THE CLUMSY ACTIONS & STATEMENTS
27th December 2015 The Times carried a further sensationalist and spurious headline on its front page – ‘Muslims Silent on Terror’. However, this did not reflect the articles content. Click here for an analysis.
17th November 2015 The Daily Mail has published an offensive cartoon, depicting refugees – including a hijab clad woman – ‘streaming’ towards a British entry point, with rats scurrying along on the ground. Salaam blogger comment: Mac’s cartoon is an incredibly irresponsible one that will stoke xenophobia. As Peter Fraser noted in the Independent, ‘Cartoonists have a duty to offend, but they also have responsibilities. One of those is not to attack the victims of those in power. By drawing rats alongside fleeing refugees, in my view Mac is dehumanizing these desperate people and – let’s not beat about the bush – the rat is exactly the image the Nazis used to vilify and dehumanize the Jews.’
12th October 2015 Daily Telegraph reports, ‘A primary school reported a ten-year-old Muslim boy to police on suspicion of extremism after he complained about not having a prayer room. The boy, a pupil at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham, was on a residential trip when he came to the teachers’ attention. He also told female Muslim pupils they needed to cover their faces with a head scarf. The school referred the boy to police under the government’s Prevent Duty initiative, which provides guidance to teachers on spotting signs of extremism’. click here.
25th September 2015 A teaching assistant has been sacked for objecting to a class of 11-year-olds being shown graphic footage of 9/11. Suriyah Bi, 23, was helping the year seven class at Heartlands Academy in Birmingham. The pupils were shown the horrifying video, of the terrorist attack which shook the world, which has a rating for people aged 18 and over.click here.
24th September 2015 Staffordshire University has apologised to a postgraduate student who was falsely accused of terrorism after he was seen reading a book entitled Terrorism Studies in the library. The literature formed part of Mohammed Umar Farooq’s research as he was enrolled in the institution’s terrorism, crime and security Master’s course.click here.
22nd September 2015 The Guardian reports, ‘A Muslim schoolboy was questioned about Islamic State after a classroom discussion about environmental activism, the Guardian has learned.The parents of the 14-year-old are taking legal action after the boy said he was left “scared and nervous” by his experience with school officials in north London, and was left reluctant to join in class discussions for fear of being suspected of extremism.’ click here.
13th August 2015 ITV’s tweet referring to London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan MP
25th July 2015 Daily Mail headline: ‘Welcome to East London: Muslim gang slashes tyres of immigration raid van…’
Why this reference to ‘Muslim’? Are other criminal gangs referred to by their supposed religious affiliation? Click here.
2nd July 2015 Staff mis-handling at London’s elite hotel, as reported in the Daily Mail: ‘A teenage girl said she was left “crying and shaking” after managers at The Savoy ordered her to remove her Muslim headscarf while serving customers or go home…A spokeswoman for the Savoy said : ‘We are aware of a misunderstanding that took place between a colleague, supplied by an agency, and The Savoy.’ click here.
The demonisation of Muslims in the media and the rhetoric of some politicians is causing unnecessary worries. For example in Exeter, which only has a small Muslim population: … parents have banned their children from visiting a mosque amid concerns over their safety. It has been claimed more than 10 per cent of parents whose children attend Lostwithiel School have stopped their children going on a school trip to the mosque in Exeter. click here
13th April 2015 ‘British Jews are fearful of Muslims living in the country, according to Ukip leader Nigel Farage’. Click here, Jewish Chronicle.
24th March 2015 Sun Editor Kelvin MacKenzie makes the term ‘Islamist’ a reprehensible one: And the Islamists: they are a real threat to our way of life. We need to be tough with them. The deal is non-negotiable: you live and work here and make a better future for your families. In return this nation expects you to be law-abiding, to learn English and live by its rules. Does anybody honestly believe the vast majority of migrants don’t want that too? The ‘Islamists’ are today’s witches of Pendle! Blame them for all the woes. The scaremongering found in Seventeenth Century England – burn the witches in Lancashire – has resurfaced, with responsible journalists and politicians seemingly ready to tie them to the stake. click here.
23rd March 2015 The Home Secretary’s keynote speech, A Stronger Britain, Built on our Values, has served to further stigmatise British Muslims. The speech’s very title with the words ‘our Values‘ does not offer a path for a dialogue between different sections of Britain’s contemporary diverse society, but suggests that ‘values’ are to descend from on high – take it or leave it. Theresa May, most unfairly, did not refer to the findings of the House of Commons Education Committee on the ‘Trojan Horse’ schools saga – that there was no evidence of extremism. She ought to have called for a police investigation to get to the bottom of who authored the forged Trojan Horse letter in the first place. She gave inordinate attention to the shariah courts, painting them in the darkest stereotypical misogynist colours – when Samia Bano’s research indicates that this is not necessarily the case (and surely examples of religious conservatism, and even disputable rulings, could be found in the Church of England’s ecclesiastical courts or the Jewish Beth Din if one looks hard enough). How unfortunate that cabinet ministers of Theresa May’s calibre are making statements that ‘address the anxieties people have against Muslims and their religious life, rather than the scourge of terrorism itself’ – as aptly put by the MCB.
All credit then to Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, who at the recent Muslim Council of Britain’s annual leadership dinner recognised ‘these are hard times for a young Muslims in Britain’, and that ‘stereotyping leads to alienation’.
5th March 2015 5Pillarz website reports on the abuse experienced by Maryam bint Adam on a Leicesterbus:… I do think I was targeted purely because of the way I dress. I’m easily identifiable as a Muslim, wearing both abaya and hijab Alhamdulillah, and they thought that as a woman, I wouldn’t speak up or retaliate. They picked on someone they perceived to be weak. Whether they intended to do this from the start, or just saw me as a quick bit of ‘fun’, only they can answer that.” click here.
4th March 2015 Clumsy statement or deliberate hatred-provoking? The Times [4th March 2015] has a lot to answer for this Islamophobic headline: ‘Muslim sex grooming: call for national debate, hundreds of young girls abused over 15 years in Oxford’. In what other abhominable criminal cases has the religion of the perpetrators been highlighted? The mass-murderers Rose and Fred West? Cannibal Griffiths or Dennis Nilson? The renegade GP Harold Shipman? Not at all!
19th January 2015 The Daily Telegraph’s front page headline: ‘Mosques ordered to root out extremists’. This emotive, authoritarian tone conveys the image of mosques as dens if iniquity, with British Muslims aiding and abetting anti-social behaviour. click here.click here.
18th January 2015 The Secretary of State for Community, Eric Pickles has written to 1,100 imams saying they must do more to root out “men of hate” who preach extremism. Comment: The assumption is that mosques know who the radicals are! click here.
THE MOCKING, ALARMIST TALK
12th December 2015 A taxi driver has claimed he ejected four passengers from his vehicle after one of them accused him of being a member of terrorist organisation Isis. Kanak Hirani said he was verbally and racially abused by the four men who he claims left his taxi without paying their £20 fare. click here.
9th December 2015 The Mirror reports of a teacher in Rotherham allegedly telling a Muslim boy in his class: ‘Stop talking, you terrorist’. click here.
20th November 2015 Sun newspaper’ front page headline: ‘ Nearly one in five British Muslims has some sympathy with those who have fled the UK to fight for IS in Syria.’ Whereas the Survation poll commissioned’. Salaam blogger comment: What was the survey methodology? What was the sample size? A sensationalist headline that throws oil onto the fire.
2nd November 2015 Daily Mail headline: ‘Islamist extremists are extorting ‘infidel tax’ from fellow prisoners in some of Britain’s toughest jails’. Salaam Blogger comment: surely the prison inmates, are sentenced criminals first – why highlight their faith heritage? Was this done when IRA prisoners established an internal regime during the Troubles?
4th October 2015 Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday, ‘A hijab-wearing model, Mariah Idrissi, has been chosen for a new advertisement by the fashion chain H&M. I think we will be amazed at how quickly this becomes normal. It won’t be long before we have veiled Muslim Cabinet Ministers, TV newsreaders and judges. It is all part of a slow but unstoppable adaptation of this country to Islam’. click here.
6th September 2015 Christopher Hitchens in the Daily Mail, ‘But it is interesting that this week sees the publication in English of a rather dangerous book, which came out in France just before the Charlie Hebdo murders. Submission, by Michel Houellebecq, prophesies a Muslim-dominated government in France about seven years from now, ushered into power by the French Tory and Labour parties. What they want, says one of the cleverer characters in the book, ‘is for France to disappear – to be integrated into a European federation’. This means they’d much rather do a deal with a Muslim party than with the National Front, France’s Ukip equivalent.If any of this sounds familiar to you, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s amazing how likely and simple the author makes this Islamic revolution sound. Can we stop this transformation of all we have and are? I doubt it.’ click here.
18th August 2015 The Times headline, ‘Koran encourages rape’. Later corrected to ‘Isis uses Koran to justify rape’ – but by then the damage had been done making ‘Islam’ an even more toxic brand in public perception.
1st August 2015 The East London Mosque has been the butt of grave insinuations in an article in the Mail on Sunday (MoS). It alleged – in cleverly phrased language – that the ELM has a hand in the flight of young girls in Tower Hamlets to Daesh: ‘…But now it is claimed [sic] that Sharmeena was first radicalised inside the East London Mosque, Whitechapel, allegedly by women from a group called Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE). She then allegedly groomed three friends to join her at the meetings…The MoS has been told [sic] … she (Sharmeena) She encouraged her three friends to attend meetings at the East London Mosque…Mr Uddin (father) was careful not to blame the mosque or groups within it for his daughter’s radicalisation, but his brother-in-law said the rest of the family blamed the IFE’s women’s group for poisoning the young girl’s mind…’
If the father was not blaming the mosque, why the damaging insinuations? click here for ELM’s response.
6th July 2015 The British Medical Journal’s cover page of 6 July 2015 has tainted the reputation of Muslim medical professionals by encouraging readers to associate Islamic concepts with terrorism. Far better to have used the term ‘Daesh’.
Click here for one response from an association of Muslim doctors.
12th May 2015 ‘Reverend Robert West, who stood for the British National Party in the General Election, made the comments during history lessons at a girls’ school in Grantham, Linconshire. When a pupil said she was allergic to horses, Mr West replied: “I’m allergic to Mohammedans”. Reverend Robert West, who stood for the British National Party in the General Election, made the comments during history lessons at a girls’ school in Grantham, Linconshire. When a pupil said she was allergic to horses, Mr West replied: “I’m allergic to Mohammedans” […] Although he has no connection to the Church of England, Mr West set up his own church in 2006, based in a house in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, to preach “traditional bible beliefs”.’ click here.
6th April 2015 “In the current UK election there is one subject which is vital to the whole future of Britain, and yet it is hardly mentioned, other than in vague soundbites. Not the economy, nor the question of Scottish independence, nor the future of the National Health Service, vital as each of these are. No, the subject that dare not speak its name, that politicians avoid like the plague, is Islam. And immediately all the alarm bells start ringing [… ] the real danger to our freedoms come not from Christian but from Islamic political theology.” Rev.David Roberts, Moderator Designate, Free Church of Scotland. click here.
3rd April 2015 Evening Standard reportage: ‘ Far-right protesters today staged a demonstration outside a London mosque as worshippers attended Friday prayers. Around 100 members of Britain First and the English Defence League held a demonstration outside the London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre near Regent’s Park.EDL members were heard chanting – to the tune of the Beach Boys’ Sloop John B – “it’s our country, we’re taking it back” as prayers were held.’. click here.
26th March 2015 More than 50 people have signed the document entitled ‘Rejection of Planning Permission to expand the Al-Emaan Muslim Centre on Croydon Road, Keston to accommodate 200 visitors on the grounds of road traffic & safety’. Permission is not needed to convert the church into a mosque, as both are designated places of worship.Proposals for the site include turning it into a community centre, with a planning application submitted to the council …The British National Party staged a demonstration against the plans outside the mosque on Saturday (March 15). The right wing group of around 15 held banners and handed out leaflets. Stephen Squire, London organiser for the BNP, said: “It’s not being viewed as positive by the local community. “There are less than two per cent in that ward of people who are of that religious persuasion.“They [mosques] don’t belong here. The BNP aren’t against mosques, we like mosques but in Muslim countries.” click here.
16th March 2015 UKIP MP candidate David Coburn’s slur on Hamza Yousaf MSP: ”Humza Yousaf, or as I call him, Abu Hamza.’ Mr Yousaf, the Scottish Minister for Europe and International Development, last night said Mr Farage’s response was ‘pitiful’ and challenged him to sack Mr Coburn. Mr Yousaf is now taking legal advice following the ‘Islamophobic’ slur, and will subsequently consider reporting the issue to the police. click here.
12th March 2015 UKIP leader Farage in an interview with Trevor Phillips published in the Guardian: I think perhaps one of the reasons the polls show an increasing level of concern is because people do see a fifth column living within our country, who hate us and want to kill us.’ Farage seemed oblivious of the contribution of Muslims in blood and treasure to the British cause in two World Wars, or in filling the post-war labour market shortfalls. According to the Guardian, he stated, ‘There is an especial problem with some of the people who’ve come here and who are of the Muslim religion who don’t want to become part of our culture. So there is no previous experience, in our history, of a migrant group that comes to Britain, that fundamentally wants to change who we are and what we are. That is, I think, above everything else, what people are really concerned about.’ click here.
26th February 2015 Statement from UKIP leader, Nigel Farage: “What we have done is, we have allowed, through a deliberate policy of multiculturalism, because we want to show the world what lovely people we are, and we have allowed different communities to develop a different culture within what ought to be a Judeo-Christian culture. In the case of my country, our constitution makes it perfectly clear. That is what we are as country. And whilst we want to be tolerant of other religions and other minorities, they have got to understand the law of the land in our country. We have lost sight of that…the mosques in Britain have been infiltrated by a series of preachers, funded with big money coming out of parts of the Middle East, and saying things in mosques that, if I said in the streets of London or you said in the streets of New York, we’d be arrested for pretty blooming quickly.” click here.
16th February 2015 UKIP candidate’s views, as reported in Ham & High: ‘“Islam is organised crime under religious camouflage,” he said. “Islam was created by a man called Muhammad who was a gang leader of criminals.” This year, as Ukip’s parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, Mr Nielsen is taking his stance on Islam a step further and advocating action to tackle the problems he perceives within the religion.“My great aim is to licence the mosques and licence the clergy,” he said. click here.
27th January 2015 A UKIP general election candidate is being investigated by the party over web messages backing far-right groups..[including] backing the English Defence League statement “no surrender to militant Islam or political correctness”. click here.
19th January 2015 Report from the Independent: The far-right nationalist group Britain First has restarted its campaign of what it calls “Christian Patrols” in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings, drawing widespread condemnation for what experts have described as a desperate push for relevance from a dying organisation. A video posted to the Britain First Facebook page showed a number of the group’s activists driving through east London in an ex-army issue Land Rover and declaring that they are making “our streets safe for our people”. click here.
13th January 2015 From Nigel Farage, UKIP leader: ‘In parts of northern England we’ve seen the sexual grooming of under-age girls committed by Muslim men, in the majority, and for all of these things we are seeing the law not being applied equally, we’re seeing the police forces not doing their job because we’ve suffered from moral cowardice’. Comment: Mr Farage’s highlighting of faith identity in this case is an example of the way British Muslims are stigmatised. The reality is that the majority of child abuse cases involve white Caucasian males, presumably not from a Muslim background! click here.
THE ABUSE, PHYSICAL DAMAGE & VIOLENCE
27th December 2015 London’s Evening Standard reports, ‘A young father has told how he feared for his life after being assaulted in an unprovoked racially motivated attack in east London.The father-of-two was set upon by a group of men after parking his car in Empson Street, Bow, at about 2pm on Sunday, December 20…. They called me a Paki and Muslim. Without any communication from me, one of them punched me on my nose and the other had me in a headlock. I thought I was going to pass out.’ click here.
24th December 2015 Getsurrey.co.uk reports, ‘Police are investigating a number of offensive messages mentioning ‘ISIS’ spray-painted on Indian and Chinese restaurants in St John’s. Neighbours and civic leaders in Woking have condemned the spraying of racist graffiti across businesses and homes in St John’s.’ click here.
22nd December 2015 London’s Evening Standard reports, ‘A young Muslim woman has claimed she was spat at and called a terrorist in a shocking racist rant on a London bus. Iqra Mohamed, 20, said she was subjected to Islamophobic abuse by a “crazed” man while wearing a hijab on the 43 bus in Islington. The student, from Finsbury Park, alleged that she was left fearing for her safety as other passengers looked on without stepping in to stop the abuse.’ click here.
22nd December 2015 Lancashire Telegraph reports, ‘The pig heads, particularly offensive to Muslims to whom pork is an ‘impure’ meat, were left at the gates of the Markazul Uloom Girls School in Park Lee Road, Blackburn at the weekend. Last week graffiti painted on the school wall reading ‘no mosque’ had to be removed. Police said they were called on Saturday at 7am after one pig’s head was found at the school gates and the other thrown over them.Officers said they are treating the incident as a ‘possibly racially or religiously motivated’ crime. Extra patrols have been brought in by police to reassure alarmed residents as officers appeal for help to catch those responsible. The incident follows a controversial planning application been submitted to build a mosque with dome and minarets, at the school which has generated an online protest petition with almost 2,000 signatures.’ click here.
16th December 2015 The Independent reports, ‘Police are searching for two women who punched a Muslim woman in the head and kicked her off a London bus while shouting racist abuse.The Metropolitan Police are launching a new appeal for information on the Islamophobic attack in October, which they are treating as a hate crime.The victim, in her 40s, was travelling on the 63 bus near Elephant and Castle station when the abuse started.’ click here.
30th November 2015 Birmingham Mail reports, ‘ A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was brutally punched in the face in Birmingham city centre in what is thought to be an Islamophobic attack. Miss Choudhury, 18, who did not want her first name published, said she had been left shocked after the assault which happened as she was walking along New Street. Her attacker, who was wearing a grey hooded top, just came up to her and punched her in the street.Police have appealed for witnesses to the attack, which happened at 7.30am on Monday, November 23, and said they were treating it as a ‘hate crime’. click here.
28th November 2015 The Evening Standard reports, ‘A pregnant Muslim woman was racially abused by a drunk man who branded her a “terrorist” in a 15 minute tirade on a London bus while passengers looked on without intervening, it has been claimed. The Turkish victim faced a barrage of abuse as she travelled on a 259 bus along Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park.’ click here.
28th November 2015 BBC report, ‘An attempted arson attack at Finsbury Park Mosque in London is being treated by police as a hate crime. A man was filmed on CCTV trying to set fire to the mosque at 20:25 GMT on Friday [27 November] , before fleeing the scene on a moped. Scotland Yard said the arson attempt in St Thomas’ Road was reported on Saturday morning. click here.
20th November 2015 Reported in Badger, University of Sussex student magazine: ‘A group of young males allegedly shouted taunting comments about ISIS outside the on-campus Muslim Prayer Centre on Friday 20 November. The incident came just one week after 130 people were killed in Paris in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.Allegedly, the group stood outside the Muslim Student Centre, located in Falmer House, shouting “run, ISIS are coming”. They then popped colourful party balloons, presumably to simulate the sound of gunfire.’ click here.
17th November 2015 A cultural centre used by Muslims was today targeted in a firebomb attack, the Evening Times can reveal. A manhunt is underway for the thugs who targeted the Bishopbriggs Cultural Centre – also known as Al Sarouk – in the early hours of this morning. click here.
17th November 2015 “‘Just behind me, another guy got on the train and stood at the connecting door of the [Victoria Line] tube and began to stare at this [hijabi] girl. After she looked at him and looked away, he went nearer to her and said, “F****** p***”, quite loudly. Obviously, that immediately got my attention.”
Ashley Powys in the Daily Mail, recounting his action to stop this abuse. click here.
16th November 2015 A Scots couple have been violently assaulted by a gang outside their takeaway in Fife. Mohammed Khalid and his wife run the Caspian Fast Food outlet on Wellesley Road in Methil.They were set upon by a group of around 15 people in the early hours of Sunday as they closed up.Mr Khalid, 53, required hospital treatment for a serious injury to his eye and his wife suffered minor injuries as she tried to help him. click here.
10th November 2015 Evening Standard reports, ‘BTP and Metropolitan Police Service officers attended the scene on one of the station’s Bakerloo line platforms, and arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder. He was taken to a London police station and remains in custody. The woman miraculously escaped with minor injuries and was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital for further treatment to grazes to her face.’ click here.
30th October 2015 The Western Morning News report, ‘ A 36-year-old woman has admitted urinating in front of a Muslim family who were praying in a Devon park. Claire Farrell pleaded guilty to religiously-aggravated threatening and abusive behaviour causing harassment at Plymouth Crown Court on Monday… he pulled her trousers down and urinated in front of the couple, who were with their 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter, in Central Park.’ click here
28th October 2015 Metropolitan Police officers were called to London Road in Southwark, near Elephant and Castle Tube station, on Wednesday 28 October following reports of a woman being subject to racist and Islamophobic abuse by two young women. Officers spoke to the victim, a woman in her forties, who was injured as a result of allegedly being punched in the head and kicked off the number 63 bus at around 8PM. click here.
24th October 2015 Two severed pigs’ heads with racially offensive slogans written on them have been left outside a derelict church in Belfast. The PSNI say that they are treating it as a “race hate incident” adding that what happened must be “condemned by all”. The heads were left at the top of the steps to St. Luke’s Church on Northumberland Road in west Belfast. The church is currently disused and is up for sale. click here.
18th October 2015 Police and transport officials are investigating reports of an Islamophobic attack on a London bus after a video emerged appearing to show a father with a pram verbally assaulting an elderly Turkish man. click here.
17th October 2015 A woman has been arrested in connection with the racist abuse of two Muslim women on a London bus, after video footage of the incident went viral on social media. The 36-year-old woman, who has not been named, was arrested on Friday at her home in Willesden Green, north-west London, on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence on the No 206 bus. click here.
8th October 2015 The Herald reports, ‘A woman has appeared in court for allegedly urinating in front of a Muslim family while they prayed in a Plymouth park. Claire Farrell, of Peel Street, Stonehouse, appeared at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court accused of urinating in front of the couple while they prayed in Central Park.Farrell, aged 35, was charged with religiously aggravated intentional harassment. click here.
Postscript: At Plymouth Crown Court a judge described their behaviour as ‘disgusting’ and handed the pair suspended sentences i.e. they walked free from court!
21st Septembe 2015 A former Lord Mayor has been found to have bullied a Muslim anti-war protester by repeatedly claiming he could be a terrorist. Mark Hackett emailed the unnamed man – who had invited him to speak at a Gaza-related event – a bizarre tirade of abuse last summer, copying in all the city’s councillors. He claimed the man was possibly in an Islamic State ‘sleeper cell’ in Salford and suggested he could be linked to last year’s murder of taxi driver Alan Henning. An internal investigation has found Coun Hackett had been variously ‘abusive, disrespectful, bullying and defamatory’ towards the man. click here.
9th September 2015 The Star reports, ‘Police have launched an investigation after a teenager was assaulted in Rotherham.Emergency services are currently at the scene of the attack in Effingham Street after being called shortly after 1pm today.’ click here.
[Other reports state, ‘A 16-year-old Muslim teenager who has autism, Aleem Badali, was attacked by Islamophobes on Effingham Street in Rotherham town centre.]
7th September 2015 Evening Standard reports, ‘Sahina Khan, 31, tells the programme: “I was walking to work and this man came towards me. I thought he was going to punch me. It’s like he saw me and he just went mad. “He said something about ‘killing Christians in the Middle East’ or ‘your people killing Christians in the Middle East’ and he was just ranting at me.” click here.
3rd September 2015 Gazettelive.co.uk reports, ‘Yobs spray ‘die Muslims die’ in graffiti attack – on Sikh temple in Thornaby. Threatening graffiti sprayed onto the outside wall of the temple included the phrase ‘white power’ as well as religious-themed profanity. click here.
21st August 2015 The Mirror reports, ‘A racist poster telling Muslims to “get the f*** out of our countries” was put on display at a major pub chain.One customer was left stunned after spotting the disgusting leaflet pinned up on the community board at a JD Wetherspoon pub.The horrified customer took a picture of the hate-filled poster after going to The Moon on the Square in Feltham, Middlesex, with a Muslim colleague for lunch earlier this week. click here.
20th August 2015 The Lancashire Telegraph reports, ‘Two men attending a mosque have reported being hit by an air rifle pellets in Nelson. The first incident happened shortly before 9.30pm on Sunday when a 58-year-old man was hit in the back of his head as he was getting into his car on a car park on Brunswick Street.’ click here.
19th August 2015 The Manchester Evening News reports, ‘A Muslim nurse was viciously beaten by a gang in a daylight street attack.Qaiser Hamid, 37, was set upon by up to nine yobs while he was shopping in Stockport town centre on Friday. A teenage girl shouted about his facial hair and racially abused him before her male friends began punching him in the face. Qaiser, who was standing outside Jake Shoes on Princes Street, needed hospital treatment for cuts and bruising to his face including a deep gash to the nose. click here.
11th August 2015 The Star reports, ‘Shocked relatives of a pensioner left critically injured in an attack on a Rotherham street said he is a ‘gentle and unconfrontational’ grandfather. The 81-year-old, with four children and 12 grandchildren, was on his way to morning prayers when he was found slumped on the ground with serious head injuries on Fitzwilliam Road, East Dene, at 5.25am yesterday. Detectives believe the vulnerable victim was attacked between 3am and 4am and fear they could have been dealing with a murder.’ click here.
Post-script: Muhsin Khan succumbed to his injuries and died in hospital on 21st August.
24th July 2015 Mirror reports, ‘Police investigating an attempt to pull off a train passenger’s hijab have issued CCTV images of a man they want to speak to. Officers from British Transport Police said a man also shouted abuse at a woman travelling between Matlock and Derby.’ click here.
29th June 2015 Daily Mail headline: How we can beat these evil butchers: MAX HASTINGS says GCHQ are our best hope of keeping Britain safe from murderous Islam. click here
29th June 2015 Damage caused to graves in the Muslim section of a cemetery in the wake of the Tunisia terror attack has been condemned as an attempt to divide communities. Nottingham city council said it was treating the damage to at least 10 plots at High Wood cemetery in Bulwell as a hate crime. click here.
29th June 2015 A school and a mosque have been been evacuated after two suspicious devices with “wires coming out” were discovered this morning, it has been reported. click here.
22nd June 2015 The Coventry Telegraph reports, ‘ A teenager was violently assaulted and racially abused as he left a Coventry mosque following night prayers. Police have launched an investigation after an 18-year-old, who doesn’t want to be named was attacked between 11.45pm and midnight on Sunday in Eagle Street, Foleshill. He was left with a nasty black eye in the assault but escaped without serious injury. It’s believed the attackers may have targeted the nearby the Masjid-e-Zeenat-ul Islam Mosque, in Stoney Stanton Road, and thrown stones at the windows before attacking the teenager. click here.
12th June 2015 A panel at the National College for Teaching and Leadership has censured primary school head Anupe Banche for bullying Muslim staff and use of foul language with reference to Muslims. Click here.
8th June 2015 The Manchester Evening Post reports, ‘A series of arson attacks, including one behind a mosque, are being investigated by detectives in Rochdale. Firefighters were called to three small fires in the early hours of yesterday and police now believe that they are linked.’ click here.
5th June 2015 The Croydon Advertiser reports, ‘A MUSLIM woman allegedly had her hijab pulled off and suffered racist abuse while picking her children up from school. Two women were arrested on suspicion of assault and a committing a racially aggravated public order offence following the incident in Derby Road, Croydon, at 3pm on Thursday.According to a witness, the 25-year-old victim was approached by a group of women while on her way to Al Khair School, in Cherry Orchard Road. They allegedly tore away her headscarf and shouted Islamophobic abuse at her. click here.
29th May 2015 The Herts Advertiser reports, ‘Linda Jones, 65, of Perrycoste Court, St Albans, was given a 12 month community order and six week curfew following the incident in Watford on April 17, 2014. Judge Pilling found Jones, who had no previous convictions, guilty of a religiously-aggravated Section 4A public order offence last month, after she called two Muslim men “terrorists with guns in their pockets”.’ click here
24th April 2015 A woman who launched a racist tirade against a hijab-wearing Tube traveller is being hunted by police. Police said the abuse began on the eastbound Piccadilly line platform at King’s Cross, north London, at about 4.15pm on Tuesday, March 10, and continued after the two women boarded a Tube train. British Transport Police today released a CCTV image of a woman they want to speak to over the incident. click here.
14th April 2015 Pig heads have been dumped outside an old ambulance station after it was claimed the building was being illegally used as a mosque. Solihull council is investigating whether the community centre is being used for regular worship, which could break planning laws. A carrier bag believed to have been used to carry the meat is being examined by forensic experts. The incident on Sunday night is being treated as a hate crime, police said. click here.
26th March 2015 Vandals have angered mourners and members of the Muslim community after writing hate-filled phrases at a graveyard. One visitor spotted the graffiti, claiming to be by Britain First, sprayed over the Muslim graveyard sign at Cathcart Cemetery on Tuesday. click here.
24th March 2015 A Muslim woman was subject to vile racist abuse while playing with her 1-year-old daughter in a Cambridge playground. Samrah Sehar was verbally abused by a gang of young white men at the play park off Mill Road, close to the junction with East Road. Some half a dozen youngsters gathered at the playground’s fence and initially laughed at Mrs Sehar before launching into a series of racist assaults.The gang even shouted at Mrs Sehar to ask whether she and her young daughter were going to join terrorist group ISIS. click here.
20th February 2015 A protestor has been convicted of shouting racist abuse from the top of a bus leaving a demonstration against a planned new mosque in Astley Bridge…Dozens of protestors attended the rally organised by the far right group the North West Infidels. It was the second large-scale demonstration at the site of the application made by Taiyabah Islamic Centre, with dozens of police officers deployed to control the protests. click here.
14th February 2015 Edinburgh Evening News: A council roads worker called 999 and threatened to kill “all the Muslims in the country” after reading about the French terror attacks. Vincent Hannah claimed he was a member of the far-right National Front group during the early-morning call. Hannah made the alcohol-fuelled phonecall to the emergency control room at Bilston at 5.30am on January 17. He admitted making grossly offensive phone calls by uttering threats and using racially offensive language at Edinburgh Sheriff Court this week. click here.
13th February 2015 Express & Echo, Exeter:..a Muslim family who have lived in Exeter for 15 years feared for their safety after a leaflet and offensive sticker campaign, following plans for a new meeting space in St Thomas for the South West Ahlulbayt Centre – a Shia Muslim organisation.The Hameed family and other members of the centre behind the application are so upset at the response to the plan they have withdrawn it today.click here.
8th February 2015 “Three windows were smashed at Norwich Ihsan Mosque early Saturday morning. Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward following the criminal damage incident at about 6.30am at the building in Chapelfield East. Around 11 panes of glass were damaged in the grade 2 listed building, which someone from the mosque said will cost ‘hundreds’to replace to glass and leading.” Emma Knights in the Norwich Advertiser.
26th January 2015 A town hall worker has been suspended after posting an Islamophobic comment on Facebook. Dave Balderstone, 46, replied to a British National Party post with the message: ‘Kick Islam out of Britain – we need our country back.’ click here.
16th January 2015 ‘…Islamophobic slur painted on house in Belfast.’ Source: The Muslim News, 30th January 2015.
15th January 2015 ‘…the offices of the Muslim Charities Forum received a malicious telephone call. The caller asked when the next terror attack will occur in London. He also made reference to the Paris terror attacks. Source: The Muslim News, 30th January 2015.
23rd January 2015 The Independent reports: Muslim pupils across Britain are suffering a backlash of bullying and abuse following the Charlie Hebdo massacre amid a broad rise in Islamophobia in schools which the Government is failing to tackle, campaigners have told The Independent….In one case, a teenage Muslim pupil at a school in Oxfordshire was this week allegedly slapped and called a “terrorist” by classmates after a teacher raised the murders of 12 people at the French magazine in a classroom discussion and suggested Muslims should be “challenged” by the display of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The boy told his parents he did not wish to return to school. Teachers unions and anti-racism groups told The Independent they have recorded an increase in Islamophobic incidents in schools with the 400,000 Muslim pupils in British schools increasingly likely to be taunted as “terrorists”, “paedophiles” or “immigrants”. The NASUWT, the teaching union, said the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment is causing “uncertainty and fear” in schools. click here.
17th January 2015 A north London mosque has received death threats and Islamophobic hate mail following last week’s Paris attacks. Some 15 emails and letters have been sent which include hand drawn images depicting the Prophet Mohammed as a devil worshipper. Mohammed Kozar, the general secretary at Finsbury Park Mosque, told Sky News that despite many messages of support, there has been a spike in abuse. “Most of them are nasty drawings about our prophet and our books,” he said. “Some of them make death threats against our community, so it’s quite frightening for our community and our mosque.” click here
18th January 2015 ‘Police are investigating after shocking racist graffiti of a swastika and the words “Islam must die” were sprayed onto a University of Birmingham building. The shocking vandalism, which has now been removed, was daubed on the psychology block’. click here.
14th January 2015 A man was attacked with a hammer and 12in machete. Postscript, 22nd June 2015: ‘…. a racially-motivated revenge assault for the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, a court has heard. Zack Davies, 26, from Mold, Flintshire, followed Dr Sarandev Bhambra into Tesco in the town and carried out a “brutal and unprovoked attack”. Mold Crown Court heard the trainee dentist’s hand was almost severed from his arm. Mr Davies denies attempted murder but admits wounding with intent’. click here.
