About 50 people gathered in Tallaght, Dublin on Monday evening in a display of solidarity with a senior Muslim cleric who was targeted in a suspected hate-based attack in the area last week.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy told those present he believed Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, the chief Imam of the Islamic Centre Ireland, was lured into a housing estate in Tallaght and attacked in an apparent “racist assault”.
“He wasn’t robbed, he was simply targeted because of who he is, and then was beaten up very, very badly, and had to go to the hospital,” the Dublin South West deputy said.
Speaking on Monday, Dr Al-Qadri said he had agreed to meet two individuals by appointment in Tallaght last Thursday, but that when he stepped out of his car to greet them he was assaulted and knocked unconscious.
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Gardaí say they are investigating a “robbery and assault” that occurred in the area on Thursday evening.
Gavin Burnes (33), from Tallaght, said he attended the rally on Monday night to show his opposition to what he believed was a “racist” attack.
“We live in the community, it’s not nice seeing people being attacked, no matter where they come from,” he said.
Asta, a Lithuanian healthcare worker living in Tallaght for over two decades, who asked only to be identified by her first name, expressed dismay at Thursday’s attack, saying she had “never seen something like that happening in Ireland”.
She added: “When the riots in Dublin happened, I actually was scared. First time in my life, I was scared for my kids. I went to school to pick them up, I didn’t let them walk on the street. That was very sad.
“I have kids, they are entitled to Lithuanian citizenship, but they are Irish. [They were] born here, they’ve lived here all their life. For them, Ireland is their home, Ireland is what they always know.”
Mr Murphy led demonstrators in various chants, including, “who lives here, belongs here”, and “here us loud, here us clear, refugees are welcome here”.
“The context that we’re seeing at the moment is a rising tide of racism, of hatred, of far-right ideology, of attempts to divide ordinary people. That is being done very, very consciously,” he said in an address to the crowd. “That’s the context in which we saw the Dublin riots, consciously organised at very short notice, by far-right elements.”
Mr Murphy also shared a message from Dr Al-Qadri, who was unable to attend the rally. Representatives from Le Chéile, an antiracism coalition group that organised the rally, were also in attendance.
Kay Keane, a People Before Profit activist in Tallaght, said last Thursday’s incident was not representative of local people. She said many people she had canvassed in the area at the weekend were “absolutely shocked” by Dr Al-Qadri’s story.
Speaking to The Irish Times earlier on Monday, Dr Al-Qadri said he believes he was targeted due to his vocal criticism of anti-migrant extremism and racism and that he was “really concerned” by the seemingly orchestrated nature of the assault.
“I don’t think there is any other reason why somebody would attack me ... The voices of extremists are becoming very loud,” he said. “If I can be a target that means any Muslim can be a target.”
He said a woman and two other men came to his aid and that the outcome “could have been worse”.
Dr Al-Qadri, who also chairs the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council, said he felt “Ireland is not the same any more” following the attack. He said Muslim communities, organisations and senior leaders would have to take greater security measures in the future.
He said he did not want to see Ireland “go down the road” of other European countries, such as the Netherlands and France, where anti-immigrant sentiment was surging.
“Now is the time for us to say no to racism and no to this form of extremism,” he said. “I was really concerned about the planning that had gone into this.
“It’s fine to criticise the Government when we are upset ... We are upset about the housing crisis, but we can’t blame migrants.”
He said the vast majority of staff he interacted with when receiving treatment at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown were migrants, without whom “our healthcare would collapse”.
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