Anti-Muslim groups protest in vain

Odious as they are, the Harrow mosque protests will make our community of Muslims and non-Muslims stronger

Sunday saw the return to Harrow of the English Defence League (EDL) and another group, Stop the Islamification of Europe (SIOE) for an anti-mosque demonstration. The last one was held three months ago to coincide with the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The groups were protesting against the building of an extension to Harrow Central Mosque, an extension that will include multi-purpose conference suites, a fitness centre, library, nursery, IT centre and a coffee shop all accessible to the public. The mosque has held open days for the local community, engaged in important local interfaith work and played its part in building good community relations. Which is why there was widespread support from both religious and secular leaders for the mosque and its work at its press conference on Tuesday.

Harrow mosque had extended an invitation to SIOE to discuss what their concerns were and to open up lines of communication. This offer was flatly rejected in favour of public grandstanding. SIOE's current position – as articulated by its spokesman on Comment is free – is that all Muslims are extremists and those that claim to be moderates are lying. It is not entirely clear how promoting this worldview without inciting hatred or violence is possible.

The EDL managed to muster 15 protestors and the SIOE another 15. Both came and left Harrow at different times. However, despite their farcical turnout, the very threat of their presence required a huge police response of 800 officers that will probably cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds. From the SIOE's point of view this is a low cost, asymmetric war of attrition. Their members simply turn up in their small numbers – or threaten to turn up – knowing full well the expense to the taxpayer and to community relations. Their calculation is that only a handful of young Muslims need to be provoked into overreacting for the headlines they seek. The fact that is often overlooked is that the mosque or "community elders" have as much control over these youths as non-Muslim "community elders" do over theirs. In the end, most young Muslims chose to vote with their feet and not to attend.

However, this kind of anti-Muslim bigotry has resulted in some interesting new dynamics. An attack on a mosque is an attack on a very sacred institution – as an attack on any place of worship would be. Muslim professionals who would otherwise not have been involved in mosque activities came forward to assist the mosque. In the past professionals have often been so disappointed with the competence of those managing the mosques that they have tended not to invest their time and expertise in them. Some mosque managers have also been quite content with this arrangement, running them on tribal lines, more suited to Pakistani villages than British cities. Given the external threat now directed at mosques and the need for them to raise their game in the public domain, there might now be a greater convergence between these two groups.

Sunday also saw a much welcome boost to interfaith relations with Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and non-faith leaders pledging support to the mosque. One journalist at the mosque on Sunday joked that he thought he'd turned up at the local synagogue given the numbers of Rabbis present. Some Jews, in particular, feel a wary sense of the risk that darker chapters of Europe's history might be repeated. This provided a powerful response to the SIOE who had come waving Israeli flags in order to provoke a response.

Will the anti-Muslim bigots come down to Harrow again? Possibly. They are part of a Europe-wide trend against its own minorities. However, so long as communities remain firm in their opposition to all forms of bigotry and extremism then, in the long run, it may make us all a bit stronger.

Comment is free

Harrow mosque shunned by Islamophobics over request for dialogue

Anti-Islam campaigners refused requests for a dialogue from Harrow Central Mosque at a rally today

Ajmal Masroor, a spokesman for the religious institution, crossed police lines to talk to affiliates of the English Defence League (EDL) and Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) at an anti-mosque rally, in Station Road. He invited representatives of the two groups to come into the mosque and discuss their objections to Muslim religion, but the protesters rejected the offer.

SIOE leader Stephen Gash said: “What's the point of me discussing with an Imam at the mosque. What we want is the debate with John Denham and the Home Office.”

Mr Masroor said: “An invitation was made to the groups but they've refused. We spoke to SIOE, extended the arm and invited them to the mosque and they refused. Stephen Gash said it was not worth his time to come and talk to us. As a community of people we have demonstrated we are united, we are not going to be hijacked by right wing fascist and racist groups. You are not going to be able to hijack [our] harmony and peaceful existence.”

Mahmood Awan, trustee of the mosque, said: “It's a shame that they are not prepared to have a dialogue. We could have tried to build bridges but they don't seem to want to do that. All they want is to come here and disrupt our community.”

Anti-fascists confronted the English Defence League and Stop Islamisation of Europe in a peaceful protest in the car park of Harrow Civic Centre, in Station Road. Members of the two organisations chanted slogans at each other from behind metal crowd control barriers and lines of police officers.

Mr Gash said: “I don't wish to be disruptive, especially around Christmas, but I say the only recourse available to us is the streets. Nobody will allow us to talk on TV.”

Paul Brown, of central London, an affiliate of EDL, said: “We are here to protest against the relentless march of Islam in Britain and across the world. It's been going on for centuries. People have been planning this. This is what Islam is all about. They go into areas and take over and crush everyone.”

Tony McNulty, MP for Harrow East, said: “They don't know what they are talking about. It's a protest fuelled by ignorance. It's a matter of profound despair to them that Harrow is such a united, multi-faith community.”

Harrow Times

A message from Harrow Central Mosque

Victory for the peace loving people of Harrow

Today’s demonstration by the Stop Islamisation of Europe and the English Defence League was in every measure a miserable defeat for the hate mongers and the Islamaphobes.

The Harrow Central Mosque is extremely grateful that people from so many backgrounds and faiths stood shoulder to shoulder in support of and in solidarity towards this great centre of peace and harmony. The Mosque would also like to express its grateful thanks to the youth of Harrow and its surrounding areas for heeding the call to not attend this event.

During the afternoon the Mosque extended an invitation to both the groups and at one stage even directly invited the leaders of EDL to have face to face and civilised constructive dialogue with Mosque representatives. Initially they agreed but then changed their minds and went home. However, the SIOE declined to accept the invitation point blank and the leader of this group, Stephen Gash, said ‘this will be a total waste of time and fruitless exercise’.

The Mosque is always ready to welcome all people regardless of faith or background and is proud of its well long standing track record to uphold the principles of a multicultural and cohesive society.

So today was a victory for the people of Harrow and defeat for the racists and the fascists. There is only message the Mosque is willing to give- this is our home; Britain is our country; British people are our people; and we will do everything for its well-being.

Harrow Central Mosque

EDL and SIOE opposed by Christians and Jews

Anti-Muslim groups SIOE and EDL say they have Jewish supporters, but leading members of the Jewish community have condemned the SIOE protest against Harrow Mosque, planned for Dec 13. Rabbis Kathleen Middleton, Frank Smith, Aaron Goldstein, Hillel Robles and Mike Hilton sent a letter supporting Harrow Mosque, saying SIOE use "outrageous lies" to try and divide Harrow's community. SIOE protests have also been condemned by Harrow's (Jewish) Tory councillor Jeremy Zeid, by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper and the Community Security Trust (who monitor racist activity on behalf of the Jewish community).

When SIOE re-scheduled a cancelled EDL protest against Harrow Mosque on Sept 11, SIOE used their protest to slander an entire community by false association with 9/11. On the day however, less than 15 EDL hooligans, half a dozen known BNP goons and lone SIOE activist Stephen Gash were opposed by over 1,000 Anti-Fascists.

Believing the police were protecting the same racists who'd fire-bombed Luton Mosque, a handful of anti-SIOE counter-protestors played into the hands of the SIOE by throwing stones and bottles at the police, before they were stopped by other Anti-Fascists and by Mosque stewards. Few TV reports showed that (despite alot of footage of people simply running around) the counter-protest had been overwhelmingly peaceful. BNP leafletting teams visited Harrow soon after, to try to capitalise on the problem SIOE attempted to create - proving the link between provocative right-wing protests and the BNP. To prove the link between SIOE and extremism once and for all however, SIOE also support the Serbian mass-murderer Radovan Karadzic.

In this video Harrow Mosque officials are seen meeting with local Hindu and Christian leaders, and inviting SIOE to visit the Mosque to discuss their grievances - let's see whether Stephen Gash has the courage to accept!

PLEASE COUNTER-PROTEST PEACEFULLY against the SIOE on Dec 13 (Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Mahajiroun etc please do what you asked your supporters to do and STAY AWAY).

BNPInfo

Calls for Harrow mosque protest to be banned

A Harrow MP and former policing minister will ask the Home Secretary to ban an anti-Islam protest.

Tony McNulty (Lab/Harrow East) announced today he will hold an informal meeting with Alan Johnson this week to discuss possible routes to stopping a rally by Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE). The protest is due to be held on December 13 outside Harrow Central Mosque, and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) intends to hold a counter demonstration.

But the move has sparked fears there will be violent scenes similar to those of SIOE's first Harrow rally, a month ago today, when members were met by angry crowds seeking to defend the religious institution.

The police say there are no powers to ban “static protests” that do not involve a march, and so do not believe the Christmas rally can be prevented.

Mr McNulty said: “The one different thing this time around, if they come again, is the experience of last time and the experience of last time shows very clearly that there will be the potential for serious disorder.”

After an initial meeting in the next seven days he plans further, more formal discussions, with Mr Johnson in the coming weeks. UAF clashed with the far right English Defence League (EDL) in Manchester yesterday, leading to more than 40 arrests. Ten people were arrested at a demonstration outside Harrow Central Mosque on September 11, including protest organiser Stephen Gash, who was detained to prevent a breach of the peace.

Mr McNutly's comments came as the borough's politicians gathered to show unity a month on from the rally with a unity walk starting at Holy Trinity Church, in High Street Wealdstone. A crowd helped by police cadets and led by Harrow mayor Councillor Eric Silver walked the borough's war memorial outside Harrow Civic Centre, in Station Road.

Cllr Silver said: “We've had people come to this borough to try to break it up. We live together, we work together and we play together.”

All three parties on Harrow Council expressed solidarity with the mosque in the run up to and during the September protest and re-stated their support today.

Councillor David Ashton, leader of the council and Tory group, said: “We still hope it won't happen but it's been threatened. It's the last thing we want to see in Harrow.”

Councillor Paul Scott (Lib Dem/Harrow Weald) was sceptical of claims by SIOE that it could raise 2,000 supporters, a figure that would dwarf its turn out in September. He said: “They haven't done it thus far. I'm just concerned that we shouldn't allow a very small group of people to hold us to ransom with exaggerations about what they can do.”

Councillor Bill Stephenson, leader of the Labour Group, backed Mr McNulty's calls for the demonstration to be banned. He said: “I think we have to take pro-active action and Tony's going to be approaching the Home Secretary. You can't let a small group of people go round the country causing mayhem. We don't want that in Harrow. There must be some way we can sort this out and prevent it because the potential for violence is there and if some people turn up next time someone could get seriously hurt. I know Mr Johnson's made some statements and we now want less talk and more action. We remain totally united in Harrow.”

Harrow Times

Rightwing and anti-fascist protesters riot in London

EDL/SIOE protestors cordoned off by police

Police hit by bricks and bottles as they try to keep apart 1,000 rival demonstrators near Harrow mosque

Riot police were struggling to contain protests by anti-fascist demonstrators and rightwing organisations outside a mosque in north-west London tonight. Officers were hit by bricks and bottles as they tried to keep about 1,000 rival demonstrators apart outside the partially completed mosque near the tube station in Harrow.

Seven people had been arrested and weapons, including bottles of bleach, a hammer and a chisel, were seized, a Metropolitan police spokeswoman said.

Police were braced for trouble after the rightwing English Defence League (EDL) and a group called Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) said they would converge on the area at 5pm for a rally to mark the eighth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Unte Against Facism called on its supporters to meet for a counter-demonstration.

At around 5pm demonstrators, some armed with weapons, broke through police ranks and ran through the streets. The stand-off was still going at around 7pm, with groups of youths seperated by riot police.

The police spokeswoman said: "There have been a number of further movements by the crowd in large groups attempting to reach small numbers of other people. Throughout the afternoon police have identified and stopped a number of people believe to be heading to the original SIOE demonstration from getting to the protest area."

Witnesses said anti-fascist demonstrators outside the mosque burst through police lines in an attempt to reach groups of EDL supporters who were gathering in the surrounding streets.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "It's terrifying. This group of men came running down the street towards us and we had to hide with a couple of young Muslim boys in a shop. It's really tense and we can still hear the police helicopters overhead. I've never felt this kind of tension in Harrow, it's horrific."

Before today's protests, Muslim community leaders had expressed frustration that their mosque had become the focal point for the rally and had urged demonstrators to protest peacefully. The EDL has held several similar rallies throughout the summer. More than 30 people were arrested last weekend at a similar portest in Birmingham.

Guardian

Right-wing protestors targets Harrow mosque

Muslims in Harrow expressed deep frustration today that their mosque had been targeted by anti-Islamic right-wing protestors whose demonstrations in Birmingham last month led to a series of arrests and street battles with Asian youths.

Harrow Central Mosque, which is located in the heart of London's most religiously diverse borough, was forced to place security guards on their doors as police maintained a heavy presence in response to calls from right-wing protestors to demonstrate against “Islamic extremism” on the anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

The English Defence League, and a group calling itself Stop the Islamization of Europe, was planning to hold the demonstration later this afternoon outside the borough's main mosque, a multi-million pound building which is currently under construction and will provide a prayer space for the area's 35,000 Muslims.

Both groups were behind a series of controversial protests in Birmingham and Luton where demonstrators paraded through the streets shouting anti-Islamic slogans and fought running street battles with incensed Asian youths.

The English Defence League, which first surfaced in the spring, have since been banned from holding any marches in Luton for three months but activists have been using social networking sites such as Facebook to spread their protests across the country.

Stop the Islamization of Europe is inspired by a right-wing group in Denmark of the same name who have held regular protests outside mosques ever since cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad appeared in a newspaper sparking riots across the Muslim world.

Elders at the mosque said the timing of the protests were particularly insensitive because it fell not just on the anniversary of the 11 September attacks, but also during Ramadan, a deeply spiritual month where Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. In an emotional speech during midday prayers the mosque's imam, Ajmal Masroor, called on his followers to go ignore any protestors and resist the temptation to retaliate.

In one reference which generated widespread laughter he remarked: “My father always said to me, 'If a dog bites your leg do you turn around and bite the dog back?' Of course not.” Unlike other far-right groups such as the British National Party – which campaigns on an anti-immigration ticket – both the EDL and SOIE seem to campaign primarily against Islam, rather than all immigrants.

Over the summer the English Defence League have staged approximately half a dozen demonstrations across the country and their emergence has concerned many anti-racism campaigners who fear they could be a sign of rising Islamaphobia within some sectors of British society. Their leaders continue to keep their identities secret and they tend to organize supporters using the internet.

They claim to be a peaceful organisation but a number of their members have been arrested during fights with Asian youths in Birmingham. Stop the Islamization of Europe is currently run by a man called Stephen Glass, who runs a website which uses the strapline: “Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamaphobia is the height of common sense.” He has promised to hold a peaceful protest.

“It will be peaceful from our side,” he said. “We mean what we say and we say what we mean regarding racism, because we don't tolerate any kind of racism, but Islam itself is another matter.” “We are against any form of totalitarianism and basically we regard Islam as the nastiest form of totalitarianism ever devised. We fundamentally oppose any introduction of sharia law into England, the UK and the European Union.”

But Ghulam Rabanni, the General Secretary of the mosque, said Mr Glass claims that his group was not racist was “laughable”. “For me this protest is just another form of racism, they are simply here because they don't like Muslims,” he said. “People like that try and claim that they are not racists. But then they say Islamaphobia is somehow the height of common sense? It's racism, simple as that.”

But Mr Rabanni was also critical of anti-racism campaigners from Unite Against Fascism who ignored the mosque's pleas not to hold a counter demonstration. “All these people have come from outside the area to start up trouble in an area that has never had any racial tension. It is very sad.”

Independent

Harrow Mosque calls for 9/11 protest to be banned

Harrow Mosque has called for a 9/11 protest to be banned just days after fresh violence in Birmingham saw 90 arrests.

Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) is holding a rally outside the building, in Station Road, on Friday and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) supporters will hold their own counter-demonstration alongside it.

The English Defence League (EDL), which clashed with anti-fascists in Birmingham on Saturday, at one point advertised the event on its website. The rally is promoted on EDL's group on social networking website Facebook and there are fears the weekend's violence could be repeated in Harrow.

Haroon Sheikh, chairman of Harrow Central Mosque, said: “We would request that the local authority and the police try to put a stop to it. The concern we have is with a large congregation. It's very difficult to control what people would want to do on the day. We would have 200 to 300 people coming here for prayers on a Friday. Emotions will be high if it's provoked, but we will have the police and we will have stewards here.”

SIOE say they are not racist and will not tolerate racism at the rally, but describe themselves as Islamaphobic, saying it is “the height of common sense”. Both SIOE and UAF say they intend to protest peacefully.

The Harrow Times has asked the English Defence League (EDL) for clarification about whether their members will attend the protest and is awaiting a response. The Harrow Times has requested a response from Harrow Police and Harrow Council and is awaiting a reply.

Harrow Times