Somali Bravanese Welfare Association was burned down on Wednesday in a suspected racist attack.
Somali Bravanese Welfare Association and Mosque was burned down on Wednesday in a suspected racist attack.

The brutal death of soldier Lee Rigby has led to a wave of reprisal attacks against Muslims and Muslim places of worship, as a Somali community centre was burned down to the ground on Wednesday in a suspected racist attack.

On Wednesday morning of this week, a Somali Welfare Association which was also used as a Mosque was burned down to the ground in an arson attack which is been treated as racist by police. The letters ‘EDL’ (English Defence League) was found written on the outside of the centre.  The EDL has denied any involvement in the attack on the Welfare centre and Mosque, however the police suspect that the arson was racially motivated.

Farooq Murad, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain , said:

It is time for serious action against such crimes.

 “The British Muslim community came out in droves to condemn this murder, and it is despicable that Muslims should be held to account and suffer in this way.

 “We had fine and decisive words from our leaders condemning the actions of the English Defence League, now we need a proper response from our police authorities, starting with a national police response to this issue…” (Sky News: Islamic Centre Fire: Muslims ‘Need Protection’: 6 June, 2013)

Massoud Shadjareh, the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission told Sky News:

Muslims feel scared right now and it is completely understandable.

 “Muslims have been physically attacked, mosques burnt down, cemeteries vandalised and social media is full of anti-Muslim hatred and violent threats towards Muslims.

 “More needs to be done to protect the Muslim community.”

Massoud also said that more needed to be done by the authorities to protect the Muslim community and minorities and felt that the arson attack confirmed his fears that not enough was being done.

According to the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) around 200 incidents of Anti Muslim attacks have been recorded since last Wednesday when Lee Rigby was murdered. Teenagers threw bricks through the window of a Mosque in Grimsby, a man smashed up a Mosque in Gillingham. In Bletchley a burning bottle was thrown into a Mosque with thirty worshippers inside. Petrol bombs were thrown inside Grimsby Mosque whilst families and children were inside, two ex soldiers were responsible for the attack and charged. Another soldier tried to burn down a Mosque in Rhyl, Wales. In East London a gang tried to rip off a young girl’s niqab (IRR: Upsurge in anti-Muslim attacks: by Jon Burnett: May 30, 2013)

These are just a fraction of the incidents and inevitably the tensions will continue to rise.

The Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group have organised a vigil outside the Somali centre today at 6pm in an effort to unite the community against what they believe to be racist groups trying to gain from Lee Rigby’s murder and fuel community tensions. The vigil’s headline is ‘DON’T LET THE RACISTS DIVIDE US‘ at 6-7pm, outside the Bravenese Centre, 116 Coppetts Road, Muswel Hil, London, N10 1JS.

While I applaud the efforts of UAF, who have confronted the EDL and the British National Party (BNP) on many occasions on the streets of Britain, I do question their confrontational tactics, which often turn to physical fights. I also question their inability to tackle the bigger picture, namely the British government’s foreign policy and the private financial elite who funds the wars in the first place. In all the confrontations between UAF and the far right, what really has been achieved? How many British people are aware of what their government do overseas? What about talking to the soldiers who fight these wars on behalf of private investors? There are tactics which can be employed but are not being employed in favour of the ineffective protests we see often on our streets.

Then there are the so called Muslim leaders. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and leaders of Mosques, who were very vocal when it came to condemning the murder of Lee Rigby, but fall silent when it comes to British terrorism overseas, and then they wonder why some young Muslims are led astray and turn militant.

On the MCB website I was disappointed to read that Dr Shuja Shafi, the Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain,Tariq Abbasi, Chair of Greenwich Islamic Centre, Julie Siddiqui, Vice president, Islamic Society of Britain and Saeed Ahmad, Greenwich Independent Police Advisory Group, visited the site of Lee Rigby’s attack and laid wreaths. (MCB Leads a Delegation of Community Leaders to Pay Respects After Woolwich Attack: MCB: 24 May, 2013) It was not the humanitarian gesture that disappointed me, but the hypocrisy that many Muslim civilians, men, women and children have been murdered by British soldiers and these leaders have not asked David Cameron to visit the sites and pay their respects. It is the hypocrisy such as this headline I read on the MCB website, ‘Make Tea, Not War: British Muslims Urged To Open Mosques To Public’. This article on May 31, urged Muslims to open their Mosques to the British public and fight extremism.

With such weak leadership it is no wonder that Islamic militants can recruit young Muslims into committing acts of violence.

Yes, Muslims should open their Mosques to the British people, to inform and educate them about what the British government is doing in Muslim lands.

Muslims should open their Mosques to British people, offer them tea, scones and a leaflet explaining that the two men who were responsible for Lee Rigby’s death was known to British MI5 for years, and it was in fact the MI5 who escorted one of the killers to Britain with an undercover Scotland Yard detective. (Who Was Behind the Woolwich Killing? Criminality of Britain’s Ruling Elite: Global Research: Chris Marsden:  June 1, 2013) I wonder if David Cameron told the family of Lee Rigby this information?

Until the information freely available in this global communication age is used effectively to engage communities and provoke independent, critical thinking that leads to opposition against governments and groups that seek war above peace and exploitation above cooperation, the violence will continue to rise.

For further information:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/london-mosque-fire-muslims-protection-061301463.html#ImfX1nz

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/33552/Vigil+called+in+response+to+racist+attack+on+Muswell+Hill+Islamic+centre

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/33552/Vigil+called+in+response+to+racist+attack+on+Muswell+Hill+Islamic+centre

http://www.globalresearch.ca/who-was-behind-the-woolwich-killing-criminality-of-britains-ruling-elite/5337249

 

 

 

 

 

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2 thought on “Soldier’s death leads to an increasing number of attacks on Muslims”
  1. if it is not Britain foreign policy there is still a wider picture involved and companies that also have their hands dirty!

    Five major corporations, just to name a few (which support Israel financially): McDonalds, Starbucks, Home Depot, Nestle, and Coca-Cola

    McDonald’s Corporation is a major corporate partner of the Jewish United Fund and Jewish Federation. Through its Israel Commission, the Jewish United Fund “works to maintain American military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel, monitors and, when necessary, responds to media coverage of Israel.” The Jewish United Fund provides $1.3 million annually to Israel, through its “Partnership to Israel” program.

    The Starbucks Coffee corporation (owner of Seattle Coffee and Tazo Tea) has over 15,000 stores in over 40 different countries worldwide. According to the website, “Starbucks is a non-political organization and does not support political causes.” However, Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, is an active zionist. In 1998, he was honored by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with “The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” for his services to the zionist state in “playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel.” Also, he recently made a provocative speech blaming the Palestinians of terrorism, suggesting the intifada was “a manifestation of anti- Semitism,” and asked people to unite behind Israel. While there is nothing that clearly states whether or not Starbucks donates a certain amount of money to Israel, it is clear that the CEO is 100% behind the occupation. The company is worth billions of dollars, so even though boycotting it wont have an immediate impact, driving an extra block to Peet’s Coffee and Tea (current rival of Starbucks) or Coffee Bean to get your daily coffee fix would probably be a wiser investment.

    Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, is an active zionist. He serves on the Board of Directors of Emet (which means truth in Hebrew), a pro-Israel group whose function is to ensure that all media in the United States stays biased in favor of Israel. He is also a “trustee for life” of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and says that he has integrated “Judaic principles into the Home Depot family.”

    Nestle owns 50.1% of Osem Investments, an Israel-based company engaged directly in the production and distribution of food products in Israel and abroad. In 1998, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe received the Jubilee Award, on behalf of Nestle, by the Israeli Prime Minister. “This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the ‘State of Israel’ in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to strengthen the Israeli economy.” Nestle owns other companies such as Nescafe, Carnation, Arrowhead spring water, and Willy Wonka. For a full list of the everything Nestle owns, visit http://www.nestle.com/Brands/Brands.htm.

    Coca-Cola has been a strong supporter of Israel since 1966. In 1997, the Government of Israel Economic Mission honored Coca-Cola at the Israel Trade Award Dinner for its continued support of Israel for the last 30 years and for refusing to abide by the Arab League boycott of Israel. In February 2002, Coca-Cola teamed up with “Friends of Israel” and National Hillel to co-sponser a lecture by Linda Gradstein, an infamous zionist correspondent, at the University of Minnesota. In July 2002, Coca-Cola said that they were going to build a new plant in Qiryat Gat (land that was stolen from the Palestinians) in return for millions of dollars in tax breaks from the Israeli government.

    The positions these people hold, their personal contributions (rooting from their beliefs as zionists.) Their profits are based on the profits of these companies, so they donate as individuals as well as corporations.

  2. freethemind,

    I thoroughly agree that all of this plays a part in revealing the bigger picture to why the world is in the state it currently is in. Corruption is at the heart of politics and until the people can see through the smoked-screen windows they will be forever manipulated like puppets on a string.

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