Violence/Football/Muslims

[pabird]

There is a major problem coming our way to cities and towns where the racial mix is growing.

In Windsor a respectable town with no obvious record of racial unrest we have the local gangs moving into violent confrontation with (mainly Pakistani) Muslims who seek to spread their influence with the building of a mosque.

These gangs are taking the general sense of unrest and reacting in the only way a street gang understand.

The disturbing result has been Birmingham street gangs wishing to travel down and join in with any affrays available.

Is this a new development? No this is similar to how football violence escalated with gang members from various points in the country being astute in the use of available IT Phones and computers etc agreeing common meeting points and actions in drastic escalation of violence.

If the police allow this type of violence to escalate in Windsor there is every possibility the football gang communications link will establish itself in anti-Muslim violence in a most serious manner.

[Stu M]

Quote:

pabird said: (mainly Pakistani) Muslims who seek to spread their influence with the building of a mosque.

Interesting choice of words, 'spreading their influence'. You could also say they're merely building a place of worship, which is the same as any Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Baptist, whatever, building a church in a town in which they have a significant population.

I can't confess to know Windsor, though, so don't know if this is the case or not...?

[Barry Scott]

I think PA is referring to this:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/5409444.stm

 

funny, I never knew that you could pray in a dairy...

[The Invisible Man]

Pity the police can't use "robust policing" to protect the entire community, for example in many a town centre on Saturday nights.... actually from very early on any evening these days.

 

Rightly or wrongly an "Islamic religious centre" (which I presume is not a mosque or it would be so described) is almost bound to cause some tension. One trusts that the planning application for change of use and/or any building works will be considered in the same manner as any other, for example for parking, traffic generation, hours of use, suitability for location, visual effect on the streetscape etc etc. It's been a while since I've been to Windsor but I don't recall domes being a characteristic.

[Barry Scott]

Indeed, but the riot wasn't kicked off by the threat of a mosque. In fact I'll refer to something a local resident said on the matter:

 

Contrary to the Media slant on this, it allegedly all kicked off after a youth, caught nicking, was beaten up by three or four adult employees. When the mum went to complain, an assault and threatening behavour took place, involving various weapons. When the police were called, a search found no weapons (rumour has it the 'weapons used in the fracas' were thrown threw a window into a place of holy worship before they arrived, somewhere the police would not contemplate going, let alone be allowed, to look.

 

So, it didn't start off as a racist protest, although there are strong local feelings against having a mosque in some quarters. The unrest stems more from the months of noise and nuisance caused by artics and cars moving in and out the premises in the early hours and during the night, without having due regard to those who live nearby. It's been a milk depot for many years, and when Express owned it, there was hardly a murmur of complaint.

[Barry Scott]

ok, I was wrong, it's got a tad more serious:

 

Riots over mosque on the Queen's doorstep

06/10/06

By David Pilditch

 

THE QUEEN’s home town was gripped by fear last night as war erupted between rival gangs of race-hate thugs.

 

Extra officers were called in and riot police placed on stand-by as mobs of Muslim and white youths prepared for a fourth consecutive night of violence in the royal town of Windsor in Berkshire.

 

The Queen usually spends weekends at Windsor Castle and no decision has yet been made over whether she will change her plans. In unprecedented scenes of mayhem and disorder in the historic town, armed gangs of more than 100 youths have fought running battles in the streets.

 

A Muslim-run dairy which wants to build a mosque has been petrol-bombed and vehicles have been vandalised.

 

The outbreak of disorder began after a mother and her daughter were set upon by a gang of 20 Asian youths armed with baseball bats, iron bars and pitchforks.

 

The shaven-headed thugs – all dressed in white robes – launched the attack after pouring out of a former office building which is being used as an unofficial mosque.

 

They attacked Karen Hayes, 46, and her 18-year-old daughter Emily before turning their weapons on the teenager’s car. The pair had gone to help after Karen’s 15-year-old son Sean and a friend were beaten up by the gang. Police have said it is unlikely the mob will be brought to justice.

 

As dusk fell last night, gangs of hooded white youths began to gather outside the dairy entrance.

 

With scarves wrapped around their mouths to hide their identity, the teenage boys insisted they were the victims of the unrest.

 

One 17-year-old youth said: "The Asians have got no respect for us. What they normally do is start on the kids." Meanwhile, scores of Asian youths marched through the streets chanting "We are getting our mosque".

 

Three police riot vans swooped on the 40-strong mob of white youths. As a stand-off developed between the teenagers and Muslim workers at the gates of the Medina dairy, around 30 officers moved in.

 

Police stopped and searched gang members, making them remove the scarves covering their faces and asked them to disperse, which the majority of them did.

 

Dairy manager Sikander Khan said it felt a little like being under siege. "We have all these lorries to load up and we feel intimidated with them here."

 

Locals said tensions had been growing between residents and staff at the dairy for months. Three arrests have been made since this week’s violence began.

 

Problems started after Sardar Hussain, who bought the dairy in 2002, applied for planning permission to turn a nearby office building into a mosque and Islamic education centre.

 

Official permission has not been given but workers have been using the building for prayers. And locals insist it is already attracting a hard-core element of fundamentalists.

 

People opposing the conversion claim there are not enough Muslims in Windsor to warrant a mosque. There are said to be around 500 Muslims in a town with a population of more than 30,000.

 

Staff at the dairy say they have faced verbal abuse, their cars have been damaged and stones, bricks and bottles have been thrown at the buildings. Mr Hussain, who came to Britain from Pakistan in 1973, insisted the attacks which provoked the disorder were not connected to his plan for a mosque.

 

He said: "I am disappointed this is happening. This is the Queen’s town. I like to see this town in peace and quiet. I like to see everybody get on with their lives.

 

"We are providing a service to the community. I feel safe because I am in the hands of God but I feel sad this has happened in the Queen’s town."

 

Chief Superintendent Brian Langston, of Thames Valley Police, said: "The type of behaviour shown over the past few evenings will not be tolerated by police.

 

"We will not allow any section of the community to be intimidated by mindless violence. All reported incidents are being investigated as serious criminal activity.

 

"Three arrests have already been made and we will continue to use robust policing tactics to deal with anyone threatening public safety."

 

Last week it was revealed that the Queen had allowed a Muslim prayer room to be set up at Windsor Castle. Nagina Chaudhry, a student who works part-time in the castle’s gift shop, won approval from Her Majesty to pray during Ramadan within the castle walls.

 

Last night Nagina, 19, begged rival gangs to stop the violence. She said: "I believe that if the Queen is willing to accept other cultures and religions, then surely Windsor as a town should be equally gracious.

 

"I hope the problem is resolved quickly and peacefully but I believe the mosque should be built as there is no proper place for Muslims in the town to pray." Local councillor Cynthia Endacott said: "I do not think the police have taken a pro-active response to the complaints from residents over the years.

 

"They have been warned that something might happen. I would urge everyone in the community to stay calm."

 

Council leader Mary-Rose Gliksten said: "We have got a long and proud history of our community relations in Windsor and we regret incidents that have happened this week. We will be doing everything to calm the situation." The Rev Louise Brown, who chaired a chaotic public meeting over the dairy’s planned mosque in 2004, said there were deep-rooted problems which led to the violence.

 

"This is a matter that has been bubbling up. There are issues with the dairy that have never been resolved."

 

Ms Brown, who is vicar of nearby All Saints Church, added: "There is a lot of history and sadly where there is a lot of history, there are problems." Since the Medina dairy moved to the site – formerly owned by Express Dairies – it has developed into a 24 hours a day, seven days a week operation.

 

Bitter neighbours say they have had to suffer sleepless nights caused by articulated lorries delivering around the clock.

 

Asian youths are travelling to Windsor from neighbouring towns and there are rumours that people as far away as Birmingham are planning riots. A petrol bomb made out of a beer bottle was found at the roadside in one of the flashpoint streets. One mother, who wished to be known only as Carol, said: "I have a 17-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl and I’m putting a curfew on them because I’m petrified of what might happen.

 

"I have not slept for two nights. The whole community is frightened and these two groups continue to wind each other up. I fear it has gone too far to bring back. Somebody is going to get killed."

 

There have been reports from across Britain of attacks on Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.

 

On the Isle of Wight an investigation was under way last night after a Muslim prisoner at Parkhurst claimed a warder had defaced his copy of the Koran.

 

Massoud Shadjareh, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission said: "Rude words were written across the page."

 

And last week a pig’s head was thrown at a mosque during night prayers in Newsport, Gwent.

[BOROMAN]

Quote:

pabird said:
There is a major problem coming our way to cities and towns where the racial mix is growing.
In Windsor a respectable town with no obvious record of racial unrest we have the local gangs moving into violent confrontation with (mainly Pakistani) Muslims who seek to spread their influence with the building of a mosque.
These gangs are taking the general sense of unrest and reacting in the only way a street gang understand.
The disturbing result has been Birmingham street gangs wishing to travel down and join in with any affrays available.
Is this a new development? No this is similar to how football violence escalated with gang members from various points in the country being astute in the use of available IT Phones and computers etc agreeing common meeting points and actions in drastic escalation of violence.
If the police allow this type of violence to escalate in Windsor there is every possibility the football gang communications link will establish itself in anti-Muslim violence in a most serious manner.

Whilst I respect the rights of muslims to have their long beards and the women having their heads (and in some case their faces) covered, has anyone noticed how the numbers that do this have incresed since 9/11 and 7/7. It is as if they are rubbing our faces in it.

Lets be honest 9/11 was an unprovoked attacked, so to react to it by shoving Islam down our throats is just so insensitive. What they forget is that this country is made up of many religions, but certain members of the muslim community seem to see themselves as a master race. Ironically that sort of mentality is no different to that of the Hitler youth movement which I am sure most Muslims would deplore.

[Barry Scott]

oh, it was just amped up for the papers...

 

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/1802/

[pabird]

The football hooligans were simply men/boys who enjoyed being involved in violence and anything that gave self-publicity and you then add the cowards who enjoyed snide violence whilst hiding in a crowd.

They were not thick with many being businessmen and middle-class educated people who simply enjoyed riotous violence.

They created the worst scenes of violence when constructing an IT web of contacts that determined (for an extended period of time) opposite sides being in constant contact until the day of the intended affray.

The Muslims will produce hooligans of their own who will both react to/or generate violent actions.

My point about Windsor was that there were indications that just such a network was possible with race riots as a team was becoming involved from as far away as Birmingham.

Football or race they simply want an arena and the Muslims are handing over several such arenas.

[Barry Scott]

but the Windsor thing had nothing to do with race in the first place, just a group of yobs with nowt better to do with their time. As soon as the media put 'Muslim dairy' and 'firebombed' together suddenly the racial tensions get wracked up to eleven.

[pabird]

Correct but I am suggesting that there is a group or groups out there very well organised to home in to such targets for violence under any name.

[Barry Scott]

that goes without saying of course, but you get that everywhere. What doesn't help is the media whipping up a shitstorm over it