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Muslims Crowding London's Mosques Say They Fear Backlash in Aftermath of Bombings
AP ^ | Jul 8, 2005 | Jill Lawless

Posted on 07/08/2005 12:59:23 PM PDT by phoenix_004

Thousands of Muslims crowded London mosques for Friday prayers, condemning the bombings, but also wary they could be made scapegoats and fearful of reprisals against their growing and vibrant community. At the East London Mosque, near the site of one of Thursday's attacks, an imam told the 8,000 worshippers to be "confident in our identity" as part of London's multicultural fabric.

The mosque said it had received hate e-mails and a telephone threat to disrupt Friday prayers. A few police officers stood outside during the prayers, which ended peacefully.

Outside, some Muslims said the attacks had made them more cautious on the streets, but others said they were secure in their identity as Londoners - confident of the city's tolerant traditions.

"It will have some impact on people. But this is London, a cosmopolitan city," said student Ali Ayubi. "Maybe after one or two months it will go back to normal."

At the huge brick mosque in an East End neighborhood that's home to many with roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh, imam Sheikh Abdul Qayyum told worshippers that Muslims were "part of the rich diversity of British life."

"At this difficult time, some people in our community may feel insecure purely because they are Muslims, but these terrible events have nothing to do with us. The Muslims of London are victims as much as their fellow citizens," he said.

All of Britain's major Muslim groups condemned the bombings, which killed dozens and wounded more than 700. But some feared they would be blamed for the bombings, which police said bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

"This morning I was driving to work and a woman on the radio said she'd had her headscarf pulled. I was shocked, to be honest," said Ahmed Shafi, 31, a grocery store manager. "In this day and age you don't expect that."

Almost 1 million of London's 8 million people are Muslims. They're inseparable from the fabric of the city's society and its history. From the opulent glitz of Harrods department store - owned by Egyptian-born Mohammed al Fayed - to the kebab shops that dot the city's streets, Muslims have long been part of London's glamour and its grit.

Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed that Islam was not the culprit in the bombings.

"We know that these people act in the name of Islam, but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims, here and abroad, are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do," he said Thursday.

That message was underscored by Muslims on the streets.

"Many Muslims are British. They have lived here for years. What happens to London happens to them," said Suraiya Zammath, a Bangladeshi woman visiting relatives in London. "This should not be singled out as 'Islamic terrorists.' That destabilizes the community."

Abdul Mukith, a 37-year-old supermarket worker in Brick Lane, the heart of London's Bangladeshi community, agreed.

"What's religion got to do with it?" he asked. "I'm bloody Muslim, and I'm afraid to go into the city" just like anyone else in the aftermath of the attacks.

Still, some feared a backlash. The Muslim Council of Britain said it had been deluged with hate e-mails, which caused its server to crash late Thursday. Though it was up and running Friday, the council said it was still getting a steady stream of vitriolic missives.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said Friday that police were aware of one or two "very minor incidents" involving backlash against Muslims, but he didn't elaborate.

He said that so far, "Britain with its liberal and welcoming approach to people is taking this in its stride. I'm very proud of that."

Representatives of several religious faiths held a silent prayer vigil Friday in a street near Aldgate subway station, where seven people died.

"There is a worry, but I think we can overcome this because we have been working with all the communities together," said Muhammad Abdul Bari, chairman of the East London Mosque.

"As Muslims, as British citizens, as Londoners, we are confident nothing will happen to us. We have to face it with resilience and with confidence."

But Shafi feared he and other Muslims would endure animosity in the coming days and weeks.

"I'm a practicing Muslim, I've got a beard. After 9/11 people called me bin Laden," he said. "But I was born and brought up here, and I don't consider myself anything but British."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: allaboutmuslims; americahaters; bushhaters; crymeariver; islam; islamofascism; jihad; jihadis; koranimals; london; londonattacked; londonblasts; morons; muslim; muslims; muslimvictims; poorbastards; religionofpeace; religionofpieces; religionoftolerance; rop; scumbags; swine; trop; uk; ukmuslims; victimgroup; wahbbiapologists; whiningmuslims; whiningwahabbists
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To: XR7
Great Photo!!!!

This being said, I much prefer seeing the slow mo video of the big black suppository coming off the rack, pulling the cables loose, and exiting the bomb bay, beginning it's inexorable decent to either a low airburst or ground burst directly on top of that stinkin cube. I con't belive I could find a better AP if I tried. That is a FINE target, both radar, and visual, and for that matter, for either GPS or inertial guidance, in case one didn't want to risk any manned aircraft in such a strike.....

As I have been saying since 9/11, green glass does not a shrine make, nor a terrorist stronghold to be occupied. This should have been the result early in the morning of 9/12/01, along with the strong message that we would continure to convert real estate into molten glass untilwe made damn sure that there was nothing left capable of waging terrorism or attacks, and if they chose to hide in caves or bunkers, they would be sealed in there for eternity. others should recieve the same treatment if they supported terror. Many years ago, we fought one enemy who used similar tactics, and 2 nukes later, we had a unconditional surrender. Such a similar outcome could occur here, with the possible extention of the need to reduce some other real estate to trinitite as well.... IMHO we have been flogging ourselves and allowing the liberals and apologists to prevent us from using the might we should justly wield, and it is damn time that we let the genie out of the bottle again, and let the clear actinic light of creation shine once again on the firmament ( I have always wanted to use that line, and now I have the chance)....

Terrorists only respect terror, and IMHO, I say lets give it to them...if they want to become martyrs, well, they will have their opportunity in one billionth of a second, and the brilliant double flash of actinic light.....

Keep the Faith for Freedom

Greg

441 posted on 07/09/2005 1:36:29 AM PDT by gwmoore (As the manual for the Russian Nagant Reolver states" Target Practice' At the Deserter , FIRE".)
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To: roses of sharon

How pathetic. I don't believe you know me, so I'm not sure where you got your little list of what things I believed and what things I ignored, other than from your own imagination.

I'm tempted to reply in kind, I'm sure that there is much I could extrapolate from your tone in this thread which has almost been celebratory at the attacks that occurred in London, but I'll try to resist.

I've read all of your posts since the attack and I see not one expression of sadness, not one expression of concern for the victims, not one expression of solidarity with the British people. One of your first posts after was:

"I'll bet ya the Brits will be in the streets marching against Bush within the week."

I find that telling, very telling indeed.


442 posted on 07/09/2005 2:16:49 AM PDT by Canard
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To: phoenix_004

It is a dark, cold, brutal world in countries taken over by Islamic fundamentalists...especially if you're a woman. Islamic facists regard our Western lifestyle as a threat, and they will continue to attack us until we utterly defeat them and remove them from society.


443 posted on 07/09/2005 4:05:19 AM PDT by red state girl (never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - Winston Churchill)
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To: TattooedUSAFConservative

"Ummm, why did you reply to me with a quote I didn't post?"

Sorry my silly mistake


444 posted on 07/09/2005 5:04:00 AM PDT by bobdsmith
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To: brownsfan
In World War II, did we say we want Hitler dead, but most Germans are really fine people? No. We charaterized them as Krauts, as bad people. Were there find Germans, of course there were. But, not being raised in a fanatical death cult, (islam), we have trouble just singling out a group to do battle with, unless/until we dehumanize them.

Serious question (hoping you're off your high horse from yesterday)...........do you seriously think that, if we had the technology in WWII to defeat Hitler and win the war without killing innocent German women and children, that we would not have done so? And do you think it would have been the right thing to do.........that is to kill innocent people even though we had the ability to win the war without doing so?

Do you think that the babies and toddlers of Muslims should be indiscriminately slaughtered because their fathers follow the Koran? Really? Do you think that Iraqi children, now living in freedom in a fledgling democracy and seeing the incredible example of our American soldiers who play soccer with them and give them candy and care for them, should have been indiscriminately slaughtered because of their parents' religion? Really? Is that really where your study of Islam has led you?

To believe that killing them all is the solution is absolutely no better than what the radicals among them believe about us. As Christians.......those of us who actually are followers of Christ, that is....... we cannot engage in the same behavior that we rightfully condemn as evil in our enemy.

(btw, my comments about violence yesterday were in accordance with the rules of FR..........not from any arrogance as you implied).

445 posted on 07/09/2005 6:04:33 AM PDT by ohioWfan ("If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray.....")
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To: junaid; Canard; billybudd; thoughtomator; k2blader; adam_az; Lijahsbubbe; Rummyfan; b4its2late; ...
A lot of people seem to be under the impression that artistic depictions of modern Londonistan like "East is East" or "White Teeth" are creative flights of fancy intended merely for aesthetic purposes, when-in reality-they're a lethally accurate portrayal of an outpost of Western civilization being besieged by the teeming throngs of a benighted, retrograde, obscurantist culture that is perpetually immured in medievalism.

The sooner that people wake up and realize that ineluctable truth, the sooner we'll be able to fortify ourselves against the forces that are attempting to obliterate us from the face of the Earth.

I'm far from the greatest admirer of Vladimir Putin, but he made a statement-in the wake of the September 11th attacks-that bears repeating, which I'll attempt to paraphrase:

To them, we are as dust.

From my perspective, that sums up-better than I ever could hope to-the dire threat that we are all facing at the present time, and is illustrative of the mindset that motivated the creatures that perpetrated the massacre in London this past week.

-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)

446 posted on 07/09/2005 6:09:30 AM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham
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To: Myrddin

It's a way around letting the judges treat them like shoplifters.


447 posted on 07/09/2005 6:33:59 AM PDT by muawiyah (/sarcasm and invective)
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To: ohioWfan
Baby Muslims carry AK's, big Muslims carry TNT.
Know thy enemy. The Muslim children are taught from day one that killing infidels and jews is an honor in the name of Allah. We are not just at war with Al Qaeda, we are at war with an ideology and the only thing these animals understand is bombs. Everything you see them doing from so-called condemning acts of violence to yelling torture is all apart of their M.O. and a ploy to once again get the upper hand. Looks like you fell hook, line and sinker. Also apart of their M.O. is to spread as many rumors as they can to keep the youth attached to their "unknown" cause. I remember when our soldiers were passing candy to a young Muslim child a grown up got on TV and insisted the American's were giving poison candy to the children. The next clips showed parents pulling their kids away from the US. These Muslims are so naive that nothing anyone could say to them will convince them that they we are not "evil".
448 posted on 07/09/2005 6:38:35 AM PDT by tobyhill (The War on Terrorism is not for the weak.)
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To: Windsong
Naw, he meant the Maoist IRA and the Red Army IRA and the Narcotrafficante IRA.

But, enough of this, it's Saturday morning already and the TV video music has this half nekkid lil'gal crawling through the mud. Pretty soon we'll switch it over to Pepsi Carte, and there'll be Shakira covering herself with motor oil.

449 posted on 07/09/2005 6:44:36 AM PDT by muawiyah (/sarcasm and invective)
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To: tobyhill
Baby Muslims carry AK's

Not all of them....

I don't disagree a bit with your assessment of Islam. I disagree with your determination to kill all Muslims.

I believe that God created the people of the Middle East as He did us, and that He loves them just as much.

What we need to do is to destroy those who are trying to kill us, and bring God's love through Jesus Christ to the rest. And the only way we can do that, is by bringing them freedom...........and that is exactly what we are doing.

450 posted on 07/09/2005 7:07:27 AM PDT by ohioWfan ("If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray.....")
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To: ohioWfan

I don't trust any of them. Wave flag today, wave gun tomorrow.
This link is good reading and gives some insight as to their problem.
http://www.lastdaysreporter.com/israel-arab-conflict.html


451 posted on 07/09/2005 7:24:30 AM PDT by tobyhill (The War on Terrorism is not for the weak.)
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To: tobyhill
I don't trust any of them

That doesn't negate God's command to love them.

Sorry.

452 posted on 07/09/2005 7:26:41 AM PDT by ohioWfan ("If My people, which are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray.....")
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To: ohioWfan

I will not fall for their propaganda and will never admit any love towards liars, killers and thieves that harm innocent people.


453 posted on 07/09/2005 7:39:39 AM PDT by tobyhill (The War on Terrorism is not for the weak.)
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To: iThinkBig
"That's the first time I've heard this... where does this come from?"

Really? I am surprised. Don't have time to quote the Koran right now but the koran advises death to those who betray their muslim brothers.

I've heard them claim that the terrorists have distorted the Koran and that killing of innocents is not acceptable, but yet they do nothing to stop it.

454 posted on 07/09/2005 7:39:50 AM PDT by golfboy (character is doing what is right, when no one is looking)
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To: billybudd

"Where/who, exactly, are the jihadists? You're suggesting the Muslims in London carry out vigilante justice against people whom they believe are jihadists?"

I don't think anyone is expecting "vigilante justice".
However, I'd bet my house, and yours, that someone in that group knows someone who knows someone who knows who the chicken-$#!^s that did this are!


455 posted on 07/09/2005 7:45:41 AM PDT by mark3681
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To: k2blader
Where is the Fatwa by Muslim clerics against OBL? NOWHERE.

Fatwa Issued Against Usama | 3/14/05 | AP:Muslim clerics in Spain issued what they called the world's first fatwa or Islamic edict, against Usama bin Laden on Thursday..

Only the clerics in Spain? Where are all the rest?

What part of "worlds's first fatwa" doen't you understand??

456 posted on 07/09/2005 7:52:58 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: mark3681

I would bet that the leaders of what ever mosque they attend knows who they are and endorsed the act.


457 posted on 07/09/2005 7:53:22 AM PDT by tobyhill (The War on Terrorism is not for the weak.)
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To: junaid

The IRA Thugs were no more Catholic then Hitler was Catholic if anything they subscribed to a Godless leftwing communist Ideology. Get your facts stright.


458 posted on 07/09/2005 8:04:01 AM PDT by ABN 505
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To: phoenix_004

not a word condemning the killings.....


459 posted on 07/09/2005 8:07:43 AM PDT by thinking
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To: phoenix_004

not a word condemning the killings.....


460 posted on 07/09/2005 8:08:26 AM PDT by thinking
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