Le Progrès reports on an arson attack on a mosque in Tarare. Petrol was poured outside the front door of the mosque and set alight, but the fire doors were able to contain the blaze.
A few months ago the letters “FN” – the initials of the far-right Front National – were painted on the mosque’s wall. ”
Graffiti, arson. And what will it be next?” the mosque secretary asked. “A small bomb?”
The warden of the main mosque in downtown Sofia has suffered a brutal assault at the hands of unidentified attackers just minutes before the start of the morning prayer on Sunday, the Chief Mufti’s Office announced.
“Today we witnessed yet another attack against Sofia mosque. This morning, 20 minutes before the morning prayer, the warden of the mosque in Sofia was cruelly beaten. Unknown people have jumped over the fence of the mosque, beaten the keeper, destroyed the security room and burst into the mosque,” says the statement.
The man was found by worshippers who came to the mosque for the morning prayer, covered in blood and unconcious, it said. He has been taken to the emergency Pirogov hospital.
“Hate crimes, acts of xenophobia and Islamophobia have risen dramatically in recent months,” says the statement of the Chief Mufti’s Office.
The news comes just a month after a Muslim man and five policemen were hurt in clashes between supporters of Bulgaria’s ultra-nationalist Ataka party and worshippers outside the Banya Bashi mosque in Sofia on May 20.
Update: See Sofia Echo, 13 June 2011
Undeterred by the fact that his shoddy journalism recently led to his employers apologising to the East London Mosque and removing his inaccurate report from their website, Andrew Gilligan returns to promoting his fantasy about the “Islamification” of Tower Hamlets in today’s Sunday Telegraph.
Predictably, this latest episode in Gilligan’s witch-hunt has been taken up by the EDL:
Here are some of the comments from EDL supporters that the article has inspired. Gilligan must be really proud of himself.
Terry Stewart of Out East has responded (in a personal capacity) to the statement/open letter by LGBT activists reported in yesterday’s Guardian.
Islamaphobia, middle class journalists and the Pim Fortuyn List?
Far be it from me to quote Conservative Chairs, but Sayeed Warsi is more progressive than the individuals who drafted the Guardianletter, when it comes to the issue of Hate.
“Islamophobia has now crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability. It is a socially acceptable form of bigotry, often dressed up in the clothes of liberalism.”
One look at the letter and you begin to see a pretty nasty scenario unfolding, if not opposed by people who are genuinely opposed to all forms of hate, whether it is racism, homophobia, Transphobia and Islamaphobia.
The LGBT community are not alone when it comes to attacks upon our community simply for daring to be who we are and living an open and loving life with the person of our choice, dressing or choosing our identity in what way we want.
Trans people are constantly in fear of their lives, whilst on the street or in their homes, yet one members of this list, has made it her life’s ambition to be as hateful as is possible to the Trans community.
One look at the murder rate of Trans people World wide and you begin to see that the highest murder rate of Trans is in Latin America and not in the Middle East or countries which practice the faith of Islam.
Look at the figures of hate crime against the LGBT community in the London area and again we see that the highest rates are not in Tower Hamlets or communities with a high density of Muslim people. The figures speak for themselves:
21% increase in Tower Hamlets,
26% Westminster,
26% Lambeth,
29% Brent,
60% Islington,
60% Croydon,
62% Sutton,
75% Enfield,
83% Havering,
83% Kingston-upon-Thames,
125% Harrow.
Actual numbers of reported homophobic crime are, 21% rise in Tower Hamlets is a total of 81 cases in the last year, an additional 14 cases. 88 cases in Islington in the previous year before, a 60% increase to 131 cases. It equals the 82 cases in Camden achieved after a 13% reduction. It is significantly less than Westminster’s 148 cases and Lambeth’s 132.
I remember in the 80’s the Rev George Hargraves (Who produced the Gay anthem of the period Macho macho man song by Sinita) from a Hackney Evangelical church, making some of the most horrendous homophobic statements. At no stage did we see this as the voice of the Black community, simply the rantings of an individual homophobe, who was also happy to pick up the royalties generated by his Gay anthem.
The statements which were made on the Homophobic stickers were also just the rants of a small group of Homophobes and again most of the LGBT community in East London felt the same.
So why are a small group of Journalists, Writers, Rag Tag and Bobtail pushing the story that the Muslim community in Whitechapel is baying for the blood of the East London LGBT community?
Tower Hamlets is not alone when it comes to a small section of the LGBT community linking in with the Far Right. Look at other cities in Europe and you see members of the far right along with member of the LGBT community marching into Immigrant communities and attacking those communities and the argument of Homophobia is used as the reason for such actions.
This is also reflected in the political arena, with a sizeable section of the LGBT community falling into line with this racist and Islamaphobic right. We seen this in the Netherlands with the rise of The Pim Fortuyn List.
As I said at the beginning we are not alone in the LGBT community when it comes to hate crimes. Many Muslims across the country are being terrorised by racist thugs and yet we hear nothing about it.
Young women are spat on in the street, Mosques are attacked and fire bombed. Even the dead are not allowed to rest. Graveyards have been desecrated. From Leicester to Scunthorpe this has been the experience of the Muslim community. Yet if the group who signed the article are serious about hate crime, then they have to extend that support to the Muslim community, something they not only fail to do, but end up becoming part of the mob.
I think the authors of the letter need to address the whole communities’ experience of hate, rather than attacking and undermining the very valuable work carried out by the East London LGBT Community, Tower Hamlets Council, The Metropolitan Police and the East London Mosque, in our attempt to deal with Homophobia, Transphobia, Islamaphobia and all hate crime in our community.
We have and will continue to challenge Homophobia, from which ever quarter this comes including all faith groups and it is for this reason that Rainbow Hamlets and other held a conference on Faith and Homophobia, here in Tower Hamlets last month.
We will be having a festival for the whole community specifically around hate and our priority will be aimed at making sure the LGBT community is totally included in every aspect of community life here in Tower Hamlets.
Editorial Note: This excellent article is taken from the Facebook group East London is a Hate Free Zone.
The local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic relations debuted today billboards that promote Muslim patriotism to counter Islamophobia in the months leading up to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The 10 billboards, located along area interstates, read “Proud Americans, Proud Texans, Proud Muslims,” and display faces of members of the Houston Muslim community.
One billboard shows Muslims serving in a variety of professions – including a doctor and soldier – and another illustrates interfaith relationships by showing an imam with a Jewish rabbi and Christian pastor.
Houston is the first city to display such billboards, though other markets may adopt the campaign, said Ibrahim Hooper, national spokesman for CAIR.
A grant from private donors enabled the organization to afford the $54,000 cost, said Mustafaa Carroll, director of CAIR-Houston.
The billboards are meant to promote a positive image of local Muslims in response to recent incidents in the community, including two Houston-area mosques that were deliberately set on fire this spring.
Trade unionists came together with Muslim young people to oppose the racists and fascists of the English Defence League in Dewsbury today.
Around 200 people from Dewsbury and neighbouring areas of West Yorkshire showed their support for multiculturalism and their opposition to the EDL thugs at the event organised by Kirklees UAF and supported by the local Unison branch, other trade unionists and faith leaders.
The antiracist demonstrators included trade unionists from the Unison, NUT, CWU and GMB unions among others, plus a large and lively contingent of young Muslims, standing up proudly against the Islamophobic EDL.
Speakers at the rally included NUT rep Martin Jones, Pat Jones of Kirklees Unison, CWU rep Simon Midgely, Ashiq Hussein, chair of We are Bradford, and UAF joint secretary Weyman Bennett.
The EDL mobilised across the North of England and the Midlands to bring between 300 and 400 to their racist “protest”, with racist and fascist thugs coming from as far afield as Leicester, Newcastle and Merseyside.
They had attempted to assemble in nearby Bately before heading for Dewsbury, but were gathered up by police and escorted on buses into their assigned spot in a Dewsbury car park.
Counter-protesters staged a demonstration at Maidenhead Mosque today following a march by the English Defence League (EDL) in Maidenhead’s town centre.
The EDL held a protest in the town from about 10.30-1pm today, against the Islamic Trust’s plans for a new cultural centre near Maidenhead Mosque.
Police lined the town centre streets during the demonstrations today. They also patrolled surrounding areas including Moor Lane in the North Town area of Maidenhead, where about 100 Muslims, Unite Against Fascism members (UAF) and residents, staged a counter march – heading their way towards Maidenhead Mosque.
UAF members, many of whom were not Muslim, went inside Maidenhead Mosque at about noon before sitting inside – where members from the Muslim community prayed.
Talking outside the mosque, members of the crowd said they were there to defend the place of worship. “Many of us are worried that EDL members will come here and try to deface or ruin the mosque. It is our place of worship so we are here to defend it if we need to,” said a 22-year-old man who wished not to be named through fears he will be targeted.
Maidenhead Advertiser, 11 June 2011
See also “EDL protest: Protesters march and make speeches in town centre”, Maidenhead Advertiser, 11 June 2011
The statement by a group of LGBT activists reported yesterday by the Guardian, Pink News and the East London Advertiser draws attention to the worrying rise in homophobic crimes in Tower Hamlets, which increased by 21%, from 67 to 81, during the year up to April. But the statement fails to mention that this phenomenon is to be found across many London boroughs and that Tower Hamlets is by no means the worst example.
Indeed, when the Pink Paper reported last month on increases in homophobic crime revealed by the latest Metropolitan Police statistics, Tower Hamlets didn’t even rate a mention:
“Homophobic attacks in London’s Soho and the gay-friendly borough of Westminster increased last year, according to the Met Police. New figures released by Scotland Yard revealed that anti-gay hate crime increased by 26 per cent, from 117 to 148 incidents, from April 2010 to April 2011…. The borough of Harrow suffered the biggest increase in assaults, with crimes soaring by 125 per cent. Likewise, Islington saw a significant jump with incidents rising from 82 to 131, a surge of 60 per cent. The boroughs of Havering, Kingston-upon-Thames and Enfield weren’t dissimilar, joining Westminster as some of the worst offenders in the Greater London area.”
The Express had two of its perennial bugbears – immigration and Europe – in its sights this morning when it reported that a Muslim couple that had settled in Britain were to use taxpayers’ cash to fight France’s burkha ban in the European Court of Human Rights.
Its headline boldly declared that: “French Muslims to use our cash to fight burkha ban.” The first paragraph fleshed this out in more detail: “A French Muslim couple sparked fury yesterday by using a free legal service paid for by British taxpayers to challenge their country’s controversial burkha ban.”
However readers able to splutter their way through to the end of the article might have noticed a slight problem: none of the story as told in the bulk of the article was actually accurate.
The Express includes a cursory quote at the end of its article explaining that the couple concerned were not actually receiving public money, as was loudly proclaimed in the headline.
It read: “But a Legal Services spokesman said that even if taxpayer-funded IAS lawyers were representing the couple, that service would not be paid for by legal aid. He added that they only gave legal aid to cases involving British law and concerned with immigration.”
While the Express no longer subscribes to the Press Complaints Commission, we hope its editors would agree that articles such as this mislead and misinform the paper’s readers. We will therefore be asking the Express to print a correction.
While the Finsbury Park Mosque is preparing to launch the 4th annual neighbourhood open day for the local community at Islington on Sunday the 26th of June 2011, the morning of Thursday the 9th of June 2011 was a very tough morning for the staff of the mosque.
The mosque is used to receiving hate mail from extremists who have racist views or those who do not know what positive role the mosque plays within the community and the larger British society. Yet, this morning was different as the letter, which was addressed to the Imam this time, was nothing but an offensive drawing on the religion of Islam and some offensive words about the Prophet Mohammed.
What was horrible though is that there was a very strange white powder on the letter in a considerable amount. Unable to know the nature of that powder which could have been anything, the staff contacted the police who evacuated the mosque and put the two members of staff who came in contact with the powder under observation in case any health complications or symptoms appear on them. Ambulance and police cars surrounded the scene and the whole Muslim community in Islington were terrified; the road around the mosque was blocked and people were very worried.
From around 12:30 at noon till around 4:00 pm the mosque went through a very difficult time until the special police forces that analysed the powder discovered that it is not dangerous. At this stage, fingerprints were taken and the envelope along with the powder and the letter were taken for forensic investigation as well as reviewing the mosque CCTV. The Muslim community in Finsbury Park is still going through the trauma of such heinous attack on the safety of a peaceful place of worship.
Finsbury Park Mosque board of trustees stress that, “At these difficult times and with the launch of the controversial new Prevent by the Home Secretary, the whole society is undergoing many difficult challenges that require all communities to stand against terrorism and extremism and realise that Muslims just like other communities suffer from racist groups like the BNP and EDL and the likes who blindly judge and behave in a very dangerous way that can put the whole society in difficulties”.