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Vol. 81/No. 30 August 14, 2017
Manchester: Protests hit arson attack on mosque
BY DAG TIRSÉN
MANCHESTER, England — After the Nasfat Islamic Centre was gutted here by
an arson attack July 16, some 200 people joined a “Peace walk” five days
later condemning the anti-Muslim attack. The mosque is used largely by
working people originally from Nigeria.
The arsonists had smashed a window in the back of the mosque, poured in
an accelerant, and started the fire. Three classrooms used by children
were destroyed and the rest of the building was severely damaged. No one
was inside at the time.
“Those who did this think we are going away,” Monsurat Adebanjo-Aremu,
secretary of the Nasfat Manchester branch, told the Militant. “But we
are not. We’re staying.”
“This is a blow to the whole community the mosque is a part of,” she
said. “We have a drop-in center for everybody to come in and activities
for children in the area.”
Neighbors brought food and water to mosque members after the attack, she
said. And there have been a few hostile comments as well.
The mosque has been attacked several times. In September 2014, a minibus
belonging to the mosque, used to carry children and the elderly, was set
on fire. A year later a second fire was put out before it caused any
damage. The surveillance cameras set up by the mosque have been
destroyed four times, and two pig’s heads had been thrown inside.
“We are bitter at the police. When our bus was burnt, they didn’t take
it seriously,” Adebanjo-Aremu said. “A police officer came and took the
details and then we didn’t hear anything from them. And no one was
charged.”
The march wound through the Manchester working-class suburb of Newton
Heath where the mosque is located. Participants included not only people
from the Nasfat and other mosques, but a Christian priest, a Sikh, Jews,
Communist League members, members of the Manchester City Council, area
residents and other working people.
A banner reading “WeStandTogether” led the march and many participants
wore T-shirts saying, “Islam is for peace. Say no to terrorism. Say no
to bullying. Say no to hate crime. Nasfat Manchester.”
“I came to express my solidarity with Nasfat,” said Jay Charara, who
joined the march along with three others members of the Jewish
Representative Council. “In the Jewish community we understand the
effect of hate crime. The firebombings in Prestwich are still in our mind.”
In early June, 10 days after an Islamic State supporter carried out a
terror bombing that killed two dozen people at an Ariana Grande concert
in Manchester, two kosher restaurants in Prestwich, a Jewish area in
north Manchester, were gutted by firebombs.
“Whoever did this didn’t count on a march like this happening,” Abiola
Ojo, former chair of Manchester Nasfat, told Communist League member
Pete Clifford. “We’re determined our mosque will stay here.”
“The police and government will focus the blame for this attack on
Caucasian people living in the area. They’ll try to draw our eyes off
our common class interests and divide us against each other,” Clifford
said. “My party explains the dog-eat-dog capitalist system is in the
midst of a deepening crisis today, and working people need to unite and
support each other, so we can chart a road to fight back against the
devastating conditions we all face.”
Some groups on the left echo the rulers’ efforts to blame Caucasian
workers for the attacks on Muslims, Clifford said. “The mosque is
isolated in a poor area with an active far right,” the Socialist Worker
said, as if this meant they were responsible for the attack. The article
also cited the “high level of unemployment” and “few migrants” in the
area as causes. The presence of a British flag and a rightist slogan in
a neighborhood window is also presented as evidence.
But when campaigners for the Communist League went door to door in the
working-class and predominantly Caucasian area near the mosque, to
introduce the League and discuss the arson attack, they found broad
opposition to the assault on the mosque. They also found a few workers
who were critical of the mosque being located in the area.
The CL members also went to show solidarity with striking building
maintenance workers nearby, and discussed the arson at the mosque. Keith
Morris, one of the strikers, decided to visit the mosque and donated £50
($66). “I gave the strike pay that I received for that day to show my
sympathy and support,” he said.
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