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

Northern Ireland’s first minister and deputy first minister have condemned a racist attack on a mosque in County Down and last night’s violence in Londonderry.

The mosque was attacked at around 1 a.m. on Saturday, August 10, when graffiti was sprayed on the front door and walls of the building on Greenwell Street.

A petrol bomb was thrown at the mosque in Newtownards in the early hours of Saturday, and cars were set alight in Belfast, in incidents described by police as racially motivated hate crimes. Police said the petrol bomb did not ignite.

Up to 10 police officers were injured in disorder in Derry on Saturday night.

Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly said the incidents were “wrong, unacceptable and rejected” by the vast majority of the community. In a joint statement, they said: “They are disgraceful manifestations of criminality and have absolutely no justification.

“Our thoughts are with those PSNI officers injured last night and the victims of recent racist attacks. This senseless violence and intimidation has no place in our society and we would appeal for calm.

“Those responsible should be quickly brought before the courts and we urge anyone with information to provide it to the PSNI.”

There were calls for an end to racially motivated hate crimes after the Islamic center was attacked over the weekend.

Alistair Cathcart, mayor of Ards and North Down, said the mosque has been in Ards for more than 20 years. “Its members are our neighbors, friends and colleagues,” he added.

“It is a great relief that the nobody was hurt. There is no justification for racism, violence and intimidation in our communities and like others I would call for it to stop.”

The attacks happened hours before thousands of people took to the streets of Belfast on Saturday in an anti-racism demonstration.

Up to 15,000 people took part in the demonstration, which began at Belfast’s Writer’s Square before making its way to City Hall.

Several protests in Belfast city passed without incident on Friday evening, August 9, but police said officers were investigating a number of reports of damage to property and vehicles.

Cars were set alight in Tavanagh Street and Sandhurst Gardens and police said the incidents were being treated as racially motivated hate crimes.

The rear door of a restaurant in Ormeau Road was also kicked, and racial slurs were shouted at the workers inside.

Source: The Guardian

“They burned every single thing, there is nothing left inside, just ashes,” said Bashir, whose supermarket in Belfast was torched during attacks against foreign-owned shops and businesses.

A mosque in a town near Belfast was also targeted late Friday, August 9.

“We are scared at what may happen next, there is lots of hostility against the Muslim community,” said the 28-year-old from Dubai, who did not want to give his full name citing safety reasons.

Northern Ireland has seen nightly unrest, mainly in pro-UK loyalist neighborhoods, that began after an anti-immigration protest in Belfast on August 3.

The violence has mirrored disorder across England, spurred by misinformation spread on social media about the suspected perpetrator of a knife attack in Southport on July 29 which killed three children.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said Saturday, August 10, that 31 people have been arrested during the disturbances.

“On a fundamental level the Belfast attacks are similar in its dynamic to anti-immigration protests in white working class areas in England, the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere in Europe,” said Peter McLoughlin, a politics lecturer at Queens University Belfast.

“It is driven by racism and fear of the other, but in Northern Ireland it also interfaces with sectarian political dynamics,” he told AFP.

‘Under attack’

Three decades of violent sectarian conflict known as the “Troubles” largely ended in 1998, but bitterness and frictions persist between pro-UK Protestant loyalists and pro-Irish unity Catholic nationalists.

Outside Bashir’s smoke-scarred shopfront in the staunchly loyalist inner-city district of Sandy Row, British Union Jack flags flutter on lampposts and painted wall murals proclaim fierce allegiance to the UK.

“Within loyalism there is a sense that prevailed through Northern Ireland’s peace process that their community is in retreat, that their community and British identity is under attack,” McLoughlin explained.

Many loyalists feel they “must oppose outsiders coming into those areas, who are seen as taking supposedly Protestant jobs and houses, and encroaching on a community that was once dominant,” he added.

After last Saturday’s anti-immigration protest, rioters rampaged through streets looking for foreign-owned businesses to attack.

“What happened last week was crazy,” Yilmaz Batu, a 64-year-old Turkish chef who has been living in Northern Ireland for two years, told AFP.

“There was never any trouble before,” he said, sitting at the Sahara Shisha Cafe, one of several Middle Eastern and Turkish-owned businesses near Sandy Row that were hit.

The Northern Ireland Muslim Council said in a statement that “the vast majority of the violence has been whipped up and fueled by deliberate misinformation and disinformation on social media”.

“False and dangerous narratives” about Muslims who “constitute a small minority in Northern Ireland” led to the attacks, it added.

‘Extremely shocking’

Northern Ireland has low rates of immigration compared to the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

The 2021 census showed about six percent of the population were born outside the UK or Ireland, with around 97 percent describing their ethnicity as white.

The disorder was “extremely shocking for the wider community,” said Fiona Doran, chair of the United Against Racism group which co-organized a solidarity rally in Belfast on Saturday, August 10.

The demonstration, which drew several thousand people, gave people “a chance to come out on the streets, to show that Belfast is a welcoming city, it’s a city that says no to racism and fascism,” she told AFP.

At an anti-immigration rally the previous day in Belfast, around a hundred protestors carried British flags and placards reading “respect our country or leave!”

Some chanted the name of Tommy Robinson, a notorious anti-Muslim agitator who has been accused of helping to fuel the unrest in England through constant social media posts about the events.

Nearby, behinds ranks of armored police vehicles, more than 1,000 counter-protestors chanted “racists out!”

Bashir told AFP on Saturday, August 10, he is unsure if he will reopen his supermarket.

“My question is: are we able to do that? If we do, it will be because of all the people who came out to show us support,” he said following the solidarity demonstration.

Source: France24

The 28-year-old martial arts expert said she wanted to help women of color to learn how to deal with abuse and build connections and confidence after more than a week of unrest aimed at mosques, asylum seeker hotels and the police.

“It gives you a little bit more confidence,” she said. “You kind of know what to look for, how to be socially aware, how to spot things and how to get out of a really bad situation.”

Muslim and ethnic minority communities have expressed shock over the disorder which was sparked by false information online that the suspected killer of three young girls in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, was an Islamist migrant.

Martial arts instructor Stewart McGill said he had seen more women signing up for classes since the unrest started. He told them how to defend themselves with tactics including kicks and impromptu weapons such as belts.

One attendee, Elza Annan, 24, said she felt more confident.

“I obviously don’t want to have to use these techniques but it is useful and beneficial to have them … especially because of recent events of far-right racists coming out and targeting people of color,” she said.

The riots have largely targeted migrants, Muslims, and Asian people, spreading fear through ethnic minority communities and casting a light on Britain’s record of integration.

Tell MAMA UK, a group that monitors anti-Muslim incidents, said hate directed at Muslims had been growing in Britain for some time, and especially since Oct. 7 last year, the start of the conflict in Gaza.

Since the riots began, it had received more than 500 calls and online reports of anti-Muslim behavior across Britain.

Sunder Katwala, director of the think-tank British Future, which focuses on migration and identity, said at its best, Britain is a “confident multi-ethnic democracy”.

But he said successive governments had lacked a strategy for integrating different communities. While those arriving recently from Ukraine and Hong Kong were given government support, that did not happen to all.

The asylum system faced particular pressures, with a huge backlog of applications and some Britons concerned about pressure on housing, healthcare and education.

“With asylum you’ve got a visible lack of control, and that can feed into fear,” he said.

The riots have largely stopped since thousands of anti-racism protesters turned out to protect potential targets such as immigration advice centers, mosques, and hotels housing asylum seekers.

Hassan, who wears a hijab and is a Swiss national of Somali origin, moved to Britain in 2008, partly because she felt it was more welcoming to ethnic minorities than many parts of Europe. She is considering organizing more classes.

A similar event was planned for Manchester, northern England, and a campaign group, The Three Hijabis, held a large online conference call with Muslim women this week to discuss the psychological impact of Islamophobic violence.

Shaista Aziz, the group’s director, said some women feared that the violence could unleash confrontations or abuse, prompting many to stay close to home.

“Today I advised a sister I dearly love to consider removing her hijab to stay safe as she travels through the Northeast …” she said on X during the riots. “Across the country British Muslims are having these same conversations.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has ordered extra protection for the Muslim community, described rioters as “far-right thugs” and almost 800 people have been arrested, with some fast-tracked through the courts and jailed.

The anti-racism protests are likely to continue.

For Maki Omori, 23, who identifies as non-binary, Saturday’s class would help prepare for counter protests.

“I found it really intimidating, thinking about how I would defend myself,” Omori said. “I want to make sure that if something happens, I feel ready.”

Source: Reuters