The director of the Belfast Islamic Centre has pledged to keep the South Belfast organisation open, despite a bomb threat made against the group’s headquarters earlier this week.
Muhammad al-Qaryooti was speaking after a letter was delivered to the Wellington Park centre on Monday (June 29), the same day threats were issued to South Belfast MLA Anna Lo and the city centre-based Polish Association.
The threat against the Islamic Centre, which was signed Ulster Young Militants [the youth wing of the UDA] and Combat-18, stated: “Get out of our country before Bonfire Night. If you don’t, your building will be blown up. Keep Northern Ireland for white British people. For God and Ulster.”
The sinister warning marks the latest incident of racial hatred in the south of the city which has seen around 100 Romanians leave the country after attacks on their properties. In a wide-ranging focus in this week’s South Belfast News, Patrick Yu from the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities claims the fallout from the attacks could see economic investors leave South Belfast. Village community worker Heather Calvert said local people were ‘sick of being labelled racist’ and called for help in educating youg people.
A determined Muhammad al-Qaryooti said his organisation would not be intimidated by the latest threat.
“I want to take this opportunity to tell these people this will change nothing. Muslim people are residents in Northern Ireland, have roots here and have as much right to be here as anyone else.
 “We have been threatened before, although not in such a strong way, but we will not be the same as the Romanian community – we will not move away and are here to stay.”
Muhammad said he was confident the safety of the building was secure and believed the threat did not express the thoughts of the majority of people in South Belfast.
“We are based in a small house, it is not a big mosque, and so we know what is going on here. There are always plenty of people about, going to and from prayer too.
“I don’t think this reflects what local people are thinking or indeed people throughout Northern Ireland. We speak to a lot of community groups and share integration programmes with them on a regular basis.
“That’s the real side of people in South Belfast, not these minority groups.”
Alliance Party MLA Ms Lo said she also remained defiant in the face of the threat to her.
“If these people think they can stop me speaking out against them or in support of vulnerable people, ethnic minority communities or migrant workers, they are mistaken. I will not be deterred.”
“We need to address racism and hate crimes in our society. I don’t believe Northern Ireland is a racist society but a small minority can bring us all down in the eyes of the world.”