Communities unite against division and unrest

Protesters tried to ransack a Sunderland cemetery for projectiles, and Muslim graves in Burnley were vandalized, during anti-immigration protests this week.

Communities, often led by religious representatives, responded with a determination not to divide.

At Burnley Cemetery on Monday, around six Muslim graves were painted over in an act of vandalism which council leader Afrasiab Anwar described as “evil”.

The vicar of nearby St Matthew’s, Burnley, the Rev Alex Frost, condemned the perpetrators as “heinous criminals” and said such people were “of no use to Burnley at this time; we need the peacemakers”.

In a video posted to X, Father Frost appealed to the community “not to be a part of this. It’s a silly game people are playing, and we are better than that.”

St Matthew’s assistant vicar, Revd Kat Gregory-Witham, also appeared in the video and encouraged people to remain calm and “show acts of kindness to your neighbours”.

On Tuesday, Father Frost said he “gasped” when he heard about the attack and went to the cemetery to meet with Muslim community leaders. Despite the incident, things were thankfully 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 in the face of violent disorder across the country, “we believe it is important that all of us, as people of faith and of no faith, stand together, shoulder to shoulder. Division and hatred have no place in Lancashire.”

Asked if he thought social media use was proving to be a negative force, he said “inflammatory and abusive language” needed to be moderated, but that careful use of social media could be “very positive” for a community. His video was met with a largely positive reception online, with many noting a rainbow visible in the background.

IN SUNDERLAND on Sunday, more than 200 people, including the Acting Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Sarah Clark, took to the streets to “take back the city” following last Friday night’s riots.

Three police officers required hospital treatment after violence in the city, which included bricks being thrown at officers outside a mosque, and a police building and citizens’ advice office being destroyed in arson attacks.

At Sunderland Minster, youths were seen trying to break headstones to use as missiles. An associate priest at the Minster, the Revd Chris Howson, chased them away, locked the cemetery gates and no harm was done.

Talking to the Daily Mail The following day, another associate priest, the Revd Jacqui Tyson, deplored the scenes of violence but said she was “heartened” by the response of local residents after the riot, as they set to work cleaning up the town.

She joined the clean-up effort along with leaders of other churches and mosques in the city. On Sunday, a walk, billed as a way to “reclaim our city,” started from the Minster and ended at the city’s oldest mosque, and was attended by members of both the Christian and Muslim communities.

In an article published in Church Times website on Wednesday, the Area Bishop of Kirkstall in the Diocese of Leeds, the Revd Arun Arora, called on Christians to get involved in efforts to rebuild their communities “both physically and socially”, and to consider joining peaceful counter-protests.

“Racism has rediscovered its voice on the streets of Britain and Northern Ireland. It is an ugly, brutal sound, accompanied by the crash of bricks hitting police riot shields, the shrill sound of mosque windows being smashed and recitals of long-forgotten chants from decades past, such as ‘There is no black in the Union Jack’,” he wrote.

The Islamophobic chants heard at far-right rallies, he said, were “different from what we’ve seen before” and encouraged people to “go and check on neighbors who are scared.”

At the weekend, after taking part in a counter-demonstration in Leeds, he spent time at Harehill Mosque. In London, the Dean of Southwark, the Right Reverend Dr Mark Oakley, visited the Old Kent Road Mosque.

In a post on X, he said he was invited to address the congregation and “assured them of the friendship and solidarity of the Cathedral, taking a stand against hatred.”

In some places, counter-protesters outnumbered the far right. Around 100 far-right protesters gathered near Castle Park in Bristol on Saturday, where they were met by around 400 counter-protesters shouting anti-fascist slogans. Photos emerged of counter-protesters linking arms to prevent protesters from storming the Mercury Hotel, which houses asylum seekers. Several arrests were made after clashes with police.

Assistant curate of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, the Rev Laura Verrall-Kelly, said on Sunday: “As a community we are horrified by the scenes we saw last night in Redcliffe Hill, our community, where the protests took place.”

The church, she said, was “proud of the work we have done over the past few months with the hotel, reaching out to asylum seekers and refugees. These are our neighbors, and we stand alongside them now, in light of last night’s protests, as much as we did before. I am happy to say that everyone in the hotel was physically safe, while acknowledging the psychological trauma that may have been experienced.”

The priest in charge of St John’s Church in Cardiff, the Reverend Sarah Jones, attended a demonstration in Cardiff on Sunday following reports of an anti-immigration protest planned for that evening.

“It’s not partisan politics, it’s not ‘if you’re this religion, you’re in, and if you’re that religion, well, you might be suspect and I might like you, but you’re not entirely right’: it’s about caring for every single person here,” she said.

In the end, no far-right demonstrations took place: a pattern that appeared to be repeated in other parts of the country, where rumors of gatherings prompted people to take to the streets in preemptive action.

In Birmingham on Monday night, some members of the city’s Muslim community gathered in the street, with Sky News reporting that they came out to “protect property” in response to rumours of a far-right demonstration.

A Sky News correspondent was surrounded by several individuals wearing balaclavas, one of whom said “Free Palestine, f*** the EDL”.

Another man, also wearing a balaclava, was filmed trying to slash the tyres of a vehicle used by Sky News. Chief Superintendent Richard North, of West Midlands Police, was quoted on Birmingham Live as saying there had been “sporadic incidents of criminality throughout the night and we will work hard to arrest those responsible”.

Also in east Birmingham, a group of men wearing balaclavas caused damage to a pub, the Clumsy Swan, and members of the Muslim community later visited the premises to apologise.

“We are very sorry for what happened here today… This does not truly reflect who we are as a community,” one said.

A man who was inside the pub at the time of the attack said: “You don’t need to apologise… It was just a small minority.”

On Tuesday, a message was posted on Clumsy Swan’s Facebook page thanking well-wishers, including members of a local mosque who offered to pay for the damages.

“I hope we don’t have any more problems on the streets of Birmingham. We are proud of our multicultural city and we will keep it that way,” the post read.