PRESS RELEASE
Today, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) marks the beginning of Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) 2023. This year, we observe IAM against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Palestine and an exceptionally hostile political environment for British Muslim communities.
This year’s theme is #MuslimStories, it is therefore important for us to share the lived experience of British Muslims. In terms of Islamophobic hate crime alone, per Home Office data, where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, 2 in 5 of all religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims, as of March 2023. As such, 39% of all religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Muslims, making Muslims the most targeted faith group.
Muslims have, in fact, remained consistently, and especially, vulnerable to religiously motivated hate crime offences; in the year ending March 2021, 45% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims, and in the year ending March 2019, 47% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims.
Over the course of this devastating conflict, we have seen a surge of hate crime, with a 140% increase in Islamophobic offences in London alone. We have also seen Islamophobic attacks across the UK, including: the attempted arson on an Oxford Mosque in which the perpetrator threw a petrol can at the Mosque that had ‘IDF’ scrawled over it, a man attacking a Muslim woman with a concrete slab and alcohol being poured over Muslim worshippers praying at a protest.
In the United States, we have witnessed the tragic murders of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea Al-Fayoume in his own home and a Muslim woman, Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, as a result of the ongoing surge in hostility against ordinary Muslims. The consequences of unchecked Islamophobia are grave.
The MCB remains committed to championing increased legal safeguards against Islamophobia and continues to call on local councils to adopt the APPG on British Muslims’ definition on Islamophobia as a first port of call. We also encourage Mosques to become third party hate crime reporting centres.
MCB Secretary-General, Zara Mohammed, has said:
“This past month, we have witnessed a troubling surge in Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks. This situation has been exacerbated by media commentators peddling deeply Islamophobic narratives and misinformation online. Some have gone so far as to depict Muslims in the guise of ‘death cults’ and individuals pursuing ‘bloodlust.’
“Regrettably, our political leadership has not been helpful. The Home Secretary continues to stoke division and foment culture wars in an attempt to pit communities against one other, a dangerous and ill-advised approach. Such hate-fueled rhetoric, in turn, has likely contributed to the distressing surge in hate crimes against Muslims.
“I urge all communities to report hate crimes whenever they witness or experience them, no matter how small, so that we may identify the true scale of Islamophobic hate crime in the UK. This month, let us also recommit ourselves to raising awareness around Islamophobia and its impact and fostering partnerships within broader society. Islamophobia is not just a Muslim issue, but a societal one – one that we must all come together to combat.”
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Notes to Editors:
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- The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is the UK’s largest and most diverse Muslim umbrella organisation with membership spanning national, regional local organisations, mosques, charities and professional networks. It is independent, cross-sectarian and democratic with the leadership team accountable to the membership.