By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
The victim of last year’s Islamophobic terror attack in Finsbury Park, North London was remembered Tuesday with a series of commemorations across the U.K.
The first ceremony held at Islington Town Hall in the morning was attended by Home Secretary Sajid Javid, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Speaking on behalf of the government, Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire called the deadly attack an “appalling act of terror” and called for unity across the U.K.
“The timing after Ramadan prayers was especially painful,” he added.
Darren Osborne, 48, killed Makram Ali, 51, and injured 11 others in June last year when he plowed a van into a group of Muslim worshippers after they left Ramadan prayers at the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park.
This February the far-right terrorist was found guilty of murder and attempted murder by a British court and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 43 years.
Praising the Muslim Welfare Centre's imam for his actions to protect the attacker from harm in the immediate aftermath of the attack, Khan said Mohammed Mahmoud’s action made “a kind of story that gives us hope and shows our values will always be stronger than the hatred of the extremists.”
Muslim Welfare Centre Imam Mohammed Mahmoud
Response to racists
Reading a verse from the holy Quran counseling patience to believers as a key to success, Mahmoud said, “The conduct of Makram Ali’s family during the last year and the victims who suffered horrific injuries at the hand of this cowardly attacker” reminded him of the verse, and those who suffered from the attack “have fulfilled these conditions of success.”
*** Prime Minister Theresa May also joined the commemoration with a message on Twitter.
***"Today we remember the victims of the cowardly terror attack on Finsbury Park Mosque & Makram Ali who tragically lost his life," May said.
***"We also pay tribute to the bravery of those who apprehended the attacker. They sent a clear message that terrorism will never succeed."
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is also the MP for Islington North, said the terrorist Osborne, ridden by racism, drove a vehicle into a crowd of people and killed Ali.
Osborne “tried to divide and destroy our community,” Corbyn said.
He also praised Mahmoud for his actions and said that he helped to ensure that people came together as a community.
“This is the only response there can ever be to the racists who seek to divide us,” he added.
A nationwide minute of silence was also observed Tuesday noon to remember Ali at U.K. government buildings and other organizations.
