← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Gabrielle

Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims.

Thread ID: 19077 | Posts: 21 | Started: 2005-07-10

Wayback Archive

Gabrielle [OP]

2005-07-10 12:53 | User Profile

London Muslims Fear Backlash After Bombs

July 8, 2005, 6:41 PM EDT

LONDON -- Thousands of Muslims crowded London mosques for Friday prayers, condemning the bombings, but also wary they could be made scapegoats and fearful of reprisals against their growing and vibrant community.

At the East London Mosque, near the site of one of Thursday's attacks, an imam told the 8,000 worshippers to be "confident in our identity" as part of London's multicultural fabric.

The mosque said it had received hate e-mails and a telephone threat to disrupt Friday prayers. A few police officers stood outside during the prayers, which ended peacefully.

Outside, some Muslims said the attacks had made them more cautious on the streets, but others said they were secure in their identity as Londoners -- confident of the city's tolerant traditions.

"It will have some impact on people. But this is London, a cosmopolitan city," said student Ali Ayubi. "Maybe after one or two months it will go back to normal."

At the huge brick mosque in an East End neighborhood that's home to many with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh, imam Sheikh Abdul Qayyum told worshippers that Muslims were "part of the rich diversity of British life."

"At this difficult time, some people in our community may feel insecure purely because they are Muslims, but these terrible events have nothing to do with us. The Muslims of London are victims as much as their fellow citizens," he said.

All of Britain's major Muslim groups condemned the bombings, which killed dozens and wounded more than 700. But some feared they would be blamed for the bombings, which police said bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

"This morning I was driving to work and a woman on the radio said she'd had her headscarf pulled. I was shocked, to be honest," said Ahmed Shafi, 31, a grocery store manager. "In this day and age you don't expect that."

Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims. They're inseparable from the fabric of the city's society and its history. From the opulent glitz of Harrods department store -- owned by Egyptian-born Mohammed al Fayed -- to the kebab shops that dot the city's streets, Muslims have long been part of London's glamour and its grit.

Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed that Islam was not the culprit in the bombings.

"We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do," he said Thursday.

That message was underscored by Muslims on the streets.

"Many Muslims are British. They have lived here for years. What happens to London happens to them," said Suraiya Zammath, a Bangladeshi woman visiting relatives in London. "This should not be singled out as 'Islamic terrorists.' That destabilizes the community."

Abdul Mukith, a 37-year-old supermarket worker in Brick Lane, the heart of London's Bangladeshi community, agreed.

"What's religion got to do with it?" he asked. "I'm bloody Muslim, and I'm afraid to go into the city" just like anyone else in the aftermath of the attacks.

Still, some feared a backlash. The Muslim Council of Britain said it had been deluged with hate e-mails, which caused its server to crash late Thursday. Though it was up and running Friday, the council said it was still getting a steady stream of vitriolic missives.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said Friday that police were aware of one or two "very minor incidents" involving backlash against Muslims, but he didn't elaborate.

He said that so far, "Britain with its liberal and welcoming approach to people is taking this in its stride. I'm very proud of that."

Representatives of several religious faiths held a silent prayer vigil Friday in a street near Aldgate subway station, where seven people died.

[url]http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bombings-nervous-muslims,0,2748428.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines[/url]

Ponce

2005-07-10 17:38 | User Profile

Gabby? whats the latest about the Embassy for the state of Israel getting a warning about the bombing before it happened?.....and to anyone else.......was it true or not?

Snouter

2005-07-10 18:19 | User Profile

[QUOTE]"This morning I was driving to work and a woman on the radio said she'd had her headscarf pulled. I was shocked, to be honest," said Ahmed Shafi, 31, a grocery store manager. "In this day and age you don't expect that."

It this day and age it is offensive to see primitive religions being represented walking around whether it be Jewish yamicas (or those black hats Hassidics wear) or Muslim head diapers. If they dressed normally and made an effort to assimilate, they would not get harassed.

"Many Muslims are British. They have lived here for years. What happens to London happens to them," said Suraiya Zammath, a Bangladeshi woman visiting relatives in London. "This should not be singled out as 'Islamic terrorists.' That destabilizes the community."

Nowadays British in name is just as meaningless as American in name. Based on the footage shown from London recently, there are not many Brits there. The Islamic Terrorists should be singled out, Muslims destablize the community.

madrussian

2005-07-10 19:38 | User Profile

He's right: in this day and age it's not something they expect. However, either this will change, or they'll take over :osama:

Ponce

2005-07-10 21:34 | User Profile

Yeap, to wear anything but a beis cap or a cowboy hat is like Ponce waving the Cubaqn flag infront of the White House. :lol:

Gabrielle

2005-07-11 02:01 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Ponce]Gabby? whats the latest about the Embassy for the state of Israel getting a warning about the bombing before it happened?.....and to anyone else.......was it true or not?[/QUOTE]

I haven’t heard anything new, but if I was a betting woman, I would bet my last dollar that they got plenty of notice.

Gabrielle

2005-07-11 02:02 | User Profile

"Western Europe: Muslim Population Circa 2000 It is estimated that 35 to 50 million Muslims live currently in Western and Eastern Europe, although no reliable statistics are available. The majority lives in the Balkans and southeastern Europe, areas once part of the Ottoman Empire. In Western Europe, the largest numbers are in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—ranging from around four to five million people in each country. Many of these Western European Muslims are immigrants from areas formerly colonized by European powers. Many are also native-born citizens of European countries whose forefathers were immigrants. "

[img]http://www.theislamproject.org/images/western_europe_final.jpg[/img]

[url]http://www.theislamproject.org/education/Western_Europe.html[/url]

"In Italy, currently home to over a million Muslims, Islamic leaders are demanding the destruction of a priceless 15th century fresco in Bologna that “offends Islam” by showing—they claim--Mohammed being cast into Hell. The Union of Italian Muslims has written to the Pope, saying the fresco “constitutes an even graver offence to the religion than that caused by Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses.” In Turin last October, prominent imam Bouriki Bouchta, the leader of two of the city’s five mosques, defended bin Laden and called for the “end of the West.” That city of Turin, the capital of Piedmont that created Italy, now resembles Algiers, Dacca, or Tripoli. As Oriana Fallaci laments, in Venice the pigeons of Piazza San Marco have been replaced by little rugs with “merchandise,” and even Othello would feel ill at ease, while in Genoa the marvelous palazzi, that Rubens so admired have been seized by them and are now perishing like beautiful women who have been raped. The claim that the problem is “insoluble” is bogus, and has always been so:

“I’ll never forget the way these stowaways filled the piazzas of Italy with assemblies last year to clamor for visas. Those distorted, savage faces. Those raised fists, threatening. Those baleful voices that took me back to the Teheran of Khomeini. I’ll never forget it because I felt offended by their bullying in my home, and because I felt made fun of by the ministers who told us: “We’d like to deport them but we don’t know where they’re hiding.” Bastards! There were thousands of them in those piazzas and they sure as hell weren’t hiding. To deport them all they had to do was put them in line, please-right-this-way-sir, and escort them to a port or airport.”

In Rome, “where the cynicism of a politics of every falsehood and every color courts them in the hope of obtaining their future votes,” the Pope himself protects those who demand that the teaching of Dante be suspended in Italian schools because he had Mohammed cast in his Inferno.

Accordingly, in France and all over Western Europe, demands are presented for businesses employing Muslims to observe the Islamic calendar, or for state schools to be segregated by sex and include the tenets of Islam in the curriculum. Everywhere they demand that their daughters be allowed to wear the traditional headscarf, or hijab, claiming that it is more a cultural than a religious symbol. In France, they have already prevailed.

Spain is next. A Moroccan girl, Fatima el Hadi, only months after arriving in Madrid caused a controversy for refusing to wear a uniform in a semiprivate Roman Catholic school in Madrid and insisting on the hijab. Her father is now suing the Spanish state for discrimination. “Why should she stop wearing a scarf when the Christian girls wear little crosses?” asks Tomas Calvo, head of the Migration and Racism Study Center at Madrid University. Gaspar Llamazares, leader of the United Left coalition, described the issue as “racist” and “another example of the government's intolerance.”

[url]http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5239[/url]

OttoR

2005-07-27 12:03 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Gabrielle]London Muslims Fear Backlash After Bombs

July 8, 2005, 6:41 PM EDT

LONDON -- Thousands of Muslims crowded London mosques for Friday prayers, condemning the bombings, but also wary they could be made scapegoats and fearful of reprisals against their growing and vibrant community.

At the East London Mosque, near the site of one of Thursday's attacks, an imam told the 8,000 worshippers to be "confident in our identity" as part of London's multicultural fabric.

The mosque said it had received hate e-mails and a telephone threat to disrupt Friday prayers. A few police officers stood outside during the prayers, which ended peacefully.

Outside, some Muslims said the attacks had made them more cautious on the streets, but others said they were secure in their identity as Londoners -- confident of the city's tolerant traditions.

"It will have some impact on people. But this is London, a cosmopolitan city," said student Ali Ayubi. "Maybe after one or two months it will go back to normal."

At the huge brick mosque in an East End neighborhood that's home to many with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh, imam Sheikh Abdul Qayyum told worshippers that Muslims were "part of the rich diversity of British life."

"At this difficult time, some people in our community may feel insecure purely because they are Muslims, but these terrible events have nothing to do with us. The Muslims of London are victims as much as their fellow citizens," he said.

All of Britain's major Muslim groups condemned the bombings, which killed dozens and wounded more than 700. But some feared they would be blamed for the bombings, which police said bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

"This morning I was driving to work and a woman on the radio said she'd had her headscarf pulled. I was shocked, to be honest," said Ahmed Shafi, 31, a grocery store manager. "In this day and age you don't expect that."

Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims. They're inseparable from the fabric of the city's society and its history. From the opulent glitz of Harrods department store -- owned by Egyptian-born Mohammed al Fayed -- to the kebab shops that dot the city's streets, Muslims have long been part of London's glamour and its grit.

Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed that Islam was not the culprit in the bombings.

"We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do," he said Thursday.

That message was underscored by Muslims on the streets.

"Many Muslims are British. They have lived here for years. What happens to London happens to them," said Suraiya Zammath, a Bangladeshi woman visiting relatives in London. "This should not be singled out as 'Islamic terrorists.' That destabilizes the community."

Abdul Mukith, a 37-year-old supermarket worker in Brick Lane, the heart of London's Bangladeshi community, agreed.

"What's religion got to do with it?" he asked. "I'm bloody Muslim, and I'm afraid to go into the city" just like anyone else in the aftermath of the attacks.

Still, some feared a backlash. The Muslim Council of Britain said it had been deluged with hate e-mails, which caused its server to crash late Thursday. Though it was up and running Friday, the council said it was still getting a steady stream of vitriolic missives.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said Friday that police were aware of one or two "very minor incidents" involving backlash against Muslims, but he didn't elaborate.

He said that so far, "Britain with its liberal and welcoming approach to people is taking this in its stride. I'm very proud of that."

Representatives of several religious faiths held a silent prayer vigil Friday in a street near Aldgate subway station, where seven people died.

[url="http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bombings-nervous-muslims,0,2748428.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines"]http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bombings-nervous-muslims,0,2748428.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines[/url][/QUOTE] They have nothing to fear, the British people are brainwashed from cradle to grave by a Jewish controlled Marxist media so they won't say a word against those "lovely brown folks" :thumbd:

xmetalhead

2005-07-27 13:59 | User Profile

[QUOTE]Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims.[/QUOTE] Well who's f$#%king fault is that?

And while we're at it, there's somewhere like 6-8 million Muslims in the USA too.

Quantrill

2005-07-27 15:03 | User Profile

Gabrielle, That graphic you posted said that 15% of Austria's population is now comprised of Muslims. Surely that can't accurate?

mwdallas

2005-07-27 16:16 | User Profile

You are right, Quantrill. The correct figure is about 4.3% for Austria -- about 350,000 out of 8,200,000.

Ponce

2005-07-27 16:31 | User Profile

How can so many people invade Europe? I mean, the Illegals are just walking across the border into the US but in order to get to Europe they have to take a boat or a plane and a lot easier to stop.

Ron

2005-07-27 16:54 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Snouter]It this day and age it is offensive to see primitive religions being represented walking around whether it be Jewish yamicas (or those black hats Hassidics wear) or Muslim head diapers. If they dressed normally and made an effort to assimilate, they would not get harassed.

Nowadays British in name is just as meaningless as American in name. Based on the footage shown from London recently, there are not many Brits there. The Islamic Terrorists should be singled out, Muslims destablize the community.[/QUOTE] What too many people do not understand about these immigrants is, whether it be Muslim or Mexican, they do not want to assimilate. They want you to change to their ways. They insult us, and don't care. Their response is calling you names, such as, racist or xenophobe. In other words, there is something wrong with you if you cannot accept their way of life. If you expect them to assimilate, then you are the problem, not them, and they are offended by the insinuation they should change. Then the cycle of name calling continues. It's all a well thought out ploy of attaining power.

xmetalhead

2005-07-27 19:20 | User Profile

[I]I figured since we're talking about Muslims in Europe, let's not forget that we have them here too in about equal overall numbers, although the US is so many times larger than individual European countries.[/I]

[IMG]http://www.jafariyanews.com/2k5_news/may/15michigan_islamiccentre.jpg[/IMG]

[B][SIZE=3]Detroit Islamic Center Opens Largest Mosque in United States[/SIZE][/B] Mosque's Imam Qazwini seeks to create interfaith dialogue

By Brittany Sterrett Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Fifteen years of planning, six years of building and $15 million went into the creation of a new Detroit mosque that now ranks as the [B]largest mosque in the United States[/B]. The two-story building has room for more than 1,000 people in the main prayer hall and over 2,000 in the banquet hall.

The mosque, which opened on May 27, is part of the Islamic Center of America (ICA), an organization founded in 1961 and currently under the leadership of Imam Sayed Hassan al-Qazwini.

Imam Qazwini, who was born in Karbala, Iraq, and studied Islamic jurisprudence in Qum, Iran, came to the United States more than 12 years ago. He says he has been “impressed on how diverse this country is and how Muslims are thriving in this country.” He was attracted to Michigan because of its large concentration of Muslims and now feels at home in what he refers to as the “American Middle East.”

As the imam of a mosque in such a large and influential Muslim community, Qazwini hopes to affect the area by working to create a greater understanding of Islam. One of his personal goals, which he hopes to achieve through his role in the center, is to establish an interfaith program.

“Due to the prominence of my center, I am given a golden opportunity to build a bridge with non-Muslims … in the state of Michigan and the United States as a whole,” he said.

Already he has spoken at more than 170 colleges, universities and churches since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In addition, he noted that the mosque itself is located between two churches: one Armenian and the other Greek Orthodox.

In order to realize his goal of promoting interfaith understanding, he plans to create an Interfaith Liaison Department, which will spread the word of Islam, showing that it is “the word of peace, love and mutual respect.”

Qazwini also intends to engage the community in the center’s activities. His vision is to see the ICA as more than just a place where people come to pray. Instead he “would like, for example, to see youth taking over” and using the center as their platform.

For now, the center is gaining recognition in the United States and beyond. Al-Maktoum, a charitable organization based in Dubai, donated $700,000 to the construction of the mosque in addition to the more than $6 million that community members gave. Moreover, this summer over 400 groups are scheduled to tour the mosque, which Qazwini refers to as “a piece of art” and the governor of Michigan calls “a jewel.”

The new Michigan mosque stands tall, visible even from airplanes flying into Detroit, but according to Qazwini, the construction of the building was only the first challenge. He now faces the task of building the community.

Additional information on the ICA is available on the Islamic Center of America Web site.

[url]http://usinfo.state.gov/mena/Archive/2005/Jun/02-744084.html[/url]

Ponce

2005-07-27 19:39 | User Profile

Sooooooo what?, how many churches or study center or what ever the the heck they call it do the Jews have in America? I don't see any freaking "Wailling wall" or Islamic (Muslim) museum in the US.

But for Egypt I don't see the US givin BILLIONSSSSSSS to any Arab country money like with the Zionist state of Israel. :caiphas:

We already given those people in the state of Israel around 120 billions dollars, I am not counting the freevies like military equipment and so on which was paid by US tax payers.

So, the Muslims have a two story center in the US.....again, so what?

starr

2005-07-27 20:30 | User Profile

[QUOTE]If they dressed normally and made an effort to assimilate, they would not get harassed. [/QUOTE] While it is annoying to listen to them whine. Should they be assimilating? When they look, act, and dress different, even many of the most blind "tolerant" people are still going to see them as different, no matter how much they have been taught to believe otherwise. They start dressing and acting just like everyone else, that changes. So let them continue to wear their headscarves,etc and get harrassed for being seen as "different" if it starts happening more and more maybe some of them with rethink living in a place they are not wanted by many.

[QUOTE] They have nothing to fear, the British people are brainwashed from cradle to grave by a Jewish controlled Marxist media so they won't say a word against those "lovely brown folks [/QUOTE] This is somewhat true. but because of things currently happening, how many people now are, or are very close to being under the impression that Muslim=terrorist? And people are not going to be able to continue to be too tolerant or want to live around people that may want to blow them up.

OttoR

2005-07-27 23:20 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Ron]What too many people do not understand about these immigrants is, whether it be Muslim or Mexican, they do not want to assimilate. They want you to change to their ways. They insult us, and don't care. Their response is calling you names, such as, racist or xenophobe. In other words, there is something wrong with you if you cannot accept their way of life. If you expect them to assimilate, then you are the problem, not them, and they are offended by the insinuation they should change. Then the cycle of name calling continues. It's all a well thought out ploy of attaining power.[/QUOTE] If they did assimilate it would only make it easier for them to mate with White women and thus increase their minority population and reduce ours.

Ron

2005-07-28 16:24 | User Profile

[QUOTE=OttoR]If they did assimilate it would only make it easier for them to mate with White women and thus increase their minority population and reduce ours.[/QUOTE] Doesn't increase their population anymore than it increases white population. This is an example where interbreeding benefits no one. Besides, why would white women be anymore inclined to interbred than a white man would?

jeffersonian

2005-07-28 16:45 | User Profile

[QUOTE]What too many people do not understand about these immigrants is, whether it be Muslim or Mexican, they do not want to assimilate. [/QUOTE]

That is only half the problem, the larger issue is the open invitation by those brainwashed to believe the politically correct mantra that diversity is our strength, and that all cultures are equal. There is no NEED to assimilate, the loss of our culture, values, indeed our society is all but unavoidable so long as the cultural elites are the dominant voices.

Ron

2005-07-28 17:10 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Gabrielle]I haven’t heard anything new, but if I was a betting woman, I would bet my last dollar that they got plenty of notice.[/QUOTE]

In order for the Israelis to have notice they either are in collaboration with the people involved, they did it themselves and blamed it on terrorism, or they have one hell of a spy network.

Ron

2005-07-28 17:16 | User Profile

[QUOTE=jeffersonian]That is only half the problem, the larger issue is the open invitation by those brainwashed to believe the politically correct mantra that diversity is our strength, and that all cultures are equal. There is no NEED to assimilate, the loss of our culture, values, indeed our society is all but unavoidable so long as the cultural elites are the dominant voices.[/QUOTE] This mantra is not coming from them, but from homespun morons who seemingly want to undermine American society. The fact the immigrants do not want to assimilate would seem to put to rest the argument they believe cultures are equal. Otherwise, they could assimilate, and it would make no difference. No, they understand perfectly what our society is, and they are extremely envious because their people could not have built such a country. From this envy comes hatred, and the desire to destroy it in the name of justice and fairplay. The US is involved in two wars. One, against the Islamic Fundamentalist terrorists. Two, the invasion by a foreign people who's objective is to change America to suit them. Both groups seek to destroy our country. One wants to destroy our society which they consider unjust, and the other wants to destroy our religions which they consider the works of Satan. If our people weaken, if we are not strong, we are going to lose because our adversaries are not weak. Unfortunately, too many people deny the strength of our enemies from either fear or denial. Too many of our young people live in the fantasy world of cyberspace. They consider an accomplishment if they can make it to the next level of EverQuest.