Facebook campaign for Manx mosque faces opposition
Sunday, May 31, 2009 An internet group set up by the Island's Muslim community has sparked fiercely anti-Islamic opposition. The group on social networking site Facebook, outlining their campaign for a new mosque to replace the converted garage used at present, has attracted almost 100 members.
But 360 people have joined an opposition group claiming to be non-racist but carrying comments such as: "Thay (sic) can **** right off!!!!!! thay come over and don't respect are (sic) way of life. Thay belive (sic) if you are not a muslam (sic) you should die wots (sic) all that about!!! thay have one (a mosque) as it is so why do thay need a new one **** off i say !!!"
The creator of the group "New Mosque for Isle of Man" explains the Muslim community, thought to number around 70, has been using a small converted garage as a mosque for more than 20 years. He claims Islamic worshippers are "at a disadvantage" as the mosque is too small to hold them all for Jumuah salah, a Friday afternoon prayer considered the most important of the week.
Meanwhile, contributors to the opposition group "No to Mosque in the Isle of Man" urge members to "keep your Island free of the alien invaders". One member accuses the Island's Muslims of "taking education, jobs and a better way of life and throwing it back in our faces". Another writes: "You can't say you are Muslim and not expect suspicion from the world ... you have earned it."
Those who have left messages condemning such comments are described as "white traitors". "Wake up and grow some loyalty to your own people, your own country, your own race, your own identity as White British," one member writes. "Stop falling over yourself to condemn your own people all so a horde of foreign, anti-British Muslims can colonise the Isle of Man."