Islam is being "demonised" as a result of atrocities carried out in the name of a "distorted" version of the faith, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Blair of Boughton has said. The ex-commissioner, who led the Met during the 2005 suicide bombings on London's transport system, described Islam as one of the "great" Abrahamic faiths and a "faith of peace" which had suffered as a result of atrocities carried out by individuals. The religious impulse should be recognised as a source of goodness in spite of the "horrors" inflicted by organised religion, he said at the Theos think-tank annual lecture in central London. Religious people were losing the struggle to make it "clear" that faith impels them to do good deeds, he said. To most people faith looks "irrelevant, clannish, prejudiced, old-fashioned and violent," he said.
But the greatest achievements of history, such as the abolition of slavery and the provision of education or free health care for all had their origins in the religious impulse, he said. "Religion should be the most peaceful of all the agencies of social cohesion," he said. "Its infinite number of unseen and unsung acts of charity and love are not known individually but in total they are part of public consciousness. "They should be and remain the glue that permits modern society to exist, particularly in an increasingly urbanised age - in other words, they are a bulwark of public order, in the sense of orderliness and tranquility." In his lecture, Lord Blair, who is an Anglican, emphasised the importance of doubt in religious faith.
The Press Association
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
NEW EXTRADITION HEADACHE FOR NORWEGIAN AUTHORITIES?
Russian neo-Nazi and former martial arts fighter could cause Norwegian authorities another extradition headache if he wins his case. Vjatsjelav Datsik has been advised to follow Mullah Krekar’s example and seek asylum in Norway.
Mr Datsik escaped from a Russian mental hospital earlier this year, claiming he was tortured in prison. The Russian neo-Nazi, who is currently in a Norwegian jail for possession of illegal weapons after he turned himself over to police in September, alleges he was handcuffed naked for eight months and electric shocks applied to his testicles, according to one of his Norwegian lawyers, Fridtjof Feydt. If his torture allegations are proven, his case may cause Norwegian authorities another extradition headache similar to Iraqi Mullah Krekar, with Mr Datsik possibly at liberty to wander the Norwegian streets unchecked whilst awaiting extradition himself. Mullah Krekar, the founder of Islamist armed group Ansar al-Islam, has been living with his family in Oslo since 1991, and is considered to be a threat to national security. However, international law obliges Norway to shelter people who risk persecution and death in their home country if returned, and authorities cannot extradite Mr Krekar until the Iraqis provide them with a written statement, guaranteeing he will not face execution upon his return.
Legal nightmare?
Both the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) and Oslo police were ready to extradite Mr Datsik back to Russia following his arrest, but the police psychiatrist said he was not suffering from any mental illness. This allowed him to seek political asylum in Norway for reasons of personal safety. “Datsik claims he has been subjected to extensive torture and fears for his life if he is sent back into Russian captivity,” Bernt Christian Birkeland, his other lawyer tells TV2. Meanwhile, Dimitry Demuskin, leader of the Russian extreme right group Slavonic Strength says it was the organization’s lawyers themselves who suggested Norway to Mr Datsik. Convinced that Norwegian authorities will do everything in their power to extradite the jailed Russian, Mr Demuskin said lawyers representing both Slavonic Strength and Mr Datsik in Norway are ready to put up a fight towards obtaining asylum. “We will go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. We have seen Mullah Krekar’s case. Therefore, we thought ‘why not try?’ Datsik is neither Chechen nor Muslim, but we are trying anyway,” Mr Demuskin says.
The Foreigner
Mr Datsik escaped from a Russian mental hospital earlier this year, claiming he was tortured in prison. The Russian neo-Nazi, who is currently in a Norwegian jail for possession of illegal weapons after he turned himself over to police in September, alleges he was handcuffed naked for eight months and electric shocks applied to his testicles, according to one of his Norwegian lawyers, Fridtjof Feydt. If his torture allegations are proven, his case may cause Norwegian authorities another extradition headache similar to Iraqi Mullah Krekar, with Mr Datsik possibly at liberty to wander the Norwegian streets unchecked whilst awaiting extradition himself. Mullah Krekar, the founder of Islamist armed group Ansar al-Islam, has been living with his family in Oslo since 1991, and is considered to be a threat to national security. However, international law obliges Norway to shelter people who risk persecution and death in their home country if returned, and authorities cannot extradite Mr Krekar until the Iraqis provide them with a written statement, guaranteeing he will not face execution upon his return.
Legal nightmare?
Both the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) and Oslo police were ready to extradite Mr Datsik back to Russia following his arrest, but the police psychiatrist said he was not suffering from any mental illness. This allowed him to seek political asylum in Norway for reasons of personal safety. “Datsik claims he has been subjected to extensive torture and fears for his life if he is sent back into Russian captivity,” Bernt Christian Birkeland, his other lawyer tells TV2. Meanwhile, Dimitry Demuskin, leader of the Russian extreme right group Slavonic Strength says it was the organization’s lawyers themselves who suggested Norway to Mr Datsik. Convinced that Norwegian authorities will do everything in their power to extradite the jailed Russian, Mr Demuskin said lawyers representing both Slavonic Strength and Mr Datsik in Norway are ready to put up a fight towards obtaining asylum. “We will go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. We have seen Mullah Krekar’s case. Therefore, we thought ‘why not try?’ Datsik is neither Chechen nor Muslim, but we are trying anyway,” Mr Demuskin says.
The Foreigner
Mob in Athens abuses Muslims as they celebrate Eid (Greece)
Greece, which has become the main immigrant gateway to the European Union, has a growing Muslim community and tensions between locals and incomers have run high in some Athens areas such as Attiki square, the scene of Tuesday's incident.
Athens' Muslim community is without an official mosque and prayers are usually held at cultural centers or community halls or private apartments around the city. The Muslim community in Greece is estimated at about 1 million, in a country where most people are Greek Orthodox Christians.
While the Muslims prayed, some locals shouted obscenities from their balconies and waved Greek flags. Leaflets that depicted pigs -- an animal Muslims consider unclean -- were scattered across the square.
"There is a (unofficial) mosque near here but we're afraid to go there," said a 30-year old migrant from Bangladesh, who gave his name as Shamasul. "Sometimes Greeks in the neighborhood threaten to kill us."
Margarita Vassilatou, 56, who has lived in the square for more than 35 years said she wanted to leave as a result of the immigrants:
"This is not a life ... We are afraid of them. Many of them are criminals, they carry knifes and deal drugs."
In another, more central square in front of Athens university, about 2,000 Muslim men and women prayed peacefully in front of the neo-classical university and ancient Greek statues.
In the past, moves to build a mosque in the capital have been met with opposition from local residents and some priests of the Greek orthodox church.
However, the current archbishop supports the construction of a mosque and the socialist government has set aside a site close to the city center, although building has not yet begun.
The only mosques in Greece are in the northeastern region of Xanthi near the Turkish border, home to a large Muslim minority.
Reuters
Confronting Hate Crimes in the Muslim World
These issues are not particular to Christians in the Muslim world. Muslim minorities experience discrimination in many places in the world, note John L. Esposito and Sheila B. Lalwani.
The attack against Syriac Catholics in Baghdad has renewed questions about religious minorities’ security and rights in Muslim-majority countries. The rights of minority religions in Muslim lands are an oft-discussed topic, but the attack in Baghdad highlights the challenge to Muslims to embrace constructive co-existence that emphasizes mutual respect and equality of citizenship in a globalized world.
It was little more than a week ago when Our Lady of Salvation, a Syriac Catholic church, was the scene of the worst attack on Iraqi Christians since the American-led invasion began in 2003. Reports indicate that armed gunmen in explosive suicide vests jumped the church’s security wall and took more than 100 worshippers hostage. The gunmen identified themselves as members of the Islamic State of Iraq, a group with links to Al Qaeda. By the end of the night, two priests and more than 50 worshippers had been killed.
This tragic event made worse was given more significance when the group pledged more attacks, declaring that Christians everywhere are “legitimate targets.” Its rhetoric threatens the safety and security of religious minorities in Muslim countries. At one time in Iraq, Catholics represented 2.89 percent of the population in 1980; by 2008 they were just .89 percent.
This incident exhorts Muslims to raise the gauntlet of “tolerance” and “mutual respect.” The vast majority of Muslims have and believe in the right to worship as a constituent to human freedom, but, sadly, significant minorities, like fundamentalist Hindus, Christians, and Jews, shun pluralism for a myopic world vision that marginalizes people of other faiths.
These acts of violence underscore the importance of a debate in contemporary Islam focusing on the status of non-Muslims in a predominantly Muslim country. Some believe in reinstating a “protected” status, for Christians and Jews who could practice their faith in exchange for paying a tax. Such a solution, while progressive at its times, now clearly would constitute second-class citizenship today. Reformists argue that religious pluralism is recognized by the Quran as part of God’s design for humanity and reflected by the example of the Prophet Muhammad and thus non-Muslims should have full and equal citizenship rights.
Of course, these issues are not only particular to Christians in the Muslim world. Muslim minorities experience discrimination in the Philippines, Thailand, India and Greece, and in the US and Europe, where discrimination is on the rise. Any form of religious intolerance or violence is unacceptable. Intolerance stands in the way of an integrated and peaceful world; and, fighting these attitudes and the ensuing actions are perhaps one of the great challenges facing us today.
It may not be easy, but it is entirely worthwhile.
John L. Esposito is University Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, and author of the newly released book The Future of Islam (2010). Sheila B. Lalwani is a Research Fellow at the Centre.
Middle East Line
The attack against Syriac Catholics in Baghdad has renewed questions about religious minorities’ security and rights in Muslim-majority countries. The rights of minority religions in Muslim lands are an oft-discussed topic, but the attack in Baghdad highlights the challenge to Muslims to embrace constructive co-existence that emphasizes mutual respect and equality of citizenship in a globalized world.
It was little more than a week ago when Our Lady of Salvation, a Syriac Catholic church, was the scene of the worst attack on Iraqi Christians since the American-led invasion began in 2003. Reports indicate that armed gunmen in explosive suicide vests jumped the church’s security wall and took more than 100 worshippers hostage. The gunmen identified themselves as members of the Islamic State of Iraq, a group with links to Al Qaeda. By the end of the night, two priests and more than 50 worshippers had been killed.
This tragic event made worse was given more significance when the group pledged more attacks, declaring that Christians everywhere are “legitimate targets.” Its rhetoric threatens the safety and security of religious minorities in Muslim countries. At one time in Iraq, Catholics represented 2.89 percent of the population in 1980; by 2008 they were just .89 percent.
This incident exhorts Muslims to raise the gauntlet of “tolerance” and “mutual respect.” The vast majority of Muslims have and believe in the right to worship as a constituent to human freedom, but, sadly, significant minorities, like fundamentalist Hindus, Christians, and Jews, shun pluralism for a myopic world vision that marginalizes people of other faiths.
These acts of violence underscore the importance of a debate in contemporary Islam focusing on the status of non-Muslims in a predominantly Muslim country. Some believe in reinstating a “protected” status, for Christians and Jews who could practice their faith in exchange for paying a tax. Such a solution, while progressive at its times, now clearly would constitute second-class citizenship today. Reformists argue that religious pluralism is recognized by the Quran as part of God’s design for humanity and reflected by the example of the Prophet Muhammad and thus non-Muslims should have full and equal citizenship rights.
Of course, these issues are not only particular to Christians in the Muslim world. Muslim minorities experience discrimination in the Philippines, Thailand, India and Greece, and in the US and Europe, where discrimination is on the rise. Any form of religious intolerance or violence is unacceptable. Intolerance stands in the way of an integrated and peaceful world; and, fighting these attitudes and the ensuing actions are perhaps one of the great challenges facing us today.
It may not be easy, but it is entirely worthwhile.
John L. Esposito is University Professor and Founding Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding. He is co-author of Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, and author of the newly released book The Future of Islam (2010). Sheila B. Lalwani is a Research Fellow at the Centre.
Middle East Line
Anger at 'Nazi' jibe in sanctuary debate (UK)
Conservatives walked out of a council meeting after they were accused of being Nazis during a debate on plans to make Bristol a "City of Sanctuary".
Sanctuary status is intended to show a city is welcoming to asylum seekers and refugees who are escaping persecution in their home countries.
Around 50 people turned out to support the motion ahead of last night's full Bristol City Council meeting, waving banners and placards.
Liberal Democrats and Labour councillors said they welcomed adopting the title for Bristol.
But the Tories objected, arguing the city already struggled to cater with its existing residents without attracting more.
Group leader Geoff Gollop said: "I and all my group welcome diversity, cohesion and integration.
"But we do not have enough housing for the people that live in Bristol, our social services cannot cope, we do not have enough school places for people who were born or who come here.
"The council is not very good at treating its own BME (Black and Ethnic Minority) employees."
Mr Gollop described the idea as "a manifesto for extremists" because it would drive people to vote for far right groups like the British National Party.
Shortly after, Lib Dem councillor Peter Main interrupted another speaker who mentioned the Nazis to say "you might as well vote for the Conservative Party".
This prompted Mr Gollop to lead his party out of the chamber in protest.
Mr Main said he would withdraw the comment "if it will help the meeting".
The Tories came back in, but there was criticism of the level of debate in Bristol council meetings from another Lib Dem.
Party whip Mark Bailey (Windmill Hill) said: "There is too much of this sort of thing. Peter has overstepped the mark; I have despaired about the level of debate. I've been here seven years and it's getting worse."
This led to a round of applause from the public gallery.
Speaking in support of the proposal, council leader Barbara Janke (Lib Dem, Clifton) said: "This has lots of supporters. If you go to one of the drop-in centres you can hear how some of these people have risen through things we can't possibly imagine.
"Bristol is a place where we welcome people. Some people have said a city of sanctuary won't change a thing.
"It's about Bristol taking a lead – it's already going on."
Labour leader Helen Holland (Whitchurch Park) said: "This reminds me of what they said of the Nazis. 'First they came for the gypsies and I did nothing, then they came for the Jews. Then they came for me but there was nobody to speak up for me'.
"Friendship costs nothing.
The "First they came ..." speech is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller about how German intellectuals stood by while the Nazis rose to power and targeted minority groups one by one.
The proposal was passed after unanimous votes of support from the Labour and Lib Dem groups. The Tories either voted against or made no vote.
Speaking before the meeting, Caroline Beatty of the Welcome Centre in Easton, told the Evening Post why she thought the proposal mattered.
She said: "To make a public declaration is important, to show asylum seekers and refugees they can take part in society.
"Our experience at the Welcome Centre is that diversity means health. There is strength in difference.
"Bristol is diverse already – that is the strength of our city."
This is Bristol
Sanctuary status is intended to show a city is welcoming to asylum seekers and refugees who are escaping persecution in their home countries.
Around 50 people turned out to support the motion ahead of last night's full Bristol City Council meeting, waving banners and placards.
Liberal Democrats and Labour councillors said they welcomed adopting the title for Bristol.
But the Tories objected, arguing the city already struggled to cater with its existing residents without attracting more.
Group leader Geoff Gollop said: "I and all my group welcome diversity, cohesion and integration.
"But we do not have enough housing for the people that live in Bristol, our social services cannot cope, we do not have enough school places for people who were born or who come here.
"The council is not very good at treating its own BME (Black and Ethnic Minority) employees."
Mr Gollop described the idea as "a manifesto for extremists" because it would drive people to vote for far right groups like the British National Party.
Shortly after, Lib Dem councillor Peter Main interrupted another speaker who mentioned the Nazis to say "you might as well vote for the Conservative Party".
This prompted Mr Gollop to lead his party out of the chamber in protest.
Mr Main said he would withdraw the comment "if it will help the meeting".
The Tories came back in, but there was criticism of the level of debate in Bristol council meetings from another Lib Dem.
Party whip Mark Bailey (Windmill Hill) said: "There is too much of this sort of thing. Peter has overstepped the mark; I have despaired about the level of debate. I've been here seven years and it's getting worse."
This led to a round of applause from the public gallery.
Speaking in support of the proposal, council leader Barbara Janke (Lib Dem, Clifton) said: "This has lots of supporters. If you go to one of the drop-in centres you can hear how some of these people have risen through things we can't possibly imagine.
"Bristol is a place where we welcome people. Some people have said a city of sanctuary won't change a thing.
"It's about Bristol taking a lead – it's already going on."
Labour leader Helen Holland (Whitchurch Park) said: "This reminds me of what they said of the Nazis. 'First they came for the gypsies and I did nothing, then they came for the Jews. Then they came for me but there was nobody to speak up for me'.
"Friendship costs nothing.
The "First they came ..." speech is a famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller about how German intellectuals stood by while the Nazis rose to power and targeted minority groups one by one.
The proposal was passed after unanimous votes of support from the Labour and Lib Dem groups. The Tories either voted against or made no vote.
Speaking before the meeting, Caroline Beatty of the Welcome Centre in Easton, told the Evening Post why she thought the proposal mattered.
She said: "To make a public declaration is important, to show asylum seekers and refugees they can take part in society.
"Our experience at the Welcome Centre is that diversity means health. There is strength in difference.
"Bristol is diverse already – that is the strength of our city."
This is Bristol
MACEDONIANS DEMONSTRATE VIRTUE OF TOLERANCE (Macedonia)
Hundreds take to streets of the capital to demand a more open society.
Several hundred people attended Tuesday's march for tolerance in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, protesting against all forms of discrimination in the country. Beginning just before midday at the city museum, the marchers proceeded through the main thoroughfare, Macedonia Street. Koco Andonovski, from the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, one of the organizers of the march, urged the political parties to stop their "vicious" bickering, which he said was spreading a climate of intolerance among ordinary people. "We are here to raise our voice against all types of intolerance and discrimination, based on racial, ethnic, gender, sexual or other differences," Gordana Nestorovska, head of the Helsinki Committee, said. Support for the march came from Macedonia's Ombudsman. In his public address, Ixhet Memeti said that the principles of tolerance and equality were especially needed in a country as multi-cultural and multi-ethnic as Macedonia. Foreign diplomats on the march included the EU ambassador, Erwan Fouere. In April, Macedonia passed its first anti-discrimination law, which will come into force from next year. But the act has drawn criticism from Brussels for failing to extend its provisions to include people of a different sexual orientation. The low level of political dialogue between parties in Macedonia remains a matter of concern in Brussels. The European Commission singled out the problem again in its latest report on the country, published this month.
Balkan Insight
Several hundred people attended Tuesday's march for tolerance in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, protesting against all forms of discrimination in the country. Beginning just before midday at the city museum, the marchers proceeded through the main thoroughfare, Macedonia Street. Koco Andonovski, from the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, one of the organizers of the march, urged the political parties to stop their "vicious" bickering, which he said was spreading a climate of intolerance among ordinary people. "We are here to raise our voice against all types of intolerance and discrimination, based on racial, ethnic, gender, sexual or other differences," Gordana Nestorovska, head of the Helsinki Committee, said. Support for the march came from Macedonia's Ombudsman. In his public address, Ixhet Memeti said that the principles of tolerance and equality were especially needed in a country as multi-cultural and multi-ethnic as Macedonia. Foreign diplomats on the march included the EU ambassador, Erwan Fouere. In April, Macedonia passed its first anti-discrimination law, which will come into force from next year. But the act has drawn criticism from Brussels for failing to extend its provisions to include people of a different sexual orientation. The low level of political dialogue between parties in Macedonia remains a matter of concern in Brussels. The European Commission singled out the problem again in its latest report on the country, published this month.
Balkan Insight
NEO-NAZI SITE CHARGED OVER READER COMMENT (Sweden)
The site is the online version of Nationellt Motstånd (‘National Resistance’), a quarterly print magazine put out by the Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska motståndsrörelsen), one of Sweden’s most active neo-Nazi groups. The comment in question, entitled “Immigrants create racist roadblocks”, accompanies an article published in April 2010 about a highly publicized case in which a 78-year-old woman died from injuries sustained from being pushed by a 23-year-old man in a shopping centre parking lot in Landskrona in southern Sweden. The 23-year-old came from a family of immigrants and his arrest led to heightened ethnic tensions in the town, prompting another right-wing extremist group, the National Democrats, to call a public meeting in the town square to “protest against anti-Swedishness”. The article, published on April 15th, 2010, told of how star defence attorney Leif Silbersky was set to defend the 23-year-old in his upcoming trial. The following day, a racially charged comment was published beneath the article which referred to immigrants as “fucking parasites” and encouraged people to “hit back” rather than “back up” when challenged. The commenter added that he or she feels “satisfaction” every time “I can ‘lay’ my hands” on what he or she refers to as a “kulturberikare”, an increasingly common term of derision used in far-right circles in reference to immigrants.
The term, literally translated as “culture enricher”, is a play by the far-right on arguments in support of multiculturalism which often cite “cultural enrichment” as a positive aspect of diversity. “This is about Sweden and the Swedes’ survival,” the commenter wrote. Because ‘Nationellt Motstånd’ reviews reader comments before publishing them, the comment falls under the jurisdiction of Sweden’s libel laws. Following a preliminary investigation launched in May, Sweden’s Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern – JK), concluded that the comment amounts to agitation against ethnic groups (hets mot folkgrupp), and has filed charges against the site’s publisher, 26-year-old Emil Hagberg for violating Sweden’s press freedom laws. When reached by The Local, Hagberg declined to comment on the charges, claiming statements made by him and his colleagues at ‘Nationellt Motstånd’ are too often “misinterpreted” in the media.
The Local Sweden
The term, literally translated as “culture enricher”, is a play by the far-right on arguments in support of multiculturalism which often cite “cultural enrichment” as a positive aspect of diversity. “This is about Sweden and the Swedes’ survival,” the commenter wrote. Because ‘Nationellt Motstånd’ reviews reader comments before publishing them, the comment falls under the jurisdiction of Sweden’s libel laws. Following a preliminary investigation launched in May, Sweden’s Chancellor of Justice (Justitiekanslern – JK), concluded that the comment amounts to agitation against ethnic groups (hets mot folkgrupp), and has filed charges against the site’s publisher, 26-year-old Emil Hagberg for violating Sweden’s press freedom laws. When reached by The Local, Hagberg declined to comment on the charges, claiming statements made by him and his colleagues at ‘Nationellt Motstånd’ are too often “misinterpreted” in the media.
The Local Sweden
Popular garage falls victim to graffiti vandals (UK)
The busy BP garage and its Spar supermarket in Dunstable Road were targeted by vandals overnight on Friday, with the letters ‘BNP’ sprayed repeatedly on walls, the forecourt, pumps and shop shutters.
It is believed the vandalism happened between 11pm on Friday and 6am on Saturday, when the garage re-opened for business.
A spokesman for Bedfordshire Police said the incident was being treated as criminal damage, and on Saturday morning officers were at the scene photographing the graffiti.
The garage, which has several Asian members of staff, last month had one of its pumps damaged when workers tried to stop a motorist driving away without paying for petrol. The garden fence of a house opposite the filling station was also damaged in a similar incident.
Jim Gledhill, chairman of Toddington Parish Council, said he was disappointed with the attack on a business popular with villagers.
He said: “These are people who provide a really good service to the village, and it shouldn’t matter to anybody what their background is.
“It disgusts me. They had managed to clean up a lot of it but it was still very visible on the brickwork.”
Councillor Gledhill said he would be raising the issue at the parish council’s meeting last night (Wednesday), and hoped the council would be able to help the garage with the cost of the clean-up.
Asked whether support for the BNP was an issue in the village, Councillor Gledhill said he thought there were a small number of people in the village with “racist views”.
“It’s a problem you wouldn’t really expect in Toddington,” he said. “I hope it’s just stupid children who will learn better in the future.”
Dunstable Today
Restaurant workers fear 'racist' attacks (UK)
This week a man was convicted for religiously aggravated criminal damage and provocation of violence at the Spice Club in Eastover.
But there have been further reports of an assault on a waiter, racial abuse and criminal damage.
Waiter Mehbub Kamali, 19, who claims he was punched on one occasion, told the Mercury: “I have been attacked for no other reason than the colour of my skin.”
Last Tuesday, Sedgemoor Magistrates heard how Ashley Wilson, 24, smashed a glass pane at the restaurant and threatened to cut waiters’ faces because they served Halal meat.
The court heard he asked Mr Kamali and Sultan Ahmet “Are you Muslim?”
When they said yes, he said “I’m going to cut your face” and that it was “because I’m EDL [English Defence League].”
Mr Kamali said: “It’s happening again and again and it’s terrifying. I wonder what’s next?”
Wilson, of Claremont Grove, admitted the attack on September 26 and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay £165 compensation and £85 costs. In mitigation, Crispin Hayllar said he had drunk too much and acted out of character.
Police confirmed this week that a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage for an attack on the restaurant on November 3, and have been released on bail.
Police said there had been allegations of racial abuse but they were keeping an open mind.
Anyone with information about the incident on November 3 can call police on 0845-4567000.
This is the West Country
Racist assault on five Korean men in Bristol (UK)
Two men were punched in the head as part of a racist attack on five Koreans in Bristol.
The incident began with about 10 men making racist comments to the group near the Bovis Homes development on Filton Avenue on Monday evening.
One of the men who was punched suffered three chipped teeth and swelling to his mouth in the incident, which happened between 1830 and 1900 GMT, police said.
The other victim was punched to the back of the head and had his bag
BBC News
The incident began with about 10 men making racist comments to the group near the Bovis Homes development on Filton Avenue on Monday evening.
One of the men who was punched suffered three chipped teeth and swelling to his mouth in the incident, which happened between 1830 and 1900 GMT, police said.
The other victim was punched to the back of the head and had his bag
BBC News
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