Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Mosque arson suspect indicted on hate crime charges

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Randolph_LinnThe Indiana man accused of setting fire to a prayer room at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo has been charged with hate crimes in a federal indictment.

Officials announced Thursday Randolph Linn, 52, of St. Joe, Indiana was charged with intentionally defacing, damaging and destroying religious property and using fire to commit a felony.

The indictment alleges on Sept. 30, Linn drove from Indiana to the Islamic Center in Perrysburg and used gasoline to set fire to the prayer room after unlawfully entering.

Continue reading →

Greek fascists target Muslims and other ‘immigrants’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Golden Dawn anti-Mosque posterDressed in black shirts with faces hidden by helmets, ten men on motorbikes came to find him on a Saturday, after darkness fell.

Finding the door bolted at his home in a pot-holed Athens side street, they smashed the windows, broke in and trashed the place. Then, their dirty work done, the neo-Nazi gang roared away into the hot evening. It had taken less than a minute for them to sound an ugly warning that foreigners were not welcome in Greece.

Continue reading →

Knifeman’s mosque attack wasn’t racist, says CPS

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A judge slammed prosecutors today (Mon) for failing to charge a knifeman with racism after he screamed vile abuse at worshippers outside a mosque.

Jonathan Russell, 32, waved a blade at two men on their way to prayers before snarling: “Where’s Allah to protect you now?” But in a bizarre move, lawyers at the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to class the crime as racially motivated because they said he was “commenting generally”.

Continue reading →

Charlottetown: Muslims reach out to Islanders with education

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In the wake of perceived threats against a mosque in Charlottetown, P.E.I.’s Islamic community asked Prince Edward Islanders to learn more about their culture Thursday night.

The Muslim Society of P.E.I. invited Jamal Badawi, professor emeritus at Halifax’s St. Mary’s University, to give a lecture at UPEI introducing Islamic culture. About 100 people attended.

“We hope this to be part of a process of dialogue and outreach to people from different faiths and cultures, so that we can share with them our beliefs,” said Zain Esseghaier, a spokesperson for the Muslim Society of P.E.I.

Continue reading →

Prince Edward Island Muslims refuse to be intimidated by attacks on mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt
Najam Chishti

Najam Chishti of the Muslim Society of P.E.I. outside the Masjid Dar As-Salam mosque

Zain Esseghaier has been a Charlottetown resident for the last 33 years, married an islander and raised a family here. Though his modest two-story mosque has been the target of three serious threats over the past year – last week a bottle of gasoline was left at the entrance and the structure plastered with “Defeat Jihad” posters – he remains steadfast, refusing to be intimidated.

Continue reading →

Toledo: multifaith gathering advocates unity

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nihad Awad at Toledo interfaith eventAfter a week dealing with the devastation that a fire caused at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, members and friends of Toledo’s Muslim community were able to gather for prayer. Congregants did so under a tent Sunday because on Sept. 30 an arsonist burned the mosque’s prayer room.

The suspect in the case, Randy Linn, is now in custody and has been charged with two felonies.

Continue reading →

‘Sharia mosque four times the size of St Paul’s Cathedral’ – Daily Star resumes campaign against Newham Riverine project

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NRAP Riverine Centre designBritain could have its first Sharia-controlled zone if plans for a mega-mosque more than four times the size of St Paul’s Cathedral get the go-ahead.

The East London mosque, known as the Riverine Centre, will hold 9,312 worshippers, compared to 2,400 at St Paul’s. The 16-acre site in West Ham will include 40ft minarets, an Islamic library, a dining hall, multi-use games areas, tennis courts, sports facilities and eight flats for visiting Muslim clerics.

Continue reading →

EDL member who made death threats against Muslims gets community order

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A South Tyneside ex-soldier used his Facebook page to make racist comments about Muslims.

Kenneth Holden wrote the anti-Islamic messages after he started supporting the far-right English Defence League (EDL). The 30-year-old was arrested after police were alerted to the abusive comments that were written on his personal page.

Holden, of Winskell Road, South Shields, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending an offensive message by a public communication network at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court last week.

Magistrates adjourned the case until yesterday for the probation service to write a report about him. The report recommended that Holden be placed under the supervision of probation so his attitudes towards Muslims could be looked at.

Kevin Smallcombe, defending, asked the magistrates to go along with the report’s recommendation. Holden was given a 12-month community order with supervision.

Shields Gazette, 2 October 2012