Category Archives: Russia

Mosques attacked in France, Russia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Vandals scrawled swastikas and racist slogans on the walls of two mosques in France and threw Molotov cocktails at a mosque in central Russia on Sunday, September 24, the day French and Russian Muslims started celebrating Ramadan.

The mosque which was torched, in the northwest town of Quimper, suffered damage from the flames. Six swastikas were painted on the outside of its walls, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Monday, September 25. In the southwestern town of Carcassonne, the other mosque was daubed with swastikas and slogans reading “France for the French”, “Arabs get out” and “Death to Islam”, officials said.

In central Russia, unidentified attackers threw Molotov cocktails at a mosque in Yaroslavl in the early hours of Sunday, but the building did not catch fire, the head of a local Muslim organization said.

A religious service was taking place at the time and there were worshippers in the room, but the bottles hit the window frame and fell back without exploding, he explained. The attackers also threw stones, breaking a number of mosque windows as well as the windows of cars parked in the courtyard.

Islam Online, 25 September 2006

Muslim homophobia the main threat in Moscow, Tatchell claims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Russian ‘nationalists’ managed to draw first blood at Moscow Gay Pride last night when they disrupted a lecture on Oscar Wilde given by the author and playwright’s grandson Merlin Holland. The lecture was at the State Library of Foreign Literature where the nationalists managed to breach security to gain access to the lecture theatre. Merlin Holland was minutes into his talk when he was heckled in Russian. Others in the audience then joined in as police and stewards rushed to restore calm. ‘No faggots in Russia’, was the cry of the nationalists, who also called for gays to be removed from the country. As they were being removed, the nationalists threw vials of an irritant gas in the auditorium, which then had to be evacuated.”

UK Gay News, 26 May 2006

It’s probably the same rightwingers who attacked a gay and lesbian party at a Moscow nightclub earlier this month, shouting “Down with pederasts” and “No perverts here”. See Gay.com, 1 May 2006

Note that the religious component to this upsurge of violent right-wing homophobia derives, as you would expect, from Orthodox Christianity. This hasn’t prevented Peter Tatchell from attributing to Islam the primary place in the anti-Pride campaign in Moscow and suggesting that Russian Orthodox Church is merely following the lead of the chief mufti! He writes:

“Much of the anti-gay sentiment that is sweeping Russia has been whipped up by religious leaders. Threatening violence against Moscow Gay Pride, the chief mufti of Russia’s Central Spiritual Governance for Muslims, Talgat Tajuddin, said: ‘Muslim protests can be even worse than these notorious rallies abroad over the scandalous cartoons. The parade should not be allowed, and if they still come out into the streets, then they should be bashed. Sexual minorities have no rights, because they have crossed the line. Alternative sexuality is a crime against God,’ he said, calling on members of the Russian Orthodox Church to join Muslims in mounting a violent response to Moscow Gay Pride. Russian Orthodox leaders responded by lobbying Mayor Luzhkov to ban the parade….”

Guardian Comment is Free, 24 May 2006

Author hopes her book will help Christians come back to Christ

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Notre Dame de Paris Mosque is an anti-utopia, the action takes place in the mid-21st century. Islam becomes the EU state religion, while Christians and other Europeans are forced to live in ghettos. A small group of the Resistance movement refuses to live according to the Sharia laws and fights for their rights with the new masters of Europe.” Thus the plot of a new novel by Elena Chudovina, who has been dubbed Russia’s answer to Oriana Fallaci.

Interfax, 9 September 2005

Roman Silantyev, executive secretary of the Interreligious Council in Russia, argues that Muslims have only themselves to blame, and that the novel is a result of the “consistent anti-Christian campaign” waged in the Islamic mass media.

Interfax, 12 September 2005