Sureyya Ozkaya

A 14 year old Muslim girl recently was brutally beaten and burned by assailants who made racial insults and attacked her for her faith (hat tip: Milda).

Girl attacked burned and robbed in broad daylight

By Mike Didymus

These are the shocking injuries inflicted upon schoolgirl Sureyya Ozkaya during a brutal daylight assault near her Thornton Heath home.

The 14-year-old’s hair was set on fire and her hands and feet were cut with glass during the attack in Grangewood Park, before her attackers smashed her head against a tree and left her bleeding in a bush.

She was stumbled upon by a woman walking her dog and carried home to nearby Kitchener Road following the attack, at about 7.30pm on June 9.

Sureyya’s mother Pemdegul Kale, 39, said three girls taunted her daughter about her Muslim faith as they carried out the assault, before burning her hair with a lighter and stealing her trainers.

Mrs Kale said: “My daughter is so scared. She does not want to stay in the house – she is staying at a relative’s now and wakes up crying.

“She comes here and stays for an hour, but only gets to the front door before she wants to go again. I miss her and I want her to come home.”

The family have been critical of the police’s response to the attack, complaining they had to collect hair cut from Sureyya’s head themselves several days after the incident.

Mrs Kale said: “We are doing the police’s job for them. We had a phone call 24 hours after it happened saying they were taking statements from someone on July 22.

“It is too long. I want this to be done and over with.”

A 14-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman have been arrested in connection with the attack and bailed to return to a south London police station on July 22.

Anyone with information can call Croydon police on 03001 231212, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

This highlights just how odious the embrace of Islamophobia by the likes of Robert Spencer and company is. They revel in something that in its worst manifestations can lead to physical harm and even death.

Just recently Spencer posted a piece containing a photo of him holding an “Islamophobia pills” box. At a lecture in Sweden (probably canoodling with Euro-supremacists), a “Muslim” (loonwatcher no doubt) gave him the box to cure him of his Islamophobia. Instead Spencer posted a picture of himself holding the box and then went on to blame Muslims for Islamophobia.

Robert Spencer holding "Islamophobia Pills"

I was speaking in Sweden yesterday, and during the Q&A a Muslim presented with the little box of “Islamophobia” pills I’m holding in the photo above. It’s a clever little piece, if you like that sort of thing, listing the ingredients of this “cure” for “Islamophobia” as “multiculturalism,” “open-mindedness,” and the like.

But of course none of that will cure this disease, which is non-existent in any case.

Zahra Billoo, program director for the Santa Clara chapter of CAIR.

To think that this happened not in hickville USA but in one of the most liberal and tolerant areas of the country…

Notice also the link between Antisemitism and Islamophobia:

Sunnyvale: Man attacked for being Muslim, public safety officers say

By Lisa Fernandez

6/14/2010

Sunnyvale public safety officers are trying to track down two young men who struck someone in the face on a busy street, apparently simply for being a Muslim man who was wearing a black cap and holding a Koran.

He might be the third victim in Santa Clara County this year to fall victim to a reported anti-Muslim crime, according to the county’s Office of Human Relations. Last year there were none.

“They asked him if he was Jewish, and when he said, “No, I’m a Muslim,’ they told him that was worse, you must be a terrorist,” said Capt. Dave Verbrugge, a Sunnyvale Public Safety Department spokesman.

Some Jewish men wear a skull cap called a yarmulke or kippah, and some Muslim men customarily wear a cap called a kufi or taqiyah.

The attackers approached the 40-something man on El Camino Real at Sycamore Terrace on Friday. He was waiting for a ride to pick him up and take him to a 1:30 p.m. prayer service, called a Juma’ah, according to Zahra Billoo, program director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Santa Clara.

Billoo talked to the victim by the phone, and helped notify the FBI about the attack. She believes he may have been trying to get to the Muslim Community Association, the Bay Area’s largest mosque, on Scott Boulevard in Santa Clara.

One of the young attackers, described as having blond hair and either in his late teens or early 20s, struck the man “three or four times with the open heel” of his hand, Verbrugge said. The man fell to the ground, walked home and called for help 20 minutes later. He reported some facial cuts and bruises, but Verbrugge said he declined any medical treatment.Public safety officers say this attack was unprovoked.

“If this was a regular attack, it would be classified as a simply battery,” Verbrugge said. “But because of what they said, our officers wrote it up as a hate crime.”

The victim, who has asked to remain anonymous, texted a statement Monday to a Council on American-Islamic Relations spokeswoman, which read in part: “The night it happened, I was up most of the night looking out the window making sure I was not followed home. It’s sad we can’t worship God openly. Out of fear, we have to hide it.”

An annual survey by the council found anti-Muslim reported incidents dropped to 116 in 2008 from 135 in 2007 nationwide, a decrease of 14 percent. Those are the most recent numbers available.

In addition to Friday’s Sunnyvale beating, Delorme McKee-Stovall, manager for the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations, said there were two other anti-Muslim reports so far this year.

She cited an April incident at Luther Burbank Elementary School, where a Muslim teacher was called a terrorist, and her room was vandalized; and a March 31 incident at the As-Safa Academy on Latimer Avenue in San Jose, where a woman made derogatory statements and assaulted two Muslim teachers, and was later arrested…

The French government has gotten what it asked for, the “discussion” about the Burka, and now the legislation for banning the burka has created a volatile mix in the country. The discussion is provoking a lot of animosity and hate, now we have the case of a French woman ripping off the burka of a French Muslim, what is being dubbed “burka rage.”

A Muslim man was assaulted after praying by a man who punched him repeatedly in the face and told him to “go back home.”

San Diego Assault Brings Calls for Hate Crime Charges

By Carol Forsloff

SAN DIEGO – The Council on American-Islamic relations (CAIR) is seeking hate charges against a man who assaulted a Muslim.

The San Diego chapter of CAIR on Saturday asked for state and federal hate crimes laws to be used against a white man in his 50’s.

The Muslim man was praying near Mission Bay park last Wednesday when the incident began. A man watched the Muslim pray and then followed him to a taxi stand where he had parked his cab.

When the victim attempted to enter the taxi, his alleged assailant first shouted, “You idiot, you mother f**ker, go back to where you came from.”

The Muslim cab driver was then grabbed by the shirt and punched repeatedly. The victim had to undergo hospital tests including a CAT scan.

“Because of the racial slurs reportedly used during this attack, we urge state and national law enforcement authorities to consider bringing hate crime charges against the alleged perpetrator,” said CAIR-San Diego Public Relations Director Edgar Hopida.

He said the victim believes he was attacked because of the recent failed Times Square car bomb attack.

Authorities have not revealed the name of the attacker or the victim but charges are anticipated.

The failed Times Square bomb plot allegedly hatched by Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad has been blamed for a rash of racist incidents.

CAIR is the largest Muslim advocacy and civil liberties organization in the United States.

Muslim Graves Desecrated

Attacks on Muslims and their symbols in Europe continues, but of course for some Islamophobia does not exist. I have to also make a comment about France. It is a country that is more interested in face veil bans than it is in tackling real problems like hate. (via Islamophobia-watch)

Muslim Soldiers’ Graves Desecrated in France

Vandals have desecrated the graves of seven Muslim soldiers who died fighting for France in World War II, the defence minister announced, expressing “deep indignation.”

The regional Muslim council said the tombstones had been toppled and three of them were smashed. There are 130 graves in the cemetery, of which 17 belong to Muslim soldiers.

AFP, 7 May 2010

‘This is your Eid present’ attacker told Muslim woman

A robber wrapped a Muslim woman in a carpet and set fire to her after he raided her home.

The attacker gained entry to the woman’s Westminster flat by claiming to be an inspector from her local council, but once inside he bashed her and tied her up before stealing thousands of pounds worth of valuables. As he left, he wrapped her in a carpet and set it alight, telling her: “This is your Eid present, you Muslim.”

The woman, aged in her 40s,  was saved by neighbours who broke into her flat after hearing her screams.

Daily Mail, 6 May 2010

FDNY

Of course Islamophobia doesn’t exist? I wonder if the former FDNY lieutenant reads Pamela Geller?

Retired FDNY Lieutenant in anti-Islam Hate Fit

A retired FDNY lieutenant was arrested for calling a Muslim Queens man a “terrorist” and spitting on him as they argued on an Astoria street last summer, said a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown.

Former firefighter Gerald Duffy allegedly blew his stack after he rolled through a stop sign at 25th Avenue and 41st Street the afternoon of Aug. 7 and nearly ran into Toufik Sadouki, who was walking to afternoon prayer, cops said.

“What’s your problem? Don’t you stop at the stop sign?” Sadouki shouted at Duffy, who then allegedly unleashed a litany of bigoted slurs at the man.

“I don’t have to stop for you, you f- – -ing terrorist,” Duffy told the cabdriver, who was wearing religious garbed, according to court papers.

“You’re Taliban,” he snarled at the bearded man who emigrated from Algeria 20 years ago.

Duffy, 46, then allegedly got out of his car, spit on Sadouki and pushed him.

Sadouki told The Post that he spit back at Duffy in retaliation, but did not tussle with Duffy.

“I was trying to avoid the fight because I was on my way to pray. It’s against our religion to fight with people,” he said. Two pals came to his aide and Duffy got back into his car, said Sadouki, 38.

But the hotheaded Duffy re-emerged from his car and grabbed Sadouki’s kufi, a traditional hat.

“Don’t put that on the ground. It’s a religious matter. If you do, there will be trouble,” Sadouki told the ex-firefighter.

Duffy then put the hat on a parked car and fled, Sadouki said.

Witnesses wrote down Duffy’s plate number, and detectives were finally able to track down the Long Island resident. Sadouki picked him out of a line-up Friday.

Duffy was arraigned that night on charges of aggravated harassment.

A woman who answered the door at Duffy’s home said he couldn’t come to the door.

Sadouki said: “Honestly, I want to go back home. I am a guest in this country, so I play by your rules. He’s a maniac.”

murray.weiss@nypost.com

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/fire_vet_in_islam_hate_fit_eObsA1ejoFTkakhJhXA1TL#ixzz0jaVUTjDj

Marwa Sherbini being Attacked

We have had commenters, usually from Jihad Watch and other hate sites who come on here and minimize Islamophobia and in fact deny that it even exists. We usually have fun with such commenters and their ideologies, satirizing or poking fun at the truly wide-eyed conspiratorial and selective arguments they and their heroes peddle.

However, there are times when anti-Muslimism and Islamophobia aren’t so funny, and that is when it leads to violence and heinous criminality. This was the case in the 90’s when thousands of Bosnians were massacred in the worst genocide in Europe since World War II for no other reason than being Muslim.

Today, in the West we have also had a barrage of scenarios which highlight the danger of the rhetoric of anti-Muslims. In Germany, we had the brutal murder of Marwa Sherbini and her child in a courtroom by a man who was convicted of verbally abusing her, calling her a “terrorist.” Marwa Sherbini, now referred to as the Hijab Martyr was stabbed 18 times.

The following is particularly revealing in light of the report from Homeland Security that warned about the rise of Right-Wing Extremism. In early July, Eric Gardner was arrested in Seattle for assault and felony harassment of a Muslim woman wearing the hijab. According to the SeattlePi,

Police have arrested a man accused of threatening a local woman and her baby because of their race and religion.

The incident took place on July 1 when the 25-year-old woman and her 6-month-old baby visited the Seattle Indian Health Board at 611 12th Ave. South, according to the statement of probable cause.

Investigators said Eric Gardner reportedly made derogatory comments such as,”You Muslim people scare people when you wear that clothing,” and “When I see a black woman, it makes me want to throw up.”

The alarmed mother said she asked him what was wrong, to which he responded, “I’m talking to you (expletive), Muslim people,” the document said.

When the woman said, “What I wear does not make me a bad person,” Gardner told her, “You scare people,” and cursed at her, the woman told detectives.

The woman tried to move away from the aggressive man, but he followed her. He then pulled out a sheath knife with an 8- to 10-inch blade, held it in front of her face and said, “I’m going to cut you and your baby with this knife,” the statement said.

Gardner slammed the knife on the counter, struggling to get it out of the sheath, detectives said. A staff member of the health clinic reached over and took the knife away from the suspect.

“I just heard a big slam on the counter and I looked over and it was a knife,” said employee Alissa Stewart. “My first instinct was to grab it and get it out of reach.”

Gardner then lunged over the counter, grabbed the knife out of Stewart’s hand and fled, investigators said.

Another clinic employee who had dealt with the boisterous man earlier in the day identified him as Eric Garner.

Police found Gardner walking in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood the following night. They said Gardner, who was carrying a knife, admitted he had “pulled a knife on a Muslim woman earlier in the day because he was ‘doing his part to defend America,’” according to the statement.

One of the points made by the Homeland Security report is that White supremacist groups and lone wolves would be on the rise because of the election of Barack Obama. As we have noted here on Loonwatch, the connection between racism and anti-Muslimism is very strong and when you have one you usually have the other.

In this case, Eric Gardner clearly exemplified the prototype of hate. He hated black people and he hated Muslims. In what seems like a close call, he was scared away when the receptionist snatched the knife off of the counter after he laid it down, he grabbed it out of her hand and in panic ran away. What is even more troubling about this incident is Gardner’s response to the police when he was questioned as to why he did what he did: “doing his part to defend America.”

What’s the psychology that goes into someone’s development to believe that they are defending America by brandishing a weapon at a woman and threatening her and her child? How much influence and inspiration do serious Loons such as Gardner get from the likes of right-wingers such as Michael Savage and Robert Spencer? Individuals who proclaim that America/Western Civilization is under threat by Islam and women who wear a piece of cloth over their heads? These very talking heads and leaders of the Islam-bashing industry proclaim day in and day out that we must “defend America” from the Muslims and Islam, that the barbarian Muslim hordes are out to get you.

Will we hear apologies from these self-appointed “defenders of America” who in effect create an enviornment that heightens such unfortunate incidents as the one in Seattle? At the very least will we hear a condemnation? Most likely, per their track record we wont even see a recognition of such incidents — and that isn’t funny.