Thousands of muslims from all over Greece gathered today in 11 public places of Athens. These include the Propylaia and Attiki Square to worship the first day of the Kurban Bayrami or the Festival of Sacrifice, one of the most important muslim celebrations. This movement was supported by the Islamic Union of Greece.
Every year the worship is made in closed spaces rented by the union. This year because of a lack of funds, the worship centers took place in public. There is no official worship place for muslims in Athens. For many years the creation of a mosque in Athens has been under discussion but there are disagreements on the location. As Greece becomes an increasingly popular relocation hub for muslims, tensions between locals and immigrants are growing.
During Eid al-Adha prayers obscenities were shouted. Some locals waved Greek flags and scattered pamphlets with pictures of pigs around the square.
A 30-year-old migrant from Bangladesh named Shamasul told Reuters: “There is a (unofficial) mosque near here but we’re afraid to go there. Sometimes Greeks in the neighborhood threaten to kill us.”
Greek natives claim violence as a fear of theirs. Margarita Vassilatou, 56, has lived in the square for over three decades and told Reuters: “This is not a life … We are afraid of them. Many of them are criminals, they carry knives and deal drugs.”
The new mayor of Athens George Kaminis has been open about his intentions to deal with the problem of illegal immigrants in Athens. Many Athenians living in the city center have been greatly irritated for a very long time because of the presence of illegal immigrants and the crime rise.
The police which was guarding the crowd the whole time, managed to control members of the nationalistic union “Xrisi Augi” and avoided any other issues.
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