Muslims form ‘Protect’ group after surge in Islamophobic violence in England

Within 48 hours, with the consent of the British authorities, and without being forced to call up troops, the Muslim founders of the group “Protect” raised a small army of volunteers in the northwest of England, where recent riots of unprecedented violence have left gaping wounds, visible and invisible.

These vengeful riots, fiercely Islamophobic and xenophobic to the point of irreparability, broke out after the terrible knife attack that cost the lives of three little girls in Southport on July 29. A horrible tragedy, wrongly attributed to a young Muslim, which immediately brought out of the woodwork all the right-wing extremists in the kingdom.

Hordes of madmen then poured into various counties including Hartlepool, London, Sunderland, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, galvanized by the hateful harangues of their respective leaders, notably ultra-nationalists and Zionists. In their line of fire, the mosques, attacked with stones, bricks, bottles, were not spared, while the faithful trembled with fear.

While the outbreak of violence has, fortunately, been contained, and although a still fragile calm has returned, an immense shiver of worry runs down the spine of the British Muslim community. It even freezes the blood of Muslims in the deeply wounded region of the north-west of England, at the forefront of which are the spearheads of the vigilante group “Protect”.

” The group, made up of volunteers, more than 1,500 today, was created to encourage Muslims to be extra careful, to be constantly on their guard, and to keep each other informed of the problems that arise in our respective counties, so that we can act in the best way, in relation to the authorities,” “Protect” founder explained to the BBC, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are not armed, we take turns in guarding our mosques. If right-wing extremists were to approach our places of worship again to attack them, degrade them and target the faithful, the community will not allow it. We are determined to protect our sacred precincts and the members of our community. ” he hammered home, in a firm and resolute tone.

When asked why the police should be replaced and not allowed to carry out their assigned protection mission alone, one of Protect’s leading figures replied: ” The police are doing their best to keep us safe, but they are already understaffed and they have their work cut out for them with these riots. We have seen what happened in some places, the police were not able to cover the incident, their officers were not prepared. We need someone from the community to be there at all times, in contact with the police. “.

It took only two short days for more than 1,500 Muslims, from all walks of life and still very shaken, to swell the ranks of “Protect” in the northwest of the kingdom of Charles III, all driven by the same determination: to act in order to no longer suffer, in the interest of their community and the community. Their salutary initiative, understood as such, was unanimously approved, without a shadow of an objection.

Amid the chaos and savage attacks, beautiful scenes of embraces between British Muslim and non-Muslim citizens brought a glimmer of hope.

In a show of unity, Muslim counter-protesters in Accrington were embraced by pub patrons, showing that love and solidarity can triumph over division.

added: “There were some shouts of ‘respect’ which was fantastic, we need to see unity to stop all this far-right violence.”