ISLAMOPHOBIA RAMPANT DURING RAMADAN
(5 Ocotber 2006)

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is alarmed at the recent upsurge in anti-Muslim attacks and Islamophobia which have coincided with the month of Ramadan. Recent attacks have included a Muslim-owned dairy in Windsor was firebombed following three days of intimidation by a gang of 50 youths, during which time staff faced verbal abuse, had their cars vandalised and in which stone, bricks and bottles were thrown at the building.

Further incidences include:

- a Muslim shopkeeper’s car in Croydon was firebombed; the attack took place in front of a police officer who was taking a witness statement following earlier death-threats made to the shopkeeper’s family

- a pig’s head was thrown into the a mosque during night prayers in Newport

- bricks and concrete blocks were thrown at cars parked in a mosque in Preston; a Muslim teenager was subsequently stabbed by the attackers

- a Muslim family in Cambridge received a package by Royal Mail containing unpackaged pork sausages mixed with carefully cut clippings from the Qur’an and a note saying, “F***ing Pakis Go Home”

- a Muslim schoolboy in Yorkshire was brutally attacked in school; prior to the attack, the boy’s attackers made repeated comments mocking his name, ‘Muhammad.’

- a prison guard in HMP Parkhurst desecrated a Qur’an belonging to a Muslim inmate

IHRC is deeply concerned at the premeditated nature of some of the above attacks and the failure of the law enforcement authorities to take adequate steps to protect the Muslim community. IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh stated: “While police are rightly stepping up security for the Jewish community in the run-up to and during the High Holy Days, unfortunately the same level of protection has not been afforded to the Muslim community during the holy month of Ramadan.”

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