Attacks On Mosques More Than Doubled In The Netherlands: Muslim Center Attacked In Poland's Warsaw
01 December 2017Anadolu Agency
Attacks on mosques more than doubled in the Netherlands, report says
There has been an increase in the number of attacks targeting mosques in the
Netherlands, according to a report released by a Turkish university on Monday.
Issued by Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, the 2016 Netherlands Human
Rights Report said that in 2016 there were 72 attacks on mosques in the
Netherlands compared to 28 attacks the year before.
Racism and Islamophobia continue to be an important human rights issue in the
country, it said.
It also highlighted another report released in 2017, which said that migrants
in the country felt less safe compared with the Dutch, and the group which
felt the least safe was the Surinamese, followed by Turks.
According to the report, there are 475 mosques in the Netherlands.
Muslim center attacked in Poland's Warsaw
Polish police issued a public appeal for witnesses Monday after unknown
attackers smashed windows at a Muslim cultural center in the capital Warsaw,
while prosecutors opened a probe into a far-right protest in the south of the
country over the weekend.
About a dozen windows were shattered overnight at the Muslim center, which
opened in 2015 and includes a mosque, a meeting center, a shop and a
restaurant. No one was hurt.
"I am 100 percent sure this was a racist, anti-Muslim attack," Muslim
community leader imam Youssef Chadid told a news conference.
He blamed it on "not very friendly" atmosphere in Poland now that
misrepresents Islam and appealed on the government to speak against attacks on
Muslims.
"If the government says nothing on the issue, there will be no progress,"
despite declarations of tolerance, Chadid said.
Warsaw police spokesman Mariusz Mrozek said security footage was being
reviewed to help identify the culprits, and appealed for people who might have
any information about the attack to come forward. At least two people are seen
in the footage, Muslim leaders said.
Warsaw's Muslim community is made up of about 22,000 people with two mosques,
including the one at the center that was attacked. About 500 people come to
pray in the center's mosque, the leaders said.
Acts of hatred and xenophobia are being reported more frequently in Poland
since the Law and Justice party came to power two years ago. The government
promotes Catholicism and refuses to take in non-Christian refugees as part of
an EU relocation plan, citing security concerns.
In a separate incident, prosecutors have opened an investigation into a brief
demonstration Saturday by a handful of right-wing radicals in the southern
city of Katowice. The protesters hung pictures of six European Parliament
lawmakers from Poland who have supported a resolution condemning the
government on symbolic gallows.
Prime Minister Beata Szydlo condemned this "act of aggression and intolerance"
and insisted the lawmakers were safe in Poland.
Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski said the demonstration was "unwise and did
not serve Polish democracy well."
The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said on Twitter that
he would write to Szydlo "to ensure the security of elected Members of the
European Parliament to express their opinions independently, without threat."
He urged Szydlo to "oppose those who spread hatred by exhibiting outrageous
pictures of hanged politicians."
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