Race attack on election posters

A LOCAL election candidate running in the Castleknock Ward has spoken of his disgust after racists defaced his posters.

Memet Uludag of People Before Profit Alliance was surprised to see what he described as strange objects attached to two of his posters on Blanchardstown’s Main Street.

On closer inspection, he discovered that the objects attached to his face on the posters at the T-junction of Superquinn Shopping Centre were large pieces of raw bacon.

The bacon pieces were attached to the posters by cellotape.

Mr Uludag, who has been living in Ireland since 1998 and is an Irish citizen, is originally from Turkey, which is a predominantly Muslim country.

Shocked with what he saw, Mr Uludag took pictures of the vandalised posters and reported the incident to the local Garda station in Blanchardstown.

“When I spotted the objects on my election posters, I had a closer look,

? Mr Uludag said.

“I was shocked with what I saw. I know from incidents in other countries, that this was clearly racially motivated vandalism.

“I called one of my campaign members and we took pictures. We also reported the incident to the local Garda station. The vandal or vandals obviously wanted to make a very explicit and clear racist point.

“Obviously, presuming I am a Muslim, they clearly chose the bacon as a symbol of anti-Muslim hate.

?

According to Mr Uludag, vandalism involving bacon to offend Muslims is a well-known form of racist abuse.

He said that in Wales bacon was thrown at a Mosque. In Scotland, a man was sentenced to 10 months in jail for throwing bacon into a mosque in Edinburgh. And, in another incident in Wigan, an attacker threw slices of raw bacon to an Asian shop attendant.

“In each of these cases, the police confirmed that the incidents were racially motivated,

? Mr Uludag added.

“Dublin 15 is a multi-cultural region with minorities from many different nationalities.

“An attack of such nature is, in fact, an attack on all minorities and it must be taken very seriously. I have been canvassing for over six weeks and I haven’t met anyone with racist sentiments.

“People naturally wonder about my background but this is just to know me as a person.

“It was upsetting as my 5-year-old, who was with me at the time, said,

‘daddy are they doing it just because you have a beard?’

?.

Mr Uludag said that while out canvassing the stories he heard were

“not full of racism, but rather of austerity, cuts, housing crisis and water charges, and anger towards the Government parties

?.

“I have been living in the area for over 10 years and I will always do my best not to allow racism to develop in our community,

? he stated.

“I have been an anti-racism campaigner for many years. We have seen many examples of how racism divides people and brings hate and fear into societies.

“This incident, though extremely upsetting, will not stop me from my local activism and my involvement in the community.

?

Mr Uludag has now called for all local election candidates in the Castleknock area to publicly condemn the racist attack and take

“a clear stand against any form of racism

?.