Growing European Islamophobia: Mosques Defaced Throughout Europe
In Basingstoke, England, a mosque was defaced on the eve of the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan:
A MOSQUE in Basingstoke has been targeted by racist graffiti yobs.A wall of the Albirr Masjid mosque in Sarum Hill was daubed with foot-high letters on Saturday night - the eve of the Muslim festival of Ramadan.
Officers are still investigating an arson attack on the mosque earlier this year that they believe was also racially motivated. As reported in The Gazette on August 14, emergency services were called to the mosque in the early hours of August 12 after a neighbour reported seeing flames and smoke at the rear of the building. A small fire was discovered to have taken hold in the roof space and a total of 16 firefighters spent two hours tackling the blaze, which caused some damage inside the building. No one was in the mosque at the time of the incident.
Gasoline bombs were lobbed into a mosque in Yaroslavl in central Russia:
Unidentified assailants threw gasoline bombs at mosque in a central Russian city early Sunday, The Associated Press reported citing the country’s main Muslim organization.The incident occurred in the city of Yaroslavl about 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Moscow a day after the country’s Muslims began observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the Council of Muftis said in a statement posted on its Web site. The statement said the attackers smashed the mosque’s windows and then threw Molotov cocktails at the building. Several cars parked nearby were also damaged, it said.
The Interfax news agency cited the chairman of the city’s Islamic organization as saying that a prayer service was underway when the mosque was attacked, but no one was injured.
This is largely in reaction to politicians decrying the "Islamisation" of Europe. Two mosques were vandalized in France, apparently by thugs with Nazi sentiments:
Vandals scrawled swastikas and racist slogans on the walls of two mosques in France and set fire to one of them on Sunday, the day French Muslims started celebrating Ramadan.In the town of Quimper in western France, 6 swastikas were painted in green on the walls of the Penhars Mosque.
"The community is well known and well integrated," he said, adding that several dozen people regularly attended prayers in the mosque.
French television and radio reported that racial insults and swastikas were also scrawled on the walls of a mosque in Carcassonne in southern France.
About the Quimper mosque arson:
Swastikas were painted on the walls of two mosques in France on the weekend, and one was set alight in disturbing instances of racist vandalism, police said on Sunday.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.
When it's them, it's us. Islamophobia and anti-Semitism go together like spray paint and Molotovs.
