Five Attacks on Acton Mosques in Ten Days

Spate of what are believed to be Islamophobic incidents in the area

Rupa Huq MP visits Acton Central Mosque after one of the incidents. Picture: X/Rupa Huq

November 16, 2023

There has been a spate of attacks on Muslim places of worship and businesses in the Acton area over the last few weeks.

Many people in the community believe they are part of a rise in Islamophobia which has accompanied increase incidents of anti-Semitism since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The first attack is understood to have taken place overnight on the PistaHoney patisserie and café by the junction with Grove Road. The Syrian-owned establishment was hit on Monday 23 October.

Three days later, on Thursday 26 October, red paint was daubed on the iron gate of Acton Central Mosque on Oldham Terrace. The same venue was attacked again in a similar manner on Saturday 4 and Monday 6 November. Similar attacks with red paint have also been reported at another Mosque in the area, the Masjid Ezzeitouna in East Acton with the most recent incident taking place on 5 November between the two attacks at the Acton Central Mosque.

An Imam at the Mosque has also had his car tyres slashed and car damaged.

The perpetrator of at least one of the incidents has been captured on CCTV and was seen masked and riding a bike. The Mosque has requested that additional cameras with night vision be installed in the area.

Aizul Haque, senior trustee of the Mosque, told the Ealing Times, “It is very sad and dangerous because we have children coming to the mosque to learn the Quran.

“Acton Mosque is full of law-abiding citizens. We try to help people as much as we can, and we do not criticise any other religion.

“But we try to treat them equally to our own attendees, so it is very alarming that we have been targeted.”

Local MP Rupa Huq visited the Mosque after the second attack to offer support and said on social media, “To whoever it is who keeps engaging in hate crimes in Acton, including Syrian cafe: you will be caught. “

The council said after the first attack on the Acton Central Mosque, “We are aware of an incident at Acton Central Mosque overnight. Paint has been cleaned off by council contractors. Hate crime has no place in Ealing, and we will always oppose it. Our leader & senior officers are in touch with the police & will continue to work with them.”

A local councillor who asked not to be named said, “I believe when they catch the culprit or culprits, literally red-handed in this case, it will turn out that they are not from this area. We are blessed with diversity in this area not only in the wider community but within the Muslim faith with people from Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Somalia and many other nations living in the area together and getting on very well. It was regrettable that Acton High Street was the venue for ill-judged celebrations on 7 October and can accept that the people involved had no idea of the true horror of what had occurred when they acted in this way, but it has had the effect of bringing our area to the attention of bad actors who want to sow division where it does not exist.”

We asked the Metropolitan Police about progress in the investigations into these attacks and await a response.

Earlier, it had issued a statement saying, “Hundreds of officers are undertaking extra patrols at places of worship, schools and other premises.

“They are also listening to the concerns of community leaders and representatives of different faiths. There is no place for hate or division in our city and we will take robust and positive action wherever we can.

“Since the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, we have made a total of 188 arrests involving hate crimes and acts such as violence, linked to protests in the capital. Of these 98 are suspected anti-Semitic offences, 21 are alleged Islamophobic offences and a further 12 are believed to be faith hate crimes.”

Commander Paul Trevers, who is responsible for criminal justice outcomes, said, “This is a challenging time for communities in London.

"We continue to see a very concerning rise in both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crime. This is absolutely unacceptable.

"No-one should be subjected to hate because of their faith or race, and we are taking action against those who are offending. In some cases, our officers have taken accounts of extremely shocking and hateful abuse as well as acts of violence.

"We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to build strong cases against those who offend. We continue to work extremely closely with our faith communities and we know the impact on them is not diminishing."

Anyone who sees an incident of concern, experiences threatening behaviour – including online, or is worried about their safety, should contact police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.