IT was a rally designed to demonstrate Scotland’s proud history of welcoming refugees. But yesterday there was a tense stand-off as a handful of far-right demonstrators appeared as the crowd gathered at the steps in Glasgow’s Buchanan Street.

The confrontation was brief as the masked group of around five, carrying flags with 'SDL (Scottish Defence League) Glasgow' and 'Right-wing resistance Great Britain' were met with chants of “Nazi scum, off our streets” and police officers quickly moved in to separate the groups. Three of the far-right demonstrators were arrested.

The incident highlights the simmering tensions in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, with concerns over a backlash against refugees and a rise in Islamophobia.

More than 60 racially and religiously motivated crimes have been reported in Scotland in the last week, with concerns raised that women are particularly being targeted. In 2014-15 a total of 2,456 racially aggravated offences were recorded in Scotland - an average of 47 a week.

The shocking incidents last week have included the owner of a takeaway in Fife being attacked, a deliberate fire at community centre used as mosque in Bishopbriggs, an Asian woman and her child being physically attacked and death threats made to the Strathclyde University Muslim Students Association.

Yesterday some graffiti daubed overnight on a fence near Port Dundas in Glasgow read: “White Power. F*** ISIS. Kill them all.”

The ‘Time for Solidarity’ event in Glasgow attracted a crowd of around 150 people, with some carrying white roses and banners with messages such as ‘No to Islamophobia’ and ‘I welcome refugees’.

Alex White, 30, a student who organised the event, told the Sunday Herald: “I thought it would be a great idea to get the message out there – to have a gathering and let people know we support them.

“The world in turmoil just now with the certain actions of some terrorist organisations and people are trying to vent their frustrations on the nearest thing.

“They are completely wrong. It is disgusting that anyone would react like that.”

Last night a spokesman for Police Scotland said two men aged 35 and 49 had been arrested for breach of the peace after a disturbance close to the rally.

A 23-year-old woman was also arrested for obstructing police officers in the course of their duty.

He said: "All three were later released and reports will be sent to the procurator fiscal."

The spokesman said he could not confirm if those arrested were members of any particular groups but added: “Those arrested were not there to support the rally.”

Weyman Bennett, joint organiser of campaign group Stand Up to Racism, which is holding a public meeting at the House of Commons next week to discuss racism and Islamophobia, said there had been reports from all over the UK of verbal and physical abuse.

He said. “Many people who are refugees are reporting they feel like they are being treated as if they are terrorists - even though some of them are escaping from the very terrorism that Isis are inflicting on them.”

He added said an alarming trend was women being targeted with verbal and physical abuse.

“It is ironic that people are saying they want freedom for people and the biggest group of people being attacked are women from the evidence we have received," he said.

On Friday, religious and civic leaders and police representatives held a press conference at Glasgow Central Mosque to call for Scotland to unite in the wake of the Paris attacks and stop Islamophobia.

Asma Ali, Glasgow co-ordinator of the Islamic Society of Britain, said she believed the situation now was worse than in the aftermath of other high-profile terrorist attacks, and also raised fears that women in particular are being targeted.

“We have lived together in peace and harmony for a number of years, it was lovely to see how we all came together and condemned as a community the attacks of 9/11, the attack of 7/7 and the failed Glasgow airport bomb," she said.

“You would rarely hear of Muslim women being verbally attacked - however there appears to be such an increase.

"I don’t know whether it is because women wear a hijab – they are more visible - or women are seen as vulnerable and they don’t speak back.”

She added: “Attacks are getting bolder – previously you would have comments directed from across the street – but I have heard of incidents where women are verbally attacked in the presence of their children. Or there might be people around but no-one is stepping in.”

But it is not just women who are being targeted. Omar Raza, 26 an actor and comedian, who last month performed a play as part of National Hate Crime Awareness week, told the Sunday Herald how he was attacked by three men on Thursday as he was walking in the south-side of Glasgow.

He said: “They started using a lot of derogatory language, saying you f***ing fond of ISIS, you P*** terrorist and all that kind of language.

“I thought I need to try and defuse the situation as calmly as possible, and walked past them.

“But then one of the guys put me in a headlock and put me to the ground and started kicking. One went and grabbed my bag and emptied the contents all over me and they just bolted and that was it.”

Raza said he was left with bruising, but did not require medical attention, and had reported the incident to police.

He added: “It really shocked me. The way they used words like P*** and ISIS terrorist – it was very clearly driven by what has been going on.”

SNP MEP Alyn Smith said it was vital that everyone – including politicians – was careful about the language and terms used to avoid inflaming the situation.

He said: “There is a backlash going on – it is not a question of being scared about something that might happen, it is happening now.

“We cannot be complacent about this: everyone – politicians especially – must be really, really careful about the language we use and the terms we talk in."

Smith said he had also written a letter to the editor of the Daily Mail to complain about a controversial cartoon printed in the paper last week, which showed a crowd in silhouette moving across a European border, including a woman wearing a hijab and a man with a gun slung over his shoulder. At their feet are a number of rats.

Critics said it directly echoed cartoons published by the Nazis portraying Jews as “vermin” in the 1930s.

Smith said: “We need to be calm and remember the refugees are fleeing precisely the sort of attacks that we saw in Paris – that is the tragedy of the whole thing.

“Refugees don’t want to be refugees, they are fleeing immediate pressing danger. We absolutely must not allow the two issues to be conflated.”

Meanwhile there are individual efforts being made to counter any rise in hate crime. Frances Bell, 22, from Edinburgh, has set up a campaign encouraging people to show practical support to Muslims by using the hashtag '#walkwithyou' to offer to accompany anyone in their area who feels unsafe.

She said: “It is just one way of allowing people to feel a bit more safe and also letting them know they are supported.

“It has been wonderful to see how many people have been enthusiastic about it."