chargement...
Muslims in New York are warned against the «Punish a Muslim Day» hate campaign launched last month in the UK. The authorities at the city, and most precisely in Brooklyn, have increased security expecting the worst from the racist and anti-Muslim action.
According to the Daily News, a New York city online newspaper, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams announced on Monday, 2nd of April, while standing in a crowd of citizens worried by the campaign at the Pakistani American Youth Society in Ditmas Park that he is doing his best to assure the security of Muslims in the city.
Tomorrow is Love All People Day in my house. If you’re a Muslim around Hammersmith/Askew area on Tuesday and you feel unsafe DM me. I’ll be home most of the day and can escort you and offer help.
— A R Jeyaretnam (@Amandajeyanam) 2 avril 2018
«Increased NYPD patrol» are next to mosques and other areas frequently visited by Muslims. These measures are taken by the city after people in the UK received messages on social media and letters urging them to take part in the «Punish a Muslim Day» beating, and harassing Muslims in the UK.
Commenting on that Adams said «let me be clear. Someone sees this as being a hoax. We do not see it as being a hoax. That is a premeditated action and its goal is to create terror.»
Uniting to fight against hate
The anonymous letters sent randomly to people in the UK set the «Punish a Muslim Day» on the 3rd of April detailing a scoring system for each offence and giving a reward for it in exchange. For instance, pulling a Muslim woman’s hijab is worth 25 points, throwing acid is 50 points and burning or bombing a mosque is a total of 1.000 points.
In New York, going through the 3rd of April will be marked by solidarity. This was confirmed by Lt. Adeel Raba, president of the NYPD’s Muslim Officers Society when speaking to the Daily News.
«This might be an incident against the Muslim community, but guess what, we’re standing next to our Jewish and Christian and other communities when something like that happens to them,» she said.
Other community activists in the city have called non-Muslims to «don hijabs and kufis» on Tuesday showing support for Muslims, reported the same source.
On the 3rd April, don't listen to the bigots and their "Punish a Muslim" day, instead let's show that our communities won't be divided, that hope is better than fear and we have more in common. #LoveAMuslimDay https://t.co/YhPXBMb403
— Thelma Walker MP (@Thelma_WalkerMP) 12 mars 2018
Meanwhile in the UK, where the hate campaign was first launched, Muslims have been urged to «unite» against the threats, said today the Evening Standard. The police are remained alerted for potential hate incidents, reassuring the Muslim community in the country.
According to the same source, community activists are organizing events on the 3rd of April, protesting against the anti-Muslim activity. People are even sending messages to comfort Muslims and asking them to reach for help if they are feeling unsafe.
