Moscow Muslims condemn warning about terrorists in mosques

A group of Moscow muftis is demanding city authorities officially retract a warning about potential suicide bombers’ unusual behavior in mosques and the description of prayer sites as terrorist meeting places.

Mufti Hazrat Gizatullin, the deputy head of the official Muslim organization for European Russia, said in an interview with Izvestia daily that representatives of his organization intended to send an official protest to the Moscow city Department Of Interethnic And Inter-Religious Cooperation.

The move was prompted by several district councils posting a document on their websites in which they detailed signs that could indicate preparations for terrorist attacks.

“Suicide bombers can be distinguished in mosques by their more exalted behavior, close to meditation, by a deeper immersion into religious ecstasy. Besides, the mosques can be meeting places for members of terrorist cells. One can always stay for a night in a mosque or strike a deal with other persons unsuspecting about the real goals behind such contacts,” the warning reads.

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Judge tosses suit against Muslim group over speech

Thomas More Law CenterALLEGAN, Mich. — A federal judge has dismissed a conservative Christian advocacy group’s lawsuit against a Muslim rights organization over the cancellation of a speech by an anti-Muslim speaker at a southwestern Michigan school.

The Thomas More Law Center sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations in 2012, saying its Michigan director violated the free speech rights of then-state Rep. Dave Agema and others involved in the event at Allegan High School.

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Police alerted to threats against Croydon Islamic centre

EVF Croydon mosque harassmentPolice are investigating threats made against an Islamic centre by supporters of two right-wing groups. A video, posted on the internet, shows three men connected to the English Defence League (EDL) and one of its splinter groups, outside Anjuman-e-Zaini, in Brighton Road, South Croydon, late on what is believed to be Sunday night (January 19). Two of the men are seen ringing the door bell before one tells the camera that the building is an “illegal mosque”. When no one answers he says they will be back to “have the place over”.

The Advertiser alerted the community centre, which is a fully licensed place of worship, who contacted the police on Tuesday. Anjuman-e-Zaini is run by members of the borough’s Dawoodi Bohra Community, a branch of Islam.

Secretary Shaukat Dungarwalla said the incident was the latest example of the centre being targeted by extremists, including an attempt to set the building on fire during the riots in 2011. He said:

“Given what’s happened in the past we’re very concerned. This is far from the first time we have been targeted. During the riots someone pushed a pile of rubbish against the door and set fire to it in hope of burning us down. Bricks have been thrown at the building on at least four occasions and our windows have been plastered with anti-Islamic posters. As soon as we were informed of this video we contacted the police. There’s no smoke without fire. We’re on full alert.”

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JIMAS to press ahead with HMD event featuring former EDL leader

Organisers of an event on Holocaust Memorial Day in Ipswich have been criticised for inviting Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League, as a guest speaker. The event on Monday, January 27, was originally planned to take place in conjunction with the Education Quarter Multi Faith Chaplaincy at Suffolk New College and University Campus Suffolk.

However the colleges have since disavowed themselves entirely from the talk and organiser JIMAS has decided to proceed independently. Muhammad Manwar Ali of JIMAS, who is also a fellow of Suffolk New College and a member of the chaplaincy for SNC and UCS, said it would be a “solemn occasion” to mark the Holocaust.

It is not yet known where the event will take place. Other speakers will include Holocaust survivor Frank Bright; Pat Magee, who was convicted of planting the IRA’s Brighton Bomb; and Umme Thara, a former member of Al-Muhajiroun. Mr Ali said the idea behind the talk was to get those involved to make a “clear cut commitment against anti-Semitism and any kind of hatred and genocide. We’ve all been on a journey and we want to give a powerful message from ex-radicals to say they’re rejecting it and say ‘never again’.”

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Feds indict Klansman who designed radiation gun to kill Muslims

Glendon Scott CrawfordAfter nearly seven months, federal prosecutors have decided to move forward with charges against one of two men charged with conspiring to build a portable, remote-controlled device designed to deliver fatal doses of radiation to Muslims – or “medical waste,” as the plotters called their intended targets.

Glendon Scott Crawford, 49, [pictured] was charged in an indictment last week with attempting to produce a radiological device, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and distribution of information related to weapons of mass destruction. Another suspect, Eric Feight, 54, was named in the original complaint but was not indicted. Both were arraigned last June.

According to sources who spoke with the Times-Union of Albany, Feight and his lawyers are working on a plea agreement in exchange for testimony against Crawford.

The case has been under investigation by a Joint Terrorism Task Force since at least April 2012, when Crawford went to a Schenectady synagogue, Congregation Gates of Heaven, and “asked to speak with a person who might be willing to help him with a type of technology that could be used by Israel to defeat its enemies while they slept.”

Crawford, with Feight’s help, had designed a device he described as “Horoshima on a light switch.” The device, he explained, was a “weaponized radiation device” that would deliver a deadly dose of radiation.

“[T]he target(s) and those around them would not immediately be aware they had absorbed lethal doses of radiation and the harmful effects of that radiation would not become apparent until days after the exposure,” court documents say.

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Enfield councillor suspended by Tory Party pending investigation by national decision board over ‘anti-Islamic’ Facebook taunts

Chris Joannides Facebook comment

An Enfield councillor has been suspended from the Conservative party following alleged anti-Islamic comments made on a social media site last year. Councillor Chris Joannides has had his membership at the party suspended and he will now be investigated by the Conservative Party’s national board.

Enfield Borough Council’s Tory group withdrew the whip from the Grange Ward representative in February 2013 for alleged anti-Islamic comments posted on his Facebook page. In a joke he posted on his page last year, he compared Muslim burqas to dustbin bags and complained that his job was getting in the way of his social life.

However, earlier this month Mr Joannides was cleared by the Crown Prosecution Service, stating he did not break the law and will not face any criminal charges. Despite there being no legal wrongdoing, he now faces an investigation from the national party’s decision-making body.

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Residents living near new Lincoln mosque site invited to dispel misconceptions about Islam

Residents living near the site of a new mosque in Boultham were able to meet their new neighbours at an event designed to dispel misconceptions about Islam.

In the same weekend as a second EAP protest took place in the city, residents heard from the Lincoln Imam during a useful question and answer session on Sunday afternoon (January 19) at the Royal Naval Association Club in Coulson Road.

The event took place on World Religion Day, which recognises the similarities between all faiths.

Organised by the Boultham Residents Association with the Islamic Association of Lincoln, ‘The Truth About Islam’ event was an opportunity to dispel misunderstandings about Islam, and for residents to find out more about what the mosque would mean for the local community.

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Fascists target mosque in Croydon

EVF harass Croydon mosqueAmong the alliance of far-right groups who organised an anti-mosque protest in Lincoln last Saturday, during which protestors marched through the city chanting “burn the poppy we will burn the mosque”, was the English Volunteer Force.

A breakaway from the English Defence League launched by “John Sheridan” (former BNP activist and EDL co-founder Chris Renton), the EVF shares the EDL’s aim of resisting “the Islamification of Great Britain”, but it combines this with a more traditional far-right racist approach, extending its hatred of Muslims to all cover all communities of recent migrant origin. Last July the EVF organised a demonstration outside the Croydon headquarters of the UK Border Agency to protest against “Islamic, African and east European immigrants” who it claimed “suck and bleed our country dry”.

The EVF’s next main event is a far-right unity protest outside the houses of parliament in March. In the meantime, they have decided to target a mosque in Croydon.

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New review of threats to Sweden’s mosques

Stockholm mosque Nazi graffitiIn the wake of several high-profile incidents, Muslim groups in Sweden plan to carry out a comprehensive survey of threats facing the country’s mosques.

The Muslim Council of Sweden (Sveriges muslimska råd, SMR) is concerned that several mosques and prayer centres have been vandalized and damaged in the last year, Sveriges Radio (SR) reports. There have also been several instances of threats and harassment.

“It’s only a matter of time until someone is seriously injured or dies,” SMR chair Helena Hummasten told the broadcaster. A study carried out five years ago by Mid Sweden University revealed that four out of ten Muslim congregations had been subjected to crimes, and Hummasten believes things have gotten worse since then.

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Middlesbrough fan arrested over ripping up pages of Qur’an

Love Boro Hate RacismA Boro fan has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after allegedly ripping up pages of the Koran at a match. And six people have been suspended from attending Middlesbrough Football Club matches as the probe continued.

A 25-year-old man who has been arrested is accused of tearing up pages from the holy text of Islam and throwing them during Boro’s clash against Birmingham City last month. The fan has been bailed while police continue to investigate the incident. He is also banned from attending football matches and must not visit any city where Middlesbrough Football Club are playing.

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