Mosque Christmas Threats 2016: Holiday Card To Muslims Follows Berlin Terror Attack, Rising Hate Crimes

Christmas is supposed to spread holiday cheer to loved ones and friends. But this holiday season, at least one person used the occasion to send a message of hate to Muslims in England.

The Tunbridge Wells Mosque in Kent received a Christmas card from an anonymous sender Monday that included offensive remarks about the prophet Muhammad and Allah, according to Kent Online. After receiving the note, the mosque posted images of it to its Facebook page before later taking them down.

Police there said that it was making inquiries into the message but that nobody had officially reported the hate mail to them. The department was also working with and offering support for the Camden Road Islamic Cultural Center.

“This is really bloody nasty. What happened to goodwill to all men?” Sam Taylor, a Facebook user posting a comment on the card’s image, wrote. “And love thy neighbor seems an accurate reminder for this poop that sent the card.”

The mosque declined to comment when Kent Online reached out for a response saying that they would prefer not to stoke negativity at this time of year.

The United Kingdom has the third largest Muslim population in Europe after France and Germany. Tensions have been high between Europeans and a surging population of refugees crossing into the continent, many of them Muslim. Those tensions have been exacerbated recently with the attack Monday on a Christmas market in Berlin by a Muslim man. Those attacks were later claimed by the Islamic State group.

Across the pond in the United States, Muslims have seen a rise in hate crimes carried out against them. Following the election of Donald Trump in November, hate crimes surged by six percent in a week. Those crimes were predominantly focused on Muslim, according to FBI data reported on at the time.