A year on from the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October and the war on Gaza, Tell MAMA recorded 4,971 cases, a level of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia – unlike anything we recorded in over a decade of our work.
On the first anniversary, Tell MAMA Director Iman Atta made clear that: “Since 7 October, we have seen peaks and rises of anti-Muslim hatred where Middle Eastern communities (irrespective of faith), Muslim communities and Muslim women who are visible in their faith, who have supported Palestinian rights have been called ‘terrorists’, ‘Hamas’, ‘bombers’ and ‘Nazis’ on our streets, threatened, abused and in some cases subjected to violence or discrimination – harming their social mobility, careers or studies, and undermining their fundamental rights. It falls on politicians, the media and other public bodies to do more to help Muslim communities, but also challenge stereotypes and falsehoods and undo the normalisation of tropes that link communities to violence and criminality or as cultural threats. The challenge is collective: we must not lose sight of what brings communities together.”
“In total, Tell MAMA recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate and discrimination cases between 7 October 2023 and 30 September 2024, the highest total ever recorded in over a decade. (The data covers cases of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia directly reported to Tell MAMA).
“Almost two-thirds (63%) of the cases reported were abusive behaviour in nature, and 27% were threatening behaviour cases, the majority of which took place in London, Northwest, Yorkshire and the Midlands.
“The war on Gaza has left some questioning their safety and sense of belonging in the UK – a feeling compounded by the far-right violence in parts of the country following the horrific stabbings in Southport. Hate crime across all strands remains vastly underreported, and others told us that the daily levels of abuse meant some stopped reporting to the police. The long-term impacts on social and community cohesion and economic insecurity risk more significant threats to communities that the government must not overlook in the months and years ahead.
“The abhorrent and profoundly troubling rise in antisemitism, as recorded by the Community Security Trust and police forces since 7 October, cannot be ignored either. The strains between Muslim and Jewish communities will take time to repair. However, it must also not deter us from reaching out to check on each other and stand together against the racists and the extremists who seek to divide and harm our communities.
“We all deserve to live in a society that upholds fundamental rights for all, that holds those to account who seek to divide (whether in politics, the media or elsewhere) and that Muslim, Jewish and other communities are listened to and have their experiences heard, and that we work across society to make our society stronger.”
In preparation for the first anniversary, Tell MAMA worked alongside various partners and police forces to draft tailored security and safety advice that we translated into Arabic.
Your safety and security are vital.
We saw cases of violence, abuse, and discrimination – Muslims targeted for displaying pro-Palestine views, hostility in the workplace, or even losing out on employment or job opportunities based on their social media posts about Palestine or the war.
Individuals described harassment or abuse when speaking Arabic in public areas.
Last year, we highlighted how a Muslim family had a firework put through their letterbox, which they believed was motivated by a Palestinian flag they hung outside of their property. Following the attack, they removed the flag, fearing further attacks. We also reported on a family who had their window smashed for displaying a pro-Palestine kite.
Tell MAMA continued to work across various sectors, providing advice and training, and in the justice sector, helped the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with an impact statement after 62-year-old Jonathan Katan targeted two mosques, a café and the Palestine Mission to the UK with red paint on eleven separate occasions.
We also provided the CPS with an impact statement over the abhorrent Islamophobic abuse Terry Eury subjected a group of women to in Romford High Street. After leaving court with a suspended sentence after being found guilty of religiously aggravated public order offences, we further raised the lack of a custodial sentence.
In a more recent example, our impact statement was read out in court when racist Michael Mongan appeared in court, receiving a 10-month prison sentence after he spat at and called a Muslim bus driver a “Muslim terrorist b*stard” and subjected staff at a betting shop to racist abuse before damaging the building in August.
In August, we published polling carried out amongst Muslims in the UK, revealing that 60% of the participants surveyed believed that anti-Muslim hate in British society has increased over the past year. Almost one-third of Muslims surveyed (27%) had faced incidents in the past twelve months. Nearly 69% of Muslims polled who received verbal attacks did not report these to the police, authorities or third-party services. It demonstrates the importance of providing more support and access to justice for those impacted by anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia