A mosque has responded after a Union Jack was put up outside by a hooded figure
The person putting the Union flag outside a mosque
A mosque in Birkenhead has spoken out after a hooded figure attached a Union Jack flag to railings outside it last week.
Wirral Deen Mosque has insisted that the community would not allow it to be used against them.
The British flag was attached to the railings outside the mosque in the early hours of Saturday morning – with CCTV capturing the hooded figure in the act.
Imam Ibrahim Syed, 44, from Birkenhead, chose not to see the act as an insult – and has now put a flag in the mosque window.
He told the ECHO on Thursday: “We think he thought with the recent trend it would have been offensive to people who are Muslim but that’s not how we see it at all.
“We decided we needed to claim our narrative of being British and being Muslim and our claim as much as anybody’s to the Union Jack.
Ibrahim Syed, Pauline Cocker, Syed Miah, Raj and Aayan pictured with the union flag at Wirral Deen Centre in Birkenhead(Image: Liverpool Echo)
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“We thought what could send a powerful message is that if we could display a Union Jack in our window to show that we are British, that we do belong and this is as much our flag as anyone else’s.”
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He added that the flag has been “weaponised recently,” but insisted that his community would not allow it to be used against them.
The incident was not reported to police, and the council later removed the flag.
Ibrahim Syed, Pauline Cocker, Syed Miah, Raj and Aayan sending a powerful message outside Wirral Deen Centre in Birkenhead(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It follows a spate of similar actions across the North West, with a confrontation over a Union Jack flag being put up over a footbridge in south Manchester caught on mobile phone footage earlier this week.
Multiple Union Jack flags were also put up along Market Street and in Piccadilly Gardens overnight on Wednesday, August 27 and there were reports to police that groups of men putting up the flags were ‘harassing’ women and passers-by.
Last Friday, the Echo received images of hateful graffiti in Walton. The slur, sprayed on a house on Bulford Road, was accompanied by multiple St George’s crosses painted on nearby telecommunications cabinets.
Hateful graffiti painted onto a house in Walton(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Merseyside Police have confirmed that enquiries are ongoing into the graffiti on Bulford Road in Walton. Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Chris Taylor said: “We will not tolerate offensive and hateful graffiti and we are carrying out enquiries to find the person or people responsible.
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“There is no place for hate crime in our communities and we would ask anyone with information about who is responsible to come forward.
“Merseyside Police has a specialist team of officers who are dedicated to investigate any form of hate crime and will actively look into all reports we receive and proactively investigate to bring offenders to justice.”
Anyone with any information about this incident should contact Merseyside Police social media desk via X @MerPolCC or on Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’.
