Muslim Hate in Greece
Guns and ammunition discovered in Xanthi (Greece) mosque
The imam has been arrested over illegal possession of the weapons
29 March 2017
Neoskosmos.com
Police seized guns and ammunition from a mosque in Xanthi on Tuesday, after authorities were tipped off reports ANA-MPA.
In the mosque located just over an hour-and-a-half away from the
Turkish border in the village of Iliopetra, police found a .22 pistol,
a .38 pistol with a silencer, and a Flobert hunting rifle along with
thirty cartridges.
Following the raid all findings were sent to the Forensic Service's
laboratories in Athens, and the imam was arrested for the possession of
illegal weapons and to be questioned over the matter.
He was due to appear before a local prosecutor on Tuesday, reports Kathimerini.
With tensions currently running high between Greece and Turkey, the
case has been brought to the attention of the Citizens' Protection
Ministry and to senior government officials.
Fourteen hurt as migrants riot in Greece
Derek Gatopoulos
Sidney Morning Herald
May 23, 2009
Dozens of cars have been smashed and 14 people injured in riots by
Muslim immigrants angered at the alleged defacement of a Koran by a
Greek policeman.
Police on Friday fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of
protesters outside parliament and elsewhere in the Athens city centre.
The government said 46 protesters were arrested and 75 cars were
damaged.
Chanting "God is great!" and waving leather-bound copies of Islam's
holy book, about 1,500 Muslim immigrants - mostly young men - marched
to parliament in the centre of Athens to express their anger. The
clashes occurred after the protest had dwindled to about 300 people.
Rioters hurled rocks at police and attacked police cordons with sticks
and their belts, ignoring pleas for calm in Arabic and Greek from
protest organisers. The violence spread as young men overturned cars,
set fire to rubbish bins and attacked several banks.
Seven policemen and seven immigrants were being treated in hospital for injuries, police said.
Onlookers, including tourists in Athens' central square, watched, with
some holding up their mobile phones to photograph the protesters.
Police said they will investigate the allegation that a police officer
tore up an Iraqi immigrant's copy of the Koran while checking his
identity papers in Athens on Wednesday.
"Anyone found responsible will be strictly held to account. But this
isolated incident cannot justify these acts of violence," said Christos
Markoyiannakis, a minister in charge of police.
Police released photographs of the torn Koran but gave no further details.
"We want the officer or officers involved to be prosecuted, and the
government to issue an apology," protester Manala Mohammed, a Syrian
national who helped organise the rally, told The Associated Press. "We
want people to show us respect."
Most of Greece's native born population of 10.7 million are baptised into the Christian Orthodox Church.
Waves of illegal immigration over the past few years have led to an
influx of Muslims, mostly from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many live in
squalid, overcrowded apartments in run-down parts of central Athens.
In 2008, Greek authorities arrested more than 145,000 migrants entering
the country illegally, a 30 per cent increase from the previous year
and a 54 per cent jump from 2006, according to figures from the
Interior Ministry.
Greek rights activist Thanassis Kourkoulas, one of the protest
organisers, said the marches were intended to show that immigrants
"have a voice".
"What happened is a great insult to every Muslim, every immigrant and every Greek who respects democracy," he said.
Muslims in fresh Athens demo over alleged Koran insult
(AFP) – May 29, 2009
ATHENS (AFP) — More than 1,000 Muslim migrants and leftists
demonstrated in Athens Friday over an alleged police insult to the
Koran, a week after two similar protests degenerated into clashes with
anti-riot police.
The protest was called by leftist and anti-racist groups after a police
officer allegedly tore up some sheets of paper with extracts from the
Muslim holy book belonging to an Iraqi migrant during an identity check
last week.
"We want this officer put on trial, and we ask the government to
protect our prayer sites in Athens," said Zuri, a Moroccan protester.
"But we intend to set a good example and refrain from violence, Islam is a religion of peace," he said.
Scores of police on foot and on motorbikes were mobilised to maintain
order and keep the migrants who marched on parliament from coming into
contact with a few dozen neo-Nazi militants staging a street gathering
a few blocks away.
The far-right group was commemorating the fall of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Greece's main Muslim and migrant organisations distanced themselves
from the migrant demonstration, preferring to take judicial action
instead.
"Our problems can be solved by dialogue, not demonstrations," said Ahmet Moavia, head of the Greek Migrants' Forum.
"The real agenda is migrants' rights in Greece which include issues of religion," he told AFP.
"Muslim Arabs will not participate because there is a political agenda
which has nothing to do with Islam," said Naim El Gadour, chairman of
the Muslim Union of Greece.
"We filed a complaint against the officer, we chose the path of justice and peace and we will adhere to it."
Rights groups report an increase in racist attacks on migrants in
Athens in recent weeks. Last weekend, unknown assailants set fire to a
basement flat housing a mosque and injured five men from Bangladesh
sleeping inside.
More than a dozen migrants and police were injured last week in clashes
that marred two days of Muslim rallies over the alleged insult to the
Koran.
Scores of cars and a handful of shops had their windows smashed.
Police made 46 arrests at the time.
Muslim groups have demanded an apology over the incident which the
government has so far failed to give. Calls to identify the officer who
allegedly tore the Koranic verses have also been ignored.
Community elders also note that Greece has failed to honour years of
pledges to build a mosque and a cemetery in Athens where over 100,000
Muslims live.
There are around one million migrants legally living in Greece, roughly
nine percent of the country's population, most of them from
neighbouring Albania.
Another 80,000-100,000 migrants are believed to be residing in the country illegally according to the interior ministry.