[aber]

what kind of disgusting person would do this...?

Muslim prayer hall vandalised in Sydney

June 24, 2004 - 2:53PM


Pigs heads were placed on stakes and animal blood smeared on walls in a vandalism attack on a controversial Muslim prayer hall in Sydney's north-west.

Builders working on the hall's redevelopment at Annangrove arrived at 7am today to find the building vandalised.

Developer Abbas Aly said bloody pig's offal had been smeared on walls and floors inside the hall, which is due to open in October.

Pigs heads had been placed on stakes outside the hall.

Pork and its related products are forbidden for Muslims under religious law.

Mr Aly said the vandalism had surprised the 40 Muslim families, mostly from the Indian sub-continent, who planned to use the hall.

"Everyone's mostly upset, it's a very un-Australian thing to happen," he said.

"But this won't put us off."

The families fought last year to get the building approved after residents complained it would impact on the rural-residential character of the area and cause social unrest and anti-social behaviour.


Baulkham Hills Council refused the development, but the NSW Land and Environment Court overturned the decision in July last year.

Mr Aly praised police for their help this morning, saying officers aided the builders in the clean-up.

"They don't want me to go inside, because they don't want me to see it," he said.

Mr Aly said the community had not been targeted with any vandalism or abuse in the past 12 months.

"That's what has surprised everyone, nothing's happened, everyone's going pretty well and getting along pretty nicely," he said.

"But I think this is just people wanting to create trouble, with nothing better to do."

NSW Police said a number of items had been removed from the hall for forensic testing and neighbours had been questioned over whether they saw or heard anything overnight.

AAP



http://www.smh.com.a...8046209953.html

[Sakinah]

thats disgusting. They must be sick sick people to do such a thing.

[Mowlana Vector]

Quote

... But this won't put us off. 

Bravo, Abbas Aly!!! (Islamo) courage and faith in the face of adversity of neo-racialist and Islamophobic vandalism & violence: Annangrove-style


(Alan Moir, SMH, 20 Dec, 2002)

SEE ALSO:
The Australian Editorial: Real Australians Respect Religions

[Mowlana Vector]

Islamophobia has no boundries ...
========================

Muslims Fight for Right to Bury Dead

When Muslims in Memphis tried to build a cemetery, residents feared it would lead to terrorist activity. But mosque representatives only want a place to bury their dead.

Muhammed Zaman just wanted a place to bury the dead.

Zaman's mosque, one of six or so in the Memphis area, was paying for space at a private cemetery, some 45 miles away, that was nearing capacity.

But when the Muslim Society of Memphis asked a suburban planning board for permission to build an Islamic cemetery closer to town, in an area with several other cemeteries, the community responded with outrage.

"We don't need bin Laden's cousins in our neighborhood," said one Fayette County resident during a public hearing.

"We know for a fact that Muslim mosques have been used as terrorist hideouts," argued another, who later likened Muslims to Nazis.

Worried that the public outcry might pressure county commissioners to deny the request, the Muslim Society temporarily withdrew its application. But Zaman, who teaches at the University of Tennessee's medical school, says the group is determined to prevail over the racist rhetoric.

"We are not quitting. We did not withdraw to give up," Zaman says. "We live and work here. Our children and our grandchildren were born here. We should be able to bury our dead."

Building bridges

The rhetoric in Memphis is typical of the ongoing, post-9.11 backlash against Muslim Americans.

But, in light of a recent Cornell University survey, the case is noteworthy for another reason: It shows what can happen when Muslims and non-Muslims get to know each other.

In the nationwide survey released last month, 44% of Americans said they supported placing restrictions on Muslim Americans' civil liberties.

The same study also noted that support for such limitations increased when respondents watched more television news, and decreased when respondents had personal relationships with Muslims.

Zaman saw proof of this in Memphis, when some of the mosque's most vocal supporters came from the Methodist church next door.

"We come at our faith from different angles, but we have to build bridges rather than tear bridges down," says Kent Bailey, minister of St. Luke's United Methodist, who wrote a letter to the editor in support of the cemetery proposal.

The close proximity of the two houses of worship has created a Petri dish for Christian-Muslim understanding.

It started when St. Luke's began loaning its parking lot to mosque worshippers each Friday afternoon. Later, a mosque member taught a Middle Eastern cooking class for the church's congregants.

But most impressive, says Bailey, is that on Sept. 11, 2002, Muslims and Methodists came together at St. Luke's for a joint commemoration of the one-year anniversary of 9.11.

"It was Muslim extremists who attacked our country; it wasn't the Muslims across the street," says Bailey, who received hate mail for his letter to the editor. "There are fanatics in all faiths, including Christianity."

An uncertain future For now, the 27-acre plot of land on the outskirts of Memphis remains empty.

The Muslim Society still has a few options: It could resubmit its application; file a lawsuit; or build a mosque on the land, which would guarantee the right to build a cemetery. The group says it hopes to announce a new plan within the next few days.

In the future, says Zaman, the most effective way to side step such conflicts is to increase cultural awareness between Muslims and non-Muslims and to encourage Americans to become critical consumers of the media.

"Both sides need to interact with each other, instead of relying on CNN or FOX News to determine our point of view," Zaman says. "What do our opponents believe? What they have seen on TV, or what they actually experience?"
Source
==================

RELATED THREADS

Religio-Racial Profiling, Anti-Muslim Style

"Radical Christians? Vandalise Muslim House of Prayer"

"FAIR-GO" WATCH: The ISMA Report 2004

Violence Is A Human, Not An Islamic Trait

Cultural Racists & Other Allergy

Islamophobia: Is It Racism?


edited: more links added

[Wolf]

So even our dead, Allah's mercy be upon them, are now terrorists! I wonder when Hollywood will make a new version of Return of the Zombies with this story line.

[The Rationalist]

[QUOTE]what kind of disgusting person would do this...? [QUOTE]


Someone who needs spiritual and psychiatric help.

[BOAZ_David]

aber, on Jun 24 2004, 05:49 PM, said:

what kind of disgusting person would do this...?
Muslim prayer hall vandalised in Sydney
June 24, 2004 - 2:53PM

Pigs heads were placed on stakes and animal blood smeared on walls in a vandalism attack on a controversial Muslim prayer hall in Sydney's north-west.
Builders working on the hall's redevelopment at Annangrove arrived at 7am today to find the building vandalised.

The problem you are seeing here, is the logical outcome of insisting on 'legal rights' as opposed to 'common sense'. The Islamic community was fully aware of the widespread community unhappiness about the placement of this establishment, but aggressively went ahead anyway in an 'in ur face' approach. So, what happens ? well the general community is still grumbling and unhappy, it has done zero for intercommunity relations, and those who are long on action short on thinking have become radicalized and this is the outcome.
It is the most predictable outcome that anyone could guess at.
When this place was receiving media coverage, I heard the accusation of 'Racist' applied to local residents, I just wish I was one such, as I would have sued the speaker of that remark into the poor house. It is nothing to do with Racism it is to do with social compatability and social texture. "Racism" is the view that other people are genetically inferior to your own.

It is the same kind of 'anti-social' response that is occuring in Melbourne due to the ICV forcefully and with collusion of the Equal Oppportunity Commission taking to Christian pastors to VCAT over things they taught about Islam in that seminar. NOW.. there are more 'adventurous' Christians attending mosques looking to find anything of an anti Christian nature being said to they can make similar complaints. Just as a side note, I myself made a complaint to the EOC for a publication which described God as "Da biggest pimp in da world" yet my complaint was said to be 'without substance and misconcieved". Is that 'equal opportunity ? One starts to think rather cynically about 'political manipulation' of supposedly independant bodies when this kind of thing happens.

So.. 'it is legal' is just about the worst approach to building a respected community. The Sasoon family made mega millions out of othe opium trade to china, never thinking about the social cost, and they always maintained 'It was legal'.. sure it was.. with British gunboats standing off the coast ready to punish the chinese if they didn't comply.
I really dont know what people are thinking when they take this approach to things. All it does is produce unhealthy outcomes as you have demonstrated by this article.
Imagine if it was 'legal' to build a large Church right next to Lakemba mosque and it was made MUCH taller than the mosque and positioned in such a way that it clearly 'belittled' the mosque.. would muslims be happy ? I somehow doubt it.
Next time, turn the 'thinking' caps on people.
Peace.

[sodapop]

BOAZ_David, on Jan 29 2005, 09:53 PM, said:

The problem you are seeing here, is the logical outcome of insisting on 'legal rights' as opposed to 'common sense'.  The Islamic community was fully aware of the widespread community unhappiness about the placement of this establishment, but aggressively went ahead anyway in an 'in ur face' approach. So, what happens ?  well the general community is still grumbling and unhappy, it has done zero for intercommunity relations, and those who are long on action short on thinking have become radicalized and this is the outcome.
It is the most predictable outcome that anyone could guess at.

What is the solution, then? There would be no progress in this world if people gave in under any kind of pressure. It's not a case of doing something simply because it was legal; it was not a bad thing, period! Abandoning the plans would hardly result in better results in the community relations sphere...

Quote

When this place was receiving media coverage, I heard the accusation of 'Racist' applied to local residents, I just wish I was one such, as I would have sued the speaker of that remark into the poor house. It is nothing to do with Racism it is to do with social compatability and social texture. "Racism" is the view that other people are genetically inferior to your own.

Maybe just plain old ignorant and prejudiced would be better?

Quote

Imagine if it was 'legal' to build a large Church right next to Lakemba mosque and it was made MUCH taller than the mosque and positioned in such a way that it clearly 'belittled' the mosque.. would muslims be happy ? I somehow doubt it.

Apples and oranges...surely in some situations logic and legality do not necessarily combine amicably together, but building a prayer hall for a small group of Muslims should not be offensive or objected to simply because it is something the residents are not used to.

Salam

[Wolf]

Quote

The problem you are seeing here, is the logical outcome of insisting on 'legal rights' as opposed to 'common sense'.

So it's now somehow wrong to insist on your legal rights just because others don't want you to have them?

Is this what Australia has come to David?

Quote

The Islamic community was fully aware of the widespread community unhappiness about the placement of this establishment, but aggressively went ahead anyway in an 'in ur face' approach. So, what happens ? well the general community is still grumbling and unhappy, it has done zero for intercommunity relations, and those who are long on action short on thinking have become radicalized and this is the outcome.
It is the most predictable outcome that anyone could guess at.

Would your response be so matter of fact if it was a case of building a new church in downtown Lakemba? I'm not a very smart guy but something tells me otherwise.

Quote

It is nothing to do with Racism it is to do with social compatability and social texture.

And of course Muslims just don't fit either do they David? Of course it's not racism - I have nothing against you just as long as you don't pollute my little kneck of the woods.

Talk about semantics!

[OmarR]

After having been raised and grown up in the Annangrove- Kenthurst area for 20+ years, does this mean that, simply, because I became a muslim I can now no longer reside, interact or be part of the area?
As I am now no longer socially compatable or of an acceptable social texture for the area!
I think not!

[Mowlana Vector]

OmarR, on Jan 30 2005, 11:38 AM, said:

...
As I am now no longer socially compatable or of an acceptable social texture for the area!
I think not!



Exactly, Bro

FEI: 'our' worried Hansonites are so desperately (yet ) dangerously clueless (as if they ever had one )

... also here is an excellent reminder from our own benign Terminator


Quote

... “I said to them: ‘You are Australian and you are Muslim, whether you like it or not.’ I try and tell these kids all the time that Islam is compatible with society here. We are not going anywhere.”

... and the last word from Ghassan Hage



Quote

"Wogs are no longer happy to go on being supervised by people who are self-appointed Australians. People are quite unimpressed by people who say, ‘Prove to me that you are Australian’. They are not going to play the game any more. They’re saying, ‘Either treat me as Australian or [MOD: auto-censored] off’.”

[Mowlana Vector]

Mosque Near/Around Annangrove

[Mowlana Vector]

Church Dstroyed In Fifth Attack

A Uniting church destroyed by fire early yesterday had been the target of four previous attacks.

It is believed the latest fire was fuelled by an accelerant such as petrol or kerosene.

Two of the previous attacks occurred in October, 2001, a month after terrorists hit New York.

Anonymous callers saying they were supporters of Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility.

The latest blaze, which started about 1am, gutted the building and burnt for more than an hour before firefighters were able to extinguish it.

"The flames were four or five metres above the church," chief inspector Ross Thompson said.

The minister of the Bass Hill church, the Reverend Bruce Walker, said yesterday he did not understand why anyone would target a church.

"This is disgusting stuff," he said. "To think someone could do this sort of damage to a church, which is trying to serve the community, is just unbelievable."

Keysar Trad, from the Islamic Friendship Association, said he was disturbed to hear of the fire, but urged people not to jump to the wrong conclusions.

He said he and Australia's most senior Muslim cleric, Sheik Taj Eldeen Alhilaly, had both been to the church in 2001 after the earlier incidents.

"We were just trying to show support. We strongly condemn all attacks on any place of worship," Mr Trad said.

"The church is just around the corner from my house. I am very disturbed that something like this could take place."

The play area of a child-care centre next door was also damaged.
=================================

Police Suspect Arson In Church Fire

Police believe a church, in Sydney's south-west, destroyed by fire at the weekend has been the target of repeat arson attacks.

A blaze at the Uniting Church at Bass Hill on Saturday morning destroyed the building and damaged an adjoining home.

Investigators found that the front door of the church had been forced open and an accelerant used to start the blaze.

Police say fires were also deliberately lit at the church on two occasions in October 2001 and are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.

NSW Police Online: Third Arson Attack On Church – Bass Hill
=====================

[Hanan Oum Medina]

Quote

Anonymous callers saying they were supporters of Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility.

I hope this is not their evidence that it was an attack by Muslims.

[Anthony_r]

It's obviously an attempt at stiring up more problems for Muslim's.
No Muslim would do such a thing.

[Roro]

Anyone reading this can see that the attack is unlikely to have been carried out by muslims, and more likely to be an attack by someone trying to stir up hatred.

[Ola]

even when a prayer hall is vandalised OBL supporters are brought to our attention. puh-lease find another avenue to direct blame you uninventive journalists!

[Mowlana Vector]

Muslim Prayer Centre: The Fight For Its Right To Exist

[† RUFiO †]

Kareem, on Oct 12 2005, 01:45 PM, said:

It's obviously an attempt at stiring up more problems for Muslim's.
No Muslim would do such a thing.

Your 100% certain. Just as I'm sure 'some' Christains and 'some' Muslims do such things, they may not be true followers of each respective religion but anyone who believes what they are doing is in the name of God has to be accepted as a 'Christian' or 'Muslim' as much as any follower misguided or not.

[Mowlana Vector]

Here we go again

Midnight Prayers Raise Objections


"Positive response" … Abbas Aly in front of the Annangrove prayer centre
in 2003, after a court ruled it could be built.(Photo: Brendan Esposito)

A Muslim centre built in the heart of Sydney's Bible Belt is facing fresh opposition - over its plans to host midnight prayers.

But plans to extend the Annangrove prayer centre's hours and permit it to open late at night on three holy days have attracted four objections - well short of the thousands of complaints that almost blocked its construction four years ago.

Baulkham Hills Council is considering a development application to vary the consent orders for the Imam Hasan Centre.

The trustees want permission to open the doors until midnight three times a year, an increase in capacity from 120 to 150 people and a 45-minute extension in operating hours to permit cleaning and the occasional committee hearing.

"Can you tell me any church that has any time restriction or limit on numbers?" said Abbas Aly, one of the centre's trustees. "If you look at any church 50 years ago you will find the people attending have grown, and based on that we are not being unreasonable. If you ring up our neighbours they'll tell you they hardly notice us here. It's hardly used midweek and most of our programs are on a Saturday."

The council originally refused to approve the centre when more than 900 local residents claimed its existence threatened the ambience and character of the semi-rural suburb, in Sydney's north-west.

Mr Aly appealed to the Land and Environment Court, which reversed the decision on the grounds that the local objections were not based on facts.

Once construction started, the site was vandalised, sprayed with racist graffiti and smeared with animal offal. Pigs' heads were impaled on wooden stakes.

Mr Aly said tensions between local people and the centre had long since dissipated, except for the occasional persistent critic, especially as it had become clear that the centre looked more like a community centre than a mosque.


(File Photo: SMH Dec 2002)

"We've had quite a positive response to our latest development application from neighbours, compared to the 8500 complaints to our construction. We get quite a number of people who have come in to apologise. I asked them did they see the plans, they said, 'No, we just believed what we were told', and I take my hat off to them for coming in and making their peace."

The Mayor of Baulkham Hills, Tony Hay, said four complaints had been lodged against the variation in consent orders, mainly expressing concern that creeping changes were undermining the intent of the original Land and Environment Court proceedings. No decision had been taken yet.

"We've got to always look at these things in conjunction with the original consent and see how far that deviates from original intention and that is done by council officers having regards to the Land and Environment Court."
===============================================

[Khushi]

this is why we have to learn to integrate with other societies in order to create awareness.

We as Muslims need to be out there promoting ourselves rather then living in isolation within our own community! Day in day out people are bombarded with negative images about Islam... ofcourse they will feel threatened if a Muslim community is becomming stronger in their suburb...

I know by integrating it doesnt mean it is a solution for everything, however from experience.. talking/ networking with atleast one non muslim person and showing them how "Normal" we are and ineffect change their views- it definately gets communicated to 10 others. If they see something wrong happening to a Muslim they will help out.

And plz dont think i am saying the attacks are something we deserved, however my point is.. we need to learn from these attacks and see how we can mitigate them

This post has been edited by Khushi: 11 September 2007 - 04:38 AM

[Mowlana Vector]

^

Well said However, paths to successful integration and peaceful co-existence require critically-inclusive mutual respect; something that is still missing from the ever-ubiquitous daily sermons of our nation's self-appointed guardians, patronising White-Multiculturalists and Hatemongering civilised-brigade of Australia's politico-mediasphere