Fascists behind Luton arson attack?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police sought to calm fears yesterday that a suspected arson attack on an Islamic ­centre in Luton was revenge for the picketing of homecoming British troops by Muslim extremists in March.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the UK’s leading Islamic body, said the incident, in which an explosive device was thrown into the centre just after midnight on Tuesday, was motivated by Islamophobia.

The MCB said the Call to Islam Education Centre had received threats from far-right groups two weeks after Muslim protesters picketed a homecoming event for soldiers with “Butchers of Basra” placards. The MCB called on mosques and Muslim businesses, community centres and schools in the area to take extra precautions against attack.

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the MCB, said: “Although the investigation is still ongoing into this shocking crime, we cannot ignore the clear correlation between the rise of Islamophobia with the rise of extremist far-right groups in Britain.”

Bedfordshire police said there was no evidence to suggest at this stage that the fire was started by far-right extremists, although a spokeswoman said two threatening letters “full of unpleasant, racist vitriol” had been received by the centre.

Farasat Latif, the centre’s secretary, said: “We believe that this attack was carried out by far-right extremists, an attack that could have led to many deaths. Over 90 children attend our centre daily. Had this happened at a different time, the results would have been catastrophic.”

Guardian, 9 May 2009

See also Inayat Bunglawala’s piece at Comment is Free, 8 May 2009

Facebook campaign for Manx mosque faces opposition

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An internet group set up by the Island’s Muslim community has sparked fiercely anti-Islamic opposition. The group on social networking site Facebook, outlining their campaign for a new mosque to replace the converted garage used at present, has attracted almost 100 members.

But 360 people have joined an opposition group claiming to be non-racist but carrying comments such as: “Thay (sic) can **** right off!!!!!! thay come over and don’t respect are (sic) way of life. Thay belive (sic) if you are not a muslam (sic) you should die wots (sic) all that about!!! thay have one (a mosque) as it is so why do thay need a new one **** off i say !!!”

The creator of the group “New Mosque for Isle of Man” explains the Muslim community, thought to number around 70, has been using a small converted garage as a mosque for more than 20 years. He claims Islamic worshippers are “at a disadvantage” as the mosque is too small to hold them all for Jumuah salah, a Friday afternoon prayer considered the most important of the week.

Meanwhile, contributors to the opposition group “No to Mosque in the Isle of Man” urge members to “keep your Island free of the alien invaders”. One member accuses the Island’s Muslims of “taking education, jobs and a better way of life and throwing it back in our faces”. Another writes: “You can’t say you are Muslim and not expect suspicion from the world … you have earned it.”

Those who have left messages condemning such comments are described as “white traitors”. “Wake up and grow some loyalty to your own people, your own country, your own race, your own identity as White British,” one member writes. “Stop falling over yourself to condemn your own people all so a horde of foreign, anti-British Muslims can colonise the Isle of Man.”

One Island-based Muslim writes: “I don’t see why a very small group of people going to worship in their own time, not bothering anyone else, seems so bad to people? The last 20 years is proof that Islam on the Isle of Man is not a negative thing and that it has never affected anything on the Island in a bad way.

“The only difference now is that the mosque is no longer big enough and it is against health and safety regulations for 70 people to pray in a building that only holds 40. The Muslims on the Isle of Man have never bothered anyone before. What makes people think that a slightly bigger place to worship is going to damage the Isle of Man?”

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Patriotic, respectful and homophobic: a portrait of British Muslims’ state of mind

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Well, that how the headline currently reads to a quite balanced report of the Gallup poll findings in today’s Independent. However, as you can see from the URL, the original headline was “Patriotic, paranoid and homophobic”. Quite where they got that from, I don’t know. Perhaps the sub-editor was so used to producing headlines for articles portraying the Muslim community in a negative light that they had difficulty adjusting.

And over at the Daily Mail, their report is headed “Just one in 10 British Muslims feel integrated into society, study claims“.

The Muslim conquest of Europe (part 655)

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“There’s a truly awful piece in Telegraph blogs by, no not Damian Thompson, but Ed West, entitled ‘Here’s an inconvenient truth: the Islamisation of Europe‘. West tries to rationalize what is nothing more than a racist diatribe against Muslim immigration and Muslim citizenship in Europe. While he tries to couch his article in language that conveys anxiety over mass immigration and the costs to social cohesion, he betrays his barely concealed Islamophobia by singling out Islam and Muslims as the scourge of Europe.”

ENGAGE, 7 May 2009

Update:  See also Indigo Jo Blogs, 9 May 2009

British, Muslim and loyal: MCB welcomes Gallup poll findings

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Daud Abdullah, Muhammad Abdul Bari, Inayat BunglawalaThe Muslim Council of Britain today welcomed the findings of an ongoing poll conducted by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation showing that Muslims in the United Kingdom feel more loyalty towards the country in which they live than the general public believes they do.

The poll reveals a triumph of fact over opinion – it challenges the idea that Muslims have divided loyalties, are separatist and, because of their faith and religiosity, have nothing in common with fellow Britons.

MCB press release, 7 May 2009

The Gallup poll can be consulted (pdf) here.

See also Shelina Zahra Janmohamed’s post at Comment is Free, 7 May 2009

Racist thugs attack Stortford mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Herts & Essex MosqueBishop’s Stortford’s Muslims are living in “distress, fear and isolation” after their mosque was attacked by hammer-wielding thugs who abused and intimidated their religious leader.

Imam Humayun Islam was forced to flee his community’s place of worship at Millars 2, off Southmill Road, and seek refuge in an Indian restaurant when he was chased by the drunken yobs.

The group of about five men, aged in their 20s and 30s, first struck on Monday last week while worshippers were praying for the fourth time, just before 9pm. The imam said: “They came inside and started throwing our shoes out. They were heavily drunk.”

The cleric said that when he remonstrated with the intruders and asked them to leave, he was threatened with a hammer and called a “suicide bomber”. A punch was thrown and the gang started breaking glass in the mosque door, before running off as police arrived.

After the officers left, the imam and his fellow Muslims began clearing up the damage and were horrified to hear the attackers return, this time wielding bottles. Several worshippers fled and the imam was chased. He managed to avoid harm only by giving the gang the slip and hiding in the takeaway.

On Tuesday, he told the Observer: “It was a serious racist attack.” He said that it was the most frightening of a series of problems for the town’s Muslims amid a growing atmosphere of Islamophobia.

Herts & Essex Observer, 6 May 2009

Update:  See “Police appeal for witnesses after Stortford mosque attack”, Herts & Essex Observer, 6 May 2009

Arson attack on Islamic centre in Luton

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Luton Islamic CentreAn Islamic centre in Bedfordshire has been gutted by fire in what police believe was an arson attack. No-one was injured in the blaze, which started just after midnight at the centre in Bury Park Road, Luton.

A police spokesman said there was “considerable damage” and the road was likely to remain closed while forensic teams investigated the cause. Insp Martin Peters said: “It appears an accelerant was used and our immediate priorities include who started this fire and why, and making motorists aware.”

BBC News, 5 May 2009

Update:  Never a paper to pass up an opportunity to exacerbate tensions between communities, the Daily Star reports:

“Fears of a race war grew yesterday after right-wing extremists were accused of firebombing a mosque…. The attack will inflame the town gripped by race tension since riot cops broke up a ‘Reclaim The Streets’ rally aimed at police and council inaction over the taunting of the troops.”

The Star goes on to quote rent-a-mouth idiot Anjem Choudary – “there’s no telling how young extremist Muslims will react” – and a supporter of the Facebook group “Ban the Terrorists” who stated: “I think this centre was firebombed because these Muslim extremists tend to hang out nearby.”