Kindness brings tears of joy at mosques attacked in UK riots

Strangers sent flowers and gifts after rioters targeted mosque, but businesses fear far-right attacks are not over

Inside a mosque in the heart of England's north-east, worshipper Najabat Ramzan was brought to tears on Thursday by the love being shown by his community.

Holding cards from well-wishers, he smiled as he reflected on the hundreds of brave volunteers who had come out the night before to guard the Jamia Masjid Al Madinah mosque in Middlesbrough, days after rioters ransacked the town and targeted the mosque.

“We had about 150 people stood outside looking after the place they love, where they worship and which is their pride and joy and it was just peaceful,” he told The National.

It was just one example of Britain uniting in a stand against the far right, through dozens of mostly peaceful counter-protests, with thousands of people taking to the streets, chanting slogans such as “Refugees are welcome here” and “Stop the far right”.

Stand Up to Racism claimed an estimated 25,000 people took to the streets to show they were against racism and violence.

Apart from a handful of small skirmishes, the mobs who had caused devastation across Britain over the previous week, stayed away, despite more than 100 events being planned.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said further violence was abated by a “show of force” in which thousands of officers were deployed on the streets.

Anti-racist protests across Britain as far right stays at home – in pictures

So far there have been 483 arrests in connection with the violent disorder, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) has said, with 149 charges brought. That figure is set to “rise significantly”, according to the policing body.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on a visit to a mosque in Solihull that it was “important that we don't let up” in efforts to keep communities safe, despite a quieter night of protests on Wednesday.

He told an emergency Cobra meeting with police chiefs that swift justice, including sentencing, has been a deterrent to more violent disorder, and that officers need to remain on “high alert” to guard against future flares in violence.

The National Police Chiefs' Council had warned of 20 potential gatherings and three counter-protests planned for Thursday evening.

About 110 protesters gathered in Barnsley town centre, while stop and search powers were put in place in Southport from 2pm on Thursday to 4am on Friday.

Gavin Stephens, chairman of NPCC, that those “intent on violence and destruction have not gone away”.

He suggested police patrols could be stepped up at lower league matches at the start of the football season this weekend amid concerns there could be flare-ups at forthcoming fixtures.

Mr Stephens added: “There’s no complacency at all in our mind that we need to be prepared for the days and particularly the weekend ahead. So the policing posture remains the same.”

At least a dozen people were jailed on Thursday for their part in the riots of the past 10 days, with more expected to be sent to prison on Friday, including some on live television.

The chief executive of Muslim World League's UK office, Muath Alamari, praised the UK government for its “swift action” to protect mosques.

“The assistance of the local police who have visited our mosque in East London has been invaluable,” he said.

It is less than a week since a 700-strong mob first targeted the Jamia Masjid Al Madinah mosque and Middlesbrough is still on a knife edge.

With isolated attacks on mosques still taking place, Muslim taxi drivers being assaulted and businesses reluctant to open their shutters, there remains an undercurrent of fear.

But Mr Ramzan said it brought him to tears seeing the community coming together in defiance of the far right.

He invited The National into the mosque to see the flowers, cards, chocolates and donations strangers had sent to them.

“We had a businessman serve meals outside and people brought pastries, pizzas and refreshments for the police and volunteers. I thought it was a great gesture.

“It was described by Teesside Against Racism as a 'mini food festival'.

“It was just fantastic to see the community together and see the smiles on their faces and just to relax for a bit,” Mr Ramzan said.

“People have given us cards and flowers and food and offered us condolences.

“This is what I love about Middlesbrough. I've lived here all my life and these people are wonderful people and they're special people.

“It literally brings tears to my eyes when I see all that.”

Damage caused by riots in the UK – in pictures

But the mosque has still suffered isolated attacks, with youths on scooters throwing missiles at the windows and overnight another group attempted to disable the CCTV.

The Home Office has employed a team of security guards to work around the clock to protect the premises.

Parents have been reluctant to send their children to the mosque and some women are too scared to leave the house.

“We're still on the edge, people are understandably scared,” said Mr Ramzan.

“My wife is scared to go out. I’m 53 and never in my life have I seen security at the mosque, but we have had to do it. It is heartbreaking.

“We have still had people coming in trying to break the security cameras and people on bikes throwing bottles at the windows and stones.

“Some taxi drivers have been attacked with bricks in certain areas and they have become no-go zones.”

Security guard Mohammed Ishaq, 26, witnessed the rioting first-hand when a masked mob armed with hammers destroyed his cars and then threw missiles at his home during Sunday’s riots.

It has led him to leave his supermarket job to become one of the new guards at the mosque.

“They wore masks and started hitting the cars with hammers and jumping on them. They smashed every car in the street,” he told The National.

“When they saw me filming them they then targeted the house, throwing hammers. The car across the street was overturned and set on fire. We were all really scared.

“It led to me becoming a security guard at the mosque so I can protect the place I love.”

Tahir Hamid has run a jewellery shop next to the mosque for 35 years.

“There has always been small elements of trouble but I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.

“I closed the shop and had the shutters down during the trouble and was told that there were four girls stood outside guarding it. Seeing the community come out to help us clean up afterwards was amazing.”

Business owner Matloob Hussein, who runs Waterloo Stores, has been hailed as a “pillar of the community and a hero” after he provided free food for the police and those guarding the mosque.

“I just wanted to do what I could to help,” he told The National. “I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”

Because of fears of more trouble, the mosque has been forced to cancel a vigil due to be held in memory of the three young girls who were murdered in Southport.

The incident sparked the national riots after the attacker was wrongly identified as a Muslim asylum seeker.

Counter-protest

Fears of a far-right presence at the offices of lawyers and support groups who work with asylum seekers on Wednesday night led to large counter-protests.

One of the largest was in Walthamstow, East London, where locals told The National about pride in their community, as protective hoardings put up on some businesses were taken down.

Hamza Mahood, 30, a locksmith who lives just off the high street, said the local community “went to the protests to support our community against fascists”.

“We worked very hard in Walthamstow to keep everyone together,” he said.

“We accept all people of all minorities and all ethnicities. The number of people who showed up was a real show of support and force that shows we’re not to be messed with. If you come here for hate there’s no place for it.”

The Algerian owner of the Ganashe cafe on Walthamstow High Street, Liam Mansouri, said he was concerned when he heard rumours about the planned far-right action.

“I closed my cafe just to be sure at around 5pm to be safe. But people all came together, the Muslims, Christians whoever,” the 49-year-old told The National as he served customers on Thursday.

“I’ve lived here peacefully and had no problems. It was really great to see, I don’t think people will try to come back after they saw that.”

Jacquie George, 57, from the community group Walthamstow Welcome, whose activities include support for refugees, was also among those protesting.

“We are a community of many different groups of people from all over the world. People of every race, creed and colour were seen on the streets,” she said.

But while she said the far right “won’t get very far” if they try to come back to Walthamstow, she’s not sure what will happen elsewhere in Britain.

“I don't think these people will just disappear. I don't think it's over. I'd like to think it's over, but I'm not sure it is.”

Asad Rehman, who is involved in the Newham Monitoring project, a local anti-racism group, warned that that while the counter-protest was an “an incredible show of solidarity”, problems for the Muslim community remain.

He said that WhatsApp groups have been dominated with discussion about whether it is safe to go out on the street, to go shopping and to work.

“The real concern and the real worry is our communities that are in isolated places, that are in small numbers, are living in absolute fear that they could be attacked on the street, that the mosque could be attacked and vandalised, that they could be pulled out of their car and beaten, like we've seen over the last few days,” he told The National.

“That is not going to be erased just by last night's protest. This is going to take us a real consistent fight, actually, to drive out racism from our society.”