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Racist attacks against Mansfield mosque

Hetzjagd Auf Nazis! | 01.03.2010 19:47 | Anti-racism

Police have helped install CCTV cameras at a Mansfield mosque following a series of incidents of racist vandalism.

The Jamee Masjid mosque in Mansfield was opened, in a building which used to be a church, in 2008 and has been repeatedly attacked ever since.

The letters BNP have been carved into its wooden door, windows have been smashed, there have been break-ins and people have spit on the door.

Runu Ahad, secretary of Mansfield and Ashfield Bangladeshi Association (MABA), which runs the mosque, told the Mansfield Chad: "'BNP' has been scratched on the door three times – the latest one appeared as soon as we painted over the letters from the previous incident."

Kasa Miah, treasurer of the MABA, was surprisingly restrained in his response, telling the BBC, "We have kids coming in here for tuition and [vandalism is] not good for anybody really."

"Everyday you come and see something else different - we wipe it off as soon as we can because this is a religious place we don't want to make it look like a dumping area."

No doubt the BNP would claim there is no evidence that their members were involved in these incidents, despite the recurrence of the party's name in graffiti. Nevertheless, the references to the party underline the links between racist violence and the anti-muslim nonsense they pass off as analysis.

The two leaks of BNP membership details have indicated that the party is relatively stable in the area with the 20 members it had in the constituency at the end of 2007 only slipping to 19 by April 2009. (By comparison Broxtowe lost 12 members and Ashfield 6.)

Given that these paragons of the master race are stupid enough to deliberately leave their saliva at the scene of their attacks, there is a good chance that they will soon find themselves at Her Majesty's Pleasure.

That said, we should not have any illusions in the police as a reliable barrier against the rise of fascism. While Islam4UK were banned before they'd even held a demonstration, the police have only just gotten around to arresting the leadership of the EDL, despite violence accompanying many of their rallies.

Defeating the BNP is going to take more than the condemnations of "community leaders" reported by the Chad. Mansfield, like much of North Nottinghamshire, has suffered since the demise of the mining industry. Twelve years of Labour government have done little for the local community whether white or otherwise.

While the BNP's message has hardly set the local white working class alight (as demonstrated by a local membership you can count on your fingers and toes), the possibility is not inconceivable. Even before then, as these attacks demonstrate, the issue of racism in the town remains one which cannot be ignored.

Hetzjagd Auf Nazis!