Toufik Kacimi: ‘Usually we call the police to take the stickers off because sometimes they put razors in the back, so when you try to take them off you injure yourself’

ISLAMOPHOBIC stickers were plastered on a Muslim community centre in Finsbury Park last week, in a show of racism that residents say has become part of their daily lives.

The stickers, targeting Muslim and Palestinian people, were put up on the outer walls of the Muslim Welfare House in Seven Sisters Road last Thursday evening.

This isn’t the first time the Muslim Welfare House has been targeted, said director Toufik Kacimi, who told the Tribune he has images of two women committing the crime.

He said: “Usually we call the police to take the stickers off because sometimes they put razors in the back, so when you try to take them off you injure yourself.

“I can show you the pictures of the two women who did it, the perpetrators. Do I think these two women will be arrested? No. I don’t want to blame the police – they are under-resourced, there is so much crime everywhere, and just this little crime, they don’t have time to deal with.”

Mr Kacimi, who has worked at the centre for 15 years, said he received supportive calls from Jeremy Corbyn and Islington councillors when they learned about the incident, and police attended quickly.

Both the Islington Labour group and Islington Community Independents, together with Mr Corbyn, subsequently issued statements to say they were “shocked”, “disgusted” and “appalled” by the hateful messages.
Islington Labour said it would be “reviewing CCTV, stepping up patrols and taking every measure to hold those responsible to account”.

Mr Kacimi told the Tribune: “We work very hard trying to serve the community we live in. And then those far-right people are coming to say horrible things against us.

“We are a very open community. We give out roughly five tonnes of food a week, and we never discriminate. If you’re white, black, brown, Muslim, not Muslim, that’s not our business. We’re trying to integrate by serving everybody, everybody comes here. People from all faiths have meetings here all the time.”

He added: “The far-right, Tommy Robinson group – their ideology is slowly becoming the mainstream. The way immigrants are treated in this country, the way asylum seekers are treated – you’re treated like you’re not a human being. You wish you were a dog or a cat, because you would be treated better than migrants and asylum seekers.

“On the radio every morning there are still people talking about [skin] colours. It’s a disgrace. Unless the government seriously steps in and start changing the current culture, we’re just waiting for another catastrophe to happen.”

Mr Kacimi was referring the 2017 terror attack when a man drove his van into worshippers outside the Finsbury Park Mosque, killing 51-year-old Makram Ali and injuring 11 others.

“This is our home and we need to be protected like everybody else.”

For Mr Kacimi, the government must tackle anti-Muslim hate by formalising a definition of Islamophobia – it is currently under the umbrella of “hate crime” but is not a defined crime in and of itself.

A government “working group” was set up in February to develop a definition within six months, though it has not yet delivered.

“Unfortunately, Islamophobic attacks have become part of our daily life,” Mr Kacimi said.

“We just accept it. I have been told to ‘go back home’ myself, many times.”

He added: “Islington Council is one of the best – I’m proud to be in Islington. But we need national initiatives that show the government is taking serious steps to bring this community together. It’s not happening.”

A spokesperson for the Met said: “We are currently investigating a hate crime report, after posters were left at a premises on Seven Sisters Road in Islington on Friday, 1 August. Enquiries remain ongoing and no arrests have been made at this stage. Officers remain in the area and we encourage anyone with any concerns to speak with officers on patrol.”