Arson attack on Muslim offices in Cape Town

The Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) offices in Cape Town were set alight in an attack which the MJC believed could be linked to global anti-Muslim sentiment since the terror attacks in New York and Washington in the United States last week, Sapa reported on Wednesday.

MJC Secretary-General Achmat Sedick was quoted as saying: “We have a theory as to why {it happened)...We are linking it to the negative publicity that has been happening ever since the American attack and the type of Islamophobia that came around blaming Muslims.” He added that Muslims had been stereotyped globally as “terrorist” and an atmosphere of hatred had been created towards them. “We think that it had a ripple effect that came round to this side,” he said.

The report said petrol was poured over the double wooden doors of the MJC offices and set alight. The caretaker, who slept at the back of the building, was woken by the smell of the fire and extinguished it, the report added.

Police forensic experts visited the scene and the bomb squad examined the building as a precaution. Sedick said the MJC had received a number of hate phone calls from people who had described Muslims as “pigs” who should “get out of our country”.