The Muslim News


Mosque attacked in Reading

Jame Mosque in Reading was attacked in the early hours of Friday morning in the
latest Islamophobic incident to afflict the country’s 1.6 million Muslim
community, reports The Muslim News. Speculation was that the backlash could have
been caused by all the media hype about the latest suicide-bombing against
Israeli atrocities in the occupied territories being carried out by a British
citizen.

The Imam at Jame Mosque Yasir Hafiz told The Muslim News that he discovered a
window was broken when he woke for morning prayers at 4.30 am and later the
Mosque called the police. He said it was a particularly malicious attack because
the window was double glazed. Hafiz suggested that could be connected with the
backlash over the suicide bombing or may be linked with three other attacks that
have been carried out against mosques since the start of the war with Iraq.

Reading has a high ethnic-mix, with Muslims making up 4 per cent of the
residents, according to the latest census. The Mosque itself may also be an easy target for students being near
to the city’s university.

Secretary of the Mosque, Bashir Choudhury, described the attack as a “disgrace.”
He said he was very sad about the incident and did not know why it happened, but
also suggested that it could have been provoked by all the adverse publicity
against Muslims following the latest suicide bombing in the occupied
territories.

Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed Versi, accused the media of launching a “new
witch-hunt” against Muslims. “The press has again been linking Islam with
terrorism, when this is certainly not the case,” he said. He also criticised
broadcasting organisations, in particular the BBC, for again focusing on
extremist groups and falsely portraying them as being representative of the
Muslim community.

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release.

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