Staunch opposition to second protest outside Harrow Central Mosque (From Harrow Times)

Staunch opposition to second protest outside Harrow Central Mosque

12:14pm Friday 2nd October 2009 in

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HARROW Council has called on an anti-Islam organisation to call off a December protest in the borough to avoid scenes of violence and racial disharmony.

Councillor Susan Hall, speaking on behalf of the council, reacted strongly to news Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) is planning to return for a second demonstration outside Harrow Central Mosque.

She said: “We have no tolerance for intolerance in Harrow, either from the political fringe or those who misuse religion for a violent agenda.

“We profoundly hope the organisers of this next demonstration will think again and call it off.

"Given the disturbing scenes we witnessed in Harrow on September 11, this is clearly unwelcome news.”

SIOE, a staunchly anti-Islam group which infers Harrow's mosque radicalises its members, was hounded out of Wealdstone on September 11, chased by hoards of angry young Muslim men.

Some of the mosque supporters then turned violent, pelting police with missiles and launching attacks on innocent bystanders.

Cllr Hall condemned both SIOE and the violent counter-demonstrators in the wake of the last protest, and urged anyone intent on trouble from both sides to stay away from Harrow.

She said: "Harrow has an excellent record on race relations and the last thing we want is for our borough to be used as a stage for outside agitators - either political hardliners or groups of young Muslim people who arrive here intent on trouble.”

The Harrow Times has contacted SIOE leader Stephen Gash to discuss the planned protest, scheduled for December 13 between 2pm and 4pm, and is awaiting a reply.

On his website, he claims Harrow is the right place to demonstrator about “radicalised” mosques, and suggests no more mosques should be built in Britain or Europe until existing mosques have been “de-radicalised”.

Unite Against Fascism, a group which organised the counter-protest on September 11, has already issued a rallying cry to its members, urging them to contact the Home Office in a bid to ban the SIOE demonstration.

However, when the Harrow Times first raised the possibility of a second SIOE protest with Superintendent Julia Pendry, who co-ordinated police action on September 11, she indicated a protest could not be banned simply because of what happened last time.