Manchester: 6 Islamophobic attacks target a mosque

In Stockport, Greater Manchester, a town in the northwest of England, Muslim families are hesitant to take their children to the Elaf Masjid mosque, targeted by six Islamophobic attacks in eighteen months. These facts are reported by the British television channel ITV News, in an article published on November 9 by its regional editorial team Granada.

Broken windows, damaged copies of the Koran and pork products thrown onto the roof deeply affected the faithful. According to Ahmed Helal, one of the people in charge of the mosque, a father stopped going there, believing that his children were no longer safe there.

Although no new incidents have been reported since March, after the strengthening of security measures, concern persists.

Intimidation thus produces its effects well after the attacks: parents refuse to come, children are deprived of their place of worship and a community must protect itself to pray. This is what Islamophobia does to religious freedom: it turns it into a right under surveillance. A society that proclaims equality cannot be satisfied with barricaded mosques and terrorized families. Condemnations in principle are no longer enough: freedom of religion is measured by the real security of those who exercise it.