Sharp rise in anti-Muslim hatred in UK ‘with women bearing brunt’

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The variety of Islamophobic incidents reported to an organisation monitoring anti-Muslim sentiment and abuse in the UK greater than tripled in the 4 months for the reason that Hamas assaults in Israel final yr.

Tell Mama, which describes itself because the main company on measuring anti-Muslim hate, stated there have been 2,010 circumstances of this sort between 7 October 2023 and seven February this yr.

This was a steep rise from the 600 circumstances reported for a similar four-month interval a yr beforehand.

Of the overall circumstances recorded after the Hamas October 7 assaults, 1,109 have been classed as on-line circumstances whereas 901 came about offline, Tell Mama stated.

Incidents it recorded included a Muslim girl in Islamic clothes being assaulted on a bus in east London and informed “you Muslims are troublemakers”; a written dying menace to worshippers at a mosque; a lady whose automobile was vandalised with a Nazi swastika; and circumstances of Muslim women being known as “terrorists”.

In nearly two-thirds of circumstances women have been the goal of assaults, which the organisation stated “once again demonstrates that British Muslim women have borne the majority of the brunt of anti-Muslim hate during this time”.

Iman Atta, the organisation’s director, stated: “We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the UK.

“Hate crimes against British Muslims have substantially risen and our data clearly demonstrates this.

“This rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and we hope that political leaders speak out to send a clear message that anti-Muslim hate, like antisemitism, is unacceptable in our country.

“There really is no space for hate and, more than ever, it is essential that we sustain, nurture and protect the bonds that we have between communities, so that we all feel valued and safe in our communities and in our country.”

Tell Mama was based in 2012 and is supported by the Department for Leveling Up, Housing and Communities.

Earlier this month, the Community Security Trust (CST) stated it had recorded an “explosion in hatred” in opposition to the Jewish group for the reason that 7 October assaults.

More than 4,000 antisemitic incidents have been recorded in the UK by the CST in 2023, with the all-time excessive being put right down to the “sheer volume” which came about following the Hamas assaults.

The CST stated there was a complete of 4,103 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2023, up from the earlier annual file of two,261 incidents which had been reported two years beforehand.