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PROTESTERS FROM THE far-right English Defence League (EDL) were unexpectedly greeted with tea, biscuits and an invitation to play football when they turned up outside a mosque in York, England earlier this week.
Only six people turned up to protest at the mosque in Bull Lane last Sunday but they were invited inside to play football with the worshippers, around 100 of whom had turned up having learned about the possible protest, BBC News reports.
Imam Abid Salik said that worshippers spoke with the protesters for around half-an-hour before they were invited inside, saying it was “a really beautiful thing”.
Local councillor Neil Barnes described the incident as a “proud moment for York” while the Archbishop of York John Sentamu said the mosque’s response was “typically Yorkshire”.
“Tea, biscuits, and football are a great and typically Yorkshire combination when it comes to disarming hostile and extremist views,” he is quoted as saying.
Tensions between supporters of the English Defence League and Muslims living in Britain have increased in recent days in the wake of the murder British soldier Lee Rigby outside a barracks in London by extremists last week.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that the phone numbers and addresses of supporters of the EDL have been posted online after individuals claiming to be part of the hacking collective Anonymous obtained the information.
The individuals accused the EDL of using the attack on Rigby to “spread your campaign of hate, bigotry, and misinformation”.
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A great response from the people in the mosque.
A good response to this kind of carry on… in fact Muslims, blacks, Jews, Poles, Asians should flock and join the EDL: that would really fcuk with their heads!
A good response to this kind of carry on… in fact Muslims, blacks, Jews, Poles, Asians should flock and join the EDL: that would really mess with their heads!
Apologies for the double posting, I thought the original one didn’t show up because I used the F word.
Right on :)
Let’s hope that Trap brings a hape of Jacob’s biscuits and Barry’s tea to the match tonight just in case the football isn’t enough to keep the peace…
Hope not hate
Tom
Interesting that you apologise for a double entry but entirely missed the opportunity to examine both contributions in print and then have that eureka moment when you realized that using foul language only contributed to our understanding of you as a common and uneducated man. Then the apology could have had some meaning!
great story..the Imam and worshippers showed true face of Islam. its a pity that the powers that be in Islam do not kick out the extremist preachers who give the majority a bad name and prey on vulnerable people.
but as I said a truly great story and actually quite uplifting. im sure this is typical of majority of Muslums
after all…Christianity is far from perfect!
apologies “Muslims”. thumb and rare sunlight!
The EDL may have “extreme views” but they are views held by a huge amount of people living in Britain.
I’ve been living in Britain for 17 years and I reject your opinion that the people hold extreme views. The British are, by and large, extremely tolerant and fair.
Totally agree with you Damien !
@ Dave: Six EDL supporters turned up to protest at the mosque – not exactly backing your claim that a “huge amount of people” support them.
agree with damian i visit uk alot and I dont see it either.
York is not the Muslim enclave that lets say Leeds or Bradford is so you wouldn’t expect many EDL numbers but that’s not my point, huge numbers hold views very close to the EDL’s but they don’t protest.
And I agree with Damien the brits are unbelievably tolerant of other races but not of Muslim fundamentals which is what the EDL are against.
Its a very small minority been given too much exposure by the media and government because it suits their agenda of divide and conquer.
Muslim is not a race. With regards to the British opinions of religious fundamentalists I agree; even I hold an extreme view of that.
What a great way to counteract their protest :-)
Dave Grant – having spent a decade in the UK I can say you are talking out of your swiss roll. Our closest neighbors are a very decent bunch of folk.
Dave, that comment looks a lot like the irrational intollerance and generalisation characteristic of extremists.
I think in the picture i can count 13?
@William..that’s a File Photo…not a photo of this event.
Fozz, do you remember fun, I was just being pedantic
Sorry Somemoaning, Im not an extremist but I do happen to hear what a lot of people in Britain are talking about and they aint too please with the route their country is taking right now.
563,000, the total number of people who actually voted for the BNP at the last election add that to the UKIP party votes and EDL, a touch more than 13 supports for the EDL views.
2 faced. Literally.
@dave UKIP are not in the same bracket as BNP ! You haven’t a clue what you are talking about
Dear Paul, if you think UKIP do not share view’s with the BNP and EDL you’re the one who doesn’t know what they are talking about.
Have to agree with Paul there; UKIP and the BNP are radically different, Dave, even though it might suit some to lump them all together. No member of one would take the other seriously.
Like f*** are they. The majority do not support the EDL they are worse than the BNP. The majority neither support or hold thier extermist views.
I grew up in the uk and tolerance was practically brainwashed! Which is a good thing
Love it. Only way of treating hate is with kindness. Corny and all that but its true.
The EDL might want to follow the example of a man named Jesus. You know, one of the great prophets in Islam. ;-) Didn’t he have a few choice things to say about turning the other cheek? So much for a Christian heritage….
Bad week for the EDL. Help for Heroes refuse their donations, members get named and shamed by Anonymous and their attempts to widen divisions are met with dialogue and tea :)
Everyone who expresses opposition to islamic extremism or islam in general is branded far right and racist. Many people may not agree with the edl or how they conduct themselves but they do have some very legitimate concerns. As many european governments are burying their heads in the sand and are still, despite all the evidence, trying to force this multicultural lie onto its citizens ,they are sleepwalking into a disastrous outcome. If Europe continues to tread the same path then i’m afraid that in future social upheaval is inevitable. Organisations like the edl are the only ones who are not pussy footing around the issues. Maybe it would be more helpful to actually listen to and address some of their concerns instead of shouting racist or fascist.
Nah, the EDL are racist fascists.
There is a difference between having a problem with Muslim extremism and having a problem with Muslims in general. The EDL are the latter.
They are racist but are not fascist. People mistakenly assume both are the same or nearly the same because it happens that the Nazis were both racist and fascist.
A point that seems to have been lost a bit here is that the Mosque worshippers engaged in activity that was, in the Archbishop’s words, ‘typically Yorkshire’, which the edl would presumably have no problem with since assimilated Muslims are not who they largely take issue with.
It’s great to see gestures like this, and also Mosques standing strong against extremism, and hand in hand with working class communities. Of course labelling those communities as populated by ‘fascists’ and ‘racists’ sort of undoes the progress that has been made here, so it’s really the media that has learned nothing from the story.
This is a great story !
Did they actually have a kick around or did the skinheads go home with their white pointy hoods over their heads??
I think they went bowling..
I think they had to be home before teatime.
Got to get ready for the 11th of July, that’s an away gig!
Think I spotted an obscure reference there!
The idiots who occupy the membership of the EDL, vented their anger on twitter and Facebook on Monday in anger at what they thought that the Achill Island Celtic Supporters Club Banner read as, they thought it said Achill Islam.
Great action!
Really disarming. Sounds a bit python-esque! Fair play to the worshippers
God help us all but there is a bloody Irish branch of these nutjobs!
Sounds like it was a decent cup of tea they got too. Because otherwise is cause for rioting.
Hang on, there’s an Irish branch of the ENGLISH defence league? How does that make sense?
theyve swopped Irish for English in title but are linked with edl
A beautiful friendly gesture by the Muslim worshippers. However when immigration is allowed to continue without checks or balance particularly at a time of economic downturn and mismanagement, then you are fuelling an inevitable fire of discontent! Most that will place comments here will be the same ones that ‘express’ vicious statements against corrupt politicians; rightfully so! But many that express a viciousness towards those that are mismanaging countries throughout a dysfunctional Europe fail to leave the comfort of their armchairs and therefore are condoning the incompetency of their leaders! To express an anger towards others that are expressing their anger by taken to the streets is a failure on all sides to comprehend the true problem with the out of control free flow of illegal immigrants! That is, what is at the heart of these unjustified protests against Muslim worshippers and some unjustified naive comments on this issue! To allow the mass immigration into countries just like Ireland that cannot sustain their own is an injustice to all nationals and foreign nationals who reside here legally. There are no winners, exploitation and civil unrest is inevitable! To wrongs do not make something right!
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“Keep your friends close.Keep your enimies closer”.
“But take not friends from their ranks (of non-believers) until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks.”
- Quran (4:89)
“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”
- Quran (8:12)
“And fight with them until there is no more unbelief and religion should be only for Allah”
- Quran (8:39)
“… slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them.”
- Quran (9:5)
“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”
- Quran (9:29)
Lovely story, but let’s not pretend Islam is something it’s not. Catholicism did enough damage to this island, we should be hardened against the hate and bigotry of these backward cults.
Becoming hardened against all representatives of a religion does nothing to fight extremism. It simply silences moderates and allows extremists free reign.
The author Lesley Hazleton gave a Ted talk on the verses you’ve mentioned – “Take the infamous verse about killing the unbelievers. Yes it does say that but in a very specific context: the anticipated context of the sanctuary city of Mecca where fighting was usually forbidden, and the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers. Not ‘you must kill unbelievers in Mecca’ but you can, you are allowed to, but only after a grace period is over, and only if there is no other pact in place, and only if they try and stop you getting to the Kaaba, and only if they attack you first. And even then – God is merciful; forgiveness is supreme and so essentially, better if you don’t”
I guess one of the five verses I quoted instructing Muslims to kill non-Muslims was taken out of context. Truly it is a religion of peace, in one out of five examples.
Thanks be to God, a bit of sense at last.
The football season is over now so the EDL have to find something else to do.
Tell them ESPN Classic are showing Millwall vs. Wimbledon to get them off the streets.
Ireland 4-2, Robbie Keane hat-trick. The beautiful game: http://youtu.be/1vSt-b5KvfI …
I’m very optimistic or foolish today.
I hadn’t realised they played football in a mosque, I thought you had to take your shoes off when you went in!!!!
It”s a Yorkshire mosque! Different to all others.
Build a bridge and get over it. Immigration is part of all countries in the world. It’s a human urge to move where the grass seems greener.
I come from a country where none can say I’m a 100 percent this or that. We even celebrate Immigrant day!
well as regards the view of english people.after last weeks gruesom murder,the edl fb page jumped from 20,000 to 80,000.this would suggest a certin undercurrent.
oh now a county of what 60 – 70 million and a facebook page get 80,000 likes which you cant even prove came from any one in britain or even is british. a FB page is hardly representative of anything.
@ robert parsons
fair enough but a four fold increase in 24 hrs none the less.i guess a look at the page itself would show the origin of the new “members”. names,content,grammar etc etc.
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