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A petition by Muslims demanding the German beer festival Oktoberfest is banned because it 'insults Islam' is understood be a fake.

The petition, which had been widely shared online and reported as fact by dozens of news websites, is titled 'Ban the Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event of Oktoberfest'.

It was started by 'Morad Almuradi', said to be a Muslim living in Holland, and called on the city of Munich, Germany to cancel the traditional boozy event.

The petition was posted on Change.org on September 11 - on the 14th anniversary of the terror attacks on United States - and was signed nearly 500 times before it was closed a few days later.

(Image: Getty)

The petition in full reads

Dear City council of Munich,

I am writing this letter to bring to your attention something that I and many Muslims believe is unfair and requires attention. I would like to inform you that the Oktoberfest is an Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event.

We tried to ignore the event, but there too many Un-Islamic acts done at the Oktoberfest. Such as alcohol consumption, public nudity etc.

We understand that the Oktoberfest is a yearly German tradition, but we, Muslims, can not tolerate this Un-Islamic event, because it offends us and all Muslims on the earth. We are requesting the immediate cancellation of the upcoming Oktoberfest event.

We also believe that the Oktoberfest might also offend all the Muslim refugees coming from Syria, Iraq,

Afghanistan. The cancellation of the Oktoberfest event will help refugees not to forget their Islamic history. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Morad Almuradi

Among hundreds to tweet about the petition were militant atheist Richard Dawkins and former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson.

Prof Dawkins blasted it as "ridiculous" and claimed it was "exactly what we unfortunately have come to expect of religious killjoys."

Meanwhile Robinson, who claims to have disavowed his previous views, said: "Muslims trying to ban Oktoberfest Beer-Festival in Germany.

"Thought that would have been the least of their worries."

It is unclear if 'Morad Almuradi' exists - he has no Google search results aside from mentions of the petition - or whether it is a psuedonym used by someone else.

However, the petition was given a boost when shared on September 11 by users of 4chan, an anonymous website famed for hosting leaked images of naked celebrities last year.

And one user, posting just a few hours after the petition was created, claimed that members of 4chan forum 'Sheeky' had created it.

Indeed, many of the signatures on Change.org were posted by people to register their disgust at the perceived attack on a German tradition.

“I am signing this as a PROTEST against the Islamification of Germany by Muslims. They refuse to assimilate and integrate,” one said.

Change.org told Mirror Online today that the petition starter closed it themselves.

This is not the first time stories about Muslims wanting to ban things that offend them have turned out to be untrue or exaggerated.

Last year, a parody video of a Muslim claiming to want to ban Peppa Pig because pork is 'haram' in Islam was taken at face value and shared widely.

Even after several attempts to clarify the satire in the video, many people still parrot the line on the internet.