A LOYALIST bonfire featuring an effigy of a mosque has been condemned as an incitement of hatred.
The replica of a Muslim place of worship, with a dark-skinned, bearded mannequin holding a knife within it, was placed on top of a tower of pallets set to be burned on Friday night in the Moygashel, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland, as part of wider loyalist commemorations.
Placards stuck to the front of the pile of pallets – which has been celebrated by far-right agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (known as Tommy Robinson) – read “secure our borders” and “end the threat of radical Islam”.
The effigy has been condemned by Amnesty International and politicians.
Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, said: “This vile display is a blatant attempt to stir up anti-Muslim hatred and intimidate local families.
“The police must investigate this as a potential crime, identify and hold to account those responsible, and ensure this material is swiftly removed before it can be used to incite further hatred and violence.”
According to the Guardian, a 56-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting material that was intended to stir up hatred. He remains in custody.
It comes just four weeks after a stabbing attack in Northern Ireland triggered race riots and violent disorder in Belfast and other towns. In Glasgow, three people were attacked solely because of the colour of their skin.
On Facebook, the Moygashel Bonfire Association said they noted the “predictable fury” in response to the “act of political protest at our bonfire site this year”.
“Our display may well shock, offend or outrage others, but nonetheless it is an exercise in our rights under Article 10 of the [European Convention on Human Rights] ECHR, and we note with some irony that it is the ECHR which has so often paved the way for mass illegal immigration and a failure to deport foreign criminals who have come here unlawfully, that also now protects our right to protest in robust terms against that,” they said in a post.
“If there was no uncontrolled illegal mass immigration, we would have no need to protest on this issue. Our display expressly does NOT target any individual. We make that very clear.
“Our opposition is not to people, but rather to ideology and government policy.”
Last year, the same association placed life-sized effigies of migrants in a boat on top of a bonfire.
The Moygashel pyre is one of around 300 bonfires that will take place across Northern Ireland this weekend, as part of the annual celebration of the Battle of the Boyne, King William of Orange’s victory over Catholic forces in 1690.
