Is America anti-Islamic? 'Hostile atmosphere' goes beyond Ground Zero mosque, claim 50 Muslim groups

More than 50 leading Muslim groups have decried the hostile 'anti-Islamic' atmosphere they say is gripping America today.

Tension in New York over plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero are rising, especially as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.

But leaders of the Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, an Islamic leadership council that represents a broad spectrum of Muslims in the city, said the sentiment is growing beyond the mosque plans.

'The bigger issue and the broader issue is the issue of ethnic and religious hatred being spread by groups trying to stop the building of mosques and Islamic institutions across the country,' said Imam Al Amin Abdul Latif, president of the Majlis Ash-Shura.

He spoke at a demonstration on the steps of City Hall in New York today.

The group cited a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee that is being investigated by the FBI.

They also pointed to the successful opposition to the proposed conversion of a property owned by a Catholic Church into a mosque and community center on Staten Island, a New York City borough off the southern tip of Manhattan.

And they declared opposition to the Ground Zero mosque 'unethical, insensitive and inhumane', pointing out that Muslims were also victims and first responders in the 9/11 attacks.

The imam behind the project, meanwhile, was preparing to return to the U.S. after a taxpayer-funded good will tour to the Mideast.

There, he he said the debate is about much more than 'a piece of real estate'.

The imam told a group in Dubai on Tuesday that the dispute over the mosque 'has expanded beyond a piece of real estate and expanded to Islam in America and what it means for America'.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf sidestepped questions about whether he would consider moving the $100 million mosque and Islamic community centre to another location.

But the leaders of the Majlis Ash-Shura, while supporting the developers' right to build the mosque, said they would support a move to another location.

Rick Lazio, a Republican candidate for governor of New York who has opposed the mosque in lower Manhattan, has said criticism is 'not an issue of religion'.

Like many critics, he has said it is an issue of being sensitive to the families of 9/11 victims and transparency regarding the center's funding.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed 71 per cent of New Yorkers want the developers to voluntarily move the project.

Daily Mail

Peruvian priest, German anti-racist group receive Aachen Peace Prize

The Aachen Peace Prize and its 2,000-euro award have been given to a German anti-racist society as well as a Catholic priest and human rights advocate from Peru.
The Duisburg anti-racism group Phoenix Society and Peruvian priest and human rights activist Marco Arana received the Aachen Peace Prize on Wednesday for their advocacy and fieldwork.

"Both believe in the respect for human dignity," said Karl Heinz Otten, chairman of the prize committee, at a ceremony in Aachen with about 500 guests on Wednesday evening. "We would like to help them by honoring their fieldwork."

The Aachen Peace Prize comes with a 2,000-euro prize and is awarded annually to organizations and individuals who have shown exception work toward peace and international understanding.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Phoenix Society was Protestant minister Austen Peter Brandt, a German with roots in Nigeria who said that "racism is still fixed in many minds."

"Our work against this every-day racism gains new motivation with this prize," he said.

Arana is a Catholic priest from Peru who for 20 years has campaigned against environmental damage from his country's largest gold mine and advocated for farmers in nearby areas whose health and livelihood have been harmed.

He said he wanted to run in Peru's 2011 presidential elections in association with the newly-formed Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) movement as a "staunch advocate of the peaceful path in the fight for human rights and the environment."

DW-World

Six arrested in crackdown on racist attacks in Aberdeen (UK)

A 15-year-old boy was among six people arrested in a crackdown on racist attacks and anti-social behaviour in Aberdeen, the Evening Express can reveal today.

Grampian Police launched Operation Dahlia in response to a flood of complaints from takeaways and pubs in Aberdeen.

It targeted revellers hurling racist abuse at takeaway staff and those who misbehave in the centre of Aberdeen after drinking too much.

Evening Express

Drunken racist threatens to blow up shop, (UK)

 A drunk customer threatened to blow up a Macclesfield off-licence during a tirade of racist abuse against the bewildered owner.
Sentencing Michael Anthony Bradley to a community order, a judge said his actions had made shop worker Mohammad sman feel like ‘a stranger in his own land’.

Chester Crown Court heard how Bradley, 43, of Danes Square, Macclesfield, twice walked in and racially abused Mr Usman at ‘Boozer’,on Mill Lane on March 26.

Counsel for the prosecution, Robert Philpotts, told how a ‘very drunk’ Bradley yelled a torrent of racist abuse, shouting ‘you touched my missus’ and ‘I’m going to come back to blow your shop up’.

Mr Philpotts added: "He (the victim) was frightened and thought that the defendant was going to smash the shop up. The other man tried to calm him down. Half an hour later, he returned to the shop but was with a female. Mr Usman was on the telephone to the police. The female kept saying ‘it’s not him, it’s the other guy’."
Bradley hurled more abuse at Mr Usman before an off-duty policeman came to help.

The couple then fell into a ‘heap in the road’.

Police later tracked Bradley down to a house on Mill Lane where he tried to escape by jumping over a wall.

He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated fear of violence at an earlier hearing.

Debra White, counsel for the defence, told the court: "It is something he (Bradley) deeply regrets."

Judge Stephen Clarke told Bradley: "This caused a good degree of upset to Mr Usman, as far as he’s concerned he is British and respects this country. Clearly when you speak to him in that way that makes him feel like a stranger in his own land. You’re not treating him with the dignity every person is entitled to."

Bradley was sentenced to a community order for 12 months with a supervision requirement. He must also attend an Addressing Substance Related Offending programme.

After the sentence, victim Mohammed Usman, 24, from Levenshulme, told the Express he and his family bought the Mill Lane shop because they thought it would be safer than Manchester.

He said: "I have been here four years and I have only had two problems, in this area it’s not common, I know areas like Longsight in Manchester where kids will throw stones at your window for not serving them, so I have been lucky here.

"I wasn’t scared because I knew I had done nothing wrong, but when he started racially abusing me, that’s when I thought I would have to get the police involved. I am happy with the sentence he got, as long as he knows he is banned from coming back into the shop again."

His brother Mohammad Arslan, 21, who also works at the shop, added: "I am pleased that the police and courts have decided to do something about this.

"Hopefully his punishment will make people think twice before coming in drunk and shouting abuse at us.

"The punishment for this sort of behaviour should be more harsh because if police and courts let it continue it will just breed more bad feeling and resentment between different races."

Manchester Evening News