Ramadan – Faith Matters

Man urged terrorist attack over cartoon ‘mocking Muslims in Gaza’, court hears

Faith Matters — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:29:18 +0000

An alleged Hamas supported encouraged a repeat of the deadly 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack on another French newspaper over a cartoon “mocking Muslims in Gaza”, a court has been told.

Majid Novsarka, also known as Majid Freeman, allegedly shared the drawing published by French paper Liberation on March 11 2024 via his X account – which had more than 58,000 followers at the time, a trial was told.

In that same post, the 37-year-old referred to the terrorist attack against French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which was carried out in retaliation for the newspaper’s irreverent caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

Novsarka posted about the cartoon again the following day on Instagram, saying: “France’s left-wing newspaper Liberation published a cartoon mocking Muslims fasting in Gaza, who are being starved to death by Israel in Ramadan…” jurors sitting at Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Tom Williams, opening the trial on Wednesday, said: “The defendant’s Instagram post shows a larger version of the cartoon, with a Muslim man in Gaza chasing two rats and being told by a woman with a child sitting next to her not to do so ‘before sunset’, as Ramadan has begun, the ‘start of a month of fasting’.”

Mr Williams added: “The defendant identifies a cartoon in a French newspaper which is arguably offensive to Muslims, and in the same post, he identifies that when Charlie Hebdo did the same thing almost 10 years before, people who worked at the magazine were shot and killed.

“What did he want his followers to take from his Twitter post? He wanted them, the prosecution suggest, to do the same.

“There is, if you think about it, no other sensible explanation for deliberately putting these two things in exactly the same post.”

The post on X included a video of the attack “showing the two killers firing their weapons, dressed all in black, at one point shouting something about ‘the prophet Mohammed’, and then driving off in a black car,” Mr Williams told the court.

In his Instagram post, Novsarka also identified the cartoonist Corinne Rey, adding: “Liberation is owned by French-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi,” the court heard.

Jurors were told Novsarka’s X account had 58,500 followers at the time of the alleged offence, which made him “somebody with significant influence online”.

Novsarka, whom prosecution alleges has been a supporter of Hamas since at least May 2021, is also accused of inviting support for the proscribed organisation in posts and messages on Twitter, Instagram and Telegram.

Jurors were provided with a timeline which contained more than 200 entries, including a link the defendant allegedly shared on a WhatsApp group in December 2023 which led to a Hamas recruitment post.

In another post dated December 31 2023, Novsarka allegedly shared a video of Hamas firing rockets at Tel Aviv saying “Happy new year from Hamas to Israel”.

The video itself seems to have come from Hamas, Mr Williams told jurors.

Novsarka was arrested on July 9 2024 by police officers from Counter Terrorism East Midlands at his home address in Leicester.

He was interviewed under caution but made no comments, the court heard.

He denies one count of encouraging terrorism under section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006, one count of inviting support for Hamas under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and a third alternative count of expressing support for a proscribed organisation.

The Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack on January 7 2015 took place at the offices of the magazine in Paris, where 12 people, including some of France’s most beloved cartoonists, were shot dead.

The massacre was carried out by two brothers claiming allegiance to Al Qaeda and signalled the beginning of a wave of extremist violence in France, culminating in the co-ordinated November 2015 attacks and the Bataclan atrocity.

Dozens hurt as Palestinians and Israeli police clash at Al-Aqsa Mosque

Faith Matters — Fri, 07 May 2021 23:43:34 +0000

Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police on Friday evening at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City as tensions soared again.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 53 people, mainly Palestinians, were wounded in clashes with police there and elsewhere in Jerusalem, including 23 who were taken to hospital.

It says most were wounded in the face and eyes by rubber-coated bullets and shrapnel from stun grenades.

The clashes were the latest in a deadly day that saw Israeli forces shoot and kill two Palestinians after three men opened fire on an Israeli base in the occupied West Bank.

They erupted when Israeli police deployed heavily as Muslims were performing evening prayers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan.

Video footage from the scene shows worshippers throwing chairs, shoes and rocks toward the police and officers responding by opening fire.

Israeli police also closed gates leading to Al-Aqsa inside the walled Old City.

Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in the city on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The unrest has drawn attention from across the region, with neighbouring Jordan warning Israel against further “provocative” steps, and Iran seizing on the sensitivities around Jerusalem and encouraging the violence.

In the attack on Friday morning, Israeli police said three attackers fired on the base near the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

The Border Police and an Israeli soldier returned fire, killing two of the men and wounding the third, who was evacuated to a hospital.

Some 70,000 worshippers attended the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, the Islamic endowment that oversees the site said.

Thousands protested afterwards, waving the green flags of the Islamic militant group Hamas and chanting pro-Hamas slogans before dispersing peacefully.

Israelis and Palestinians are bracing for more violence in the coming days.

Credit: PA News

Museum of London records call to prayer for Ramadan project

Faith Matters — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 23:14:06 +0000

The Museum of London is collecting objects to reflect how the Muslim community experienced Ramadan during lockdown.

It is part of a project to reflect Londoners’ lives during the pandemic to provide a record for future generations.

One strand will be Ramadan, from earlier this year, with the museum recording calls to prayer at the Musalla an Noor mosque in Hackney, east London, and documenting the experiences of young Muslims in west London.

“We are in the process of collecting a range of items ranging from photographs, film and audio recordings and physical objects to tell the stories of these families,” Aisling Serrant, who is leading the family strand of the project, said.

“Some of the key parts of Ramadan, such as spending time with family and friends and visiting the mosque, have not been able to take place this year or had to be adapted to virtual or socially distant means.

“It was important to capture the experiences of families at this time”.

It is hoped that all items will go in an online database but there are no plans for the overall project – to reflect the lives of Londoners during the pandemic – to go on display.

Islamic State calls for attacks in West, Russia, Middle East, Asia during Ramadan

Faith Matters — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 01:44:05 +0000

An audio message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State called on followers to launch attacks in the United States, Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began in late May.

The audio clip was distributed on Monday on Islamic State’s channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging application. It was attributed to the militant group’s official spokesman, Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer.

The authenticity of the recording could not be independently verified, but the voice was the same as a previous audio message purported to be from the spokesman.

“O lions of Mosul, Raqqa, and Tal Afar, God bless those pure arms and bright faces, charge against the rejectionists and the apostates and fight them with the strength of one man,” said al-Muhajer. Rejectionist is a derogatory term used to refer to Shi’ite Muslims.

“To the brethren of faith and belief in Europe, America, Russia, Australia, and others. Your brothers in your land have done well so take them as role models and do as they have done.”

Istanbul riot police disperse Trans Pride march

Faith Matters — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 01:49:58 +0000

Istanbul riot police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Sunday to disperse a march for transgender people banned after ultra-nationalists said that “degenerates” could not demonstrate.

Hundreds of riot police cordoned off the city’s main Taksim Square to prevent the “Trans Pride” rally taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, citing security concerns after the ultra-nationalist warnings against any such events on Turkish soil.

“Football fans can rally in this country whenever they want. We were going to do a peaceful activity,” said Ebru Kiranci, spokesperson of the Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association.

“(The) holy month of Ramadan is an excuse. If you are going to respect Ramadan, respect us too. The heterosexuals think it’s too much for us, only 2 hours in 365 days,” she said.

The annual gay pride parade, described as the biggest in the Muslim world, was due to take place on June 26. Istanbul has held gay pride parades since 2003, attracting tens of thousands of marchers, but last year’s was broken up by police.

Although the Turkish republic is constitutionally secular, the vast majority of the population is Muslim.

Tayyip Erdogan, who became president in 2014 after 11 years as prime minister, has steadily boosted the power of the head of state’s office with appeals to conservative nationalist and religious-minded Turks.

This has effectively shifted Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system even before Erdogan seeks to amend the constitution through a referendum to make that official.

Unlike many other Muslim countries, homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey but hostility toward gays remains widespread. Critics say Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have shown little interest in expanding rights for minorities, gays and women, and are intolerant of dissent.

The assault by the riot police targeted protesters angered by an attack on a record store launching the new Radiohead album on Saturday.

A group of men armed with sticks and bottles attacked the store late on Friday, apparently in protest at people drinking beer during Ramadan, video footage on social media showed.

At Ramadan, migrants in Europe dream of family and comfort food

Faith Matters — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 14:02:33 +0000

As Ramadan began in Germany on Monday, Syrian asylum seeker Khairallah Swaid said he would pray for a reunion with his wife, who is stranded at a camp in Greece, and crave his mother’s makloubeh, a meat and rice dish served during the fasting month.

The Muslim holy month that began this year on June 6 revolves around daily fasts from sunrise to sunset, and then favourite meals with family and friends during the night hours.

But for many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who came to Europe last year – mainly Muslims escaping war, conflict and poverty in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond – Ramadan this time around will be a much more subdued affair.

In Germany, most are still living in shelters where they have long complained that the food served by caterers contracted by local authorities is “inedible”. Their protest has grown raucous with the approach of the religious festival.

“You can’t have Ramadan without good food,” said 25-year-old Swaid, sitting next to his brother Hamza at Sham (Levant), a popular Syrian snack bar in Neukoelln, a poor district of Berlin with a large migrant population.

Swaid, who lives in a shelter north of the German capital, spends most of the 120 euros ($136) he gets a month on food. He and other asylum seekers chip in for flatbread, rice and vegetables, which they cook using a kettle.

“I miss my wife, but during Ramadan I will miss my mother’s food more,” joked Swaid a few days before Ramadan, eating pieces of flatbread stuffed with chicken shawarma and garlic paste.

Many shelters in Berlin are hosting Ramadan for the first time and some are trying to ensure a pleasant dining experience.

At Tempelhof, a former airport built by Hitler to showcase Nazi power and now home to some 5,000 migrants, a spokeswoman for a company running the shelter said guests would be offered dates and water after fasting, in line with Muslim tradition.

BREAD, SAUSAGE, YOGHURT, CHEESE, JAM

In addition, the sunrise-to-sunset fast lasts longer in northern Europe now than in the Middle East. With the June sun rising earlier and setting later in Europe, it can be two to three hours longer for migrants than for those back home.

As the sun set in a crimson blaze over the Oresund strait dividing Denmark and Sweden, the Muslim residents of Hemmeslovs Herrgard asylum camp waited impatiently in the cafeteria queue.

At 09:30 p.m., half an hour before sunset, the line was already 25 meters (yards) long. The cafeteria was abuzz with children playing and adults chatting with plates and mugs in their hands, ready to chow down at exactly 10:00 p.m..

Magnus Falk, the camp manager, stood with a bag of bread in his hand, trying to calm people down.

“They were dissatisfied with the content of the breakfast snack,” he said. About half of the 300 residents observes Ramadan. They all get a bag of bread with sausage, yogurt, cheese and jam to eat just before dawn breaks at around 03:30 a.m. to bolster themselves for another day of fasting.

Mohammed, a Syrian from a town near Aleppo, has found some abandoned pieces of bread on the ground outside the cafeteria, which he tears up and throws outside the window of his room.

“We like to throw leftover bread out for the birds, so me and my siblings can watch them up close,” he said. In Islam, Muslims should not throw away leftover food, but give it instead to the needy or to animals.

Mohammed, who came with his family of five to Sweden nine months ago and is now waiting for an interview with the Migration Agency, is not impressed with the food in the home. He says migrants try to make it more appetising by adding spices.

“Normally we cook very nice Arabic food during Ramadan and eat with friends, but here we are alone. But we still celebrate Ramadan, because it is a tradition,” he said.

GREEK CAMP CONDITIONS

In Greece, Muslim migrants stranded since countries along the Balkans route closed their borders, say the scorching heat and poor conditions at the state-run camps are making it harder to observe the holy month.

“We can’t stay in the tent because it’s too hot and the children are vomiting or (have) diarrhoea because the place is so dirty,” said Mahdieh, a 14-year-old living at Schisto, a state-run tent camp in a former military base near Athens.

Mahdieh, whose family fled Afghanistan’s Logar province because they were threatened by the Taliban, remembers Ramadan at home as a time when families would get together to talk, laugh and be happy.

“(Here) we have depression, we are tired, we don’t know how we can stay here,” she said.

Abdul Baseer Nomand used to work as a technical consultant for the German army in Afghanistan and arrived in Greece just before the borders shut in February. Now he lives in a tent with his wife and five children and wonders how camp authorities would accommodate their needs.

“Today is the first day. Let’s see what they have for us,” he said. “If the weather is hot, it’s very difficult for everyone because they will be thirsty. The problem is that here the environment is not suitable for proper living,” he said.

Like others forced to flee home, he longed for the time it is safe enough for them to return.

“Everyone is missing his family, his country, and this is very hard,” he said. “(It’s) so difficult for people far away from their country, from their neighbours, from their relatives.”