A Syrian refugee and his family have fled their home in Holywood, Northern Ireland, after a suspected racist attack on their home left two of his children with minor injuries.
Police are treating the incident, which happened on Church Green on Sunday night, as a racially motivated hate crime.
Torki Al Omare, a Glider bus driver who moved to Northern Ireland with his family nine years ago, said a group of masked youths targeted the family home by throwing stones through the windows while he, his wife and their three children, aged 11, 9 and 7, were inside.
The attack caused broken windows and minor injuries to two of the children, who were struck by debris. The family has since left the property and says it will not return over fears for their safety.
Speaking to The Irish News, Mr Al Omare said the attack came after what he described as a two-year campaign of intimidation by some local residents.
“This has been going on for the last two years,” he said.
“People in the estate attacked us, they spoke about religion and skin colour. They hit my wife because she was wearing a hijab. I was told not to let my children play in the estate and that we were not welcome here. The children are feeling very bad, very scared.
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“I will never go back to that house or to Holywood or east Belfast because I don’t feel safe there. I feel safer in west Belfast and I hope to be there soon.”
Mr Al Omare said he had reported alleged incidents of intimidation and abuse to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on at least 16 occasions over the past two years. He also claimed one young person threatened a member of his family, saying they would “kill your family.”
His wife, Saja, said she believed Sunday’s attack had been “planned in advance.”
“No family should ever have to experience such fear, violence and intimidation simply for trying to keep their children safe,” she said.
Footage of an altercation involving members of the family and several other individuals in Holywood circulated on social media before the attack, including on accounts associated with anti-immigration networks.
The PSNI confirmed it also received a report of a second, connected attack on another home the same night. Two windows were smashed at that property and a quantity of cash was stolen.
“We are treating both of these reports as racially-motivated hate crimes, with our enquiries continuing into what happened, and who was involved,” a PSNI spokesperson said.
“This type of crime is utterly unacceptable and has no place in our society. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their home, regardless of their race or background.”
Alliance MLA Andrew Muir condemned the attacks, describing them as “repugnant”.
“Holywood is a shared and inclusive place, and this kind of violence and intimidation does not reflect the views of the vast majority of people in the town who are absolutely appalled to see this occur,” the North Down MLA said.
Growing far-right threats
This disturbing story is the latest known example of Islamophobic hate turning violent in Northern Ireland. In June 2026, racist pogroms broke out across Belfast following a stabbing attack allegedly committed by an African man the previous evening.
The violence saw white men attack the homes of immigrants and refugees across the city, with Muslim businesses also targeted. Homes and shops were looted or burned down.
The violence and racism stem largely from Protestant communities, also known as “British loyalist” communities. Historically, Protestant loyalists fought a vicious sectarian conflict against predominantly Catholic republicans campaigning for a united Ireland.
Holywood is a largely Protestant area, which may explain why Al Omare’s family experienced such intense racist abuse, as loyalist communities tend to be poorer areas where many refugees are housed, leading to greater tensions. Loyalist gangs also share many of the same far-right political views found in other British far-right movements in England, such as Britain First and Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom.
West Belfast is predominantly Catholic and tends to be a safer and less hostile environment, including for Muslims and other minority communities.
5Pillars spoken to Muslim community leaders and local anti-racism activists during a visit to Belfast in June.
Sean Murray, a Republican activist and documentary filmmaker based in Belfast. He has produced detailed work on the history of the violence in Northern Ireland and has a clear understanding of how local politics and sectarian divisions work in the city.
He explained the driving force behind various local groups which could be involved in the violence.
“An ethno-supremacist mentality still exists here in the north of Ireland. We have a British Protestant ethno-supremacist state here which has a history of persecuting the Catholic minority. And what you are seeing today, the burning of houses and the attacks on immigrants already happened in the 60s on a much larger scale against the Republicans. We saw pogroms against Catholics, that’s what inspired the peace wall construction.
Murray agreed with the idea I presented that the riots were not random but a planned attempt by racists to chase Muslims out of Belfast.
“There are loyalist paramilitaries involved in these riots. We know this for sure. These groups could stop the violence if they wanted to. That’s how it works here but they don’t because they are white supremacists with an agenda. They detest immigrants, they detest Republicans and they idolise other supremacist regimes like Israel and formerly the apartheid regime in South Africa. They’d love nothing more than to commit a genocide, like the Israelis have done to the Palestinians.
“The Unionist paramilitaries do exist. They are heavily armed. They always are a threat and it would be silly to think otherwise but we have faced these challenges before and we always rise against this. The majority of people in the north do not agree with their agenda and actively oppose it. Muslims should always remember that they will be welcomed in Republican areas and can feel safe here with us.”
