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 not to 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 this time; we need the peacemakers.”
In a video posted on X, Fr Frost appealed to the community “not to be part of it. It’s a silly game that people are playing, and we are better than that.”
The Assistant Curate of St Matthew’s, the Revd Kat Gregory-Witham, also appeared in the video, and encouraged people to remain calm, and “to show acts of kindness to your neighbours”.
On Tuesday, Fr Frost said that he “choked up” when he heard about 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, in the face of violent disorder around the country, “we believe it is important that we all, as people of faith and no faith, stand united, shoulder to shoulder. Division and hate have no 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 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 Revd Sarah Clark, took to the streets to “reclaim the city” after riots last Friday evening.
Three police officers were left requiring hospital treatment after violence in the city included the throwing of bricks at officers outside a mosque, and a police building and citizens’ advice bureau gutted by arson attacks.
At Sunderland Minster, young men were spotted trying to break up headstones to use as missiles. An associate priest at the Minster, the Revd Chris Howson, chased them off, locked the gates to the graveyard, and no damage was done.
The next day, another associate priest, the Revd Jacqui Tyson, deplored the scenes of violence, but said that she was “heart-warmed” by the response of locals in the aftermath of the riot, as they set to work cleaning up the town.
She joined in the clean-up effort alongside leaders from other churches and the city’s mosques. On Sunday, a walk, billed as a way to “reclaim our city”, set off from from the Minster and ended at the city’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, in the diocese of Leeds, the Rt 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 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 decades past such as ‘Ain’t no black in the Union Jack’”, he wrote.
The Islamophobic chanting heard at far-Right rallies, he said, was “different from what we have seen before”, and encouraged people to “visit and check in on those neighbours who are in fear”.
At the weekend, after attending a counter-demonstration in Leeds, he spent time 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 address 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 prevent 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 are horrified at the scenes we saw last night at 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 neighbours, and we stand alongside them now in light of last night’s protests as much as we did before. I am pleased to say that everyone in the hotel was physically safe, although acknowledging the psychological trauma that may have been experienced.”
The Priest-in-Charge at St John’s, Cardiff, the Revd Sarah Jones, took part in a demonstration in Cardiff on Sunday, after reports of an anti-immigration rally planned for that evening.
“It’s not party politics, it’s not ‘if you’re this religion you’re in, and if you’re that religion well you might be dodgy and I might like you but you’re not quite right’: it’s about caring for each and every person here,” she said.
In the end, no far-Right rally took place: a pattern that seemed to be repeated elsewhere in 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 city’s Muslim community gathered on the street, and Sky News reported that they had come out to “protect property” in response to rumours of a far-Right rally.
A Sky News correspondent was surrounded by a number of individuals wearing balaclavas, one of whom said “Free Palestine, fuck the EDL [English Defence League]”.
Another man, also wearing a balaclava, was filmed trying to slash the tyres of a vehicle being used by Sky News. Chief Superintendent Richard North, of West Midlands Police, was quoted on Birmingham Live saying that there were “sporadic incidents of criminality during the evening and we will work hard to arrest those responsible”.
Also in east Birmingham, a group 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 is not a true reflection of who we are as a community,” one said.
A man who had been inside the pub at the time of the attack said: “You don’t have to 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 a local mosque who had offered to pay for damages.
“Hopefully we will have no more trouble on the streets of Birmingham. We are proud of our multi cultural city and lets keep it that way,” the post said.