RIOTERS attempted to plunder a Sunderland graveyard for projectiles, and Muslim graves in Burnley were vandalised, during anti-immigration riots this week.
Communities, often led by faith representatives, responded with a determination to not be divided.
At Burnley Cemetery, on Monday, about six Muslim graves were daubed with paint, in an act of vandalism which the council leader, Afrasiab Anwar, described as “evil”.
The Vicar of St Matthew’s, Burnley, near by, the Revd Alex Frost, condemned the perpetrators as “heinous criminals”, and said that such people were “not of any good use to Burnley at the moment; we’d like the peacemakers.”
In a video posted on X, Fr Frost appealed to the community “to not be a part of it. It’s a silly game that individuals are playing, and we’re higher than that.”
The Assistant Curate of St Matthew’s, the Revd Kat Gregory-Witham, also appeared within the video, and encouraged people to stay calm, and “to point out acts of kindness to your neighbours”.
On Tuesday, Fr Frost said that he “choked up” when he heard in regards to the attack, and went to the cemetery to be with leaders of the Muslim community. Despite the incident, things had, mercifully, been calm in Burnley, he said, and he praised the Muslim community for not reacting to the provocation of the attack.
The diocese of Blackburn and the Lancashire Council of Mosques released a joint statement last Friday, which said that, within the face of violent disorder across the country, “we consider it is necessary that all of us, as people of religion and no faith, stand united, shoulder to shoulder. Division and hate don’t have any place in Lancashire.”
Asked whether he thought that social media use was proving to be a negative force, said that “inflammatory and abusive language” needed to be moderated, but that careful use of social media could possibly be “very positive” for a community. His video was met with a largely positive reception online, with many noting a rainbow visible within the background.
IN SUNDERLAND on Sunday, greater than 200 people, including the Acting Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Sarah Clark, took to the streets to “reclaim the town” after riots last Friday evening.
Three law enforcement officials were left requiring hospital treatment after violence in the town included the throwing of bricks at officers outside a mosque, and a police constructing and residents’ advice bureau gutted by arson attacks.
At Sunderland Minster, young men were spotted attempting to break up headstones to make use of as missiles. An associate priest on the Minster, the Revd Chris Howson, chased them off, locked the gates to the graveyard, and no damage was done.
Speaking to the Daily Mail the following day, one other associate priest, the Revd Jacqui Tyson, deplored the scenes of violence, but said that she was “heart-warmed” by the response of locals within the aftermath of the riot, as they set to work cleansing up the town.
She joined within the clean-up effort alongside leaders from other churches and the town’s mosques. On Sunday, a walk, billed as a method to “reclaim our city”, set off from from the Minster and ended at the town’s oldest mosque, and was attended by members of the Christian and Muslim communities.
In an article published on the Church Times website on Wednesday, the Area Bishop of Kirkstall, within the diocese of Leeds, the Rt Revd Arun Arora, called on Christians to get entangled in efforts to rebuild their communities “each physically and socially”, and to think about joining peaceful counter-protests.
“Racism has rediscovered its voice on the streets of Britain and Northern Ireland. It is an unpleasant and brutal sound, accompanied by the drumbeat of bricks hitting police riot shields, the shrill of windows of mosques being smashed, and recitals of long- forgotten chants from a long time past resembling ‘Ain’t no black within the Union Jack’”, he wrote.
The Islamophobic chanting heard at far-Right rallies, he said, was “different from what we now have seen before”, and encouraged people to “visit and check in on those neighbours who’re in fear”.
At the weekend, after attending a counter-demonstration in Leeds, he frolicked at Harehill mosque. In London, the Dean of Southwark, the Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley, visited Old Kent Road Mosque.
In a post on X, he said that he was invited to handle the congregation, and “assured them of the Cathedral’s friendship and solidarity, standing against hate”.
In some places, counter-protesters outnumbered the far Right. About 100 far-Right protesters gathered near Castle Park in Bristol, on Saturday, where they were met by about 400 counter-protesters chanting anti-fascist slogans. Photos emerged of counter-protesters linking arms to stop the protesters’ storming the Mercury Hotel, which houses asylum-seekers. Multiple arrests were made after clashes with police.
The Assistant Curate at St Mary Redcliffe, in Bristol, the Revd Laura Verrall-Kelly, said on Sunday: “As a community, we’re horrified on the scenes we saw last night at Redcliffe Hill, our community, where the protests took place.”
The church, she said, was “happy with the work we now have done over the past few months with the hotel, reaching out to asylum-seekers and refugees. These are our neighbours, and we stand alongside them now in light of last night’s protests as much as we did before. I’m pleased to say that everybody within the hotel was physically protected, although acknowledging the psychological trauma that will have been experienced.”
The Priest-in-Charge at St John’s, Cardiff, the Revd Sarah Jones, took part in an illustration in Cardiff on Sunday, after reports of an anti-immigration rally planned for that evening.
“It’s not party politics, it’s not ‘in case you’re this religion you’re in, and in case you’re that religion well you could be dodgy and I would such as you but you’re not quite right’: it’s about caring for every and every one here,” she said.
In the tip, no far-Right rally took place: a pattern that appeared to be repeated elsewhere within the country, where rumours of gatherings prompted people to take to the streets in pre-emptive counter-actions.
In Birmingham, on Monday night, some members of the town’s Muslim community gathered on the road, and Sky News reported that they’d come out to “protect property” in response to rumours of a far-Right rally.
A Sky News correspondent was surrounded by plenty of individuals wearing balaclavas, one in all whom said “Free Palestine, fuck the EDL [English Defence League]”.
Another man, also wearing a balaclava, was filmed attempting to slash the tyres of a vehicle getting used by Sky News. Chief Superintendent Richard North, of West Midlands Police, was quoted on Birmingham Live saying that there have been “sporadic incidents of criminality in the course of the evening and we are going to work hard to arrest those responsible”.
Also in east Birmingham, a gaggle of men in balaclavas caused damage to a pub, the Clumsy Swan, and later some members of the Muslim community visited to apologise.
“We’re very very sorry about what has happened here today. . . That will not be a real reflection of who we’re as a community,” one said.
A person who had been contained in the pub on the time of the attack said: “You don’t must apologise. . . It was only a small minority.”
On Tuesday, a message was posted on the Clumsy Swan’s Facebook page, thanking well-wishers, including members of an area mosque who had offered to pay for damages.
“Hopefully we could have no more trouble on the streets of Birmingham. We are happy with our multi cultural city and lets keep it that way,” the post said.
