Head of Islamic community group in Loughton subject to arson attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The head of a recently formed Islamic community group has received a threatening letter and had his house targeted by arsonists in an apparently racist campaign against him.

Noor Ramjanally, of Valley Hill, Loughton, said his family had been very shaken by the incidents which started after he hired the Murray Hall, in Borders Lane, for Islamic prayer sessions.

He told the Guardian: “Every Friday we have our prayers and meetings, then we disperse. This Wednesday I received a threatening letter saying: ‘We don’t want you to carry on at this. We know which school your kid goes to and which car you drive.’

“On Thursday they set fire to the front door of my home. They used an accelerant. It’s with the police and they are doing all the checks.

“I’m ok, but my wife and kid are very disturbed. I’ve had to take my kid out of his school. It’s definitely targeted. They don’t want the Islamic community centre in Loughton, I don’t know why.”

Essex Police have confirmed they are investigating both incidents as racially motivated.

Epping Forest Guardian, 3 July 2009

Police fear far-right terror attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command fears that right-wing extremists will stage a deadly terrorist attack in Britain to try to stoke racial tensions, the Guardian has learned. Senior officers say it will be a “spectacular” that is designed to kill. The counter-terrorism unit has redeployed officers to increase its monitoring of the extreme right’s potential to stage attacks.

Commander Shaun Sawyer told a meeting of British Muslims concerned about the danger to their communities that police were responding to the growing threat.

“There is an increased possibility of violence from the far right. There is a trend,” said one senior source, adding that the ideology of the violent right was driven by “people who don’t like immigration, people who don’t like Islam. We’re seeing a resurgence of anti-semitism as well.”

The meeting at which Sawyer spoke was staged by the Muslim Safety Forum, whose chair, Abdurahman Jafar, said: “Muslims are the first line of victims in the extreme right’s campaign of hate and division and they make no secret about that. Statistics show a strong correlation between the rise of racist and Islamophobic hate crime and the ascendancy of the BNP.”

Guardian, 7 July 2009

Paul Ray admits to BNP links

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The far right group responsible for Saturday’s demo against Islamic extremism in Birmingham has revealed its opposition to all Muslims practising their faith in Britain. In an interview with Stirrer editor Adrian Goldberg on Talksport last night, spokesman Paul Ray also admitted their links with the BNP.

As we revealed yesterday, the protest was organised by the English (and Welsh) Defence League. Despite the group’s claim to be non-political, it’s emerged on Indymedia that their website was set up by Chris Renton, a BNP activist who lives in Weston-super-Mare. When EDL spokesman Ray was quizzed about this, he acknowledged Renton’s involvement, but insisted, “people’s political views are their own affair.”

During the course of the interview, it became apparent that Ray’s own view of Islamic extremism isn’t limited to suicide bombers and hook handed preachers of hate. He argued that the Qu’ran teaches all its advocates to wage jihad or holy war in non-Muslim countries, and acknowledged that on this basis, all devout or practising Muslims in Britain, are – in his words – “at war with our country.” When pressed, he said: “They’re ultimately engaged in converting our country to an Islamic state … that is the religious mandate of the Qu’ran that all Muslims must adhere to.”

The Stirrer, 7 July 2009

Update:  See also Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, 8 July 2009

Egypt funeral for stabbing victim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mideast Egypt Germany Court Stabbing

An official funeral has been held for a pregnant Egyptian woman stabbed to death as she prepared to give evidence in a German courtroom.

Several government representatives took part in the funeral for 32-year-old Marwa Sherbini in the northern city of Alexandria on Monday.

Sherbini was stabbed 18 times by a German man of Russian descent, formally identified only as Axel W, last week as she was about to give evidence against him as he appealed against his conviction for calling her a “terrorist” for her wearing the hijab.

Al Jazeera’s Rawyeh Rageh, reporting from Alexandria, said that the case had attracted huge attention in Egypt. “The local council here in Alexandria, the victim’s hometown, has decided to name a street after her and the press is describing her as the ‘Hijab Martyr’,” she said. “At least two protests are expected to take place in Alexandria and Cairo as this is being seen as a xenophobic and Islamophobic attack.”

The German embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, said that the attack was not a reflection of German attitudes towards Muslims. But Sulaiman Wilms, the head of communications at the European Muslim Union, said that the incident was at least partly representative of the situation faced by Muslims across the continent.

“It definitely reflects a certain spillover from certain elements of the public-media discourse, but it also reflects the general violence and degradation of order which we have within European societies in these times of global crisis,” he told Al Jazeera from Cologne. “People are looking for victims and Muslims are sometimes seen as a viable option.”

Al Jazeera, 6 July 2009

Islamic charity shop set on fire after repeated threats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Islamic Relief arsonThe Glasgow branch of Islamic Relief, a worldwide disaster relief charity and member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), has been badly damaged after being set on fire in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Commenting on the incident Habib Malik, Head of Islamic Relief Scotland, said:

“This is a huge blow for the local community. Not only is this our Scottish HQ but also our leading charity shop in the country, it is a vibrant hub for the community, with volunteers and donors regularly passing through the doors.

“Unfortunately, earlier this year, during the time of our Gaza Emergency Appeal we received a number of threats of this nature. We are an apolitical charity; we do not take sides in any conflict and simply act to help alleviate people’s suffering. Unfortunately, due to the fact we have the word ‘Islamic’ in our name; we are often an easy target for certain racist and Islamaphobic groups and individuals.

“This despicable incident, which could have easily cost lives, has rightly been condemned by the whole community and by people of all faiths and none. We are genuinely humbled by everyone’s offers of support and we will be working around the clock to get normal service resumed.”

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Woman killed in courtroom bloodbath was pregnant

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A woman stabbed to death in a Dresden courtroom was three months pregnant, reported German newspaper Bild on Friday.

According to Egyptian newspapers, the woman was Marwa al-Sherbini, a 32-year-old Egyptian national who was suing her attacker after he insulted her for wearing the Islamic headscarf. The attacker, identified only as Alex W., was appealing the €780 fine he was ordered to pay in the libel suit.

Al-Sherbini was the wife of Egyptian academic Elwi Ali-Okaz. He was also hurt in the incident after he tried to help his wife and is in critical condition in hospital. Police are now investigating Alex W. for manslaughter.

The Local, 3 July 2009

Update:  See also Islam Online, 5 July 2009

Paul Richards condemns decision to reinstate Azad Ali

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Paul Richards, former advisor to Hazel Blears at DCLG, and defender of Blears’ disgraceful decision to sever links with the Muslim Council of Britain, now takes issue with the reinstatement of suspended civil servant Azad Ali, which Richards takes as “further proof that there are sections of the British establishment that simply fail to comprehend the true nature and intent of some of the organisations of political Islam”.

Jewish Chronicle, 2 July 2009

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 4 July 2009

Psychiatric tests for mosque bomb threat man

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Neil MacGregorA man who threatened to blow up Glasgow Central Mosque has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment. Neil MacGregor also threatened to kill a Muslim a day until all mosques in Scotland were closed.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sheriff Andrew Mackie told the 36-year-old he appeared to be suffering from mental illness. McGregor will appear again in four weeks time after being assessed at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth.

MacGregor admitted telephoning and e-mailing Strathclyde Police to make the threats from a flat in Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, between January and February 2007. The court heard that the e-mail read:

“I’m a proud racist and National Front member. We as an organisation have decided to deal with the current threat from Muslims in our own British way, like our proud ancestors. Our demands are very small. Close all mosques in Scotland. If our demands aren’t met by next Friday, we’ll kidnap one Muslim and execute him or her on the internet, just like they did to our Ken Bigley.”

MacGregor then followed up the e-mail with a call threatening to blow up Central Mosque.

Ordering McGregor to undergo a psychiatric assessment, Sheriff Mackie told him: “It has been clear for some time your mental health has been causing concern. This may be related to you having previously served in the forces, although doubt has arisen as to whether you actually served in a combat zone.”

BBC News, 3 July 2009

Meanwhile the Financial Times reports that Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire police, has told a security conference in London: “There is a growing right-wing threat, not just Al-Qaeda.” And a spokeswoman for Searchlight is quoted as saying that police forces were paying increased attention to the threat but courts too often dismissed those caught as deluded loners. “Far-right terrorism is a serious problem. The courts have not always treated it so,” she said.

Antwerp protests against schools’ headscarf ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hoboken headscarf protestOn Sunday about 120 Muslims protested in Antwerp against the headscarf ban in the Royal Athenaeums of Antwerp and Hoboken.

They carried signs saying: “Everybody free, except us,” “Democracy, not discrimination” and “You are the oppressors, not us.” They demanded to rescind the headscarf ban by the two schools.

Parent Mina Cheeba said in a speech that the representatives of the parents in the school council haven’t heard of any social pressure to wear a headscarf and that if there are actual complaints, then they would like to take a look at them so they could come to a solution together.

Cheeba says the decision to ban the headscarf was made without asking the parents’ advice. The school regulations shouldn’t be changed autonomously, but by consultation with the parents.

Several students also expressed their displeasure. One said that they’re supposedly under pressure to wear a headscarf, but that’s nonsense. They are not feather-brains who accept everything without thinking.

Ayoub Aazzouti said that he’s fed up of the men being portrayed as machos who force girls to wear headscarves, because it’s not like that. “For us boys and girls are equal. We have a lot of respect for them and they are intelligent enough to decide on their own if they wear a headscarf or not. Stop using us as an excuse.”

On Monday about 40 Muslim women showed up to protest in front of the Royal Athenaeum of Hoboken. Some of the slogans included: “distressed by the lack of understanding”, “why a ban on my character”, and “lies in order to discriminate”.

One of the students spoke: “We have a right to study and to a headscarf. It’s not one or the other, we have a right to both.”

Islam in Europe, 2 July 2009