More than 1,000 rallied Friday night in Dearborn against the anti-Islam movie that has sparked protests around the world. Organized by Arab-American leaders, the rally was the third protest in metro Detroit over the movie, the biggest one yet.
“Say No to Hate-Mongering, Say No to Islamophobia,” read a large banner at the rally in Dearborn’s civic center, the Ford Performing Arts & Community Center. On the podium was a sign that read: “We (heart symbol) Prophet Muhammad.”
The protests, marathon public hearings and years of meeting in homes and business parks were just memories Friday afternoon.
That’s when members of the Islamic Center of Temecula Valley gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the upcoming start of construction on its long-in-the-works mosque project.
The mosque, which will be built in two phases, will be the center’s first permanent home for its members, who have worshiped in members’ homes and commercial areas in both Temecula and Murrieta.
“This is a glorious day. A day to celebrate. Be proud to be in America, a Muslim in America,” said Emad Rasheed, the center’s chairman, addressing a cheering group of the center’s members.
A 21-year-old Rochdale man and a 16-year-old youth from Stockport have been locked up by a judge for their part in disturbances involving English Defence League supporters at the Eureka Museum in Halifax.
The Collectif contre l’Islamophobie en France reports a graffiti attack on a mosque at Vandoeuvre in north-eastern France. The word “Israel” in Hebrew has been sprayed onto the doors along with a Star of David and “LDJ” – the initials of the Ligue de défense juive (Jewish Defence League), the extreme right-wing Kahanist movement whose UK section is headed by former EDL Jewish Division leader Roberta Moore. No doubt this act of desecration would meet with her enthusiastic approval.
To accompany their coverage of the English Defence League’s harrassment of worshippers at Margate mosque, the Isle of Thanet Gazette reports on a recent EDL meeting in the Kent seaside town.
Scores of campaigners gathered at the city council offices to submit a petition opposing the handover of a former Scout hut to an Islamic charity.
The group, calling itself the Committee for the Forgotten Estates of Thurnby Lodge and Netherhall, passed the document to City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby yesterday.
They are asking the council not to allow the As-Salaam Trust to take control of a disused scout building located in the heart of the estate. The charity, whose members have been meeting on the estate for two-and-a-half years, are asking to take over the disused building.
More than 250 Thurnby Lodge residents gathered outside the Leicester City Council headquarters in New Walk last night to witness the handover.
Police were called to keep the peace after English Defence League (EDL) demonstrators targeted Muslim worshippers outside Margate mosque.
Two men handed out anti-Islamic propaganda before Friday prayers last week, angering some members of the congregation who then reported the incident to police.
A British National Party member and former Stoke-on-Trent councillor has received a suspended jail sentence for using racist language online.
Michael Coleman, 45, of Caverswall Road, Weston Coyney, had denied two counts of racially aggravated harassment. The charges related to racist language used in two articles on his website between 8 August 2011 and 8 March 2012.
Doug Saunders, author of The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West?, draws attention to the parallels between the anti-Catholic bigotry of the past and the Islamophobia of today.