European Leaders Urged to Stop Fanning Flames of Islamophobia
Emergency services were called to the Masjid Al Aqsa mosque in Lancashire, England, after the building caught fire in the early hours of Saturday morning. Lancashire Police said a window was smashed and a fire was then deliberately started inside the mosque.
Also on Saturday, vandals smashed the windows of the El Hidaya Mosque in Roussillon, southeastern France, overturned its furniture, and plastered hateful leaflets on the walls.
In a statement after the attacks, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the United States’ largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, reiterated its appeal for European leaders to cease the promotion of anti-Muslim hate.
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CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said on Sunday:
“We condemn these despicable attacks on the Muslim communities of the United Kingdom and France, and we stand in solidarity with the European Muslim community. Elected officials across Europe must stop fanning the flames of anti-Muslim bigotry through their public statements and discriminatory policies. Otherwise, these attacks may only increase.”
He noted that earlier this month, CAIR repeated its call for French officials to stop fanning the flames of Islamophobia after a suspect reportedly killed a Tunisian neighbor in southeastern France and badly wounded a Turkish man.
Source: Cair.com
