The “Operation Broom” of the Greek Police, a careless act and a torn up Qur’an brought to the streets hundreds of Muslims in Athens. The night before last and during a police raid in an Arab Café in Aharnon St. in Athens, a meeting and a recreational point of the many Muslims of the city, a police officer smashed to pieces one of the very few things that support these people: ” Their Faith.” Hundreds of Muslim immigrants gathered in Kypseli protesting against the insult towards their religion. According to eye witnesses, a police team of about 7-8, who were yesterday patrolling the area of Agios Panteleimonas, entered at 9.00pm the specific café, which at the time was full and asked the patrons to produce their documents. “They ordered them to take off their shoes, socks and they were searching everything,” say the immigrants, pointing out that the café has a good reputation and families often visit. During the raid one of the police officers approached Mohammad, 24, who speaks poor Greek and asked him to empty his pockets. The police officer among the belongings of the young man discovered a booklet with Arabic characters. “What is this?!” he asked. “It is the Holy Qur’an, which I recite every morning and evening” he replied. “As you recite the Gospel, we have the Qur’an” he tried to explain. The police officer then snatched the Qur’an from the young man’s hands and ripped it to pieces. “Don’t rip it man” shouted one of his fellow officers. “They can ….” He then shouted and threw the Quran on the floor. Later with a torn up Qur’an in their hands the representatives of Muslims in Greece addressed the Ministry of Public Order and Safety, reporting the abuse. “This is the first time such an event has taken place in Greece and it should not be repeated” they replied. Yesterday afternoon, when the incident was announced, large groups of Muslims gathered and marched in front of the A.T Kypselis at the junction of Thira and Patision. In that position there were two MAT Squads. The assembly started shouting slogans, reacting and responding to the insult towards their religion, at the same time throwing some stones and rubbish resulting in the cause of some damage to one vehicle and one shop. Bystanders reported that the police retaliated by throwing tear gas and chemicals aiming to move the demonstrators on, forcing them towards Omonoia Sq. to continue with their protest. “The fact that the police officer tore up the Qur’an and stepped on it is a major crime as far as Muslims are concerned” says the Chairman of the Muslim Association of Greece, Naim El-Ghandour. “The Qur’an is our symbol and represents our faith.” And a Muslim is only worth what his faith is worth. In the meantime communities and associations of immigrants from Arab countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh) are calling in protest this afternoon. The movement “Abandon Racism is demanding an immediate dismissal of the police officer. This demand is based on the laws of racial discrimination. They also demand an official apology by the Greek government. “It is a tremendous insult of the religious beliefs of people, people who have found themselves targeted by wars and Islamophobia that follows them even in Greece. “It seems that Pavlopoulos and Makrogiannakis were enough to encourage the police to take on literally a crusade against immigrants of Greece. Anti Capitalistic Left Wing in cooperation with Anatropi ( ANT.A.R.SY.A) are talking about the racist and oppressive acts of the police in Agios Panteleiomonas. As a Muslim Union, we from all the mosques have refused to participate in today’s protest march” says Mr. El-Ghandour. “We choose the legal channels. We are waiting to learn the name of the police officer involved in order that we follow the legal route. Of course we have every confidence in the Greek judicial system. As the whole country faces depression and crisis, an irresponsible man comes along commits an irresponsible act and creates a problem. Many of the new immigrants are young kids of 19, 20, who have no jobs, face every day hunger and have lots of problems… For them in those circumstances the slightest provocation can cause an explosion. We should have mutual respect for each others religions. Every one should treat the other’s sanctuaries with respect. The politicians need to hurry and find a solution for the immigrants’ problems and we must learn to live together respecting each other.” PS: Naim Al Ghandour orang Mesir yang sudah menetap di Yunani 33 thn dan beristrikan orang Yunani.
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