Muslim leaders warn of spike in Islamophobia after UK terror strike

A Jewish woman named Renee Rachel Black and a Muslim man named Sadiq Patel react next to floral tributes in Albert Square in Manchester, Britain, on May 24, 2017. Following an interfaith show of unity in Manchester after Monday’s terror attack, Muslim groups in the UK have warned of an increase in Islamophobic hate crimes. (REUTERS/Darren Staples)

LONDON: Following an interfaith show of unity in Manchester after Monday’s terror attack, Muslim groups in the UK have warned of an increase in Islamophobic hate crimes.
Just hours after the Manchester Arena bombing that killed 22 people, an arson attack on a mosque in Oldham — in the Greater Manchester area — was part of a “spike” in Islamophobic incidents that followed the terrorist incident, a monitoring group said.
The attack on Oldham’s Jamia Qasmia Zahidia Islamic Center, was followed by other reported incidents of Islamophobia in Manchester and beyond. They ranged from reports of verbal abuse, spitting and even headscarves being pulled from the heads of Muslim women.
“After the major terrorist incident (in Manchester), we have seen a measurable spike in anti-Muslim hate incidents,” Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the Tell MAMA monitoring group, told Arab News.
Mughal said that a similar “pattern” of Islamophobic hate crime tends to follow terrorist attacks, adding that Tell MAMA — which monitors and records Islamophobic hate crimes — had documented the rise in Islamophobic incidents that followed the Westminster attack in March.
“Yes, the spike (after the Manchester attack) is measurable and larger than Westminster. Westminster did not produce a large spike but this is clearly larger,” he told Arab News.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) — the largest Muslim umbrella body in the UK with over 500 affiliated national, regional and local organizations, mosques and schools — said that it had also noticed a rise in Islamophobic instances following the Manchester attack.
Assistant Secretary-General Miqdaad Versi told Arab News that the MCB did not collect statistics directly, but that there did seem to be an increase in reported incidents of Islamophobia.
“Anecdotally, we have heard of a number of incidents that have caused serious concern,” he said.
He mentioned the reports of an arson attack on an Oldham mosque, graffiti in Glasgow central mosque, numerous incidents of verbal assault on the street. “Even the MCB’s own office has had people calling in with very hostile, threatening language,” Versi added.
“What we would do is encourage everybody to report such incidents to the police because it’s important that such incidents are reported and action can be taken against the perpetrators. Hate crime in unacceptable.”
He called on any Muslims who are victims of hate crime to immediately report it to the police.
“There is little doubt that a significant portion of people who suffer from hate crime never report it. That it was the studies show… it’s a long process and we can only encourage people to report, and recognize the value of reporting, so that we can get a better picture of what’s happening and where it’s happening so that the right resources can be put in place to tackle this serious crime.”
However, the MCB assistant secretary-general was keen to stress that the prevalence of Islamophobic hate crime should not be blown out of proportion.
“Those incidents are not in line with the vast majority of the British community which has been very positive in its response to what happened, taking leadership from the prime minister and the mayor of Manchester,” he said.
“We have seen the community in Manchester, of all backgrounds, coming together, and these individuals who have committed these Islamophobic crimes are a very small minority,” he added.