The Collectif contre l'Islamophobie en France reports that in addition to those at Ozoir-La-Ferrière and Besançon, a fourth mosque was the target of an Islamophobic act this weekend: at Meximieux in eastern France. On Saturday mosque officials found an envelope containing slices of ham in the mailbox. When they went to the police station to lodge a complaint, officers refused to register it on the grounds that the letter only contained pork and was not accompanied by a letter with insults or threats.

Hamza Dziri, one of the mosque officials, contacted the CCIF. He was distraught, as this is not the first time acts of hatred have been directed against the mosque. While it was under construction he found stickers on the walls, windows and site gates featuring swastikas and tricolor flags and bearing the name of a mysterious organisation of "patriots".

In January 2012 vandals broke a window and damaged the scaffolding. After that the site was placed under guard by members of the mosque and fifteen days later two vandals had returned, throwing stones at the glass door and breaking it. They escaped by car, but the guard was able to identify the registration number, which enabled the police to arrest the perpetrators. The vandals received suspended prison sentences and had to pay compensation.

With such a history, the CCIF observes, it is not surprising that Hamza Dziri says he is "worried".

The protection of places of worship should not be left solely to the faithful, the CCIF says. Following antisemitic attacks in France, schools and synagogues have been placed under police surveillance. The CCIF concludes: "In the current situation where mosques are the target of Islamophobic acts every week, the competent authorities must urgently put in place a security plan for Muslim places of worship."

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The Muslim community in Philadelphia held a meeting venting frustrations over people committing crimes dressed in traditional Muslim garb.

"We have a right to wear a face veil if we choose to, that's our right, our God-given right," said Alia Walker.

Muslim women in West Philadelphia are becoming increasingly fearful.

This as the pressure mounts for the capture of the woman dressed in Muslim garb and her accomplice, who kidnapped a 5-year-old girl from her classroom and brutally assaulted her.

"Right now, a lot of the Muslim sisters are saying, 'People are walking around looking at them cross-eyed.' They haven't done anything wrong," said Rep. Ron Waters.

At a standing room only meeting to discuss the matter, Muslims expressed outrage that it's happening again and again.

Criminals have been committing crimes disguised as Muslim women – robbing banks, stores and now kidnapping. Violent crimes they fear put Muslim women in danger.

"We consider anyone dressing up like a Muslim woman perpetrating a hate crime," said Iman Asim Abdul Rashid.

WPVI Philadelphia, 2 February 2013

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Members of a Muslim family whose house was shot at during a drive-by Thursday evening think they were targeted because of their faith.

Tuesday, a stranger driving by Allie and Maryam Taghavi's home in southwest Oklahoma City stopped and asked their 21-year-old son the family's religion.

A large sign hung on the porch and visible from the road said, "as-salamu alaykum," an Arabic phrase often used by Muslims meaning "peace be with you."

Without any suspicion, their son told the stranger they were Muslim, Allie Taghavi said. The stranger then drove away.

Then, two days later on Thursday evening, Allie Taghavi was home with three of his adult children when shots were fired around 7:45 p.m. from a car driving south on S Olie Avenue near their home at SW 30. "I screamed when I heard the shots, but it was so rapid ... like firecrackers," he said.

Allie Taghavi ran from his bedroom into his 23-year-old daughter's room where a bullet had come through the east side of their house, piercing a wall a few feet away from where she was sitting at her computer desk.

Seconds later, shots were fired into the bedroom just to the south where Allie Taghavi had been. One bullet crossed the width of his bedroom and passed into a bathroom where it lodged in the wall.

No one was injured in the incident. The family fled its home after police cleared the scene a few hours later. Family members said they don't plan to return.

Police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said Oklahoma City's gang unit is investigating the incident because it was reported as a drive-by shooting. Police responded to a call about multiple rounds being fired into the home from a car driving south on S Olie Avenue.

Two bullet holes were found in the home. No one had been arrested as of Friday evening.

NewsOK, 2 February 2013

See also "CAIR-OK seeks bias probe of shooting attack on Muslim family's home", CAIR press release, 1 February 2013

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Fascist graffiti on the Le Barp prayer hall in September 2012Sud Ouest reports that a Molotov cocktail has been thrown at Muslim prayer hall at Le Barp in south-west France, which had already suffered three racist graffiti attacks by fascists this year (see here and here).

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A rental vehicle driven by a group of young Muslim men – at least two of whom live in Redmond – was the target of racist graffiti during a recent vacation near Lake Chelan.

According to a news release from the Council on American-Islam Relations (CAIR), the vehicle was scrawled with racist phrases including "Sand N**gers" and "Doon Coons." The vandals also left several physical scratches on the car.

CAIR-WA Executive Director Arsalan Bukhari said all of the eight individuals are college students and friends and that most attend services at the MAPS center in Redmond. Some of those who were targeted attend Bellevue College and UW.

The Muslims believe they may have been targeted because of a group prayer they offered in a public area while one of the vacationers was wearing a head covering called a kufi.

Redmond Patch, 6 September 2012

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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — It was America's birthday but for one family July Fourth was no party. It was a nightmare for a Muslim family who said someone spray-painted the word "terrorist" on their home Wednesday morning and it didn't stop there.

The family said on Wednesday night someone rang their doorbell and started banging on the front door. The family told police they also heard fireworks being thrown at their door.

San Antonio police are investigating the incident as criminal mischief, but the family, who is of Pakistani heritage, wants more done. They are asking for the FBI to get involved.

The San Antonio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to get to the bottom of this possible hate crime. On Thursday, the same civil liberties group called for an investigation into a suspicious fire at a Missouri Mosque.

The family moved to the United States in 1978 and they have lived in the home near NW Military and Hunters Green for the past 18 years. They said their home has been targeted twice before. In November their home was burglarized.

Aside from the two recent incidents, the family says they have not had any problems. They say they don't know who would commit such a hateful act.

KVUE, 5 July 2012

See also "CAIR-San Antonio asks FBI to probe hate vandalism of Muslim family's home", CAIR press release, 5 July 2012

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Last July the Independent on Sunday reported that the National Association of Muslim Police had delivered a letter to the home secretary, Theresa May, expressing their concerns about the targeting of their members by the English Defence League, and in particular about the case of an EDL member who had been arrested in 2010 in possession of explosive devices and a list of Muslim police officers' names.

As a result of an FOI request Richard Bartholomew has acquired a copy of the letter, which was evidently written by NAMP president Zaheer Ahmad, and he has published the relevant section:

Last year the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) arrested a man who was actively gathering intelligence/information on serving Muslim Officers including myself and other senior NAMP executive members. According to MPS he was in possession of a quantity of fireworks/Devices, neither NAMP nor any of other persons targeted have or were ever made aware of the full extent of this enquiry e.g. explosives and other enquiries to date. The police also found partial addresses and surveillance videos on his computer, this would suggest that he was undertaking reconnaissance activities. At the time were told that the man arrested was a lone wolf and not linked to any organisations. It took us just a few minutes of basic internet research to establish that this individual has links with the EDL and has attended EDL rallies and meetings, which we brought to the attention of MPS. He was released with any bail conditions and no risk assessment was carried out. This individuals is still of concern to us and we are not aware whether he is still subject to any ongoing intelligence work by SO15 or whether he has been referred to the National Domestic Extremism Unit for intelligence purposes or de radicalisation programme.

The investigation by Specialist Operations (SO) was very poor and dismissive of our concerns… It took the intervention of ACPO officers to inject a degree of seriousness into the investigation. However, sadly the investigation did not lead to charges being brought forward… MPS advised us that a file was sent to Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and they have advised no further action be taken. Earlier this year we had the opportunity to meet senior officials from CPS, we were extremely upset and disheartened to learn that they have no recollection of giving MPS advice on this particular case.

James Brokenshire, the parliamentary under secretary for crime and security, replied on behalf of the home office:

The MPS is extremely disappointed with the inaccurate assertions made in Mr Ahmad's letter, including issues around the quality and conduct of the investigation and the lack of referral to the CPS. However we do understand that the concerns raised by Mr Ahmad need to be addressed. A senior officer from the Counter Terrorism Command has already been in touch with him and a meeting has been arranged for September, during which we will address the allegations and hopefully provide him with the necessary assurances.

Richard Bartholomew suggests that the reason for the failure to take action against the EDL may have been that a police spy was involved. A more likely explanation is that it reflected the Met's refusal to accept that the EDL is a violent extremist organisation.

After all, in 2009 the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, stated that the MPS took the position that the EDL were "not viewed as an extreme right wing group in the accepted sense". When he took over as co-ordinator of the National Domestic Extremism Unit at Scotland Yard in 2010, DCS Adrian Tudway expressed the same opinion. In April last year Tudway wrote that the EDL were "actively moving away from the right and violence". This was in an email to a Muslim group whom he advised to "open a direct line of dialogue" with this mob of far-right anti-Muslim thugs as it would be "the best way to engage them and re-direct their activity".

As Zaheer Ahmad of NAMP commented: "There is a strong perception in the Muslim communities that the police service does not take the threat of right wing extremism seriously."

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