Worshippers at a mosque in north London have described being subjected to a “religious hatred attack.”
Two men allegedly entered the mosque on Sunday night in Somers Town, Camden and threw cuttings of raw bacon.
Initially, the alleged attackers, described as white with short hair and beards, were spotted placing slices of bacon inside shoes left on the rack near the entrance of Al Rahman Mosque and Community Centre.
When a worshipper, Helal Ahmed, confronted them, bacon was thrown at him.
Describing his reaction to the attack, which another member of the mosque described as a “disgusting and heinous attack on a peaceful place,” Mr Ahmed said: “I couldn’t accept it. My throat is dry. I can’t even explain it. It’s kind of senseless.”
He added: “It’s unbelievable. I’ve been going to the mosque for about eight years and it’s the first time this happened in this mosque.”
Mr Ahmed said the police, who arrived shortly after being called, had been “unbelievably helpful.” He said: “They cleaned up, took the pieces of meat. They spent all night here and even in the morning at 6 o clock they were still on guard.”
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Scotland Yard said two men were later arrested near the scene on suspicion of inciting racial hatred.
A Met spokesman said: “Local officers remain in the area carrying out reassurance patrols.”
The attack happened just before a report was released (on Tuesday) saying the UK has become increasingly xenophobic.
Published by the Council of Europe’s European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the study looks at language used by British politicians and media outlets in the five years to March 2016. It notes a sharp rise in anti-Muslim violence and lays blame on UKIP and Conservative politicians and The Sun and Daily Mail for stoking “considerable intolerant political discourse,” and “biased or ill-founded information disseminated about vulnerable groups.”
Former Prime Minister David Cameron is also rebuked for using the word swarm in July 2015 to describe asylum seekers.
