The UK has seen a significant surge in anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia in the year following the Israeli war on Gaza, according to a report released by a leading hate crime monitoring group.

Tell MAMA, a noted NGO that tracks hate crimes in Britain, recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2024. The findings were revealed in a report on Monday.

Iman Atta, the organization’s director, described the alarming rise as unprecedented in the group’s history.

Since Oct. 7, Middle Eastern communities, regardless of faith, as well as visibly Muslim individuals, particularly women, have been increasingly targeted for their perceived support of Palestinian rights, Atta said.

These communities have endured verbal abuse, with people being called “terrorists,” and “Nazis,” in addition to facing threats, violence, and discrimination in public spaces, she added.

This growing hostility has not only threatened their sense of security but has also affected their social mobility, careers, and education, undermining their fundamental rights.

Abusive and threatening behavior

The report revealed that nearly two-thirds (63%) of the incidents involved abusive behavior, while 27% were categorized as threatening behavior.

Most of these cases were reported in major urban canters such as London, the Northwest, Yorkshire, and the Midlands.

The increase in anti-Muslim sentiment has left many questioning their safety and sense of belonging in the UK, especially amid rising far-right violence and incidents like the horrific stabbings in Southport.

Tell MAMA also emphasized that hate crimes remain severely underreported, with many victims becoming to daily abuse and choosing not to report incidents to the police.

The report warned that this rise in anti-Muslim hatred poses serious long-term risks to the economic and social well-being of Muslim communities in the UK, threatening community cohesion.

The NGO called on politicians, the media, and public institutions to take urgent action to address these challenges, counter harmful stereotypes, and prevent the normalization of narratives that link Muslim communities to violence and criminality.

Regional tensions have escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza, which has killed nearly 42,000 people, mostly women, and children, following a Hamas blitz last October.

The conflict spread to Lebanon with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country, which have killed more than 1,251 people and injured over 3,000 others since Sept. 23.

Source: TRT World

A recent study revealed that nearly 60% of Muslim students in New York have experienced bullying at school by their peers, especially after Israel’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

The survey “Feeling The Hate In Our Schools” was conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in New York, and revealed that “58.2% reported being bullied at school by another student because they were Muslim.”

“Almost half (44.7%) of students who wear a hijab reported their hijab was tugged, pulled, or offensively touched by another student rarely, sometimes, often, or very often,” the findings said.

The survey also revealed that “64% of students have witnessed a Muslim student at school being bullied by another student,” and nearly 65% of students have seen “their school make offensive comments or posts about Islam or Muslims online.”

According to the survey, many students (43.6%) did not feel it was necessary to report them, believing it would not make a difference. The survey noted that “74.6% of students said that they did not report to an adult at their school about being bullied by another student for being Muslim.”

The CAIR report also included a special note on Palestine, highlighting a surge in “anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian sentiment within the fabric of New York City” when the conflict in Gaza escalated in October 2023.

“In 2023 alone, CAIR-NY received 555 requests for legal assistance, with 43% directly linked to Palestinian solidarity, highlighting the urgency of this issue,” it added.

It further stated that 32% of students reported school silencing for voicing opinions on Palestine, while 13% faced unwanted attention from staff, 11% from authorities, 10% experienced online harassment or doxing, and 9.5% reported social isolation.

The report was based on a survey of 500 Muslim students, 91.7% of whom attend public schools, 4.6% attend charter schools, and 3.8% attend non-Islamic private schools.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Bullying against Muslim students is happening all across the United States. It is real, it is ugly, and it is happening way more often than you might think.

According to a 2022 survey by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding:

– 48% of Muslim families reported that their child had been bullied because of their faith.

– 20% of Muslim students experience bullying nearly every day.

Muslim students encounter various forms of bullying, including physical attacks, verbal threats, and social isolation. These experiences can leave them feeling threatened, frightened, and disconnected from their school community. Some common examples of bullying reported by Muslim students include:

Having their hijab pulled off without reason, being targeted with jokes and unfairly blamed, facing offensive questions about terrorism and bomb-making.

Bullying and racism have far-reaching effects on Muslim students such as:

– Emotional Impact: Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and low self-esteem are common consequences.

– Identity Struggle: Some students feel torn between being a citizen of their country and being Muslim.

– Cultural Disconnection: The feeling of a deep gap between the student and the society in which he lives.

In order to take action, we need to pay attention to the critical role of the educators. First, they should train to recognize the address biases. Then, they can raise the awareness about the contributions of Muslim Americans to dispel stereotypes. Providing moral lessons to educate students in terms of morality can be helpful as well.