided it was not worth the risk. The drivers were too scared to carry on, so we stopped all services between 11pm and 4am.”

The Sentinel, 25 January 2010

Graffiti attack on Stoke mosque ahead of EDL protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A mosque in Stoke-on-Trent was sprayed with graffiti referring to an upcoming English Defence League rally. Mosque administrators discovered the daubed message at 0630 GMT on Saturday and had removed it within two hours. Staffordshire Police said a criminal damage investigation was under way into the incident in the Normacot area.

BBC News, 25 January 2010

According to one report, the mosque was “daubed with EDL and ISLAM SCUM as well as some cars”.

EDL demonstration in Stoke ends in violent clashes with police

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDLdemonstration

The Pits n Pots blog reports on yesterday’s English Defence League protest in Stoke-on-Trent:

To begin with, the demonstration was noisy from the off but largely peaceful, there were people of all ages in attendance. As the time wore on though, the influence of alcohol seemed more apparent and large sections of the protesters began to get bolder. There was a prolonged episode of pushing against the police line as protesters tried to surge forward and get towards the U.A.F counter demonstration that was taking place just 150 meters down the road. A few youths managed to slip past police lines but were swiftly dealt with.

The demonstration began to turn ugly with protesters attacking the police with bottles, coins, placards and wood torn from nearby hoardings. Riot gear was then deployed to a police force who had started the day off wearing their traditional helmets, as part of the Police’s co-ordinated attempt to put protesters at ease.

The situation began to reach fever pitch when a youth clambered up onto of a police riot van much to the delight of his fellow protesters. Not to be outdone, two more youths then clambered up onto the concrete veranda outside Argos and ran along it wearing a captured Police helmet, both youths were arrested.

The E.D.L’s plan for a peaceful demonstration seemed to evaporate before their eyes as hooligans and extremists seemed to orchestrate proceedings. At one point the EDL supporters were even heckling their own invited speakers, chanting “who are ya?” at the Sikh speaker whose presence had been widely publicised on the E.D.L website and Forums.

Although the police operation was very much one of Cat and Mouse with groups of protesters trying to slip past police lines and outflank them, we saw the police deal with situations quickly and effectively every time. As the demonstrators began to head towards their buses and make for home, there were clearly some frustrated youth, they began to turn their anger towards us by verbally abusing us and trying to grab our equipment.

Wandering over to the U.A.F demonstration, the police had space of 10 meters or more between them and the protesters, even though trouble was anticipated from the UAF, they resembled a student peace protest and were well behaved. The Police tonight revealed to us that there had been no U.A.F associated arrests at all. Their demonstration consisted of a totally peaceful gathering with speakers chanting slogans through a microphone and the crowd willingly echoed the chants “Nazi Scum off our Streets” and “We’re Black , we’re white, together we are dynamite” echoed outside the town hall.

As they headed off, one wonders what must have been concluded by anyone who saw the demonstration. It’s hard to see how such a display could win the E.D.L much support in Stoke. Speculation was rife on the street that they had been infiltrated by far right extremists, and football hooligans. Whatever the truth is, the E.D.L’s public image took a very public battering today in Hanley.

See also A Very Public Public Sociologist, 23 January 2010

Update:  See “Three charged after English Defence League protest”, BBC News 24 January 2010

Further update:  See “Six protesters charged after clashes at English Defence League demonstration”, Daily Mail, 25 January 2010

EDL website

 

Express witch-hunts Dawatul Islam

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A hardline Islamic sect that supports hate cleric Yufuf [sic] al-Qaradawi is planning to build a giant madrassa school and Muslim centre a few minutes from Britain’s new Olympic stadium.

The nationwide Dawatul Islam group, which has links with the militant Islamist Jamaat e Islami movement in Bangladesh, has lodged the proposals for an 11-storey, boys-only boarding school and Muslim community centre in east London with the local council. It will cost £27million and involves the demolition of an historic Victorian schoolhouse it bought for £377,000 in 1998. The £1million-a-year charity was awarded £32,000 of Government “Preventing Violent Extremism” cash last year, despite the controversial views of its vice-president, Hasan Mueenuddin.

He has described Britain’s ban on Egyptian cleric Dr al-Qaradawi, who defends suicide bombers, as “deplorable”. He called Dr al-Qaradawi “one of the most progressive thinking Muslim scholars of the 21st century”.

Sunday Express, 24 January 2010

Mosque fire ‘not race hate crime’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter ClarkA teenager who petrol bombed a mosque has escaped a jail sentence after it was judged not to be a race hate crime.

Peter Clark, from Livingston, set fire to Livingston Mosque and Community Centre in West Lothian with a beer bottle filled with petrol. Members of the mosque stamped out the fire before police were called in.

Clark, 19, appeared before Livingston Sheriff Court and was fined £400. He was also ordered to pay the mosque £60 in compensation.

Fiscal depute Victoria Greening told the court that members of the mosque found the smouldering remains of the bottle smashed against a door at the back of the religious building on 17 August, 2008.  The bottle was taken away for analysis and the DNA proved a match to Clark who had earlier denied any knowledge of the fire.

In mitigation, Clark told the court that he had been having problems with his pregnant girlfriend and had also learned that his father was not his biological dad. Ms Greening said: “There is no indication that this was a racially motivated crime.” Clark’s solicitor, Ian Bryce, said his client was not a racist and he was not acting in a racist manner. “It was an act of profound foolishness, nothing more, nothing less than that,” Mr Bryce added.

Sheriff Alan Miller said: “You are very lucky really. This incident could have turned out to be so much more serious than it did had the fire really taken effect or had there been injury to people as well as damage to premises.”

BBC News, 22 January 2010

Ali Mangera on the failure of the Abbey Mills Mosque plan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The architect who drew up plans for a huge mosque next to the Olympic Park in east London has said the scheme fell through because of Islamophobia. Ali Mangera, co-founder of emerging Anglo-Spanish practice Mangera Yvars, also criticised religious group Tablighi Jamaat, which was due to use the planned 12,000-seat mosque, for failing to engage in the planning process.

Tablighi Jamaat controversially dropped Mangera Yvars as architect in 2007, replacing it with Allies & Morrison.

Mangera said he was “disappointed” for Allies & Morrison, and blamed anti-Muslim sentiment for the collapse of his scheme. “A lot of the people who are opposing the scheme have questionable motives,” he said. “There’s Islamophobia.”

Newham Council wrote to Tablighi Jamaat last week after it failed to meet a deadline to submit a masterplan for the 7.3ha site.

Mangera, a Muslim himself, said the group should have also appointed a project manager to handle relations with the council and opponents. “I’m not surprised by what’s happened,” he added. “There was no one to manage the project. A sensitive and complex site requires quite a sophisticated approach. Tablighi Jamaat need to be a lot better organised. They need someone sophisticated to appreciate the design process and engage with the council and opponents.”

Building Design, 22 January 2010

See also “Mega Mosque cancelled: BNP victory”, London Patriot, 18 January 2010

Leeds bus driver arrested over ‘Muslim terrorist’ jibe claim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police have arrested a bus driver who allegedly called a woman passenger a Muslim terrorist and asked her if she had put a bomb on his bus. An investigation was launched by First Buses in Leeds after Turkish-born Hatice McGraffin, 29, claimed a driver made the inflammatory remarks as she boarded her bus on Thursday morning.

Cafe worker Mrs McGraffin claimed he said: “‘You are an Islamic terrorist – you have put a bomb on the bus’. I asked people on the bus ‘are you listening to this’ but they ignored me. I am not even a practicing Muslim and I am married to an Englishman. I got off the bus and went to work but I couldn’t work. I was crying so much and my hands were shaking, I had to go home. This is the first time this has happened to me in my life. There are lots of Muslim people living in this country, does he think they are all terrorists?”

Yorkshire Evening Post, 23 January 2010

Muslim community meets to raise concerns over growing anti-Muslim violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imams and religious scholars from hundreds of Muslim organisations will gather in Birmingham on Saturday, 23rd January to discuss the rise in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim attacks in the UK and across Europe. We are pleased to announce that Wes Streeting, President of the National Union of Students and Salma Yaqoob, Birmingham City Councillor will be present and take part in the meeting.

Convened by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the meeting will note with deep regret and concerns that Islamophobia is becoming largely acceptable and tolerable due to the silence from our political leaders and by some sections of the media. This further enhances the legitimacy to ignore the concerns of the British Muslim community and increases the possibility of more anti-Muslim violence. Due to the lack of any clear policy or directive by the government, it has emboldened the far right groups, who are now increasingly targeting Muslims and their places of worship with virtual impunity.

MCB press release, 22 January 2010

All-faith stand against EDL march in Stoke-on-Trent

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-EDL pledgeChristian, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh faith leaders have signed a pledge opposing a planned rally by The English Defence League (EDL) in Stoke-on-Trent. The faith leaders lit a candle and signed a pledge of unity against all racism outside Stoke Minster Church.

The Right Reverend Gordon Mursell, The Church of England Bishop of Stafford, said: “If Stoke-on-Trent is to have a good future, it is absolutely vital that all its citizens, irrespective of creed and background, work together for the common good. We believe that real diversity actually helps create a vibrant and attractive city. The EDL and BNP think the opposite. That is why we oppose them.”

The Right Reverend David McGough, the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop for North Staffordshire, added: “We must all oppose any extremism that would play on peoples’ fears and anxieties to divide our city and set one section of our community against another.”

Gurmeet Singh Kallar, of the Sikh Gurdwarar, said: “As Sikhs we believe that all people are important to God and we are against the persecution of any group or minority.”

BBC News, 21 January 2010

Update:  See also “Midlands TUC condemns English Defence League presence in Stoke-on-Trent”, TUC press release, 23 January 2010 and “Leaders united against unwelcome extremists”, The Sentinel, 23 January 2010

Torygraph witch-hunts Wakkas Khan …

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim activist advising the Government on religion is the former president of an Islamic student society, which has been linked to extremists. Wakkas Khan was praised by John Denham, the Communities Secretary, for his “outstanding track record of achievement” when he was appointed as a faith adviser. But the Cheshire-based dentist has a history of criticising the Government for its anti-terror policies, defending extremist groups and meeting radical Islamists.

Daily Telegraph, 21 January 2010