Western Resistance

« Gaza: Islamist Infighting Could See Hamas Government Dissolved | | UK: Police Support Muslim Officer's Anti-Semitism »

October 4, 2006

UK: Mosque Riot - Seven Arrests

We reported on Monday October 2 that a virtual riot occurred at the Jamia Masjid mosque at Clarendon Street in Avenham in Preston, Lancashire. Non-Muslims had begun by throwing stones at cars outside the mosque, which led worshippers in the building to come out and engage in a street fight. During the disturbance, a Muslim youth was stabbed in the arm. Police said the incident was racially-motivated but did not make any arrests.

Some web sources appear to have taken this incident as a sign that Britons were "finally fighting back" against the Islamic situation in Britain, where there appears to be only segregation and intimidation, rather than assimilation or integration.

In part, this may be true, but it seems that the Jamia Masjid mosque became a convenient scapegoat for the frustrations of youths in the area. Before the violence at the mosque, police had mounted a campaign of stop and search arrests among local youths, stated the Lancashire Evening Post.

In this article, written before the violence flared up, an adjacent neighborhood of Preston, Brookfield, had been targeted by police in a massive campaign to clean up street disorder. Police foot patrols, backed up by police in vehicles, and two armored police vans, decided to mount a high-profile operation against gangs who gathered each night on housing estates. These would congregate in numbers of up to 20 individuals.

Over three days, 182 stop and search operations were carried out. There were 50 to 60 seizures of alcohol from people on the street. There were confrontations on Friday when police tackled drunken soccer supporters, who had been watching the local team, Preston North End, play.

There had been numerous incidents of cars being attacked by young vandals in Preston, and throughout the summer, local police had mounted an anti-gang campaign entitled "Operation Summer Nights". The police operation which was mounted before the attack on vehicles parked outside the mosque, code-named Operation Dent, was part of the "Summer Nights" scheme. This summer, there have been hundreds of incidents of cars being damaged, garden walls and other property smashed up, graffiti, harassment and public disorder offences reported.

Yesterday, Preston Today and the BBC announced that community "leaders" in Avenham had a three hour meeting in Avenham with police and politicians. They vowed to work together to prevent any repeat of the incident which provoked the mosque "riot".

The details of the disturbance at the Jamia Masjid mosque have been widely reported, even making it into the Iranian news source IRNA.

Preston Today stated that the youths who had thrown stones at cars parked outside the mosque were not exclusively "white". The gang members were white and black. Michael Lavalette, a councillor, said the trouble had been building up for days in the area. He said that prior to the mosque incident, groups of white and Afro-Caribbean teenagers had started to sit on the garden walls of houses belonging to Muslim, and also Sikh, families.

Lavalette said: "There is a real perception that white and Afro-Caribbean teenagers are causing the trouble. They have started targeting Asian households in the area, using racist language. There is a general climate of Islamophobia. They have got some incredibly big dogs. They are causing trouble not just for Asians but for all the communities, they have been a problem."

The Mayor of Preston, Councillor Bill Tyson, said: "I would be very disappointed if this turned out to be race-related because we have been doing so well. We are trying to get Avenham into a nice place, there has been a lot of money spent down there. We wouldn't want anything to stand in the way of that."

Today, the Lancashire Evening Post reveals that the issue behind the mosque car-attack may be connected to a situation relating to a robbery trial earlier this year. There were four "Asian" (read Muslim) witnesses to an armed robbery at a betting shop. Two individuals, Lee Evans and Michael Carter, were on trial charged with robbery at Preston Crown Court.

When these two later pleaded guilty, a turf war over drugs had erupted on the streets of Avenham.

The four witnesses had been reluctant to provide information, as they had been receiving intimidation, but were finally persuaded by police to give the crucial evidence which secured a conviction for Evans and Carter. They had been promised police protection, but it was later alleged from their community that the protection had not taken place.

Chief Supt Mike Barton, senior police officer for Preston, said that a "small group of thugs" had created the situation outside the mosque. He said that these would be targeted specifically using the government's "antisocial behavior orders" (ASBOs).

Last night there were seven people arrested in connection with the Jamia Masjid incident. These were taken at three addresses. Five of the seven people arrested were women. This morning one of the two males was released following a caution. The people were arrested on drug-related offences.

Far from being the sign of "British youth fighting back against Islam", the truth appears to be more mundane. It is a tale of drug-related crime, recriminations and intimidation. Certainly it seems to be that the mosque worshippers cars were attacked not because of the wider political situation regarding Islam. The Jamia-Masjid was attacked because of seedy, drug-taking criminal individuals taking petty revenge for the fact that four Muslims showed some civic responsibility, and ensured that two of their number were put behind bars.

Those of us who challenge Islamism should find nothing to celebrate from this event. The Muslims here were the good guys, and the trash who seek to emulate LA gang culture in Britain's northern cities are certainly not the sort of individuals who should make Britons proud.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 4, 2006 7:33 PM

Comments

Post a comment