Articles

Mosque burning

 12/28/2014
Mosque burning

It is a tough time for immigrant communities all over the world. With the focus being on terrorism, particularly of the Islamist variety, many western countries where immigrants from Muslim lands have settled are seeing an upswing in hate crimes and tighter immigration policies by their leaders. The latest incident of a crime against an immigrant Muslim community comes from Sweden, that bastion of enlightenment and friendly policies where many asylum seekers from conflict zones have been welcomed with open arms. In what appears to be a case of arson, a mosque was set on fire in the city of Eskilstuna on Thursday, injuring five of the 70 worshippers who were inside at the time when a firebomb was thrown in through a closed window. The mosque was torched and the worshippers were lucky to have gotten out alive. This is an act of most despicable character in a nation known to offer hope and refuge to all manner of immigrants.

Such is the backlash of living in an age where there is constant projection of the Muslim as a terrorist, of groups such as Islamic State (IS), al Qaeda and the Taliban, and of lone wolves like Haron Monis who held a café in Sydney hostage recently. There is nothing but a bombardment of imagery and the perception that all Muslims are terrorists and that is getting many a western nation and its people upset that there live among them Muslims, although most of them are peace loving human beings who want nothing more than better lives for themselves and their families. Immigration was encouraged in a vast majority of western countries because natives did not want to partake in menial employment; now, after many decades of prosperity and development, they complain that there are no jobs left for them. A majority of immigrants have helped build the nations they now live in and should not have to bear the brunt for the acts of groups that are now gaining traction in the media. This arson attempt on a mosque sheds light on the fact that groups such as neo-Nazis and white supremacists are indulging in their own kind of hate and discrimination. Far right politicians are beating the drum of being anti-immigration, all to the detriment of those who are now a part of their countries. Hate, no matter on which side it resides, must be beaten back and discouraged. *

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