Britain First protest at Canterbury Mosque

Britain First

By Matthew Seary

On a day the Canterbury Mosque opened it’s doors to welcome in the wider community on the 7 February, Britain First, a far-right nationalist movement, held a small and short protest outside with a sign saying ‘no more mosques’.

The group dispersed as the short demonstration lasted only 45 minutes after being repeatedly denounced by the community, visitors at the event, and passers-by. Bio-medical student and Vice-President of the Islamic Society Ihsan Khan said: “there were only about five of them”, compared to the “almost 300 people [who] come to visit us”.

The open day event was part of the wider ‘National Mosque Open Day’, where Mosque’s open their doors to allow the community to learn more about Islam and their beliefs in order to foster a better sense of community.

On the it was written: ‘Visit us!’ and that it was an ‘Open invite – Everyone is Welcome’, using the slogan ‘One community, one hand’.

The Kent Union commented on the Open Day:

We applaud the effort of the students involved and their community leaders to go to such lengths when many have been faced with adversity over their identity with an increasing fear rising in society.

We continues to believe in the strength of community cohesion when people come together to learn about and celebrate their differences as well as commonalities. The student body proves time and time again that we can be at the forefront of a diverse, thoughtful and united society and we will continue to champion that.