{UAH} Britain First Invades East London Mosque
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Militias of UK's far-right Britain First have invaded another mosque in south east London, giving the imam a seven-day warning to remove signs indicating separate entrances for Muslim men and women at the mosque.
"In this country we have equality," one member says, as the Muslim man protests over the group refusing to take off their shoes in the place of worship, Huffington Post reported.
"When you respect women, we'll respect your mosques," they argue.
The hateful conversation was carried on in a bizarre video uploaded by Britain First "Kent battalion activists" who invaded a mosque in Kent.
The mosque of the North West Kent Muslim Association, like all mosques, Orthodox Jewish synagogues and Sikh gurdwaras, has separate entrances for men and women.
Yet, the video, overlaid with some very dramatic music, sees the paramilitary-clothed activists "inform the Imams that they have exactly 7 days to remove sexist, segregationist signs from outside their building, or we will".
A statement on the group's website under the headline "Britain First Activists invade Crayford mosque", said: "Islam treats and views women as second class citizens.
"Britain First will not allow Islam to drag our standards back to the 7th Century."
The controversial group is led by a former BNP councillor, Paul Golding, while their political guru, Jim Dowson - a hardline evangelical anti-abortion activist - was previously in charge of BNP finances.
In a recent interview with Channel Four News, Dowson admitted to pursuing a "holy war" on the streets of Britain.
Members of far-right Britain First party invaded several mosques in London, Bradford and Glasgow to hand out Christian leaflets and bibles over the past weeks.
According to representatives of Britain First, an offshoot of the British National party which is contesting this month's local and European elections, mosque visits were part of a "Christian crusade" campaign against Islam.
The attacks have raised Muslim concerns over their safety if those "Christian patrols" continued.
Protest
The new attack on Kent mosque has angered the Muslim community who rejected the hateful messages carried by the far-right group.
"They are filthy people creating trouble in our society," Syed Alam, who volunteers at the mosque, told the News Shopper.
He said that five men and one woman from Britain First stayed for up to 10 minutes harassing a handful of members who were there.
"They were very aggressive and threatening. The signs are our religious policy.
"They are making trouble for nothing. We have been here since 1997 and we have good relations with local people."
Muslims were not the only group angry with the provocative actions by Britain First far-right group.
A new group Dartford Against Britain First is planning to demonstrate against a Britain First roadshow event in Dartford this Saturday, July 19.
"They want to use this meeting as a springboard to help them to grow their movement, both in the local area and nationally," member Gabriel Forcella-Burton said.
"We, as Dartford residents, find it unacceptable that fascists are being given a platform to spread their message of hatred and intolerance in our town and we intend to peacefully oppose them in order to show Britain First that their racism and Islamophobia are not welcome here.
"I hope that all Dartford residents will join us."
--
Rehema
Patriot in Kampala,East Africa:UMBS is a registered organization devoted to matters of interest to Muslims in Uganda.Muslims from other countries are welcome to join us too. Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/UMBSFORUM. To donate to UMBS activities, click on: http://um-bs.com/donate/ or just deposit money on UMBS Bank A/C at Bank of Africa:07074320002 .
-- "In this country we have equality," one member says, as the Muslim man protests over the group refusing to take off their shoes in the place of worship, Huffington Post reported.
"When you respect women, we'll respect your mosques," they argue.
The hateful conversation was carried on in a bizarre video uploaded by Britain First "Kent battalion activists" who invaded a mosque in Kent.
The mosque of the North West Kent Muslim Association, like all mosques, Orthodox Jewish synagogues and Sikh gurdwaras, has separate entrances for men and women.
Yet, the video, overlaid with some very dramatic music, sees the paramilitary-clothed activists "inform the Imams that they have exactly 7 days to remove sexist, segregationist signs from outside their building, or we will".
A statement on the group's website under the headline "Britain First Activists invade Crayford mosque", said: "Islam treats and views women as second class citizens.
"Britain First will not allow Islam to drag our standards back to the 7th Century."
The controversial group is led by a former BNP councillor, Paul Golding, while their political guru, Jim Dowson - a hardline evangelical anti-abortion activist - was previously in charge of BNP finances.
In a recent interview with Channel Four News, Dowson admitted to pursuing a "holy war" on the streets of Britain.
Members of far-right Britain First party invaded several mosques in London, Bradford and Glasgow to hand out Christian leaflets and bibles over the past weeks.
According to representatives of Britain First, an offshoot of the British National party which is contesting this month's local and European elections, mosque visits were part of a "Christian crusade" campaign against Islam.
The attacks have raised Muslim concerns over their safety if those "Christian patrols" continued.
Protest
The new attack on Kent mosque has angered the Muslim community who rejected the hateful messages carried by the far-right group.
"They are filthy people creating trouble in our society," Syed Alam, who volunteers at the mosque, told the News Shopper.
He said that five men and one woman from Britain First stayed for up to 10 minutes harassing a handful of members who were there.
"They were very aggressive and threatening. The signs are our religious policy.
"They are making trouble for nothing. We have been here since 1997 and we have good relations with local people."
Muslims were not the only group angry with the provocative actions by Britain First far-right group.
A new group Dartford Against Britain First is planning to demonstrate against a Britain First roadshow event in Dartford this Saturday, July 19.
"They want to use this meeting as a springboard to help them to grow their movement, both in the local area and nationally," member Gabriel Forcella-Burton said.
"We, as Dartford residents, find it unacceptable that fascists are being given a platform to spread their message of hatred and intolerance in our town and we intend to peacefully oppose them in order to show Britain First that their racism and Islamophobia are not welcome here.
"I hope that all Dartford residents will join us."
--
Rehema
Patriot in Kampala,East Africa:UMBS is a registered organization devoted to matters of interest to Muslims in Uganda.Muslims from other countries are welcome to join us too. Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/UMBSFORUM. To donate to UMBS activities, click on: http://um-bs.com/donate/ or just deposit money on UMBS Bank A/C at Bank of Africa:07074320002 .
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