British army builds 'mosques' on North Yorkshire firing range - for target practice

[Al-khiyal]

British army builds 'mosques' on North Yorkshire firing range

April 8, 2010 -- A Muslim group has demanded an apology from the British Army after it emerged that replica mosques were being used on a North Yorkshire firing range. The chairman of the Bradford Council for Mosques (BCM) said the structures at Catterick should be taken down immediately. The Ministry of Defence said it had "no intention" of causing offence. The BMC said it was particularly angry as it had been assisting the army in its efforts to recruit more Muslims. Saleem Khan, the chief executive of the BCM, called for the Army to apologise. "The first thing they need to do is remove this straight away," he said. They do owe apologies to the Muslim community and it is the mind set which needs changing."

There are seven of the structures on the range at Bellerby, which have green domed roofs. Ishtiaq Ahmed of the BCM said that they were undoubtedly meant to resemble mosques. "The shape of the structures, the colour of the dome - the green dome - symbolises an Islamic place of worship," he said. "Anyone looking at it will think about mosques and Muslims and think about them negatively." He accused the Army of reinforcing negative perceptions of Muslims. "What angers me very much is that we are conditioning the young British to say that mosques are a place where you are going to find danger and a place to target," Mr Ahmed said. "That is really disturbing."

An MOD spokesman said that the range had been designed in response to feedback from Afghanistan. "Providing the best training facilities for our armed forces ahead of deployment to operational theatres is a priority for us," a spokesman said. "Facilities at Bellerby have been upgraded in response to operational feedback from Afghanistan as it is crucial that our armed forces train at ranges that replicate the environment they will be deployed to. We have no intention of offending religious sensibilities."

[Al-khiyal]

Muslim fury as Army uses 'mosques' for target practice on UK firing range

April 8, 2010 -- Muslim groups are demanding an apology from the British Army after it emerged that models of mosques are being used as target practice during firing exercises. The chairman of the Bradford Council for Mosques (BMC) has called for the cut-outs to be removed immediately. Seven replica mosques were erected on a range at Bellerby, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire to prepare soldiers for combat in Afghanistan. Some of the mosques have single domes and others have double domes, and are targets for six firing ranges around 100 metres away, in full view of the main road.

The BMC said that the mosques were being used as a 'symbol of danger' and served to reinforce negative stereotypes of Muslims. Ishtiaq Ahmed of the BMC said: 'We are hoping they will take immediate action to remove the structures in question and they also will be very quick to accept they have made a major blunder. We came to know about the structures because a passer-by saw them from the road and felt that they resembled mosques. We visited the site yesterday and realised that they did symbolise mosques. We saw soldiers on the firing range yesterday and we were very shocked and angered and also confused as to why the British Army would do something like this - it seems like a very silly thing to do. Anyone looking at it will think about mosques and Muslims and think about them in a negative way. The shape of the structures, the green colour of the dome - symbolises an Islamic place of worship. What angers me very much is that we are conditioning the young British to say that mosques are a place where you are going to find danger and a place to target and that is really disturbing. We will be formally writing to the Army today and will be hoping an apology is issued to the Muslim Community. We have been working alongside the Army in the last six months to help them recruit more soldiers from the Muslim Community. Relationships between the Muslim Community and the Army are very fragile at the moment, and this seems like a silly thing for the Army to do.'

The MOD said it had 'no intention' of causing offence and that the mosques were made to replicate the environment soldiers would face. Saleem Khan, the chief executive of the BMC said: 'They need to remove the structures without delay and apologise to the Muslim community.' An MOD spokesman said: 'Facilities at Bellerby have been upgraded in response to operational feedback from Afghanistan as it is crucial that our armed forces train at ranges that replicate the environment they will be deployed to. Providing the best training facilities for our armed forces ahead of deployment to operational theatres is a priority for us. We have no intention of offending religious sensibilities.'