Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Toronto jogger accused of assaulting, harassing pregnant woman wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shawn SableA Toronto man is facing charges after a pregnant woman was allegedly assaulted and harassed numerous times in midtown.

It was reported that the suspect was jogging along Yonge Street near Eglinton Avenue West when he veered towards the victim, who was wearing a hijab, struck her and uttered a comment before running off.

On a second occasion the same jogger struck the woman with both hands and continued to run south on Yonge.

Const. Wendy Drummond told the Canadian Press they believe the man may have targetted the woman because of her hijab.

It is alleged that he also criminally harassed her on five other occasions. The incidents occurred between Feb. 25 and Mar. 25.

Shawn Sable, 43, appeared in court on Monday and was charged with two counts of assault and one count of criminal harassment.

Police believe there may be more victims.

680 News, 25 March 2013

France: Anti-Muslim incidents rise for the third consecutive year

Posted on by Bob Pitt

CNCDH 2012 reportLast week the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, CNCDH) released its annual report on racism, antisemitism and xenophobia in France.

The report found that there was a 30% increase in anti-Muslim incidents in 2012 – 53 acts (up from 38 in 2011) and 148 threats (up from 117) – confirming the trend in 2011 when there was a rise of 34%.

CNCDH president Christine Lazerges argues that while antisemitism is cyclical, anti-Muslim racism is more worrying. “We are dealing with a much more structural phenomenon, as we see an increase for the past three consecutive years,” she states. “Numerically the figures are small, but they show only the visible part of the iceberg.”

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Toledo mosque arsonist can’t withdraw guilty plea, judge rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A former Marine who admitted setting fire to an Ohio mosque because he wanted revenge for the killings of American troops overseas won’t be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, a judge ruled Thursday.

Randy Linn had asked to take back his admission to hate crime charges in January, a month after he explained in detail how he drove from his Indiana home to the suburban Toledo mosque and burned a prayer rug, causing extensive damage in the building.

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Frenchman convicted of veil assault

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Frenchman who ripped a Muslim woman’s veil off her face as she strolled in a fairground was Wednesday given a five-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to compensate his victim.

The 30-year-old man, who admitted charges of aggravated assault, had justified the September 2012 attack at the time as an attempt to uphold a controversial law banning women from wearing niqabs, face-covering veils, in public.

That defence was thrown out by public prosecutors, who accused him of acting as a vigilante and carrying out an assault motivated by his victim’s religious faith.

The man, who was not publicly identified on the request of his lawyers, was also convicted of presenting a false identity to police.

The incident in the western city of Nantes was the latest in a series triggered by France’s controversial ban on the wearing of full face veils in public, which came into force in April 2011.

AFP, 13 March 2013

Christians express outrage over threats to mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Christians in west Oxfordshire have signed a letter expressing “shock and outrage” at discrimination against Muslims in Chipping Norton.

A planned mosque in the town fell through last month after landlord Georg Wissinter received a threat that it would be burnt to the ground. Applicant Tahirul Hasan, a town councillor, had received planning permission to convert the former shop in Hitchmans Mews into a mosque. The town’s 34-strong Muslim community had planned to open from sunrise until one hour after sunset for 10-minute prayers five times a day.

The letter says: “As Christians we know that Jesus called us to love God and our neighbour as we love ourselves. It is for us to welcome the stranger and to be hospitable to all. We affirm that all people have the right to be treated as human beings with the freedom to practice their faith without fear of persecution.”

The letter is signed by 38 Christians, including Witney Congregational Church minister the Rev Jason Boyd, High Street Methodist Church minister the Rev Richard Donoghue, and Chipping Norton team vicar David Salter.

Witney Gazette, 12 March 2013

Discrimination against Muslims ‘too common’ in Sweden

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Swedish Muslims have slammed the government for failing to combat discrimination, submitting a report to the UN with a list of proposed measures, such as setting up an inquiry into the abuse of Somali migrants in the tiny town of Forserum.

“Forserum really showed what proportions Islamophobia as well as Afrophobia can take when an entire town looks on as people have their human rights violated,” Kitimbwa Sabuni told The Local on Friday.

Sabuni edited the report submitted to the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) by the Network of Swedish Muslims (Nätverket Svenska Muslimer i Samarbete), a cooperation of several different associations, in which representatives said Sweden was failing to tackle discrimination against Muslims.

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France to ban website documenting police violence against Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7swHkq4XrXw

Alleging defamation, France’s interior minister Manuel Valls is trying to shut down a website which gives a voice to the victims of police harassment. The site has become especially popular with France’s Muslim population, who often claim that police target, harass and even kill them with impunity.

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BNP member calls for Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre to be burnt down

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A BNP member is being investigated by police after calling for a South Wales mosque to be burnt down.

Joshua Wren, a BNP member from the Swansea area posted a photograph last night of the Swansea Mosque & Islamic Community Centre on his Facebook page adding “Burn down this devil centre”

Wren removed the photograph later, but not before Hope not Hate took a screengrab and reported the matter to South Wales Police.

Hope Not Hate, 4 March 2013

Joshua Wren Facebook post

CCTV coverage of Llanelli mosque deters attackers

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A woman who fought for CCTV coverage at a Llanelli mosque where Muslims claim to have suffered years of abuse said the situation has now improved.

Anne Stevens-Bevan, of Llanelli’s Ethnic Minority Help Association, fought tirelessly for improved security at the mosque on Station Road after people going there to pray said they had been abused.

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Members of EDL mob who attacked Plymouth takeaway are sentenced

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hayley Wells & Kelly WattersonTwo women joined a racist mob which attacked and abused a terrified Kurdish family in a city centre takeaway, a court heard.

Hayley Wells, aged 28, and 30-year-old Kelly Watterson were part of a group which spilled out of a pub and hurled vile abuse on a Sunday afternoon. Someone threw a glass which smashed next to a baby in a car seat inside the Istanbul kebab shop in Exeter Street, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Wells scratched the boy’s mother on the arm and Watterson admitted she was drunk and aggressive as part of the mob, which had been attending a meeting of the English Defence League. The mother and her partner were so shaken that they have since sold the takeaway.

Recorder Paul Derbyshire said: “This was a shocking and violent incident which left these victims in a distressed state. This has led to the closure of the business and they have moved away.” He handed Wells a suspended prison sentence and Watterson a community order. Both must do hefty periods of unpaid work.

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