A new research briefing by Tell MAMA exposes how anti-Muslim hate in the UK is no longer solely home-grown, but increasingly shaped by foreign influence, online extremism, and the misuse of artificial intelligence. The report documents how a short-lived but highly dangerous far-right network — operating primarily on Telegram and amplified through X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and YouTube — actively encouraged attacks on mosques, Muslim communities, and the police.

This case study shows how online hate translates into real-world harm, how AI is being weaponised, and how foreign actors can exploit moments of national trauma to incite violence inside the UK.

From Online Propaganda to Real-World Targeting

The report centres on an extremist network known as “Direct Action”, which emerged in the aftermath of the Southport murders and stabbings. The group deliberately sought to hijack public grief and social tension, reframing tragedy as justification for racist violence. Using Telegram as its core platform, the network led to encouragement of the vandalism of mosques, whilst it also offered incentives in cryptocurrency so that the flows of money could not be tracked. This incentivisation marked a new low in the targeting of mosques and Islamic institutions. 

Direct Action also shared terror manuals and circulated bomb-making instructions, as well as guidance on the use of weapons. The aim of this was to direct the possibility of arson attacks against Muslims and thereby the intimidation and harassment of Muslim communities in the real world.

Anti-Muslim Hate as a Strategic Target

A central finding of the report is the systematic targeting of Muslims and Islamic institutions. Analysis of hundreds of posts by our in-house researchers marked out the repeated references to mosques, Islams, Muslims and migration, as well as anti-Muslim tropes like the ‘Great Replacement Theory’ and the ‘Demographic Time Bomb of Muslims in Europe’. There were also calls to make things difficult in the social space for British Muslims. The report also highlights how Direct Action framed mosques as not just being places of worship, but places that needed to be targeted.

Clear Foreign Influence

One of the most alarming aspects of the case study is the strong indication of foreign ideological and technical influence. Our researchers found out that there were fingerprints of Russian hacktivists and logos from defunct Russian extremist Telegram channels that were evident in the fomenting of violence against mosques and Muslims. Language errors also pointed to people who were based overseas and non-native English speakers and we also picked up references to extremist manuals that were sourced from abroad. 

Our report also highlights AI-generated images that falsely depict Muslims as violent and visuals that have been created using AI tools that promote false narratives of burning police cars and mosques. The aim of these AI assets is to mobilise anger and emotional hatred, whilst then seeking to mobilise this emotional impact into real world physical impacts on the streets of the United Kingdom.

By launching this report, our in-house research team are highlighting the risk that foreign actors are fomenting on our streets in the United Kingdom. This is not only a security issue — it is a human one.

Read the Report HERE.

Read More: Thirty Reports of Mosques Targeted Across the U.K. Between June and the 30th of October 2025

The post The Risk of Foreign Influence on the UK Far-Right and Anti-Muslim Hate appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Over the last 6 months, however, we have been left in the uncomfortable and unsettling position of having no guarantee of further direct grant funding from the Ministry for Communities, Housing and Local Government (MHCLG). We have been concerned about decisions that have been made on the future funding of Tell MAMA during this period, particularly at a time when we recorded the highest numbers of anti-Muslim hate cases since Tell MAMA was founded in 2011. In addition, we have been subjected to malicious campaigns to undermine our work, including being the subject of hate and abuse targeting the project and our staff, threatening their safety and security, which have been reported to the relevant authorities. Whatever the reasons behind these campaigns, the people responsible for them have given no thought to victims of anti-Muslim hate whom we have served with dedication over the past 13 years.

We are saddened that the very service that has trained police forces, statutory authorities and civil society organisations, whilst highlighting the depth, scope and impact of anti-Muslim hate since 2011, has had to go through these significant insecurities and challenges over the last 6 months.

Following discussions with the MHCLG, Tell MAMA has received an offer of an extension of funding from the MHCLG covering the next 6 months (April-September 2025), together with confirmation from the MHCLG that it has full confidence in Tell MAMA and its work, for which we are grateful. However, for the reasons outlined above, and in order to strengthen our independence from central Government, Tell MAMA has taken the decision to turn down this offer. Also, we will not be applying for any future tenders from MHCLG on this work.

We would like to thank Lord Khan of Burnley in particular for his part in our discussions with the MHCLG and his expression of support for Tell MAMA in ensuring the offer of further funding. His determination to tackle anti-Muslim hate is heartening and motivating and we value his desire to make a positive impact in this area of work.

We will continue to monitor cases of anti-Muslim hate, whilst supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate and striving to meet the needs of British Muslims affected by it. We believe that this is crucially important at a time when the volume of anti-Muslim hate online has increased and where anti-Muslim hate appears to be fast becoming normalised politically. However, we will also seek to repurpose and refocus our support services in the next 3 months, without taking away from our work ensuring that victims of anti-Muslim hate have the access to access to justice to which they are entitled. We believe that our newfound independence from Government will ensure that we are able to review our services and re-assess where we can ensure maximal impact in this area of work.

Finally, we would like to add that work on countering anti-Muslim hate should not be an afterthought, but central to decision planning within the MHCLG if it is to ensure that Muslim communities are properly protected whilst also supporting social cohesion on a national basis. We are proud to have worked with over 50,000 British Muslims since 2011 – the true heroes striving for justice and ensuring that perpetrators of anti-Muslim hate are held to account.

Read more: Tell MAMA is a key partner with Government on tackling anti-Muslim hate

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Historical Context

➢ Between 2012-2024, over 51,000 British Muslims have utilised the services of Tell MAMA.
➢ Since 2012-2024, Tell MAMA has seen a 2,253% increase in street based anti-Muslim hate cases reported in.
➢ Significant, tangible and large increases in anti-Muslim hate cases reported to Tell MAMA between 2023-2024.

Key Findings – Between 2023 and 2024
Total Number of Cases Reported to Tell MAMA Between 2023-2024:

➢ Between 2023 and 2024, Tell MAMA received 10,719 cases out of which 9,604 were verified cases of anti-Muslim hate that were overwhelmingly reported in by British Muslims in the United Kingdom. (Note – the term ‘verified’ means that cases have been diligently checked and as being ‘anti-Muslim’ in nature and with supportive relevant evidence that confirms this finding).
➢ 2024 saw the highest number of anti-Muslim hate cases recorded by Tell MAMA in any year, since the founding of the project in 2011/2012. This amounted to 6,313 cases of anti-Muslim hate reported to Tell MAMA, a rise of 165% of verified cases reported in since 2022 and in just 2 years.
➢ Tell MAMA recorded a 120% increase in street based cases since 2022.
➢ Data shows an 103% increase in targeted anti-Muslim hate towards people who are visibly Muslim when comparing 2023 and 2024 data sources.
➢ There has been a large rise in the categorisation of ‘threatening behaviour’ in street based cases. This amounts to a 715% increase in such cases between 2023 and 2024.
➢ In summary, cases of anti-Muslim hatred are becoming more threatening towards victims, higher in volume and much more prone to significant peaks because of a higher frequency of national and international events.

The Online World

➢ Post October 7th 2023, Tell MAMA received the highest number of online anti-Muslim hate reports with a 1,619% increase, when compared to online cases received prior to October 7th. The Middle East conflict super-fuelled online anti-Muslim hate. (Verified online cases recorded in 2023 – 1,719)
➢ In 2024, Tell MAMA recorded 2,307 (verified) cases of online anti-Muslim hate that were reported in, the majority of which were reported in after the 29th of July 2024 and after the brutal murder of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguias.
➢ This demonstrates a 34% increase in online anti-Muslim hate cases reported to Tell MAMA when comparing 2023 and 2024. In both years, significant national and international events spiked online reports of anti-Muslim hate into Tell MAMA.
➢ To date, ‘X’ remains the most toxic online platform in the dissemination of anti-Muslim hate. The platform far outstrips any other social media platform in the volume, aggressive language and the targeted nature of anti-Muslim hate towards other users, which the Tell MAMA report highlights.
➢ Tell MAMA is deeply concerned about how Artificial Intelligence generated anti-Muslim pictures are being generated and circulated online and which have been reported in by British Muslims who have been targeted by them online. This phenomenon became marked and noticeable in cases in 2024.
➢ Tell MAMA continues to see an overlap between the online and offline (street-based) worlds. Tell MAMA continues to collate information that is reported in by British Muslims on how far right extremist groups continue to harass and target vulnerable refugees in temporary accommodation with anti-migrant and anti-Muslim hate.

2024 Key Findings on Anti-Muslim Rhetoric and the Targeting of British Muslim Members of Parliament

➢ Anti-Muslim tropes in both street based and online anti-Muslim hate cases reported in stress anti-Muslim tropes of a ‘take-over’ of Europe, demographic surges in ‘numbers of Muslims’ with an associated preconceived plan to Islamise the United Kingdom, and to ‘outbreed’ the local ‘indigenous’ population.
➢ There has been a stark rise in the intensification of language calling for the banning and removal of British Muslims from the political life of the United Kingdom.
➢ Tell MAMA has recorded disproportionate amounts of anti-Muslim hate targeted towards the following British politicians who happen to be Muslim and in the following order of frequency, with the most targeted politician listed first:

1. The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan,
2. The former Scottish First Minister – Humza Yousaf MSP,
3. Zara Sultana MP,
4. Apsana Begum MP,
5. Naz Shah MP

➢ Racist posts have also been reported into Tell MAMA that have targeted Diane Abbot MP, Suella Braverman MP and the former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP.

Commenting on these findings, the Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE said:

“We have had the largest volume of cases reported to us in Tell MAMA in 2024 and since we started our work in 2012. As anti-Muslim hate continues to be felt by a greater number of British Muslims, both at a street and online level, our work and support for victims of anti-Muslim hate is needed now more than ever. We are at a nexus point where it is clear that anti-Muslim hate needs a coordinated action by His Majesty’s Government.”

“The rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable, and this is deeply concerning for the future. We should never allow such hatred and intolerance to take root in our communities. We urge the public to stand together against hatred and extremism and we urge those in positions of influence and public authority to consider how their language risk stereotyping communities and how it unduly influence discussions online and offline”.

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(Note: These findings are disturbing since they demonstrate a level of fear and apprehension in British Muslim communities prior to the Southport mosque attacks over the recent week. They demonstrate the effects on British Muslims, post the October 7th attacks on Israel and the continuing Israel and Gaza war. Tell MAMA is consistently monitoring the situation nationally).

Tell MAMA commissioned a poll of 550 British Muslims in July 2024. The poll was to assess perceptions around anti-Muslim prejudice and to assess what the impacts of anti-Muslim hate have been on Muslims post October 7 and the subsequent conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Survation poll was conducted between 15/07/2024 – 29/07/2024 and involved 550 British Muslims of Shia and Sunni theological backgrounds. The survey was representative of the British Muslim population to targets drawn from the Office for National Statistics, representative of age, sex and regional distributions.

The vast majority of interviews were conducted over the telephone with just over 100 interviews being conducted online and all participants came from the faith probability panel of Survation. They had previously been surveyed by Survation and therefore agreed to take part in this snapshot poll for Tell MAMA.

Key Findings

The Tell MAMA Commissioned Poll demonstrated that:

• 60% of the participants surveyed believed that anti-Muslim hate in British society has increased over the past year.
• Over 1 in 4 – 27% of British Muslims surveyed said that they had experienced an anti-Muslim hate incident in the last year. This is a concerning statistic.
• There has been a 300% increase in verbal abuse and anti-Muslim prejudice against British Muslims since October 7, 2023. (16% of those who suffered verbal anti-Muslim abuse experienced it prior to October 7 versus 51% who experienced it after October 7).
• The Tell MAMA commissioned Survation data backs up the academic reports of Tell MAMA, in that verbal anti-Muslim abuse against British Muslims has increased and key locations where the abuse takes place includes ‘at a street level’, on public transport and worryingly, within work environments. 22% of those who had experienced incidents of verbal abuse experienced it in the workplace or other institutions. (Tell MAMA has repeatedly made clear that employers must raise their game, develop better awareness on identifying anti-Muslim hate & put into place how they can reduce and manage anti-Muslim hatred in the workplace).
• The report demonstrates why ‘Third Party services’ like Tell MAMA are important and where individuals can report in physical and online anti-Muslim attacks against them. (Third Party hate crime reporting services provide members of the public with another avenue through which they can report in anti-Muslim hate and organisations like Tell MAMA help to support access to justice for victims by linking them into relevant forces, assisting in collecting relevant evidence and in advocating for victims where required).
• Nearly 69% of British Muslims who received verbal attacks, did not report these into the police, authorities or third-party services. This demonstrates that more work needs to be done by all to demonstrate how reporting in can ensure access to justice for victims of anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia.
• About 1 in 3 – nearly 28% of the 550 British Muslims surveyed, fell under 5 in a scale from 1-10, with 10 being associated with feeling very safe, post October 7, 2023.

This demonstrates that nearly 1 in 3 British Muslims are uneasy or uncomfortable about their safety since October 7, 2023. This is a worrying statistic and demonstrates that much more needs to be done by the Government, statutory and civil society organisations to re-assure British Muslims after October 7.

Summary

These findings point to a significant number of British Muslims who have suffered anti-Muslim abuse and hate in the last year. The poll also points to verbal abuse that has taken place at a street level, on public transport and in the workplace.

The findings also show that perceptions within British Muslims, of anti-Muslim prejudice in British society, are increasing allied with a sense of feeling uneasy about their personal safety. The inverse correlation is understandable given the tensions felt by British Muslims since October 7, 2023.

The findings also throw down the gauntlet that statutory, private and civil society groups need to demonstrate to British Muslims why ‘reporting in’ anti-Muslim hate may be of benefit to them in getting access to justice. The levels of British Muslims ‘just letting go’ of anti-Muslim abuse that has been targeted against them, demonstrates that there is a gulf that needs to be closed and this is even more acute given that perceptions of a rise in anti-Muslim hate in the U.K cut across the majority of those British Muslims polled.

Read: ITV News and Tell MAMA mosque hate crime survey reveals scale of problem

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We are deeply concerned about the way that Greater Manchester Police initially communicated the incident to members of the public and we are also aware that there were community based concerns before this incident in Manchester airport, around the flying of Gaza flags on private homes. Some residents who flew such flags on their properties were questioned by members of Greater Manchester Police. So, prior to the Manchester airport incident, there were community based concerns around policing.

We within Tell MAMA are clear. There are no circumstances that a man lying on the floor and who is not a threat to anyone, should end up being kicked in the head and then stamped on, as the officer in question did. Whilst Greater Manchester Police talked about context, there is no context that can justify these actions.

We understand that criminal charges may be brought against the officer. We await the result of the outcome of the IOPC investigation and we hope that the investigation will publish its results so that the findings are accessible to members of the public.

There are tens of thousands of men and women serving in our police forces on a daily basis. They suffer abuse, high stress levels and daily threats, yet, thankfully, we do not see them doing what the Greater Manchester Officer did on film. His actions are uncalled for and deeply troubling.

We will be tracking the outcome of this case and we will await a response to our letter from Greater Manchester Police.

The post Our Letter to Greater Manchester Police appeared first on TELL MAMA.

This is the second letter that we are releasing for public viewing on the back of the attacks by Byline Times and its associates such as Nafeez Ahmed. We have raised question marks around his actions in a previous article with evidence of comments that he made to us when approaching us for a comment and which Byline Times have now withdrawn and rowed back on. The comments made by Nafeez Ahmed demonstrated an over-reach and wide sweeping assumptions which were fundamentally wrong. What does this say about his style of working and the crude and deeply troubling allegations he made without any tangible evidence of any ‘criminality’.

For example, we point to the following paragraph in the Mishcon de Reya letter:

We note that you (Byline Times) appear to have rowed back from the very serious allegation made by Mr Ahmed in his enquiries to our client dated 19 June 2024, in which he claimed that directors of our client “have provided false information deliberately to Companies House“, a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment and/or a fine. We note that you have sensibly confirmed that you “have no intention of publishing anything to the effect that the directors of Faith Matters or any persons connected with Faith Matters have committed any criminal offence“. That you accept that this allegation is unsupportable is indicative of your Mr Ahmed’s journalism and irresponsible approach to the preparation of your threatened story. Rather than objectively and forensically assessing evidence and drawing the appropriate conclusion based on that assessment and supporting evidence, you reframe and selectively apply the facts and cherry-pick evidence to suit your conspiratorial narrative”.

Baroness Shaista Gohir

This letter also highlights how a politician, using Parliamentary privilege, has made astonishing and conspiratorial remarks about the work of Tell MAMA. Within the letter, the Baroness in question (Baroness Gohir), is quoted as saying in the House of Lords that Tell MAMA has been “funded to tackle Muslim extremism which is hidden under the guise of monitoring”. Not only this statement libellous if she chose to make it in the public domain, she needs to back this statement up with proof or apologise to us as publicly as she made this statement. This statement is outrageous.

It is also an affront that a person in public office makes a statement that puts the safety of members of the Tell MAMA team and its Director, Iman Atta OBE, at personal and professional risk and when we know that there are many people in communities who are angry and who may take physical action against individuals and agencies who are deemed to be ‘monitoring’ or ‘snooping’ on them. For an official in public office to make such a statement and tar us with this brush, therefore puts the whole Tell MAMA team and the project’s reputation at serious risk. It is as simple as that. It is unacceptable and backed up with no evidence – that we are funded to ‘monitor Muslim extremism’ as thought we are a malign organisation. Such comments are nothing short of abhorrent.

We want to be clear; if Baroness Gohir is sufficiently confident in this statement she made – that we are “funded to tackle Muslim extremism which is being hidden under the guise of monitoring“, we would invite her to make this in public and not hide under the cover of Parliamentary privilege. We also note how Byline Times have mysteriously ended up with the text of letters from Baroness Gohir, which the Baroness has never sent to us, nor credited us with seeing. So much for transparency.

Other Assertions

Other assertions made by Byline Times, that Tell MAMA somehow does not provide a ‘robust and effective’ monitoring system on anti-Muslim hate leads us to question how Byline has failed to read the multiplicity of reports on our website and the fact that we have assisted over 28,000 Muslims in the U.K to date. Given the data on our web-site demonstrating the scale, range and numbers of people we assist who have been targeted by anti-Muslim hate, it is breath-taking that Byline Times has made such assertions.

For example in the Mishcon de Reya letter which is attached, figures for reporting anti-Muslim hate have increased from 1,223 in 2016 to 2,301 in 2021. The annual figure for 2022 was 2,656 and the figure for 2023, which is much higher, is still to be published. We challenge Byline Times and anyone associated with it to point to any organisation in the U.K that measures such high volume numbers of cases of anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia in the U.K, and which supports, collects evidence and achieves tangible outcomes for victims of anti-Muslim hate? Much of this is listed in the report, ‘A Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate’ which is on our website and which can be read HERE. In fact, we know that Baroness Gohir liked a tweet from July 2023 which highlighted the very report we have mentioned – ‘A Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate’. This makes the allegations and assertions put to us by Byline Times, even more bizarre in their direction of travel.

READ: The Truth, Nafeez Ahmed and Byline Times – ‘Indefensible Reporting’

Report and Data

It is interesting to note that Ahmed, suggested to a third party that Baroness Gohir, (in her letters to DLUHC), said that Tell MAMA’s ‘Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate‘ report does not disaggregate data across age, location, gender and ethnicity. This he claims on behalf of Baroness Gohir, suggests that the data makes it less useful in looking at trends.

This from a journalist. Let us explain. The Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate  is a summary of a decade of work from 2012-2022 which Tell MAMA has undertaken. There are numerous other reports on a year by year basis that are listed on the Tell MAMA site which provide all of the year on year details that Baroness Gohir and Ahmed request, and which they did not bother to read. You can find just a few of the links HERE, HERE and HERE. So again, we ask the question – what is the real motive behind these claims?

Also, we are truly baffled as to how a journalist who writes to a third party asking why Tell MAMA’s data does not dis-aggregate, fails to research the most basic of items. For example, just a cursory look at the ‘Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate’ report shows that gender is dis-aggregated in data and visuals on page 19, 31, 59, 78. Location is dis-aggregated from pages 72-77, 82,83,97,99 and page 103. Definitions of types of cases and dis-aggregations around classifications of data are listed on page 50 – just one of the pages when the data is clearly broken down. Ethnicity breakdowns are on pages 78 and 79 – just to provide two examples. Trends, well how could a Baroness and a journalist miss ‘Trends’, which have a whole section from pages 86-115 and 133. We could also add that if you have a desire to promote a narrative, you pick and choose what fits and overlook what does not.

Furthermore, Ahmed suggests that another of Baroness Gohir’s concerns is that the Government relies just on Tell MAMA’s data and that it is a ‘disservice’ to Muslim communities. Apart from this being the opinion of one or two people, both the Crown Prosecution Service (see comments below) and various police forces have commended the work of Tell MAMA and the way that victims of anti-Muslim hate are treated, and the data collected. The comments show a serious deficit in understanding how hate crime monitoring and support services work. Tell MAMA is a national and significant conduit through which Government receives data on the numbers, cases, types, locations etc., of anti-Muslim hate cases. Yet the Government does not rely on just one source. All of Tell MAMA’s data goes to local forces so that victims can be supported and any smaller NGO’s collecting hate crimes also feed into police services. Government therefore collects data from multiple sources, with Tell MAMA coming in second volume wise to the police data on the numbers of national cases of anti-Muslim hate. This alone shows that the complainants have not got a clue how the hate crime reporting systems work.

Additionally, in Ahmed’s correspondence to a third party, it is clear that he thinks that Tell MAMA is just a ‘monitoring’ service. It is not. Tell MAMA supports victims of anti-Muslim hate through data collection for evidential purposes, advocacy support, support at courts, access to legal advice and information, emotional support through counselling, direct advocacy with local forces and in providing a ‘listening ear’. There are a range of services provided and each case usually accesses multiple services within Tell MAMA.

Now, before Baroness Gohir or Ahmed say – well if the police collect data, why is Tell MAMA needed, the answer is because on a service evaluation check that was conducted in 2021/2022, 96 out of 100 individuals asked, said they approached Tell MAMA first and did not consider taking their experiences to the police.

Motive

Once again, we are having to question the motives of Byline Times at a time when a new government is in place and which is increasingly seeming and smelling like a smear campaign against the work and the staff of Tell MAMA. It is also interesting to note that these attacks align with the timing of a new incoming government administration who may not be fully aware of our work in Tell MAMA.

We have always been open and responsive to constructive criticism as we have repeatedly made clear. However, the shabby and ramshackle attempts by Byline Times to fixate and run what are now clearly, a series of ‘hit job’ articles on Tell MAMA are deeply troubling. We also question the selectivity of what they are choosing to report on and then overlook other elements which do not seem to fit a series of their narratives.

With this in mind, we have decided to publish all correspondence so that members of the public can see that Tell MAMA has nothing to hide and we will not accept statements and claims thrown at us which are untrue, libellous and downright perverse in their conspiratorial and damaging nature. This also goes for anyone in Parliament who makes worryingly conspiratorial statements without evidence and which puts the staff in this project at physical and emotional risk.

Finally, a search on Google on Byline Times brings up this statement in a link about the ethos of the publication:

 “Accurate information is the lifeblood of a democracy and, although everyone is welcome to their own opinions, facts cannot be debated.”

We would agree, however, given our experiences with Byline Times and in particular, Nafeez Ahmed, we can point to his opinions, rather than facts in his engagement with us. This is not withstanding his previous attempt to garner a donation from us for a writing project he had developed in 2018.

Addendum – Crown Prosecution, the Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime & Police Statements About Tell MAMA

“Since its establishment in 2012, Tell MAMA has been a strong ally of the CPS. We are delighted to call Tell MAMA a partner in our collective efforts to challenge hate crime. Whether as a provider of key services, a partner at our CPS External Consultative Group or as a supporter of newly-established hate crime services, Tell MAMA’s support and assistance has been invaluable.”

Statement from DCC Mark Hamilton, the National Policing Lead for Hate Crime:

“I would like to congratulate Tell MAMA on this milestone of reaching 10 years of monitoring anti-Muslim Hatred.

When we started to gather national data on hate crime in 2009 our biggest challenge was the unknown figure of under-reported crimes. We made steps to encourage reporting and improved data systems but we will always know that many victims do not want to report direct to the police for numerous reasons. This is why we were so keen to partner with Tell MAMA from its inception – to provide a platform for victims to seek support.

During that time Tell MAMA has been a vital partner and critical friend. Our data sharing arrangements, built on anonymous data exchanges are vital to help us see the full picture of anti-Muslim hatred and take steps to support communities, by preventing crime and responding to critical incidents. I have been particularly impressed that, whilst it obviously concentrates on Muslim victims, Tell MAMA shares our ideals of universal protections and have worked to support other communities who come under attack. “

Statement from the Chair of the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on hate crime:

“The National Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on Hate Crime for Policing and Criminal Justice is made up of key organisations, academics and individuals (including Dr Neville Lawrence OBE) advising the NPCC and the APCC on policies and strategies to reduce Hate Crimes and Incidents. 

TellMAMA is a key member of the group. They are the only Hate Crime advocacy group we would work with given their commitment to opposing all forms of Hate Crime. Specifically, unlike other groups, they seek to reduce sectarian tensions and attacks with the Muslim community.

 

Since October 7 TellMAMA have been tireless in their work on the NPCC Gold Group. Specifically they ensured that police forces dealt equitably with Muslim communities and their concerns. Despite, at times, political pressures to further isolate the community. They identified quickly that Muslim community confidence in policing was damaged post October 7and they helped the NPCC develop strategies to move beyond this.

 

The pressures on the organisation and specifically on their CEO has been intense. Their ability to rise above this, continue working and maintain good relations with all key partners has been impactful and inspiring. I doubt the IAG’s ability to continue working without their presence.”

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Nafeez Ahmed/Byline Times – PRESS HERE

An initial response to Byline Times, Nafeez Ahmed and a 2018 Call for Financial Support

We within Tell MAMA, have sadly had to take up time that could be better utilised working to help victims of anti-Muslim hatred or Islamophobia, which is the remit of our work, instead of having to respond to Nafeez Ahmed from Byline Times. This is the second time he has contacted Tell MAMA (on the 19th of June 2024), and we chose in his initial contact not to respond and to get on with the work we are funded for – to help and support victims of anti-Muslim hate. However, given his fixation on us and his authorship of a previously inaccurate and bizarre article about an event 8 years ago that is highlighted in the attached Mishcon de Reya letter, we have chosen to respond in detail and we urge you – members of the public, to read the letter addressed to Ahmed.

We have today made the decision to highlight to the public, the actions of Nafeez Ahmed. For someone who promotes himself as a serious journalist, we want you, the public, to read the following letter sent to Ahmed and Byline Times from our solicitors – Mischon De Reya.

Whatever issue Ahmed has with us, we want to make it clear that His Majesty’s Government are our funder and we will answer to them and they regularly conduct due diligence work on Faith Matters, which runs the Tell MAMA project. This is important and it is obviously essential to ensure value for money and operational viability, as well as good practice. We are not beholden to whatever issues Ahmed and Byline Times have with us, though we also are aware that Byline regularly provides a platform to divisive groups. They have to answer for that.

It is also interesting to note how Ahmed has written previously for Byline Times and suggested that Tell MAMA ‘suppressed the publication’ of a report we commissioned. Depending on how you choose to interpret the term ‘suppressed’, the general assumption that can be made is that the report we commissioned was ‘buried’. The assertions Ahmed made was that Tell MAMA suppressed, (read) buried the report for fear of losing our funding because the report criticized some Conservatives meeting with politicians of far right groups in assembly and other meetings. The question does arise as to why would we commission a report into these matters and then ‘bury’ the findings. Seemingly, we suppressed the publication, so much so that he quotes the very report we commissioned in Le Monde (online), in 2019. Here is the link. Tell MAMA is clearly listed there as the commissioning organisation.

Separately, we have always said that we are open and willing to listen to constructive debate and dialogue, but we will not allow ‘culture’ wars, personal vendettas or any such issues to be used against the work of supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate. This work is too important for that.

READ: Parliamentary Privilege, Smears and Conspiracies Aimed at Tell MAMA

Correspondence from Mishcon de Reya on Behalf of Faith Matters and Tell MAMA

We therefore want to highlight the following paragraphs from the Mishcon de Reya letter and they are listed below, for ease of reference, though we would urge you to read the whole of the letter on Ahmed and his comments. (The abbreviation MdR is used for our solicitors).

There are also two things that are particularly important and the first is that, in the e-mail of the 19th of June 2024, Ahmed suggests that the Directors of Faith Matters have purposefully and deliberately provided ‘false information’ to Companies House. This assertion suggests criminality. In further correspondence from Byline Times on Tuesday the 9th of July, this is what Byline Times stated:

“We would like to repeat the assurance given in that letter that we have no intention of publishing anything to the effect that any directors of Faith Matters or any other persons connected with Faith Matters have committed any criminal offence.”

This is a significant ‘u-turn’ from Ahmed’s written and stated position to Tell MAMA. This is important since it points to issues around accuracy and we can also rightfully question whether Ahmed can be impartial in his journalism in the future towards Tell MAMA, or to Faith Matters – the parent registered body. All very relevant points.

Furthermore, we did not want to raise this, but our hand has been forced after the actions of Ahmed and Byline Times. In January 2018, Nafeez Ahmed direct messaged Tell MAMA asking for financial support in a new writing venture that he was starting. Again, we can legitimately ask the question – has Ahmed crossed the rubicon of journalistic ethics in asking for financial support from the very project that he sought to write two (negative) articles about. Suffice as to say, Tell MAMA did not entertain his financial request.

These are key paragraphs in the Mishcon de Reya letter which we want to highlight demonstrating serious questions around the prejudicial tone of the enquiries made by Ahmed:

MdR – “It is clear from the nature and prejudicial tone of the Enquiries that you have no intention to engage in good faith with Faith Matters, and have no interest in any objective and impartial analysis of Faith Matters’s work. It is remarkable that you would allege that criminal offences have been committed by two of Faith Matters’s directors based on unspecified “discrepancies”, and that £6million of public funds have been “wasted” on the basis of the wording of Faith Matters’s CIC reports as filed on Companies House.”

This paragraph in the letter highlights comments on the work of Nafeez Ahmed:

MdR – “On 6 June 2016, the research team at Tell MAMA e-mailed Mr Mughal maintaining his concerns with the presentation of certain arguments in the Report and the sourcing of the information contained in it. He also expressed his concerns with the fact that Mr Ahmed had rejected many of Tell MAMA’s requested citations and further amendments the Report despite the fact that Tell MAMA was commissioning the report: “From a research perspective, I’d expect this from someone who was in their first year at university. It would be wholly unacceptable to publish something under our banner without the appropriate citations. […] Also, he’s been paid to deliver this project and I expect that we have liberty to make style changes.” Again, no concerns were raised regarding the conclusions of the investigation as set out in the Report.”

Point (viii) in the chronology of the letter lists this about Ahmed’s first article on Tell MAMA a few months ago:

MdR – “On 20 June 2016, sections of the Report were published on Tell MAMA’s website. Tell MAMA’s social media channels also publicised the publication of the Report. Mr Mughal sent an e-mail to Mr Ahmed on the same day confirming this. They also exchanged e-mails later that day about OpenDemocracy’s publication of the Report. It is therefore staggering that Mr Ahmed would claim in the Article that, “Tell MAMA did not publish, amplify or campaign on any of the findings revealed in my investigation, which it had commissioned. There was no report launch, no social media campaign, and no press coverage.”

Furthermore, as we have suggested, Ahmed had asked for financial support from Tell MAMA through a ‘direct message’ on Twitter in 2018. Why would a journalist want to receive financial support from an organisation that he then seeks to write negatively about? Surely Ahmed would have realised that these two positions may well have been compromised?

MdR – “Until he e-mailed Mr Mughal on 8 and 9 March 2024 for comment on the Article prior to its publication, Mr Ahmed had limited contact with Mr Mughal, and any member of Tell MAMA, after November 2016: on 16 January 2018, Mr Ahmed requested to connect with Mr Mughal on LinkedIn, and on 29 January 2018, Mr Ahmed sent a direct message to Tell MAMA on Twitter asking if it would financially support his work.”

The letter ends with the following:

MdR – “Your reporting is indefensible

It is clear from your cynical approach to engaging with and reporting on our client that the Article and any future reporting on our client would not be legally defensible.

The Article is, and any article based on the Enquiries would be, indefensible and no defence pursuant to section 2 (truth), section 3 (honest opinion) nor section 4 (public interest) of the Defamation Act 2013 would be applicable. The Allegations in the Article and in the Enquiries are false, precluding a section 2 defence. As to section 3, the Allegations in the Article are presented as fact and, in any event, even if they were held to be opinion, as the contemporaneous e-mail exchanges between Tell MAMA and Mr Ahmed demonstrate, Mr Ahmed did not in fact hold that opinion.

Faith Matters and its project, Tell MAMA, support investigative journalism that is in the public interest – indeed, that is why it commissioned the Report. However, as you will be well aware, there is no public interest in publishing false allegations which mislead the public, precluding a s4 defence.

Far from being an example of such journalism, the Article and Enquiries levy highly defamatory and false allegations against Faith Matters. The publication of the Article has caused – and, for as long as it remains online, will continue to cause serious harm to Faith Matters, Tell MAMA and Mr Mughal. The publication of any article based on the Enquiries would similarly cause very serious harm for which you would be liable.”

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Tell MAMA Launches Manifesto for New Government to Tackle Hate Crime

[London, UK, Wednesday 19 June 2024]

Tell MAMA (“Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks”) has launched its Manifesto Against Hate ahead of the upcoming General Elections on July 4, urging political candidates to address the significant increase in hate crimes across the country and promote social cohesion through several clear-eyed initiatives.

Founded in 2012 with government support, Tell MAMA has been instrumental in documenting and supporting over 28,000 victims of anti-Muslim hate crimes. These past few months have seen an alarming rise in such incidents. Since last year’s October 7 Hamas attacks into Southern Israel and the ongoing Israel-Gaza War, there has been a sharp increase in such anti-Muslim hate crime and a significant break-down in Jewish-Muslim community relations. Between October 7  and February 7 alone, Tell MAMA recorded 2,010 Islamophobic incidents, predominantly targeting Muslim women and on social media platforms, a stark increase from 600 incidents during the same period the previous year. This surge demands better measures to combat hate speech and physical attacks. Tell MAMA believes that with the measures of its Manifesto, it can tackle hate crime and increase social cohesion across the UK.

Tell MAMA’s Manifesto Against Hate 2024 key proposals include:

• The appointment of a Government “Hate Crime” Tsar to prioritise and oversee hate crime initiatives.
• Increase ministerial engagement with local communities to foster inclusivity and reduce social divisions, under the remit of the DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) and the Home Office.
• The establishment of Boards at local, regional, and national levels to promote dialogue and collaboration between Muslim and Jewish communities.
• Urge the Government to create a fund sponsored by Social Media companies, aided by legislative measures for compliance, to support organisations combatting online hate.
• For the administration of the ‘Protecting Places of Worship’ Security Fund to be outsourced to a legal entity that is a consortium made up of hate crime reporting agencies, to enhance accessibility and trust.

Regarding Tell MAMA’s Manifesto Against Hate 2024 launch, Iman Atta OBE, Director of Tell MAMA, stated:

“The sharp rise in hate crimes in the UK, both online and on our streets, is deeply alarming. It is no secret that Muslim and Jewish communities are more distanced and fractured from each other than ever before. Our Manifesto for the next Government is crucial. It is a blueprint for security and social cohesion, urging political parties to create a future free from hate and division, a UK in which all its citizens are safe.”

*** ENDS ***

Tell MAMA – Notes

Please visit https://tellmamauk.org/ for more details.

Follow us on Twitter/X.

The post ‘Manifesto Against Hate’ 2024 – Tell MAMA appeared first on TELL MAMA.

    (Tell MAMA has recorded a 335% increase in anti-Muslim hate cases, comparing the last 4 months to those in 2022/2023)

Contact: Iman Atta OBE

Tel: 0800 456 12 26

Email: info@tellmamauk.org

Embargo: None – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As the leading hate crime monitoring agency on measuring anti-Muslim hate, Tell MAMA recorded over 2,000 anti-Muslim cases in the four months that followed Hamas’s deadly terror attacks on October 7. This is the largest recorded number of cases in four months, since Tell MAMA was founded in 2011.

Following the publication of our previous briefing on December 20, Tell MAMA can confirm that in total, of the 2,010 cases post October 7th 2023, 901 occurred offline with 1,109 online cases. In comparison with the same timescale a year earlier, this demonstrates a 335% increase in anti-Muslim hate cases.

(In stark contrast, between 7 October 2022 and 7 February 2023, Tell MAMA recorded 310 offline cases and 290 online cases, respectively.)

Consistent with our previous statistical bulletins, a geographic breakdown for offline cases is as follows:

Tell MAMA received 576 cases in London, 71 in the northwest, 27 in South Yorkshire, 39 in West Yorkshire, 33 in the East Midlands and 41 in the West Midlands. In other areas, like the Southeast, we recorded 26 and in the Southwest of England, we recorded 27 cases. The final geographic areas concern Scotland (21), Wales (9), and the Northeast (31).

Regarding the types of cases recorded, Tell MAMA received 535 cases of abusive behaviour, 77 threats, 83 assaults, 79 acts of vandalism, 69 cases of discrimination, 39 acts of hate speech and 19 examples of anti-Muslim literature. And in over 65% of these cases, women were the target of such attacks. This once again demonstrates that British Muslim women have borne the majority of the brunt of anti-Muslim hate during this time.

Like all Tell MAMA cases, the figures are subject to further revision and analysis. We ensure that evidence is corroborated where possible and that cases are reviewed.

 Statement by the Director of Tell MAMA – Iman Atta OBE

“We are deeply concerned about the impacts that the Israel and Gaza war are having on hate crimes and on social cohesion in the U.K. Hate crimes against British Muslims have substantially risen and our data clearly demonstrates this. This rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and we hope that political leaders speak out to send a clear message that anti-Muslim hate, like antisemitism, is unacceptable in our country. There really is no space for hate and more than ever, it is essential that we sustain, nurture and protect the bonds that we have between communities, so that we all feel valued and safe in our communities and in our country”.

Street Level Anti-Muslim Abuse

Examples of street-level abuse and harassment flagged with our service since our December bulletin include a case of a Muslim woman in Islamic clothing who described the assault she faced when on a bus in East London. During the assault one of the perpetrators made inflammatory statements to her including, “you Muslims are troublemakers”. A hate crime investigation is ongoing, as we continue to provide support and liaise with the Metropolitan police.

In another London-based case, a woman described how someone vandalized their car with a Nazi swastika.

Outside of London, street-level abuse included cases of Muslim women harassed in the street and called “terrorists”, a classic anti-Muslim trope.

Tell MAMA is also liaising with Durham Police over a written death threat to worshippers at a mosque in Darlington on the 29th of December. Furthermore, local Muslim and Palestinian communities spoke of their fear about rising levels of racism and hate locally when speaking to the Northern Echo newspaper.

Another case included the targeting of a Muslim family home after someone daubed “Hamas” on their front door.

Online Anti-Muslim Abuse

In the online world, comparisons continue to show a sharp rise in reported cases. For example, in January 2023 Tell MAMA received 18 online anti-Muslim hate cases. In January 2024, we received 70 cases.

Following our December bulletin, we continued to record cases on public transport. One case of note is the targeting of individuals expressing visible support for Palestine (be it wearing a badge or carrying a Palestinian flag) who faced abuse, including anti-Muslim slurs like being a “terrorist”.

Statements by far right sympathisers post October 7th have included comments around demonstrations for a Gaza ceasefire that have included, “f*** off” to a Muslim country and do so”.

We also note that X, (formerly known as Twitter), suspended an account that asked users “Who’d win in the upcoming civil war in Britain?” providing two options: “British” or “Muslim”; the post attracted various replies from individuals who expressed overt anti-Muslim sentiments, boasted Crusader imagery in their bios and who made racialised and extremist comments about Muslim communities.

Reference Points

Our previous bulletins can be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here. The December bulletins appear here.

We attach the same advice and safety tips below as with previous bulletins. We urge Muslim communities and mosques to keep them to hand.

Standing together, not apart

In the current climate, we continue to urge communities to stand together and practice compassion and care for each other and for themselves; to be upstanders and intervene safely to stop racism and hate crimes.

Safety advice

We urge mosques and Islamic centres to download our mosque safety advice resources and to consider our updated mosque security advice service.

We have safety advice in both English and Arabic – and urge Muslim communities to remain vigilant when out and about.

Our counselling service is accessible to anyone in need. If you would like to access the service or find out more about it, e-mail us at counselling@tellmamauk.org

ENDS

Notes

1) Tell MAMA is a national service supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate through casework, counselling, advocacy, legal and signposting support.

2) Tell MAMA was founded in 2012 and is supported by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

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Figures shared with ITV News show a sevenfold increase in Islamophobic hate crimes since Hamas’ attack on October 7 compared to the same period last year.

There has also been a tenfold increase in cases at schools and universities, according to reports collated by Tell MAMA, a charity which records anti-Muslim incidents in the UK.

The 600% rise in incidents includes both verbal and physical abuse, as well as vandalism, with Acton Mosque in west London being splashed with red paint three times in two weeks.

On October 8, Lancashire police launched a hate crime investigation, following the dumping of a pig’s head at a proposed mosque in the market town of Barnoldswick.

ITV News heard from one woman from north London who “curled up into a ball”, as a driver started following her down the road and hurling abuse.

Aisha said she was wearing a traditional Arabic headscarf and her headphones when the woman accosted her – accusing her of supporting terror organisations and saying she “doesn’t belong here”.

“As I was walking up my road, suddenly I had someone just screaming and shouting some really hateful things about me. I was in a state of shock, I wasn’t sure what to do, I was terrified.”

“At one point I was just standing in the corner, I put my hood up, and I was just standing and just kind of waiting until she’d left, and just hiding myself and curling up into a ball.”

Haleem Kherallah, owner of Palestinian eatery Shakeshuka, said his central London restaurant had received 20 abusive phone calls this morning alone, with two members of staff having left in fear for their safety.

“I was really considering closing the restaurant,” he said. “Then I thought, you know what I’m not going to give up, and I’m determined not to let them win.”

Tell MAMA shared its findings as Home Secretary Suella Braverman faces widespread criticism for her description of pro-Palestine rallies in London as “hate marches”.

She found herself in even more hot water and was accused of inflaming tensions after suggesting police were “playing favourites” with protesters, in an op-ed for the Times that was not authorised by Number 10.

“Some of the rhetoric used by those in positions of power is poisonous, is divisive and this culture war is only going to lead to further hatred and hostility between communities,” said Qari Asim, an Imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque.

Tell MAMA warns that incidents are likely to be even higher than their figures suggest, as many hate crimes go unreported.

On its website, which includes safety advice, the charity says: “In the current climate, we continue to urge communities to stand together and practice compassion and care for each other and for themselves, to be upstanders and intervene safely to stop racism and hate crime.

“We urge those in positions of influence and public authority to consider how their language risk stereotyping communities and how it may unduly influence discussions online and offline.”

Muslim Council of Britain secretary general Zara Mohammed told ITV News: “I think the political rhetoric of the home secretary – very divisive language, very dangerous, pitting communities off one another, likening peaceful protests to hate marches, peddling to certain tropes – have been very unhelpful.

“They have upset many members of the community, and I think far and wide actually, but also they embolden extreme right-wing views. They embolden racism and Islamophobia, and they give people who maybe were a little bit in the shadows this kind of confidence that they can do these things.”

For more details, please read here

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A Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate 

Click to view

Director of Tell MAMA – Statement
Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE says:

“We have produced one of the most detailed studies in the U.K. with actual case numbers and classifications of anti-Muslim hate cases covering a decade from 2012-2022. This is a decade worth of data from assisting, supporting and ensuring that British Muslims get access to justice. We hope that this data inspires others to focus on this area of work and to bring to the awareness of many, that anti-Muslim hate needs to be peacefully challenged, monitored and countered wherever it manifests itself.

If we are to ensure a society where social cohesion is strengthened, then tackling anti-Muslim hatred is an important area of work that needs our collective effort.”

Key Points

• 20,000 British Muslims and others have used the Tell MAMA services between 2012-2022
  
• Tell MAMA has worked on over 16,000 cases of reported anti-Muslim hate
  
• There has been a doubling of verified and confirmed anti-Muslim hate cases reported to Tell MAMA in a decade,
  
• Far right agitation, anti-Muslim attacks globally, political discourse, the Brexit referendum result, the activities of Islamic state and terrorism and extremism, the grooming scandals and targeted anti-Muslim campaigns have all led to spike points in anti-Muslim hate,
  
• The highest frequency of street-based cases reported to Tell MAMA took place in 2016, 2017 and 2019 with the Brexit referendum result and a range of terrorist attacks buffeting the United Kingdom and its population and the Christchurch terrorist attacks in New Zealand. Added to this, agitation from foreign state actors, (such as Russian based social media accounts), sought to stir up divisions in social cohesion in the country,
  
• Covid-19 led to the highest onlinerecorded cases of anti-Muslim hate reported into Tell MAMA. There was a significant over-representation of neighbour disputes during the Covid lockdowns that led to anti-Muslim hate between parties,
  
• Specific anti-Muslim campaigns in 2018 culminated in the ‘Punish a Muslim’ campaign that raised alarm in parts of British Muslim communities. This campaign demonstrated that anti-Muslim hate campaigns were becoming more fragmented and involving lone actorsrather than organised groups or smaller networks of individuals. It was therefore moving from the domain of far-right extremist groups into the hands of dedicated and committed singular anti-Muslim activists,
  
• In 2021, Israel-Palestine spilled over into reports with an increase of anti-Muslim cases to Tell MAMA. (This is also in line the Community Security Trust – the CST – which reports a spike in antisemitic cases when this conflict takes place in the Middle East). Furthermore, Azeem Rafiq’s highlighting of the racist abuse he suffered and attacks against asylum seekers and centres also led to increased reports to Tell MAMA. 
  
•  The trend of household conflicts between neighbours continued and demonstrated that it was not just a ‘lock down’ issue and thatthere was a growing trend of neighbour disputes that turned anti-Muslim in nature.
• The language of anti-Muslim hate over a decade that can be classified broadly into two categories that include ‘mechanistic’ dehumanising language such as denying the humanity and human traits of Muslims and comparing them to machines, including depicting Muslim women as ‘bombs’ or machines that increase the population of Muslims through births. The second category involves relating Muslims to animalistic dehumanisation where Muslims are compared to animals and thereby denying their human traits.

The post A Decade of Anti-Muslim Hate appeared first on TELL MAMA.

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The short briefing ‘The Tangled Web of Far Right Anti-Muslim Hate’ identifies accounts Leak used on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, where extremist, far-right statements appear consistently.

Our investigation unearthed a video of Leak calling for “Time to close the borders and sink all these boats. Let’s sort out the strong from the weak” following the terror attacks in Paris in November 2015.

The briefing identifies a deeply-held far-right outlook that holds Muslims collectively to blame for crimes, including child sexual abuse and calls to remove elected Muslim officials from office.

The report poses pressing questions about what platforms like Twitter did or did not do in the days, hours and weeks before Leak carried out his attack.

Our investigation found that in the weeks leading up to the attack, Leak became more overtly violent and racist online, including calls for Spitfires to shoot refugees in Europe. In addition, he engaged with various hardened far-right accounts on Twitter, seemingly hoping to encourage others to get involved in similar anti-refugee agitations. However, police at this stage believe he acted alone.

Andrew Leak also posted vile, racialised homophobic hate, blaming LGBT+ communities for Monkeypox and retweeting transphobic memes.

As we revealed on Twitter, Leak “liked” Enoch Powell was right; God Hates Islam; Close UK Borders; England Fight Back; Islam Exposed Media UK (which displays a photo of a copy of the Holy Qur’an burning as its profile picture); Islam 666; The Racist Posts; and Tumbling Down The Rabbit Hole (full of conspiracist materials). Some pages proved inactive for a year or more, confirming what we identified before: his racist worldview began several years ago, namely how one such Twitter account we believe to be him followed the far-right British National Party in 2014.

Responding to the report, Tell MAMA Director Iman Atta said:  ‘Harmful, dehumanising and racist language on social media can evolve into offline violence and even terror. We will continue to work with civil society,  social media platforms and Police forces on addressing harmful content that leads to violence.’

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Active steps are needed to retain and build on strong community links forged during lockdown, such as highlighting Muslim communities in a positive way.

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Researchers at Newcastle University say the community spirit shown during the Coronavirus crisis could provide a foundation for greater understanding and improved relations between different groups. One example of this, they say, should be a better understanding of the contribution that the Muslim community makes to British society – and this in turn could help tackle Islamophobia.

They point to a report ‘Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in North East England’, published today following research carried out with Muslims across the North East, that highlights the extent and character of Islamophobia across the region and the impact it has on Muslim communities.

Among the recommendations made in the report is the need for improved education about Muslims and Islam, including more community projects to build bridges between groups. Public campaigns against Islamophobia and more funding for interfaith work, to improve the understanding about the Muslim community, the report team say, could also help challenge assumptions and misunderstandings.

Professor Peter Hopkins, Professor of Social Geography at Newcastle University, is one of the report’s authors and is also one of the country’s leading experts on understanding the effects of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.

He said: “The way that people have come together during the lockdown is proof that communities can put their differences to one side and focus on the greater good. But this shouldn’t just be for the duration of the current emergency. Many people are already talking about ways to keep this community spirit going once the lockdown starts to lift, and one way to do this is by building a better understanding of our Muslim neighbours, to counter negative stereotypes and anti-Muslim hatred.”

To produce the report, the report authors collaborated with Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), a secure and reliable service that allows people to report any form of anti-Muslim hatred.

Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central said “The launch of this report reminds us, yet again, that racism is a serious everyday issue for residents of the North East. Nearly 70% of participants in this study experience anti-Muslim racism regularly or daily and nearly 75% of Muslims feel that Islamophobia is getting worse. Muslim women are at the sharp end of this, being abused frequently on the street, on public transport and when driving. We must stand in solidarity with those struggling against racism and Islamophobia. We need real change, now”.

Iman Abou Atta OBE, Director of Tell MAMA, said: “We have seen a real sense of solidarity during the COVID crisis. It shows the real spirit of our country and this needs to be maintained in the struggle also against hatred, prejudice and intolerance. We must never be complacent in this struggle against hate as we have shown that we are not complacent in the struggle against COVID.”

The research, by a team at Newcastle University, with colleagues at Northumbria University, showed that more than two thirds of survey respondents across the three police force areas of Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria said Islamophobia is either a regular or everyday occurrence.

Muslims said they most often experienced Islamophobia as verbal abuse, harassment, intimidation or online abuse. This included comments based on incorrect assumptions about someone’s immigration status or literacy ability. It also included damage to buildings and property owned by Muslims.

The research also showed that Islamophobia takes place in a wide range of locations. Most often it was encountered in the street or in public places such as supermarkets or public transport systems. But many said they had also experienced it in the workplace – for example customers, colleagues or managers making assumptions about their language or making derogatory comments, glances or stares.

More than half of those who experienced anti-Muslim hatred  said they did not report it as they felt that little would be done, and some felt there was no-one willing to defend them when they experience Islamophobia in public.

This had the result of Muslims, particularly women, actively avoiding going to certain places. Some had also tried to adjust their clothing to disassociate themselves from religion but had still received abuse due to their race and gender.

The Safer Cities Action Team of Tyne and Wear Citizens have been campaigning for some time on issues of racism and Islamophobia. Taj Khan, a member of the action team said: “I try to understand and ask myself, why is there so much hate and resentment toward me when I have done nothing to any of those people who decide to verbally and physically torment and abuse me?

“I am a woman, a brown woman, a Muslim woman, I suffer misogyny, racial and Islamophobic hate on daily basis. I hate going out to shop because the perpetrators get more sympathy while I as a victim get threatened with security or the police and get forced off the premises.

“This whole experience leaves me feeling upset, hurt and humiliated but worst of all, I am tormented and think to myself ‘my appearance repulse others so much to a point they feel raged for the way I look, dress and the faith I represent’.

“The police need witnesses to prove you have been a victim of hate crime and the offender walks away with a smirk. I feel I need to invest in a body camera or never leave my home alone. Something has to change.”

Dr John Clayton, a Senior Lecturer in Geography at Northumbria University and report co-author added: “Our research presents clear evidence of the worsening everyday reality of Islamophobia for Muslims in the North East of England. It also shows the impact this has on access to services and employment as well as everyday decision making, identity and belonging. This is a clear reminder of the urgency required in tackling this form of racism in all its forms, across all parts of the UK.”

North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll said: “Muslim communities throughout our region are continuing to be blighted by anti-Muslim racism, and it’s getting worse. Islamophobia is an everyday reality for Muslim men and women, on public transport, in shops, in the workplace. It has a devastating effect on people’s life chances and opportunities. That’s the shocking finding of this new report.

“But the report also gives us hope. It makes excellent recommendations for how we can address this injustice and as mayor I am committed to supporting these. We have just introduced a new Equality and Diversity policy for the North of Tyne and I’m working closely with groups such as Tyne & Wear Citizens and Show Racism the Red Card who are challenging Islamophobia.

“We’re coming through the Covid-19 pandemic and now have a chance to do things differently and the report shows the urgency of this for our Muslim communities. The outpouring of social solidarity and cooperation, including between communities, during Covd19 shows we can change things for the better. Eradicating Islamophobia once and for all will be an essential part of how we build back better.”

Councillor Joyce McCarty, Deputy Leader at Newcastle City Council said: “I am immensely proud that Newcastle is a friendly city that is home to many vibrant, diverse communities. I welcome the findings of this report and its recommendations and thank those who have pulled it together. It is vital that we continue to learn from our communities, share experiences and challenges and improve our understanding of our city and its cultural makeup. Having a better understanding of community contributions to our society will help eliminate misunderstandings, prejudice and social injustice. Newcastle’s community spirit has shone brightly throughout the coronavirus crisis; we must continue to work together as our city recovers and we will embrace every community in our city.

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: “Anti-Muslim prejudice should absolutely not be tolerated here in Northumbria, or anywhere for that matter. Sadly, as experiences in this report highlight, there is a small minority who are intolerant of others. However, it’s clear this pandemic has brought society together. Like a virus, hate can spread fast, but so can the positives. We need this kind, consideration of others, that has been so evident here in the North East, to stay and wipe out the spread of ignorance and bigotry. Let’s build on the positives and tackle the causes that wedge divisions and see this time as one of opportunity and hope.”

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KEY FINDINGS

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51 people worshipping at 2 mosques in New Zealand were murdered by a far-right inspired extremist – Brenton Tarrant. The anti-Muslim terrorist attack took place on the 15^th of March 2019 – exactly a year ago.

• In the week following the terror attacks in Christchurch, incidents reported to Tell MAMA increased by 692%, with 12 incidents recorded in the previous week (March 8 – 14) and 95 the following week (March 15 – 21).
• The terror attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand had a significant effect in the UK, resulting in a rapid but long-lasting increase in anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia.
• Between January 1 and June 30, 2019, 705 incidents were reported to Tell MAMA, of which, 529 were verified as anti-Muslim and Islamophobic in nature. Of those verified, 374 occurred offline, and 155 had occurred online.
• Between the same period, 20 police forces across the UK recorded 1,213 anti-Muslim incidents. Of these, 1,028 occurred offline, while 91 were online, and, for 94 reports, the nature of the incident is undisclosed.
• Incidents in public areas increased by 192% between February and March, from 12 to 35 incidents respectively. Most significantly, anti-Muslim incidents targeting mosques or other Islamic institutions increased by 433% between February and March, from 3 to 16 incidents respectively.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 

“I am appalled that reported incidents of hatred aimed at Muslims in Britain have increased. All hate crime is completely unacceptable and I am determined to tackle this problem at its root.

“This Government has put millions into protecting all places of worship and we will continue to fund projects that help to challenge prejudice and discrimination.

“As we mark the anniversary of the terrible tragedy in Christchurch, let me be clear that there is no place for anti-Muslim hatred in Britain.  As Communities Secretary, I will do everything in my power to stamp out hatred in all its forms, wherever it appears.”

The post The Impact of Christchurch Terror Attack | Tell MAMA Interim report 2019 appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Of over 2,000 contacts made with Tell MAMA in 2018, Tell MAMA recorded 1,282 anti-Muslim or Islamophobic reports, of which 1,072 were verified as being classified as such, through secondary evidential sources.

Of the 1,072 cases, 745 occurred at a street level and 327 were online.

Click here to view

In addition, Tell MAMA received reports of 1,891 anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents from 20 police forces in the U.K. which Tell MAMA has data sharing and information agreements with. (These details do not overlap with the Tell MAMA data sets). In total, we received 2,963 anti-Muslim hate incidents in 2018, including Tell MAMA and police data sets.

Two Significant ‘Spike Points’ of Anti-Muslim Hatred in 2018

In 2018, two significant spikes occurred. The first, in spring, reflected the ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letters sent to Muslim homes, institutions, and places of work in March, followed by heightened tensions, fears, and anxieties around the proposed day in April, and the second wave of letters (‘Punish a Muslim Day 2’), received in May. In total, Tell MAMA received reports of 37 offline (street based) incidents which directly referenced ‘Punish a Muslim Day’.

The second and more significant spike occurred in August after the former foreign secretary Boris Johnson a column referring to veiled Muslim women as ‘letterboxes’ and ‘bank-robbers’. In the week following his article, anti-Muslim incidents increased by 375% – from 8 incidents the previous week, to 38 in the following. Of the 38 anti-Muslim hate incidents in the first week following Mr Johnson’s comments, 22 were directed at visibly Muslim women who wore the face veil (niqab) or other veiling practices. We recorded a total of 57 incidents in the three weeks following the column’s publication, 32 of which were directed at visibly Muslim women. Between the 5th and 29th of August, 42% (24) of the street-based (offline) incidents reported to Tell MAMA directly referenced Boris Johnson and/or the language used in his column.

Language of Hate

Verbal abuse (abusive language), accompanied many of the anti-Muslim incidents. We analysed the trends in language, finding several themes; terrorism, paedophiles, hatred of foreigners, blame, competition, insulting/derogatory remarks about Islam, and expressions of confidence by the perpetrator that no punishment will follow.

Social Media

Over the last three years, Tell MAMA has recorded a steady increase in street-based (offline) anti-Muslim incidents year-on-year. However, this year demonstrated an 11% reduction in street-based (offline) incidents compared with the previous reporting period of 2017 (with 839 street-based incidents recorded). It should also be noted that there were 4 major terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom in 2017, which led to sharp spikes of reported anti-Muslim hate incidents into Tell MAMA just after the major attacks.

The online 2018 Tell MAMA dataset includes 327 verified reports, down 10% from the 2017 figure of 362 verified reports. A clear majority of reported abuse occurred either on Twitter (175 reports/incidents) or Facebook (92 reports), with a small minority having occurred on YouTube (8 reports). The ‘Other’ category (52 reports) includes communications sent over email or posted on internet forums. As with the previous dataset, we categorised most online cases as Hate Speech (168 reports) and Abusive Behaviour (96 reports). Threats accounted for 12 reports, while Anti-Muslim Literature remains present in a clear minority of cases (50 reports).

Locations of Hate

Most commonly, anti-Muslim attacks/incidents in 2018 took place in public areas (209). Incidents which took place within, or targeted the victim’s household or private property, increased by 11% (101 to 113), and those occurring in the victim’s place of work have risen by 8% (74 to 80) since the previous year.

Interconnectedness of anti-Muslim Hate and anti-Islam Comments

The rising instances of discrimination, hate speech, and anti-Muslim literature indicate that a more general intolerance and hatred is growing. These typologies are seldom prosecutable by law and have proven more difficult to achieve satisfactory outcomes and solutions for victims. Similarly, this year we analysed the trends in verbal abuse, finding a common theme whereby perpetrators use language attacking Islam and religious practices alongside, for example, anti-Muslim hate incidents that range from abusive behaviour, discrimination, or threats. We, therefore, emphasise the gravity of attacks on Islam in tandem with hatred directed at individuals or institutions. The two are interconnected, thus hatred and intolerance must both be challenged simultaneously.

Gender of Victims and Perpetrators

We recorded the details of 1244 victims and 1196 perpetrators. Consistent with our previous reports, of the known/disclosed victims, the majority were female at 57% (721). The majority of known perpetrators were male (73%, 482 of 663), and 61% were white men (404 in 663).

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Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the “febrile” atmosphere surrounding Brexit could give rise to division, allowing a way in for far-right extremist ideology.

Mr Basu said there was no intelligence pointing to an increased risk of terror attacks after Brexit, but he was concerned about a potential rise in hate crime.

The head of UK counter-terrorism policing said: “What’s most concerning me about Brexit is its potential to divide communities and set communities against each other.

“So what we saw after the referendum (in 2016) was a rise in hate crime, and a rise in far-right rhetoric, and we have seen the growth of organisations like National Action, and what I want to make absolutely clear is that we are concentrating very heavily on making sure that doesn’t get a foothold in this country.

“I’m really proud to be a UK citizen in a country that is largely tolerant, and we haven’t seen an explosion in that threat.

“What I’m concerned about is the creeping rise of that threat, and if we aren’t clear that we are combating that threat then that’s my concern.

“It’s still a relatively small threat compared to what we have faced from al Qaida in the past and Islamic State over the last four years or so.”

Earlier this month Scotland Yard was forced to increase its presence in the political heart of London after Tory MP Anna Soubry was branded a Nazi by a mob during television interviews and was then followed to the Palace of Westminster.

Mr Basu acknowledged the policing in place at the time “wasn’t assertive enough to stop who were intent on being intimidating”.

It comes as Labour MP for Great Grimsby Melanie Onn tweeted some of the abuse she has received, calling her a “traitor” and warning her to “Watch your back as you will not be forgiven”.

Appealing for “calm reflection and debate”, Mr Basu told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have seen some of the behaviour from very, very small groups.

“If you think about what happened outside of Parliament just before Christmas and just after Christmas, we had months of very peaceful, very lawful, no problems protest outside Parliament.

“Then a very small group of people managed to turn that atmosphere and that cannot be right. We must make absolutely sure that doesn’t happen.”

Mr Basu said he finds the prospect of a no-deal Brexit “incredibly concerning”.

Leaving the European Union without continued access to shared data and intelligence systems would put the UK and Europe in a “very bad place”, he said.

Mr Basu said: “For counter-terrorism we have a lot of bilateral relationships, it is a devolved power for countries, it is not an EU power, so we are confident that my counterparts in those 27 countries want to exchange information with us and we are working very hard to make sure we put that in place.

“But nevertheless, to leave without … being able to exchange data or biometrics on people who might be criminals or terrorists would be a very bad place for this country, and for Europe, to be.”

Mr Basu said there was a central team working on contingency plans, while counter-terrorism police liaison officers were “embedded” in embassies and agencies in Europe.

He said: “They are working very hard with their counterparts to understand how we cope if there is a no-deal Brexit, but as I said, a no-deal Brexit for operational security would be a very bad thing.”

Mr Basu was speaking at the launch of a major cinema advert campaign to increase awareness of suspicious activity and encourage people to report it to police.

The 60-second film shows a series of scenarios, such as a man stockpiling hazardous material and another buying weapons, before rewinding and zooming in on the danger.

In 2017 and 2018, around a fifth of the information passed to police from the public had a “significant” role in thwarting attacks, he said.

Four far-right extremist plots and 14 Islamist terror plots were foiled in the last two years.

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The teenagers came dressed up in the sort of clothes that were not just walking political statements but there to trigger anger. Beyond the anti-abortion slogans, they stopped the Native Americans at the Indigenous People’s March by the Lincoln Memorial. It was heated and tense, and what particularly inflamed anger was the teenager who blocked Nathan Phillips, standing almost serenely but all the while sporting a goading smug grin, supported by his friends.

This is Trump’s America and we should not be deceiving ourselves to think otherwise. He began the week by mocking one of the worst massacres of Native Americans and now it has finished with this. As usual there were conservatives looking for any angle to humanise the teenagers and remove some sense of guilt and offence from him. Videos that emerged later were even more damning of the teenagers, showing them to be almost mobbing the Native American, taunting and laughing.

Firstly, what does it say that a school decided to take their children to a political march? America is embroiled in a time of fierce racial tensions. Why were these, ultimately, children exposed to this? They did not come neutrally but came wearing symbols expressing allegiance to Donald Trump. What might have happened had violence erupted? The teenagers would have become victims and further cemented the far-right narrative that an anti-white genocide is taking place. The school risked their safety by allowing them to enter a potentially dangerous situation.

Secondly, those of from backgrounds of socialism, liberalism and humanism would do well to remember that this was ultimately a teenager. One absolutely soaked in the privilege of being exempt from historical discriminations on race, class or gender, but still a child. Knowledge and deciphering what is morally correct is a process, cultivated carefully from a mixture of inherited values but also exposure to different environments and experience. He is a product of what he was raised in and is still fleshing out his moral compass. Now, anyone with a basic sense of family values would never obstruct an elderly man, nor smirk in his face, but that is another issue altogether. The teenager was maddeningly disrespectful, but we should be hesitant to calling for the destruction of his career or social life. His face is now plastered on social media, circulated globally. He will live with the consequences of his behaviour. But he should be allowed to learn and grow from it too. Brokering a sense of common good and mutualism between different groups can only be nurtured from accepting mistakes in human interactions and wishing to learn from it.

But lastly, what was chilling about this was the brazen display of arrogant, triumphalist rudeness on the part of these teenagers. They racially taunted whilst wearing pro-life slogans. They harassed Native American elders, and they showed that they could do it not just because they wanted to, but they were in power, they were in control. The smirk infuriated many people because it signalled the privilege these teenagers had as affluent white boys which protected them, unburdened by the experiences of being a Native American elderly who would have seen and felt much racism and prejudice throughout his life. They treated him as undeserving of respect and dignity, and that is how you know it is Trump’s America because these are the values he instilled in his campaign when targeting minorities. In the era of toxic identity politics, white nationalism remains cancerous to the advance of liberty, human rights and further democracy.

He has emboldened those harbouring prejudiced views to feel more confident in their bigotry and to wear in literally on their sleeves and head. To don a MAGA cap and racially taunt someone like Nathan Phillips. This is Trump’s America.

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A report by the House of Commons Petitions Committee said the Government and social media firms must directly consult with disabled people on digital strategy and hate crime law, and that social media firms need to accept responsibility for allowing “toxic environments to exist unchallenged”.

The inquiry was launched after Price started a petition to make online abuse a specific criminal offence and create a register of offenders after highlighting the online abuse her son, Harvey, who is partially blind, autistic and has Prader-Willi syndrome.

The petition had attracted more than 220,000 signatures before being closed early due to the 2017 general election.

Committee chair Helen Jones MP said: “Our inquiry into online abuse and the experience of disabled people has shown that social media is rife with horrendous, degrading and dehumanising comments about people with disabilities.

“The law on online abuse is not fit for purpose and it is truly shameful that disabled people have been forced off social media while their abusers face no consequences.

“There is no excuse for the continued failure to make online platforms as safe for disabled people. Self-regulation has failed disabled people and the law must change to ensure more lives are not destroyed.”

The committee’s recommendations also said that laws on hate crime must give disabled people the same protections as those who suffer hate crime due to race or religion.

The committee said it found “disability hate crime was not fully recognised and perpetrators are not appropriately punished”.

It called on the Government to review the experience of disabled people when reporting crimes and giving evidence, saying: “Too many disabled people have not been treated seriously because frontline officers and staff do not understand disability. Training and support is needed to overcome this.”

The report also criticised footballing organisations, claiming only one of the five organisations it contacted responded to concerns that a high proportion of abusive content against disabled people was linked to football.

“It is deeply disappointing that the footballing organisations with whom we raised concerns about abusive behaviour expressed no interest in addressing the problem. Their lack of response is shameful,” the report said.

The committee said letters had been sent to anti-racism group Kick It Out, the Professional Footballers’ Association, the Football Association, the Premier League and English Football League.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have been repeatedly criticised over their policing hate speech, abuse and false information that appears on their platforms.

A Government spokesman said: “As part of the Online Harms White Paper we are bringing in new laws and reviewing existing ones to make the internet safer for everyone, including disabled people.”

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Today, these two countries are changing unquestionably. It would be the height of disingenuity to ignore the sweeping racism that always dogged somewhere like Britain. For much of the last century the far-right were a presence in the streets, a manifestation of Enoch Powell’s dark prophecy that promised blood on the streets amidst a race war. But they were pushed back by the solidarity between minorities and the natives. Britain was not a post-racism society as many liked to dishonestly pretend, but by comparison to other countries in the west it had made incredible strides in becoming more socially liberal.

And yet today we have Brexit. We have increased rates of hate crime that followed it across places like Stoke, West Midlands, Wales and Sunderland. A sense of euphoria and legitimacy has emboldened the far right to not only peddle their hate but now attack groups. Brexit seemed to vindicate them, bring them from the margins previous generations spent blood and sweat to push them to. And why would they not feel like that? Brexit was the culmination of cultural and economic grievances boiling into a desire to rattle the status quo and the distant elites whose lives seemed wholly unconnected from those living in impoverished post-industrial towns. Give the tree a shake and see what falls down.

What does post-Brexit Britain so far look like? Increased hate crimes, uncertainty about the future of migrants, loss of jobs, shortage of medicines, the Yellow Vests, Tommy Robinson in UKIP and a whole lot more. Globalisation delivered rapid change and it would be mistaken to think this would not generate tensions between different demographics, especially in towns where a sort of self-imposed segregation born from fears of racism and extremism arise. People are social animals and long for a sense of cultural communion, the sort of which local councils have not sought to nurture enough. These cultural divides have made groups more vulnerable to extremists from both the far-right and Islamist backgrounds, who feed off the sense of social exclusion that can fester.

But this has been exacerbated by the profound sense of loss in many post-industrial towns and cities which have been tapped into, relentlessly, by both the far-right, populist parties like UKIP and the right-wing tabloids.

When Margaret Thatcher closed the mines during the eighties a terrible gale of depravity blew through many British communities. A sense of cultural identity, communal tie and belonging was lost to the forces of globalisation and the market. The shift to a more insecure labour market further eroded the sense of community that once existed. In these towns a rust has settled over and provided a fertile ground for hostility towards immigration and Islam to grow.

Research has shown that areas close to major cities and university towns have warm views on both while those from the more industrial towns have negative views. In particular, attitudes towards Islam had been somewhat softening between 2011-2016 but then grew again during 2017, which is likely tied to the spate of terrorist attacks. The consequences of this cannot be underestimated for how it undermines the social fabrics by fracturing the cohesion in communities. In areas where hostile views towards Muslims and immigrants exist, the potential for racially-motivated violence and abuse are never too far away. Data found that following Brexit, 33 out of the 44 major police forces across England and Wales reported a sharp rise in hate crime.

Key to challenging this growth in far-right extremism include listening to concerns over immigration and Islam but at the same time presenting a passionate defence of the contributions made to our country by migrants and Muslims.

Vital to this is also appreciating the economic anxiety gripping the country. In leaving behind the industries without a plan to regenerate well-paid jobs offering dignity and social status, successive governments have entrapped communities in a state of chronic poverty and unemployment. Opportunities have relocated almost exclusively to London and inequality has cut through the country starkly like a knife. It is sharp, and it is clear. While the wealth at the top multiplies, there are millions of working families toiling in poverty, reliant on food banks and unable to pay energy bills. The shortage of affordable housing coupled with abominably high rents, cuts to welfare and local council budgets have punished families relentlessly. Insecurity over housing and jobs is a strong aspect of anxiety regarding immigration. Many feel they are already priced out and unable to compete, and regard low-skilled immigration as another threat to their own economic security and interests.

Within this climate, populists and extremists present an enemy in the shape of the low-wage immigrant, who without voice, status and power, cannot defend their interests. They would ordinarily look to the institutions for protection but find government ministers demonising them and newspapers blasting them. This is the game of divide and rule that the far-right thrive upon. We comforted ourselves with the decline of UKIP thinking that populism was in its last embers, but they achieved their goal of Brexit, and one imagines that a populist right-wing party offering economic protectionism to post-industrial towns coupled with harsher stances on immigration and Islam could perform extremely well.

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Early intervention and involvement of the Muslim/other community and police plus civil society groups could reduce hate crimes following a terrorist incident, says Britain’s leading anti-Muslim hate crime monitoring group and academics.

• Hate crime spikes usually take place between 24-72 hours after a terrorist incident.
• Tell MAMA has seen and measured these spikes since it first observed a large spike after the murder of drummer Lee Rigby by Islamist extremists in 2013.
• Yet effective messaging between the Metropolitan Police, civil society groups and a mobilisation by local faith groups after the appalling March 2017 Westminster Bridge attack meant that any divisive hate incidents after the attack were not as significant as they could have been in terms of their volume.
• The report underscores the need for quick and early mobilisation and communication interventions, thereby closing down the window for hate groups to promote their divisiveness and in detaching the actions of the terrorist from wider Muslim communities who want to peacefully get on with their lives.
• A National 14-day Plan (terror incident response plan) should be implemented by police forces across the UK, based on the Metropolitan Police’s model used after the Westminster attack, which had a significant impact on hate crime levels.
• This mobilisation also means that wider communities are able to come together and bond at a time when many are in shock and grief when lives are lost and another reason why quick community mobilisation is essential.

This ground-breaking report is a joint collaboration between Tell MAMA (Measuring anti-Muslim Attacks) and the authors, Ms Kim Sadique, Dr James Tangen and Ms Anna Perowne.

The full report can be found HERE.

 How Hate Can Be Reduced After Terrorist Attacks

The overall aim of this report is to understand post ‘trigger event’ hate incident patterns with a specific focus on the anomalous data following the Westminster terror attack (22^nd March 2017). In order to achieve this, the authors undertook a detailed discourse analysis for a period of 2 weeks post Westminster attack between 22^nd March 2017 to 5^th April 2017 (this timescale is linked to the National 14 Day Plan implemented by the Metropolitan Police). Analysis of hate incident reports provided by Tell MAMA was undertaken and semi-structured interviews were conducted with three hate crime and two journalism professionals to illicit the expert opinions of those working in this field as to why there is a difference between some trigger events and others in terms of hate incident patterns. The report concludes with a list of recommendations that have been devised following interviews with key professionals.

Comments

Speaking about the findings of the report, the Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE said:

“This report consolidates and confirms what we know. That there are significant spikes in anti-Muslim hate and bigotry after major national terrorist events, though these can be mitigated by strong local co-ordinated community messaging that is quick, responsive and from the heart of local communities.

 We know after Westminster, that this works and if we are to maintain social cohesion and reduce hate crime impacts, this report provides the first real insight into how this can be done through rapid mobilisation and positive messaging.”

Commenting on the report, the lead researcher and author of the report, Kim Sadique, said:

“This research provides support for previous anecdotal evidence regarding hate incident patterns following ‘trigger’ events such as the EU referendum or terror attacks. Analysis of the data shows clear spikes in online hate between 24-48 hours after a ‘trigger’ event and this then moves offline between 48-72 hours after. Furthermore, it shows that hate incidents are underpinned by the level of emotional connection to the ‘trigger’ event. In what we call the ‘familiar and familial’ effect, the level of empathy or connection felt towards the chosen target influences both the prevalence and severity of hate responses. The more of a connection the public has with the target location or the more they can empathise with the victims, the more likely we are to see hate spikes both online and offline after such ‘trigger’ events (700% increase in ‘street incidents’ in the seven days following the Manchester Arena attack). Westminster was different, the hate spike was not as significant as those following other trigger events. We believe this was because there were clearer counter-narratives immediately after the attack and there appeared to be less emotional attachment by the public to the target location”.

The full report can be found HERE.

Key Recommendations

1. Government and political parties should provide clear leadership and a distinctive counter-narrative to anti-Muslim sentiments following a potential trigger event

There needs to be a clearer counter-narrative from the Government and/or political parties following a ‘trigger event’ to prevent hate responses. Clear leadership and visibility of Government and/or political parties is crucial from the outset.

2. All Police Services should implement the National 14-Day Plan in the immediate aftermath of a potential trigger event

The National 14-Day Plan implemented by the Metropolitan Police should be utilised by all Police Services across the UK following terrorist attacks.

3. Media reporting in the aftermath of a ‘trigger event’ needs to be more balanced and media outlets should be held to account for reporting that is inflammatory or factually inaccurate

The media needs to consider the use of language and images used in reporting ‘trigger events.’

4. Social media companies should enforce a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards posts that incite hate

Social media companies can respond much faster to posts which incite hatred by blocking/removing the posts/user more quickly.

5. Muslim communities need to be given a safe platform from which they are able to express their emotions and response to ‘trigger events’, such as terror attacks

Muslim communities should be supported to provide a clear and immediate response to potential ‘trigger events’, particularly terror attacks. Media outlets should ensure a safe platform is provided for legitimate representatives from Muslim communities to be able to speak, without fear of being vilified or collectively blamed for the actions of individuals

6. Further research must be undertaken to understand the role of emotions in post ‘trigger event’ hate responses

Research should focus particularly on feelings of connection to the event, location and/or victims in addition to patriotic sentiments more generally

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Gendered Anti-Muslim Hatred and Islamophobia: Tell MAMA Interim Report 2018

The Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE, commenting on the 6-month interim report for 2018 stated:

 “The gendered intersectionality of anti-Muslim or Islamophobic hate incidents are now well documented through our extensive work. Being a woman and being Muslim are markers for some of this gendered Islamophobia and not a single year has gone by since 2012 when we started work, when the majority of victims of street-based hate crimes have not been women. Of equal concern are the rising levels of aggression that are being shown to victims at a street level. This is deeply concerning and possibly indicates that something is changing for the worst.”

Key Points

• Tell MAMA recorded a total of 685 reports. Of these reports, 608 were verified as being anti-Muslim or Islamophobic in nature and as having occurred in the UK between January and June 2018. Two-thirds of verified incidents occurred offline, or on a street-level (65.9%, n=401). An offline, or street-level, incident means that the incident  occurred  in-person  between  a  victim and a perpetrator. There were therefore more street incidents of anti-Muslim hatred reported into Tell MAMA.
• Crimes or incidents that are classified as ‘online’ occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, or on other Internet-based platforms, were verified as having happened within the UK, and account for over a third of reports in 2018 ( 34%, n=207).
• In 2018, the most widely reported anti-Muslim hate incident was classified as ‘abusive behaviour’ (45.3%, n=182) with the second most reported frequency of incident classed as a ‘physical attack’ (15.5%, n=62). This demonstrated a rise in physical intimidation and actions against Muslim faith institutions and property.) Discrimination (almost 10%, n=40) has shifted to the third most common anti-Muslim incident reported to Tell MAMA between January and June 2018. This category included mistreatment, denial of opportunities or denial of services based on Islamophobic prejudice, some of which was institutional in nature.
• The realities of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred are complex: involving situational abuse, discriminatory practices and behaviours, hate crime, and the structural and institutional barriers which limit the educational and career aspirations of Muslims. Structural prejudice can impact Muslims when dealing with law enforcement, the criminal justice service, or the misapplication of safeguarding policies. Such acts of hatred, discrimination and racism harm Muslims of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and are not solely the actions of violent bigots who exist on the margins of society. We must instead examine the everyday nature of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred which curtails the agency, aspirations and mobility of Muslims when they are going on their day to day activities.
• Places of Anti-Muslim Hate Incidents: Consistent with previous years, the largest proportion of street-based incidents took place within public areas such as parks and shopping areas and the second most common place for incidents was public transport networks, such as trams, buses etc.
• Gendered anti-Muslim Attacks: 2018 data showed that at a street levelwomen remain the number one victim of anti-Muslim hatred with 58%,(n=233) of victims being female, re-affirming previous findings over the years, that anti- Muslim hate or Islamophobia at a street level is also male on female abuse in addition to anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry.

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Tell MAMA is delighted to contribute to the APPG on British Muslims inquiry into a working definition on Islamophobia/anti-Muslim hatred. We hope that our submission can help further the debate.

Now, more than ever, it is important to define what is a growing problem, in the hope that with further understanding, that we can support Muslims and challenge institutional and non-institutional forms of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.

Our recent annual reports, published in 2018 and 2017, which cover the 2016 and 2017 reporting cycles, have used the terms Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred (and/or prejudice) interchangeably, partly for brevity because the term is established in existing academic literature and used by police forces nationwide when logging hate incidents and crimes.

Tell MAMA believes any definition of Islamophobia or anti-Muslim hatred should always centre on the voices and experiences of Muslims. We welcome further understanding of this issue in the hope that the debate can move beyond semantics whilst ensuring that fundamental rights are taken into consideration. From a research perspective, John Gerring argued: “to deprive the social science community of certain words, or of certain uses of commonly understood words, is bound to create confusion, and also to limit the usefulness of social science as a way of apprehending the world.”

Some perpetrators in our dataset demonstrate a disproportionate hatred of Islam which often has little to do with attacking or abusing Muslims directly. Therefore, we cannot always detach how some display a hatred of Islam from a hatred of Muslims. We affirm the fundamental right of freedom of expression and speech, but it comes with a responsibility to not harm others or threaten or incite violence.

Previously Tell MAMA has used a reworked version of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), working definition of antisemitism: “A certain perception of Muslims, which may be expressed as hatred or outward hostility towards Muslims. Hatred may take the form of anti-Muslim rhetoric and physical manifestations that are targeted towards Muslims (or non-Muslim individuals considered to be sympathetic to Muslims) and/or their property; or towards Muslim community institutions or religious and other related social institutions”.

Having flexibility in our definition, we feel, allows our work to document and evidence how Islamophobia and anti-Muslim prejudice are situational, criminal, hateful, and importantly, structural. We know that there are potential obstacles to achieving outcomes for victims of Islamophobic abuse, including institutional discrimination, widespread prejudice, and social barriers to reporting incidents and accessing public services. But, crucially, understanding how structural inequalities and institutional discrimination can help us understand how Muslims are often disadvantaged when they engage with law enforcement agencies and the courts due to institutional discrimination.

Free Speech Versus Islamophobia or Anti-Muslim Hatred

At the root of the value system of Tell MAMA’s work is the defence of free speech given that these are hard won rights and any infringement on free speech creates a long-term chilling effect on thoughts, ideas and discussions. This is fundamentally corrosive to society.

We therefore believe that religion can be disliked, mocked or ridiculed and whilst such beliefs and actions will naturally be disliked by many people of faith, they mainly fall into the bracket of free speech. Where they move into the bracket of anti-Muslim bigotry is when these views and beliefs attempt to target and curtail the right of British Muslims or when they attempt to bestialize and caricature Muslims as a whole. Tell MAMA therefore looks at such issues on a case by case basis and whilst many cases of anti-Islam speech fall into the bracket of free speech, there are cases where this also tips into anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia when there are impacts on people, communities and institutions. It is the latter – impacts on people, communities, institutions, work environments and in the delivery of goods and services where Islamophobia or anti-Muslim hatred has impacts and which we assist victims on and record and monitor. This also includes supporting individuals who have suffered structural institutionally based anti-Muslim bigotry.

No doubt, this debate will continue, but in general criticism of religion does not fall into being anti-Muslim discourse.  We will continue to feed into this debate whilst balancing the rights of free speech and the rights of individuals to live their lives free from fear and hate.

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Director of Tell MAMA, Iman Atta OBE says, “we are in deeply worrying times where people are looking for certainty and what they are getting is instability at a political and societal level. This means that at times like this, minority groups are the ones who suffer the anger of those looking to vent their fears, insecurities and concerns.

“We are seeing more aggressive street-based incidents, younger perpetrators, between the ages of 13-18, increased vandalism and international interference by well organised social media accounts playing groups off in the UK. More than ever, we need to come together and redouble our efforts against those who seek to divide and play communities off against each other”.

Key Points

• In 2017 Tell MAMA recorded a total of 1,330 reports. Of these reports, 1,201 were verified as being anti-Muslim or Islamophobic in nature and as having occurred in the UK between January and December 2017. More than two-thirds of verified incidents occurred offline, or on a street-level (70%, n=839), which represents a 30% rise in offline reports when compared to the previous reporting period (n=643). An offline, or street-level, incident means that the incident occurred in-person between a victim (or property) and a perpetrator. There were therefore more street incidents of anti-Muslim hatred reported into Tell MAMA.
• Crimes or incidents that are classified as ‘online’ occurred on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, or on other Internet-based platforms, were verified as having happened within the UK, and account for a third of reports in 2017 (n=362), which represents a 16.3% rise in reports when compared to the previous year (n=311). This small rise can be partially attributed to the way in which ideologically-motivated accounts felt emboldened by major trigger events, (such as terrorist attacks) and broader Islamophobic discourses in the public sphere.
• The ‘online hate’ figure, however, should be viewed as part of a wider trend in our datasets where there has been a marked shift towards more serious offline incidents such as physical attacks, threatening behaviour and abuse more generally, along with a growing awareness of Tell MAMA in Muslim communities, among key stakeholders, and partners, resulting in a greater willingness amongst victims and witnesses to report.
• Tell MAMA has listed in its annual report examples of ‘Twitter bots’ that have sought to cause disruption and division in community perceptions and which have actively promoted anti-Muslim hatred. One such Twitter account was @DavidJo52951945 . Responses to the rhetoric on this account, called for violent action against Islamic institutions and on August 30^th 2017, the Times reported that this bot originated from Russia. Furthermore, a Twitter account called @SouthLoneStar, which had amassed some 16,500 followers, was responsible in starting a global trend after the Westminster terrorist attack.

The @SouthLoneStar account made several tweets about the terror attack on Westminster Bridge before sharing the photo of a Muslim woman walking across the bridge on a mobile phone, just after the vehicle had mown down pedestrians. It used the major hashtags (#PrayForLondon and #Westminster) to post tweets which described Islam as a ‘cult of death’ and added the #BanIslam hashtag. An earlier tweet called for Islam to be ‘outlawed’.^[1] An archive of the @SouthLoneStar account in January 2017 revealed many pro-Trump tweets and how the account had followed a far-right account named @pepethetroll, which remains active on the platform.^[2] Nor was the anti-Muslim content specific to the United States or even Britain. Further archive research of the account reveals that the @SouthLoneStar had attempted to stir-up anti-Muslim views in other European countries. For example, on 11 March 2017, @SouthLoneStar used the ‘#BanIslam’ and ‘#Rotterdam’ hashtags in a tweet which shared an image of about Muslim conquests and the Crusades.^[3]

The Guardian reported that the @SouthLoneStar account was the “creation of the Internet Research Agency, a Russian “troll army” based in St Petersburg. This is where, in rooms of about 20 people working 12-hour shifts for pay of between 45,000 and 65,000 rubles a month (£575-£830), a modern disinformation campaign is crafted.” Whilst these are some examples of Twitter and social media accounts promoting direct anti-Muslim hatred, we need to maintain vigilance against foreign interference, in these cases, emanating from Russia, which seek to promote division and intolerance in the UK.

• Social media agencies such as Twitter conduct a haphazard removal process for content. Our report highlights inaction from Twitter even on material that glorifies anti-Muslim hatred and violence against Muslims and Islamic institutions. Furthermore, Twitter’s inactivity in removing anti-Muslim hate material is deeply worrying and shows a wanton lack of desire to understand this hatred on its platform. Twitter has also demonstrated to us in Tell MAMA, its inability to stop individuals opening up new accounts repeatedly, when they have been banned from using the platform. In one case, a victim had to report in eleven separate accounts for harassment and with Twitter unable to stop the creation of new accounts and even dismissing reports on the same individual when multiple accounts linked to him were reported in through the ‘reporting in’ channels for Twitter.
• In 2017, vandalism replaced threatening behaviour as the third most common anti-Muslim hate incident. There was a 56% increase in anti-Muslim vandalism when compared with 2016, with one in ten ‘real-world’ incidents being classed as vandalism. (The most widely reported anti-Muslim hate incident was classified as ‘abusive behaviour’ with the second most reported frequency of incident classed as a ‘physical attack’. This demonstrated a rise in physical intimidation and actions against Muslim faith institutions and property.) Discrimination was the fourth most common anti-Muslim incident reported to Tell MAMA in 2017, with a 77% increase in incidents when compared to 2016. This category included mistreatment, denial of opportunities or denial of services based on Islamophobic prejudice, some of which was institutional in nature.
• Places of Anti-Muslim Hate Incidents: Consistent with previous years, the largest proportion of street-based incidents took place within public areas such as parks and shopping areas and the second most common place for incidents was public transport networks, such as trams, buses etc.
• Gender Variances in Attacks: 2017 data showed that at a street level nearly 6 out of 10 victims of anti-Muslim hate were women and 8 in 10 of the perpetrators were male, re-affirming previous findings over the years, that anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia at a street level is also male on female abuse in addition to anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry. 
• Victim Ethnicity – Predominantly Asian females

10). Perpetrator Ethnicity – Predominantly white males

11). Victim and Perpetrator Age Ranges

Where age group data was available, the most common age for victims was 26-35.

The most common age for perpetrators was 13-18.

References

^[1] Ibid.

^[2] Texas Lone Star. Twitter post. 2016. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170112123756/https://twitter.com/SouthLoneStar/ (retrieved 18/06/2018).

^[3] Texas Lone Star. Twitter post. March 11 2017, 20:01. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170112123756/https://twitter.com/SouthLoneStar/ (retrieved 18/06/2018).

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Tell MAMA’s annual report (2016) highlights the gendered nature of anti-Muslim prejudice at a street level and the need to fully understand the intersectional nature of anti-Muslim hatred where race, gender and anti-Muslim prejudice intersect within cases.

Given the impact of anti-Muslim hatred on the mobility of Muslim women and on the personal life choices that they make, the impacts are also felt within the family and have implications for integration and social cohesion. Tell MAMA re-enforces the need for greater awareness within police forces about the intersectional and gendered nature of anti-Muslim hatred at a street level and the negative perceptions that it can build within victims and their families, around their place and future in communities

Tell MAMA’s annual report for 2016 finds a range of social impacts caused by anti-Muslim hatred within the United Kingdom. The greatest impact is again felt by visible Muslim women, who wear Islamic clothing, be it the headscarf (hijab), face veil (niqab), the abaya, or a combination of garments. Commensurate with our 2015 annual report, 56% of victims in in-person or street-based incidents were females.  A majority of perpetrators are male 66%, and where identifiable, 69% of perpetrators for such offences are white males. The language of some perpetrators also had misogynistic overtones, meaning that women were abused for their gender and religious identity.

Against this backdrop, we recorded a 47% rise in the number street-based incidents (n=642), in the 2016 calendar year, up from the 437 street-based incidents recorded in our previous reporting period. A street-based incident is an incident that occurred in-person between a victim (or property) and a perpetrator. Of the 1,223 reports of street-based and online anti-Muslim incidents in 2016, we verified 953 reports, demonstrating our due diligence in ensuring that cases are indeed anti-Muslim in nature, where the victim, or victims, perceived that they were targeted on the perception of their Muslim identity.

Consistent with broader research, anti-Muslim hatred in 2016, as with our previous annual report, is overwhelmingly an issue of abusive behaviour, with over half (54%) of all our reports falling under the flag of abusive behaviour, which is a 4% rise on the 2015 annual report. The abuse is verbal or non-verbal in spaces that occupy the day-to-day lives of Muslims. Meaning such incidents took place in public areas, which include streets, public parks and any other public space, on transport networks, the workplace or when out shopping. Perhaps most invasively, this day-to-day form of abuse can happen in and around the homes of Muslims, harming their sense of safety and limiting their social mobility. A lack of intervention from members of the public during incidents, especially on public transport, can compound the deeper psychological impact that a hate crime can have on a person, compared to equivalent non-aggravated offences.

The report launch coincides with the annual #No2h8November awareness month to highlight how communities, key partners, and society at large works to counter the scourge of hatred and racism.

The post A Constructed Threat: Identity, Intolerance and the Impact of Anti-Muslim Hatred , Tell MAMA Annual Report 2016 appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Participants in the report talk about the disturbing nature of verbal and physical violence that they have suffered. A convert to Islam, Sophie (who wears the Hijab) stated, “a guy walked past, he spat at me and called me a ‘Muzzi’. Also, I’ve been called dirty Paki, (I am white), as a group of guys walked past and shouted ‘speak English in our country.’ I was looking at a map and did not say anything.”

Some participants also warned about the risks of radicalisation, especially for young people as a result of suffering online and/or offline anti-Muslim hate crimes. One respondent, Hamza, noted that “anti-Muslim hate crime has affected Muslims. This is why Muslims are going to Syria. This is why they support ISIS. When people experience Islamophobic abuse, they will be easily radicalised. They feel weak, lonely, isolated, and rejected from British society. This is when these hate preachers pick them up and brainwash them. If you are constantly victimised, you are weak.”

This report also highlights an impact on Muslim communities which is rarely discussed and which includes changes in dress style so that attention is not drawn to the visibility of their faith. The report highlights the issue of Muslims managing their Muslim identity on-line and off-line with the aim of reducing future abuse. It states that, “the reality of anti-Muslim hate crime creates ‘invisible’ boundaries, across which members of the Muslim community are not ‘welcome’ to step. The enactment of both virtual and physical boundaries impacts upon ‘emotional geographies’ in relation to the way in which Muslims perceive the spaces and places around and outside their communities of abode. Rather than risk the threat of being attacked, either off-line or on-line, many actual and potential victims opt to change their lifestyles and retreat to ‘their own’ communities.

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Since its launch in January 2017, Stand Up! has delivered sessions to over 1000 young people in 15 schools, enhancing their understanding and empowering students to become active citizens. The support Tell Mama provides is invaluable, students have benefitted vastly from its resources, video materials and insightful research on the effects of hate crime incidents on young Muslim people.

This interfaith partnership has flourished in the opening months, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from students, who have been drawn into the workshops regardless of their religious identity and beliefs. Building an open and resilient society, which promotes respecting the differences between human beings, can only be achieved through education. The feedback students provide Stand Up! allows the project to fulfil their questions and queries as well as improve the sessions.

Whilst Stand Up! provides a specific, unique take on tackling discrimination, the focus on antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate does not restrict its relevance for students of different or no religious beliefs; a student said, “I am not Jewish or Muslim but I know where to report now”. Reporting is fundamental to our work; the Stand Up! project educates young people on the importance of reporting to Tell Mama any form of anti-Muslim hate [and other types of hate crime to other partners in the project], they are a victim of or witness to.

Through social media, school students are increasingly exposed to online hate and discrimination; representations of the Muslim community are often derogatory and harmful, thus it is vital to ensure young people are able to question what they see and experience online. The Stand Up! project discusses these issues in a wide context: “They [Stand Up!’ facilitators] really brought the class together and discuss sensitive topic in a sensible way”.

Tell Mama’s support of the Stand Up! project will have both short term and long term benefits; in the short term, young people are learning about discrimination and the importance of reporting. In the long term, the aim is to build a society which challenges stereotypes, raising awareness and guiding young people on embracing our British values and becoming Upstanders in society.

Stand Up! sessions are delivered free of charge, to any year 9, 10 or 11 in secondary schools across the country. For more information about the project and to book a session please email info@standupeducation.org

The post Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination appeared first on TELL MAMA.

President Trump’s executive order halts the US Refugee Admissions Programme for 120 days. There’s an indefinite ban on accepting Syrian refugees.

Individuals arriving from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face a 90-day visa suspension. Exceptions to the ban include those holding diplomatic visas, NATO visas, and visas to travel to the UN.

How does it affect individuals that have UK nationality and are also nationals of the 7 countries?

The following information is relevant to UK citizens that are dual nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

We highly recommend that you use a British passport if you plan to travel to the United States.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) has confirmed that British nationals should expect additional security checks on arrival if they are of dual nationals of one of the 7 countries mentioned above AND are travelling on a British passport to the United States.

If you are a dual national of one of the 7 countries and your journey to the United States does not originate from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, you should not be affected by the suspension imposed by the executive order, according to an FCO press release.

How does this affect British nationals (without dual nationality) on a journey to the United States from one of the 7 countries?

The FCO makes clear that your travel plans to the United States should not be affected – even if you were born in one of the 7 listed nations. However, we stress that this is not certain, as American customs and border agents may not be consistent across all ports of entry. If you are travelling to the United States, we recommend that you ensure you have contact details for the FCO and UK Embassy in the United States (the emergency numbers are +1 202 588 6500 or +44 1908 516666).

Further, it is advisable to have contact details of an immigration solicitor in the United States in case of any problems entering the United States.

Has this ban impacted your travel plans as a British national or dual national? Get in touch in confidence with the form below:

[contact-form-7]

Disclaimer: Tell MAMA is not a legal entity and can only advise and refer you to relevant agencies. We will do our best to provide support over the phone. Our WhatsApp number is 0734 184 6086.

The post Should Britons be worried about President Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’? appeared first on TELL MAMA.

In March 2015 Tell MAMA became one of only two community organisations to sign an agreement with the National Police Chief’s Council. This agreement enables police forces from around the country to share anti-Muslim hate crime data with Tell MAMA, so that we can build a more accurate national picture of incidents.

As a result, Tell MAMA now has partnership agreements in place with 18 separate UK police forces:  Metropolitan, City of London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Warwickshire, West Mercia, British Transport Police and Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Jeff Arnold, Tell MAMA’s Partnerships Officer, explains the importance of these relationships:

“These partnership agreements have helped Tell MAMA build stronger working relationships with police forces in 2016, giving us a better insight into the types of anti-Muslim hate crimes that are affecting people in different parts of the country. Although Tell MAMA is a completely independent organisation, it is vital that we work closely with police forces so that we can improve their knowledge of anti-Muslim hatred, ensure that all hate crimes are taken seriously and help victims to access information about their cases when necessary.”

Below are some common questions and answers about the data sharing between police forces and Tell MAMA:

1. If I report a hate crime to Tell MAMA does that mean you will tell the Police about it?
   No. Tell MAMA will only share your personal details with the police if you give us your consent, so that the police can make contact with you and investigate the crime.
2. If I report a hate crime to the Police will they automatically send my details to Tell MAMA?No. The data we receive from police is always anonymised to protect the victim’s identity. Details such as the name, address and contact details of the victim are not disclosed.

The post Tell MAMA Partnerships with UK Police Forces in 2016 appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Yet, today we are in a turbulent environment where some politicians think that pointing to posters showing Syrian refugees who are visibly racially and religiously different, is perfectly normal political campaigning. We are in a period where post Brexit, some feel that their hatred and prejudice has been legitimised and we are in a period where terrorism and extremism fuels anti-Muslim hatred.

The upside of this is that anti-Muslim hatred plays into the hands of violent extremists from Muslim communities. It gives credibility and credence to those who say, “see they don’t want you (Muslims) in Europe, so why don’t you go to Syria and Iraq.” These radicalisers rarely give their lives in their extremism, but they generate a lost youth who die in the deserts of a foreign land in the Middle East. This is one of the legacies of anti-Muslim hate, mixed in with a victim culture and with extremist ideology.

We must redouble our efforts collectively to tackle all forms of hate where we find them. In that struggle, we must defeat the forces of anti-Muslim haters who stealthily promote their poison. Muslims are part and parcel of the development of this country and their place in society needs to be defended and protected. We will continue to play a role in a country that values pluralism and which values human rights.

Offline figures trebled in the 2015 calendar year:

The number of offline incidents have trebled from 146 in 2014/15 (12 months to March 2015) to 437 ‘offline’ incidents in the 2015 calendar year. This shows an increase of 300 per cent and there was an increase over time on the previous reporting period by 200 per cent.

‘Offline’ incidents happened in-person between a victim (or property) and a perpetrator.

Anti-Muslim hate impacts Muslims when they travel, shop and socialise in public

Our data shows that the hotspots of anti-Muslim hate occur when Muslims use public and private transport networks, walk in public spaces of cities, and where they do their shopping.

The largest proportion of victims are Muslim women, perpetrators are overwhelmingly male

Muslim women are more likely to be attacked than men in most settings. The largest proportion of perpetrators are white males. This means that the largest proportion of incidents involves Muslim women, usually wearing Islamic clothing – be it the hijab, abaya or niqab.  Verbal abuse from men often carries misogynistic, racist and Islamophobic overtones.

Verbal abuse and assaults were most common incident types in offline cases

Of the ‘offline’ cases, 219 involved verbal abuse and 74 involved assault (including common assault, battery, as well as attempted and grievous bodily harm).

Offline incidents by where they occurred

Incidents often occur near major public transport areas

It appears that areas near arterial roads in metropolitan areas experience a relatively higher level of anti-Muslim hate crime. Similarly, 84 per cent of all incidents in London recorded by Tell MAMA and the MPS occurred within 200 metres of a bus stop and 48 per cent of all incidents occurred within 100 metres of a bus stop.

Far-right, nativist hate speech about Muslims and Islam online is being normalised

A majority of cases reported to Tell MAMA in the online sphere concerned hate speech, harassment and bullying on Facebook and Twitter. Our analysis found that nativist, far-right language construed Muslims as violent rapists or terrorists and a cultural threat to Britain. Our data reveals that 45 per cent of perpetrators of online incidents are verifiably supportive of the far-right. If we could not prove far-right affiliation, it demonstrates that far-right narratives are being normalised in online discussions which directly and indirectly target Muslims online.

The post The geography of anti-Muslim hatred in 2015: Tell MAMA Annual Report appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The incident took place on August 16 in Plymouth’s Central Park. Claire Farrell, 36, plead guilty to religiously-aggravated threatening and abusive behaviour causing harassment.

Natalie Richardson, 32, plead guilty to the same offence last week. Richardson has several previous assault convictions and was warned that prison remains a possibility. She also admitted a charge of common assault after pushing a passer-by in the chest.

Farrell had pulled down her trousers and urinated in front of the couple, who were with their 10-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter.

In an earlier hearing, Gareth Warden, for the prosecution, stated that the Syrian couple were enjoying a picnic with their children before the offence took place.

Farrell was with Richardson and five young children when the offence took place.

Both women will find out next month if this will result in prison time.

Though this is an extreme and vulgar example, it demonstrates the benefit of reporting incidents. The criminal justice system came through for the family in short amount of time. That deserves our praise.

No person should experience something so vulgar for a simple expression of faith.

The post Woman admits urinating in front of Muslim family appeared first on TELL MAMA.

A new report’s revealed Muslims targeted in Islamophobic attacks are reluctant to report incidents and often receive little support from onlookers.

Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) commissioned the report, which found that ‘trigger’ events such as the terrorist attacks in Tunisia and Paris, the murder of Lee Rigby and the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal “fuelled the growth of anti-Muslim hostility on social media as well as on the streets of Britain”.

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An in-depth survey of the experiences of British Muslims targeted because of their faith found that many are left feeling trapped after suffering verbal or physical abuse. They also discover that few people are willing to intervene or lend support in their defence.

Researchers cited one incident where a woman wearing a headscarf was assaulted by a group of men while travelling on a busy train, having alcohol poured over her clothing to chants of “We are racist, we are racist and we love it”, and no one in the carriage intervened. Another interviewee claimed he asked for police to be called after receiving death threats on a bus but the driver refused to intervene. A Muslim midwife resigned from her job after suffering abuse from patients which left her feeling “a lot people hate me”.

The study by academics at Birmingham City University and Nottingham Trent University, commissioned by the charity Tell Mama, said many interviewees now considered receiving abuse in the street or online to be “normal” and live in fear of “trolling” on social media turning into attacks in real life. Campaigners said there was a need for improvements to the way online abuse is reported with too little importance being given by social media companies to attacks that do not contain threats of violence.

Click here for more details

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“Love for All, Hatred for None” is the motto carried by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. A motto that has been tested in recent days after a surge of hateful comments towards Muslims on social media following a fire at the Baitul Futuh mosque last Friday.

Seventy firefighters worked hard throughout the day to control and extinguish fire at the mosque in South-West London known to be one of the largest in Western Europe. Many parts of the mosque remained unharmed. On Sunday, two arrests were made but since then the Met Police have said they do not believe this to be a hate crime. A 16-year-old was later released without charge as a 14-year-old received bail until January.

The investigation continues.

As news began to trend across social media, hurtful and hateful comments followed. Instead of being thankful that the fire was put out without anyone being hurt, they were disappointed. Instead of praising the firefighters, they praised the perpetrators.  Others posted threats of further escalations.

Dr Basharat Nazir, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, was thankful for the support given: “We have been aware of some hostile reaction on the social media, but they are simply dwarfed by the positive support we have received via social media and directly.”

Nazir says that “The key battle is against ignorance and extremism in all faiths that we all have to fight against together.”

Some of the hate comments included:

• “Mosque in Morden on the news. 2 lads been arrested for setting it on fire. It can hold upto 10,000 worshipers. Well done boys but the was place fecking empty”
• “The two young men arrested for setting fire to a mosque should not be jailed. They should be given a medal”
• “They should have been pouring gasoline on it”
• “Let’s do the same here in the USA, burn down every single one of them”
• “Probably was a bomb making class mistake”
• “They should burn them all, and then kick them muslims out of our countrys”
• “one down, more to go”
• “A WARNING to them of things to come, I hope it was done on purpose. PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF THE MUZZIES. and their DEMANDS”
• “Make it a holiday”” It wasn’t arson, its pest control!!”

Twitter trolls also joined in.

It is difficult to consistently monitor hateful comments and keep networks free from hate but it is important that we do all we can. These comments incite harm which should never be tolerated. Since Sunday, hate comments have been reported on Wimbledon Guardian, Facebook, Twitter and other news outlets but thankfully many are quickly removed.

But Facebook needs to accept that these comments have the potential to incite hatred and violence. One comment that read “should have blown that whole b*tch up” was reported to Facebook; but when reviewed, Facebook told users that it did not breach their Community Standards.

After similar problems in the past, a petition was set up asking Facebook to work on its reporting mechanisms. One signatory Natalie Otterly wrote: “Hate speech as outlined is extremely dangerous and harmful, especially given the current volatile situation towards Muslims. It actively promotes violent and illegal action towards a religion and its followers”

The Ahmadiyya community received much public support from people of all walks of life. Support also included tweets from MPs like James Berry and UK Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening.

Dr Nazir says: “The huge public outpouring of support for us and the indomitable British character that people have exhibited has strengthened our resolve to rebuild the complex as soon as possible so that this house of God that is a beacon of peace can shine again in its full glory.”

It is also clear that the community are determined not to let the hate comments deter them:

“We live by an ethos of Love for All, Hatred for None.  It is a motto that is emblazoned across our mosque complex, and neither the fire nor any negativity are able to thwart our ambitions to serve God, to help mankind, and to be loyal citizens.”

The positive attitude and genuine warmth witnessed this weekend is an inspiring display of unity. Through this, we must all remember, hate comments and violence against Muslims are by no means just a Muslim problem; but a problem for us all to get through together. To truly have a peaceful supportive world both online and offline, we must all work collectively by tackling hate speech and giving to one another especially in times of need.

The post After the fire, why the Ahmadiyya community will not give into hate , by Rima Amin appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Miqdaad Versi, who is assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, complained in a personal capacity to Ipso after receiving a non-satisfactory response from the newspaper.

In July, the newspaper published the story with the headline “Welcome to east London: Muslim gang slashes tyres of immigration-raid van before officers showered with eggs from high rise”.

It linked Muslims with criminality in the same week David Cameron had called on the Muslim communities to support the “British way of life” and combat extremism.

The evidence? In the original story, it quoted an unnamed witness who claimed that, “I think they were local Muslim hoodies just doing a prank, but it’s not funny. It’s the sort of thing that will cause this area problems now”.

Following a complaint to Ipso, the Mail on Sunday agreed to rewrite the story to remove the references to Muslims and publish a correction both in print and online.

The correction said: “An article on July 26 said a gang of Muslim youths was responsible for damaging Home Office Immigration Enforcement vehicles in Shadwell, East London, in the week the Prime Minister appealed to Muslims to help combat extremism. Muslim readers have asked to point out that the youths’ religion was unclear and, in any case, irrelevant to the story. We apologise for any offence caused”.

One removed reference included that ‘more than half the population of Shadwell is Muslim, according to the 2011 census’. An irrelevant statistic that plays on deeper anxieties towards Muslim communities.

The original story proved a viral hit – achieving more than 15,000 online shares. Anti-Muslim hate sites, including Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch and Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugged were quick to republish it. Spencer did acknowledge the Mail on Sunday’s correction with a single sentence.

‘Counter-jihadists’ and the far-right insulate their echo chambers with such stories. In spite of the corrections, these groups already believe the worst about Muslims and lazy journalism acts as confirmation bias.

Take, for example, how supporters of the English Defence League reacted, ‘Fickin dirty Muslim nonses should all be shot at birth and fed to the pigs!’ ‘Just kick the muslim scumbags out , they will NEVER live in peace in this country EVER !’ ‘One word. HITLER. None of this would of happened. If we had stayed as an island’. If anything, the extreme nature of the comments are the blunt end of insecurities around Muslims.

The comments raises an interesting question: why would an individual post them? It could reflect how people navigate the internet. John Suler’s influential ‘Online Disinhibition Effect’ breaks down internet behaviour into six factors.

One factors details how an individual compartmentalises their identities into ‘online’ and ‘real world’ personas. Online behaviour therefore feels inconsequential. Some may never act on these comments offline. Others blur the lines of incitement.

Nor will the corrected reality of the story achieve the same viral success online – and that remains a bigger problem as the total online shares total just 29.

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Of course, some desire civil war (imagined or otherwise) because it gives those disaffected and disempowered voices a grand narrative and sense of belonging. Hence why groups like Britain First heavily borrow the iconography of the Knights Templar.

Key individuals in the movement like Tommy Robinson openly peddle anti-Muslim conspiracies. In a 2014 interview, he told Newsweek “The UK is heading to civil war. Whether it happens in five, 10 or 20 years, there will be bloodshed”. A year later, he claimed halal meat funds terrorism.

Socialisation in the offline and online worlds potentially hardens ideologies and perceived grievances towards this type of thinking. In his keynote speech on counter-extremism, Prime Minister David Cameron argued that ‘grievance justifications’ must be challenged. A challenge that extends to far-right and ‘counter-jihad’ circles.

Quite often, these groups foster a sense of self-victimisation. For example, they would argue that is not ‘racist’ to worry about becoming a ‘white minority’ in Britain (a classic white supremacist trope). The far-right are mere victims of immigration, Muslims and a two-tier justice system. Therefore, they must find ways to reinsert themselves back into the dominant culture.

The Prime Minister was also correct to say that we must challenge the conspiracy peddlers ‘who try to suggest that there is some kind of secret Muslim conspiracy to take over our government’. A fear of ‘Islamisation’ also dates back to the European tradition of viewing Jewish and Muslim communities as ‘foreign intruders’ in societies. ‘Intruders’ intent on changing societies through demographics alongside the historic, nefarious and paradoxical antisemitic trope of disproportionate Jewish influence over public institutions.

A similar notion of this belief is ‘Dhimmitude’ a term coined by ‘pseudo-scholar’ Bat Ye’or. Ye’or contends that non-Muslims serving in Muslim conquered lands treaty for protection from their new leaders. A bizarre notion that feeds a false narrative that Muslims are afforded legal and political favours.

The idea of a ‘Muhammad cartoon contest’ or exhibition is infantile and crass; but they have the right to host an event, no matter how desperate their need for attention. Others can peacefully counter-protest. But like in Texas, the best antidote is to ignore it. Indulging these groups provides the media attention they crave.

Had two extremists not reacted with violence, it is unlikely many beyond Texas would know of the AFDI’s contest (that spawned various copycat events in Europe and North America). Sadly, extremists on both sides intend to fan the flames of bigotry. Murderous intentions are no response to offence.

Thankfully though, many British Muslims are secure enough in their faith to follow the response of the Prophet Muhammad when faced with insults. Giving voice to this middle ground is key to drowning out extremist narratives on both sides.

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The promotion of “good digital citizenship” points you in the direction of extended FAQs relating to existing features.

So for individuals new to the platform it helps. There is specific information breakdowns for teachers, students, and parents.

But some changes could help tackle online Islamophobia: an updated violent threats policy now extends to “threats of violence against others or promot[ing] violence against others”. To their credit, Twitter acknowledge that the previous policy was too narrow when dealing with specific types of abuse.

An added “enforcement option” gives the support team a chance to lock abusive accounts for a period of time. There is another interesting development relating to abusive users in the pipeline.

Shreyas Doshi, Twitter’s Director of Product Management blogged in April that: “we have begun to test a product feature to help us identify suspected abusive Tweets and limit their reach. This feature takes into account a wide range of signals and context that frequently correlates with abuse including the age of the account itself, and the similarity of a Tweet to other content that our safety team has in the past independently determined to be abusive. It will not affect your ability to see content that you’ve explicitly sought out, such as Tweets from accounts you follow, but instead is designed to help us limit the potential harm of abusive content. This feature does not take into account whether the content posted or followed by a user is controversial or unpopular”.

On the surface, the changes, like at Facebook, are superficial and tailored towards ease of access. But dealing with non-direct threats and abuse could limit the capacity of anti-Muslim trolls – and is a welcome change.

The big test is to see how Twitter implements these changes. But their intention to tackle all forms of online abuse with added vigour helps.

The post Will Twitter’s new safety policies tackle online hate? appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Angie Dunn, a member of non-teaching support staff at Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College, is under a police investigation after bosses at the school reported the incident to police – who are also considering the possibility that her Facebook account was hacked.

Dunn allegedly shared a Britain First meme that invited users to register their ‘offence’ at the niqab.

A statement on Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College said: “It has come to our attention that an alleged issue involving a member of staff’s use of social media. We must stress this does not represent the views of Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College.

Prejudice and racism in any form is not acceptable in or out of our school and any such behaviour is taken very seriously. Our responsibility to pupils and parents is our top priority. Please be assured we will be conducting a formal investigation into the matter”.

On June 24, a letter sent to parents and carers said: “Prejudice and racism in any form is not acceptable in or out of our college and any such behaviour is taken very seriously. That is why the matter has been reported to the police for investigation as a hate crime”.

The post Member of staff at Bradford school under police investigation after allegedly sharing Britain First meme appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Lisa Marie Kane self-identified as a staff nurse and used her Facebook page to post abuse aimed towards Muslim patients after a visit to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Examples of her racist and offensive Facebook posts included:

‘Never seen to many muslims. More in there than Kabul. STUNK’

‘I’m not employed to GET RID of ideology. I’ve got a mind of my own, unlik the brainwashed muslims. GET them out of my country.’

‘They chop our bruthas heads off, rape our sisters & see us as S***’

The comments were posted on June 19 2013 and later reported to hospital management. At a disciplinary meeting in October of that year, she was dismissed from South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust. Now, following a conduct hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in London, Ms Kane was struck off from her profession.

Per the investigation, the panel was shown screenshots of Kane’s Facebook posts, alongside a transcript where Kane admitted posting the comments at an earlier internal investigation.

Other staff members warned Kane about the nature of her comments and management sent her emails about using Facebook appropriately. But it did not deter her from posting further vitriol.

The panel found her guilty on two counts: of posting inappropriate content on Facebook and that the comments were racist in nature.

Robert Barnwell, chairman of the NMC panel, concluded: “The panel determined that the act of posting racially offensive comments, borne out of deep seated attitudinal views, was abhorrent.

“The panel finds that Miss Kane’s actions fell seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to serious misconduct.”

Ms Kane has a 28-day period to lodge any appeal (with an interim ban already in place).

The post Racist nurse struck off for anti-Muslim Facebook posts appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Messages spoke of their disgust at the mindless act of vandalism, others expressed messages of solidarity and peace.

Ruth Phelps, helped organise this act of solidarity after being sickened by vandalism, told local press: “I have lived in Norwich for 23 years and I know we are all in this community together. It’s dreadful what’s happened. And for it to happen in Norwich is so upsetting for the community.”

Police are investigating but nobody is jumping to conclusions that the vandalism was anti-Muslim in nature. The incident took place at 6:30am on Saturday and damage to the 11 panes of glass will cost upwards of £1,000 to replace.

Jamal Sealy thanked the wider community and highlighted how some are even raising funds to support them: “Ever since it happened Facebook has been going crazy, we’ve had attention on our website, and members of the public have been coming in non-stop, posting flyers and leaflets in the door,” he said. “We’ve heard of people trying to raise the funds to help us pay for the damage. It’s been overwhelming; it’s really been a positive thing.”

Nor will vandalism deter the openness the mosque expresses to the wider community. It will continue hosting an open-to-all coffee morning every Sunday and the upcoming Islamic Awareness Week (March 17-23) will see this openness continue and grow.

Donations to help pay for the repairs can be made to the Ihsan Mosque and Islamic Centre at 17 Chapelfield, Norwich.

Anybody with information should contact Sgt Dan Cocks at Bethel Street Police Station on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The post Local community ‘love-bombs’ Norwich mosque after it was vandalised appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Ian Couch targeted the mosque in a drunken rage after the news of James Foley’s execution by ISIS dominated headlines. But the courts looked favourably at Couch’s remorse.

In mitigation it was revealed that Couch struggles with depression and alcoholism. In court, he spoke only to ‘profusely apologise’ for his actions. Couch now must undergo a six month treatment programme to help him address his alcoholism on top of a victim surcharge of £80 and £420 towards prosecution fees.

Couch stood for UKIP in the Shelfords and Stapleford Ward district council elections and gained 388 votes last year. But Conservative candidate Joseph Shelton was elected with 1143 votes.

Prior to the trial’s conclusion, the judiciary in the Couch case dismissed his claim that the email to the mosque was merely “freedom of expression”.

Lead magistrate Marisa Johnson also criticised Couch for hiding his bigotry behind a free speech defence against the “indefensible”.

“We find the email was offensive – we are offended by it and it had the intention of causing offence and distress to the people who received it,” she said.

Abdul Muquith, a taxi driver, who volunteers at the mosque discovered the email, and told the court of his disgust at reading the contents of the email. Couch’s Facebook page had little in the way of privacy settings, so many of his wall posts remain publicly accessible, Muquith’s disgust increased after discovering some of the content on Couch’s Facebook.

Indeed, some examples include the sharing an image that depicts Muslims (by extension Arabs) in racist caricatures fleeing depictions of the Prophet Muhammad held up by cartoon pigs, Couch compliments the image with the statement ‘Fecking Musies’. Nor was Couch adverse to sharing memes relating to bacon.

The court heard other anti-Muslim statements including ‘your religion is a disgrace’ and ‘the sooner we destroy Islam the better’. Couch also shared a meme that described the Qur’an as a declaration of war.

The photo of the pig’s head accompanied the text ‘Something for the beheading; hate preaching Muslims to think about over Friday morning prayers. The Police will probably be the 1st to retrieve the pigs head. Isn’t it funny that they can cut off women and childrens heads but can’t touch a pigs? Muslim w*nk raping stains’.

Couch’s rant went further ‘Feck the murdering Musies. Have some of your reality. You preach, we tollirate and you hide behind a British Passport that we gave you…’

Many felt a justified rage when the terrorist group ISIS murdered western journalists so publicly but many did not react like Couch, targeting ordinary Muslims in Britain with hate messages.

UKIP asked Couch to leave the party after his anti-Islam views were exposed, a move he agreed with, according to Paul Bullen, UKIP group leader for Cambridge County Council.

The post Ex-Ukip candidate avoids prison for sending online hate to mosque appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Despite legislation being passed through Parliament at lightning pace, the House of Lords debated the Counter-terrorism and Security Bill over three days in the committee stage. During this time, members of the House of Lords made amendments to a bill that is over forty pages long.

Judicial oversight

The first day of the committee stage was dominated by a discussion about judicial oversight, the question of ‘reasonable suspicion’ and the role of the courts in validating Temporary Exclusion Orders (TEOs), an issue that was divisive in the House of Commons and frequently mentioned in earlier stages in the House of Lords.

On the first day of committee, amendments were passed that add a new schedule to the end of the bill that stipulates that after the Secretary of State imposes a TEO (where a British national that has engaged in terrorism-related activities is prevented from returning to the United Kingdom for two years) the court, within seven days, must consider whether the imposition of such an order is “obviously flawed” (Hansard, 20 Jan 2015, Col 1260).

The success of some of the amendments (which were sponsored by Lord Bates, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Home Office) suggests that the government has taken a more conciliatory position on judicial oversight than their representatives did in the House of Commons. The amendments maintain the power of the Home Secretary to impose a TEO in the case of urgency while ensuring that the use of this power is circumscribed by appropriate due process.

During the second day of committee, discussion focused on the position of the courts in reviewing cases where Terrorism Prevention Investigatory Measures were put on individuals, forcing them to relocate in what has been referred to as ‘internal exile’. The amendment attempted to subject the Home Secretary’s power to impose forced relocation of a terrorism suspect to judicial oversight by having a court confirm if, “on the balance of probabilities, the individual is, or has been, involved in terrorism-related activity” (Hansard, 26 January 2015, Col 18). This amendment, despite a long debate, did not pass.

Data retention

Debate on the second day was also concerned with Part 3 of the bill, which includes clauses that call on telecommunications companies to retain relevant internet data, primarily IP addresses and MAC addresses that have identifiable information about users. There was serious debate over the limits to what data would be collected, how long it would be stored, and in what cases it could be used. Messages sent on the internet, for example, have identifiable metadata and telecommunications operators could be served with a data retention notice that would require them to hold such metadata and provide it to authorities for investigation purposes.

According to Lord Bates:

“Any messages sent over the internet, including via social media platforms, will have associated communications data. That has always been the case under existing legislation. Where those data are generated or processed in the UK by a company subject to the data retention notice, they can be used to resolve an IP address–that is, they can be retained under this Bill. Those data could then be accessed only where it was necessary and proportionate to do so for a specific investigation” (Hansard 26 January 2015, Col 31).

The inclusion of this section of the bill is due to a perception that electronic communication is being used to coordinate terrorist activity. However, according to Lord Paddick, this might actually obscure the intelligence picture and may undermine relationships with communities of interest:

“The problem…is getting good intelligence. That is about developing links with the Muslim community and with communities where the extreme right wing operates, and gaining their trust and confidence in order to get that intelligence” (Hansard, 26 January 2015, Col 50).

Despite a long debate with a number of interventions from those that believed that such data retention may not be effective in counter-terrorist policing and might be too invasive a form of surveillance, the clauses in Part 3 of the Bill remained mostly unchanged.

Prevent

On the third day of committee, January 28, debate centered on the question about making the Prevent strategy a statutory ‘duty’ across public institutions. Early on during the discussion, Baroness Warsi raised the point that the Prevent strategy has a number of problems that have been highlighted elsewhere:

“There have been concerns about the Prevent and counter-radicalisation programme for a number of years. There has been a view that it is being done badly, and reports going back as far as five or six years, from 2009 onwards, have consistently argued that the quality of Prevent work is questionable. Indeed in some cases it has been said that the Prevent work itself has further alienated communities rather than deradicalised them” (Hansard, 28 January 2015, Col 212).

A number of other members of the House voiced similar concerns about the Prevent strategy, though no amendments were brought forth that significantly curtailed the propositions made in the bill regarding Prevent. However, based on an outcry from a number of university officials about the Bill limiting free speech on campuses, an amendment was put forward (though it was ultimately withdrawn) that universities would be excluded from the Prevent duty. Baroness Manningham-Buller, a former MI5 head, worried that the bill’s provision for ‘non-violent extremism’ to fall under the Prevent heading would “conflict with university’s existing obligations to protect free speech” (Hansard, 28 January 2015, Cols 241-242). It is possible that there is enough opposition in Parliament to remove universities from the Prevent duty before the bill passes: Baroness Lister, who tabled the amendment, stated the following before she withdrew the amendment:

“I cannot remember many debates in your Lordships’ House where not one noble Lord has spoken in support of the Minister…We have heard important arguments of principle that go to the heart of what a university is about and have pointed out how we could undermine the very values that we are trying to protect.”

Given the skepticism in the House over the inclusion of universities in the Prevent duty, it does seem possible that with some reflection, the Government may change its position when the bill goes to the next round of debate. All the same, there has been little talk of the duty in schools and the NHS.

The amendment also led to an interesting discussion on where radicalisation was taking place and as well as challenging the notion that radicalisation is a linear process. Lords acknowledged that radicalisation does not necessarily occur in universities or even places of worship (see Hansard, 28 January 2015, Col 215). Rather than these sites that equally challenge radicalisation, it was in private spaces that members of the House of Lords mentioned: bedrooms and homes, cafés and online. This demands an approach that does not put a community under scrutiny, though the Prevent strategy as it stands in the bill would police universities and mosques, but have little effect in more private spaces.

Further discussion on the Prevent section of the bill referred to the guidance that the Home Secretary would be required to produce. One of the problems mentioned was the “prescriptive” guidance already produced by the Home Office on the Prevent duty (which refers to the requirement that officials of public institutions be responsible for reporting individuals at risk of radicalisation).

Lord Hannay of Chiswick called the guidance “horrifying” because of its “intrusiveness” and the “absolute impossibility for most universities to carry out these provisions” (Hansard, 28 January 2015, Col 247). He hoped that the Government would revisit the role of universities in the Prevent strategy in future stages of the bill.

An amendment was also put forth pushing the Home Secretary to issue guidance that referred to equalities and discrimination, with the sponsor Baroness Hamwee citing specifically that “Prevent is regarded as a security prism through which all Muslims are seen and that Muslims are suspect until proven otherwise” (28 January 2015, Col 267).

Given the fact that in reality, many terrorist attacks do not involve Muslims and far-right terrorists, who target Muslims directly, have been successful in attacks in Europe recently, it seems that equalities and discrimination guidance would be of particular import in ensuring that the Counter-terrorism and Security Bill takes a balanced approach in protecting all British citizens instead of singling out one community.

After significant debate over the issue, however, the amendment was withdrawn, with Baroness Hamwee calling for “transparency and safeguards” (28 January 2015, Col 279) to ensure that the power that the bill provides is not used in discriminatory fashion. The debate ended on the 28^th (the end of the committee stage), with a number of amendments regarding devolution and local authorities’ roles in a statutory Prevent strategy under the CTS Bill that were not particularly controversial.

Going forward

The report stage of the bill remains in the House of Lords. This means that the opportunities for revision and reflection on the Prevent strategy will have to take place in the next week as the report stage begins on February 2.

Despite a number of opinionated members of the House of Lords strongly against universities being involved in the Prevent duty and discussion of the ineffectiveness and problems of the strategy in terms of alienating the Muslim community, it seems the government has managed to keep most of its Prevent strategy intact.

It remains to be seen if pressure can, in the next few weeks before the bill is voted on and passed into law, dilute the strong position that the Prevent strategy will take if the bill is given Royal Assent in its current form.

The post Counter-terrorism and Security Bill–updates after committee stage in the House of Lords by Bharath Ganesh appeared first on TELL MAMA.

1.  Raising over £38,000 for a hospital to purchase life-saving equipment

In just six weeks, eight mosques in Preston raised £38,340.86, which included £8,000 from women in the community and £5,000 from madrassah children. The money will go towards investing in the latest technology to diagnose lung cancer.

2.  Working with a Christian charity to support the homeless in Islington

Finsbury Park Mosque will team up with the Christian charity Passage to offer homeless individuals a space to relax, get advice, and food once a week at the mosque.

3.  Turning their mosque into a food bank to help the hungry

In Swansea, one local mosque is extending the days it offers a food bank service to the local community following demand. Muslim and non-Muslim donate food and those receiving help are of all faiths (or none).

4.  Helping converts (and others) learn more about Islam and increase community dialogue

The Light Foundation, a volunteer-run group in Preston, offers a space once a month for the community (that includes converts, other faiths and non-believers) to learn more about Islam and each other.

5.  Running a community event and soup kitchen to help their community

Volunteers from Muslim Community Relations – Nuneaton (MCR-N) hosted a community event to educate others about Islam and provide free food for the poor and homeless. The event was run in conjunction with The Trussell Trust and Salvation Army.

The post 5 positive stories about British Muslims you’ve probably not read appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The Independent has reported on the targeting of young Muslims in schools and this is even more concerning when the Department for Education has made no moves to try and develop material on how teachers can facilitate discussions post Charlie Hebdo. Allied to this is the fact that the Department for Education has issued no guidance on tackling anti-Muslim bigotry and they have confirmed this in the Independent article out today.

We have tried on three separate occasions to meet with the Secretary of State for the Department for Education and on three separate occasions, the request has been turned down even though we are the only agency in the United Kingdom working with victims of anti-Muslim hate and where we have methodically documented the problem. We therefore hope that the Department for Education now does the following:

– That is engages with groups doing this work and develops a specific guidance document on anti-Muslim hate. This should be circulated to as many primary and secondary schools as possible,

– That a short note on the Charlie Hebdo incident be issued to schools to re-iterate that discussions on the Charlie Hebdo incident should not isolate out or alienate Muslim students in classrooms.

Finally, we do hope that the Department for Education takes heed of the need to keep a watching brief on issues around anti-Muslim hatred. The approach taken to date of deferring problems to schools to find solutions is not working. We also hope that the Department realise that tackling hate, intolerance and bigotry is the responsibility of all agencies and that it cannot simply bury its head in the sand, assuming that others will resolve issues of national or international significance that impact on us all.

The post The Department of Education Must Act to Counter Anti-Muslim Prejudice appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Tell MAMA is following the progress of the Counter-terrorism and Security Bill as it moves through Parliament. The large bill spans travel restrictions, the seizure of passports, making the Prevent programme statutory under the law, and has implications on data, communications and monitoring the population. Follow Tell MAMA to stay up to date on the debates as the bill moves through various stages.

A new law that will significantly expand government powers to counter terrorism is being sped through Parliament. The Counter-Terrorism and Security bill is proposes a number of changes to existing legislation. The bill will significantly impact civil rights in the UK. Introduced for its first reading in the House of Commons on 27 November 2014, the bill is now in at committee in the House of Lords and will be debated further on the 26^th of January, 2015.

The stakes of the bill are very high: it includes ‘temporary exclusion orders’ (Chapter 2 of the bill) and will make the Prevent programme statutory law. Discussion of #ToddlerTerror just after the New Year came out after new guidance from the Home Office (with a consultation closing on the 30^th of January, before the bill will become law) about a ‘Prevent duty’ asserted that all public officials—from university chancellors to police officers, GPs and yes, even nursery school teachers—will be responsible for monitoring and reporting on individuals that might have a propensity to violent extremism.

Discussion in the House of Commons on the 6^th and 7^th of January essentially focused on a debate about judicial oversight of temporary exclusion orders (TEOs). The bill would allow for the seizure of passports of individuals suspected of leaving the UK for terrorism-related activity, but the TEOs, a new power, will require an individual not to return to the UK unless the Secretary of State gives them leave to return. A TEO will be in place for two years and can be placed on an individual that meets four conditions:

1. The Secretary of State ‘reasonably suspects’ that the person in question is engaging in terrorism-related activity.
2. It is expedient to prevent the person from returning to the UK in order to protect other members of the public from the risk of terrorism.
3. The person should be outside the United Kingdom.
4. The person has the right to live in the UK.

MPs broadly agreed that all four conditions were satisfactory. The debates on the 6^th focused on amendments that would require the Secretary of State to apply to a court for permission to impose a TEO (Hansard, 6 January, Col 164). Much of the debate in the long session focused on this question. It got a bit heated after Dominic Grieve (former Attorney General, and a Tory MP) called for judicial oversight:

“Sir Edward Leigh (MP Gainsborough and Horncastle, Con): the people that the Secretary of State is trying to exclude are crazed jihadists who hate our liberties and our country, who cut off the heads of aid workers and who would love to come here and kill our children.” Sir Leigh goes on to say that Grieve’s “old-fashioned” and “legalistic” arguments for judicial oversight of TEOs “are not appropriate for dealing with those sorts of people” (Hansard, 6 January, Col 181). This emotive appeal is disheartening to say the least and it ignores the fact that terrorist attacks in Europe have come from a number of different sources—most of them non-Muslim. Mr Grieve responded that he agreed with the Government’s approach but believes that the courts must be involved: “I happen to believe in the presumption of innocence…judicial oversight would be helpful in giving…authority to the decisions and thereby ensuring that they are accepted within the communities.”

The dialogue between Sir Leigh and Mr Grieve skirts around a key issue: the abuse of ‘reasonable suspicion’ and its disproportionate application on specific communities. Since Section 44 of the Terrorism Act was struck down because it did not require ‘reasonable suspicion’ the clause that replaced it has rarely been used. All the same, according to Liberty, in evidence submitted to Parliament, “reasonable suspicion” offers “little protection from arbitrary use of power” (Liberty, page 6). A clear process of judicial oversight would ensure that TEOs are effective by only excluding those who can be proven to have engaged in illegal activity before excluding them from the UK for two years. As Liberty points out, without courts being involved, the proposed bill could actually terrorist related activities further underground (page 11).

On the 6^th, the amendment for judicial oversight ultimately failed. On the 13^th of January, the House of Lords stated that it will be considered in the committee reading due to happen on Friday. If the law does pass as it is, then it will leave out effective oversight over what counts as reasonable suspicion. At the end of the debate on Tuesday the 6^th, James Brokenshire MP said they would look “carefully” at the suggestions made by David Anderson QC. In his response to the debate, he states quite clearly that the courts should be involved before the imposition of a TEO: “prior permission of the court should be required…such procedures are short and simple [but] they serve to concentrate the Home Secretary’s mind, and ensure that she places all her cards on the table. […] It would not only prevent the abuse of a strong executive power, but offer a guarantee that it will not be abused…to short-cut civil liberties is to play into the terrorists’ hands”. It is imperative that the Lords committee debate take the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism’s recommendations to heart in order to make sensible counter-terrorism policy.

The post Temporary exclusion orders: is reasonable suspicion enough for the government to prevent British citizens from returning to the UK? appeared first on TELL MAMA.

King, 60, pleaded guilty in late November to sending a grossly offensive image to Tipu Choudary, general secretary of Cornwall’s Islamic Cultural Centre, and sending two grossly offensive messages to the centre’s Facebook page.

Angry at the terrorism of ISIS, King printed two images from his mobile phone that depicted the prophet Mohammed engaged in sexual activity with a pig and a naked woman squatting over ISIS’ appropriated flag. Before posting the images to the Islamic Cultural Centre, King smeared both images with his dog’s faeces.

The Islamic Centre became a source of anger for King after its conversion from a Methodist chapel in 2009, a move he saw as “sacrilege against our God”.

King used his Facebook account to tell members of the Islamic Centre that their faith was “evil” and they must “get out of the country”.

Paul Gallagher, who acted as King’s solicitor, stated that Facebook gave his client a “voice” and he now intended to limit his opinions to his own account.  Gallagher also revealed that his client had previous convictions for harassment and assaulting a police officer.

Magistrates adjourned the case until December 16 pending a full probation report.

In an interview with the Cornish Guardian, Choudary revealed that the Islamic Centre rarely received hate mail but this example compelled them to alert police “We have a committee and we try to deal with things as quietly as possible, otherwise it puts people on edge,” he said. “But because Mr King lives nearby we didn’t know what he might do, so it was quite worrying.”

Nor had King apologised or expressed remorse for his actions. At the trial’s conclusion, we learnt from the prosecution that King was a self-proclaimed member of the British National Party (BNP) and supporter of the English Defence League (EDL).

King received an eight-week prison sentence suspended for a year, a 20-week curfew that lasts from 10am-10pm for most of the week (except Sunday when King is allowed to attend church), and pay £200 compensation to Tipu Choudary.

Unapologetic and unremorseful, King apparently refused to the pay the victim surcharge as his letter was directed at the Islamic Cultural Centre, not Choudary. Nor would the court experience deter King from his bigotry. According to the prosecution, King told the court ‘I was hoping that whoever saw the letter would kill themselves’.

So why did King avoid prison? One mitigating factor might be his poor health (chronic joint pains and heart condition).

King is entitled to his free speech but the contents of his personal Facebook go beyond valid religious critique to outright hatred of all Muslims. On December 17, he posted a link to an e-petition requesting a public vote on banning Islam in Britain.

King rallied against ‘hard and soft lefties that love stinking f*cking scummy Muslims’ on December 8. On the same day, King shared a right-wing meme about shooting paedophiles, King added his own thoughts: “I`d go as far to say also all muslims”. This extreme rhetoric goes far beyond the pale of acceptability.

Other bigoted remarks include comments posted above shared content from Britain First:

“I HATE ISLAM AND MUSLIMS AND THEIR FOLLOWERS THE UK GOVERNMENT PLUS THE UK POLICE” [December 8]

“We really need a war to take our country back FUCKING governments giving our country to FUCKING IMMIGRANTS SCUM and kill the fucking leftys that have done this to us I HATE FUCKING ISLAM” [December 8]

King ramped up the conspiracy rhetoric by posting: “Any body with British ancestory need to be on their guard all Muslims are sleepers” on November 28.  The tone and rhetoric often mirrors the likes of Britain First on Facebook.

During the trial, he speculated that one of the judge’s (who stood down) disliked him because ‘she was a Muslim or had friends at the Islamic centre’. That rant ended with the popular far-right conspiracy about a two-tier justice system favouring Muslims.

On June 4, King posted: “Lets start executing muslims in the UK” after posting a petition to save Meriam Yehya Ibrahim.

King is using his gained freedom to connect with other far-right individuals including Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen, and the dubious online collective Sikhs Against Sharia.

The post Is online and offline anti-Muslim hate being taken seriously? appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Hate crime in London surged in the last year driven in part by international events such as Syria and the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

A new report shows that overall the number of hate crimes in the capital rose by more than 20 per cent in the last 12 months to October.

There were significant increases in attacks motivated by racism, religion and homophobia, according to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

Police believe the rise is due mainly to more people being willing to come forward to report incidents rather than a genuine increase in crime.

However, a surge in faith related offences – up by 23 per cent to a total of 1,048 offences – was driven in part by the impact of national and international events, the study says.

A record number of faith hate offences was recorded in July this year, 95 per cent of which were anti-Semitic incidents following Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

The report also highlights the spike in anti-Muslim incidents following the murder of soldier Lee Rigby last year.

The new figures show a worrying increase in violent hate crime offences up 21 per cent to a total of 11,400 crimes in the last 12 months.

Homophobic crime is also rising, with a monthly increase of 21.5 per cent since March 2014 – to an average of 100 cases a month.

In June there was a record 175 cases of homophobic crime reported to the Met, though community groups believe this is due to more people coming forward.

Transgender hate crime has grown by 86.2 per cent – from 58 to 108 cases – and there are increases in disability hate crime, up 12.5 per cent, and racist and religious crime, up by nearly 20 per cent.

Click here for more details: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/hate-crimes-surge-in-london-fuelled-in-part-by-israels-invasion-of-gaza-9897266.html

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Dear UKIP,

It comes to our attention that a member of your party confused Westminster Cathedral for a mosque. It’s easily done though. Especially when trying to disprove a non-existent BBC conspiracy against UKIP.

Did your party member assume that every mosque has a towering minaret with slick Jihadi HR departments waiting inside?

Believe it or not, some mosques look fairly mundane (on the outside) compared to others, but once inside (after you’ve removed your shoes), the sense of serenity is universal.

The only talk of Jihad for many is the greater and personal pursuit of Islamic knowledge and what it means to be a better Muslim.

Outside of prayers, some even use their time inside mosques to discuss more mundane topics like football and the weather.

Fear not though, in the spirit of education, we’ve come up with a fail-safe plot to avoid this mistake in the future. Below you will find the addresses of mosques you can visit in the Kent area. Thanks to technology, most smartphones contain GPS so there’s no excuse for ignorance:

Margate Mosque & Community Centre, Union Crescent (former church), Margate, Kent, CT9 1NR

Canterbury Mosque (Muslim Cultural Centre), The Markaz, 1 Giles Lane, Canterbury, CT2 7LT.

Folkestone Mosque, 8a Foord Road South, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1H

But for those in your party longing to restore this country to an imagined era of history, we are happy to provide pencils, paper and Ordinance Survey maps instead.

Signed,

Tell MAMA

The post Dear Ukip, We Need to Talk About Mosques appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Or retweets content from the unpleasant @JihadistJoe or individuals wanting Islam banned and mosques shut down in Britain.

How about manipulating police appeals with a crude anti-Muslim reference? On November 17 @DowHeater tweeted “FOUR Nasty Evil Bastard #Muslims kick a pregnant woman to the ground PL RT.”But the police make no reference to religion.

@DowHeater tweets another manipulated screen shot of a BBC news report that includes the word “Muslim”. Yet again, there is no reference to religion in the original article.

What about the far-right English Defence League? Turns out they’ve earned @DowHeater’s respect: “Don’t Believe BS abt #EDL these ppl have taken a lot of shit and lies thrown at them, #respect”

In August, @DowHeater exploited a series of murders to call for the boycott of Muslim businesses.

In July, the @DowHeater account wanted “Islam out of the UK” after linking to a story about Vue Cinemas ‘discriminating against non-Muslims’ (a story more complex than originally reported).

I’ve already dedicated more words than intended in exposing the vile @DowHeater account. Accounts like @DowHeater are only content with caricatures of religious identity – where the crimes of a minority are held up as the majority and where ethnicity brings an assumption of faith. The echo chamber is self-evident.

Robust critique of religion is welcome but advocating for its removal from Britain is not.

The post The Central Conduits of Anti-Muslim Bigotry and Online Hate appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The years brought far-right protests, a series of high court battles that resulted in lost decisions for both Dudley Council and Dudley Muslim Association, and a rejection of a larger proposal in 2011.

Kurshid Ahmed, from Dudley Muslim Association, noted that the plans had divided parts of the community.

“One must remember the Muslim community in Dudley is an integral part of the wider Dudley community and have rights to a place of worship… as any other community,” he said.

A look at the Census reveals that Dudley’s Muslim population has increased since 2001. But it remains the largest religious minority (4.1 per cent or 12,902 residents). Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region (63.5 per cent of residents) yet the number of residents not disclosing their faith is higher than the Muslim population (6.3 per cent). So the argument for a larger mosque is not unreasonable.

At the council’s development control committee, prior to approval, the Committee chairman, Cllr Qadar Zada said: “No-one has said much more than just about the mosque, very few times have I heard about the enterprise and training centre in one of the most deprived wards in Dudley.”

Labelling the approved proposal a ‘mega-mosque’ is sensationalistic and ignores how non-Muslims benefit from the plans. Focusing upon the size of the mosque and minaret potentially feeds into far-right paranoia of what constitutes a ‘mega-mosque’.

The redevelopment includes an enterprise and education centre, a sports centre, a two-storey car park and the mosque benefits from three prayer rooms.

Another example of problematic reporting is found in today’s online edition of the Express & Star (November 12). The image (cropped to highlight just the mosque) distorts the entire proposal. It takes the reader several paragraphs to learn of the sports and community facilities.

Other councillors raised opposition to the mosque as went against the ‘historical character’ of Dudley. In the end, the plans were approved at a vote of 5-3. Supporters of the mosque packed out the town hall as a small protest took place outside.

Britain First made their presence felt outside amid a visible police presence. A video captures their deputy leader Jayda Fransen (a candidate in the Rochester and Strood by-election) shouting: “You guys won’t get your mega mosque if we bury a pig on the grounds of it….Let’s see you worship upon ground that is infested with swine….you are going to stand on swine infested ground and worship your false prophet are you?”

Public opinion in Dudley was not uniform in rejection or approval – the council received 885 letters of rejection and 370 in support – but a petition in favour of the proposal was handed to the council with 1,718 signatures.

After years of campaigning, bluster and arguments on both sides, a deprived area of Dudley will now flourish in redevelopment.

The post The Dudley mosque campaign appeared first on TELL MAMA.

“People are outraged over Katie Hopkins vile #Palestinian comments stop being outraged, that’s what keeps her in media. Unfollow & ignore her,” wrote the journalist Sonia Poulton. Sensible advice but it misses a crucial point.

Ignoring her out of a sense of outrage overlooks those who agree with her sentiments. Others admire what the Hopkins Troll represents – an unfiltered voice who is granted a large media platform in the age of ‘PC gone mad’.

A snapshot of support is often found in Daily Mail reader comments or on Twitter (not the most reliable source but the Hopkins Troll operates in murky waters).

“Personally I can’t stand the woman but she has every right to express her opinions. I think that the vast majority of the ordinary British public (that excludes Guardians readers !!) would agree with her.”

“No comment, else I’ll also be arrested.”

Hopkins tweeted during an episode of Channel 4’s 24 Hours in Police Custody:

 “Father beats his daughter with an iron bar. But he is a good Muslim, prays in his cell & attends the mosque. So that’s all happy days then.”

“The police are singing from the same hymn sheet. Mohammed is going DAAAAAAAN. Allahu Akbar”.

The episode handled a complex case of ‘honour’ violence. But there is no honour in a father assaulting his daughter with an iron. In the episode, PC Esther Morris said: “It’s not a religious matter. No religion endorses honour violence.” Yet, that statement is missing from Hopkins’ Twitter feed. Hopkin’s inflammatory tone did find some support.

A representative of Luton Central Mosque spoke of the accused’s good character to the community cohesion team. But in the end, the suspect was convicted of ABH and sentenced to three years in prison (a sentence he is appealing). For the daughter, she fled Luton with her husband, disowned by her family.

24 Hours in Police Custody ensures the accused and victims of crime remain anonymous. Yet, by virtue of being a Muslim of Pakistani descent, Hopkins calls the convicted man Mohammed (without evidence).

During a stream of online criticism, Hopkins tweeted: “Allah doesn’t guide me. He is not a dog and I am not blind. I see that all religion is evil.” A statement that seems a little disingenuous in the context of previous statements.

On a similar note, she tweeted: “Nurun has left the building. Thank crap for that. The token headscarf wearer is no more,” after Nurun Ahmed was fired from The Apprentice on October 22 2014.

Rather than judging a person for the content of their character, the Hopkins Troll reduces the latter to what makes them different: religious identity. The same tactic is used when ridiculing a person’s weight.

The post Katie Hopkins accused of making more anti-Muslim statements appeared first on TELL MAMA.

We decided to investigate this further and judge whether the proliferation of anti-Muslim attacks in the summer of 2013 was a temporary spike. To do this, we submitted a Freedom of Information Request to the Metropolitan Police requesting a detailed breakdown of every anti-Muslim hate crime from April 2012 to August 2014 by borough (which is available as a PDF and an Excel spreadsheet). Looking at the data, we find an even more disturbing story, illustrated in the infographic below.

Before the Woolwich incident, from April 2012 to April 2013, there was an average of 28 anti-Muslim hate crimes per month. In April 2013, there were 22 anti-Muslim hate crimes in London, but in May (when Lee Rigby is murdered) that number soars to 109 crimes. As the infographic shows, this spike lasts until about July 2013. By August, it appears that anti-Muslim hate crime is back to a normal level.

However, if we measure anti-Muslim hate crimes from August 2013 to September 2014 the average number of hate crimes sits at 45 per month, a 60% rise compared to the average prior to the Woolwich incident, suggesting a long-term increase in the average level of anti-Muslim hate crimes in London.

By early 2014 Muslims are back on the front page, with the ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal in Birmingham framed as a ‘jihadist plot’ to take over schools. In the summer and early autumn, the Gaza-Israel conflict and ISIS are in the news, correlating with an increase in anti-Muslim attacks. In fact, some anecdotal evidence from Tell MAMA’s verbal abuse cases suggests that perceptions about ISIS motivate anti-Muslim hate nationally and in London. Coverage of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, twisted by the far-right into a ‘Muslim’ issue, further contributes to anti-Muslim discourse in late 2014.

The data from the Metropolitan Police shows that the spike in anti-Muslim attacks in the summer of 2013 led to a sustained increase in the base level of crimes into 2014. If we look at the last two years, we find that between October 2013 and September 2014, there is a 6.5% increase in the total number of anti-Muslim hate crimes over the previous year (October 2012 – September 2013). It is clear that anti-Muslim hate did not simply taper off and fall back to a low level after 2014. Instead, it got worse in 2014.

The post Anti-Muslim hate crimes, 2012-2014 in London: An Analysis of the Situation appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Rochester and Strood by-election on November 20. Candidate is Jayda Fransen (deputy leader). Britain First are running on a single issue – a proposed ‘mega mosque’.

From the ‘illegal’ campaign leaflet:

“I have campaigned hard against the huge new mega mosque that is going to be built on Rochester’s doorstep and that is why I am standing in the Rochester and Strood by-election. If this mega mosque is built, Medway will be flooded with more Muslim immigrants.”

Here’s what Britain First are not telling people about the new mosque:

• The new mosque only has a capacity of 400 so hardly ‘mega’. In Medway, the Muslim population is over 5,000 (just 2 per cent of the local population).
• The proposal does not affect constituents in Rochester and Strood – Canterbury Street, Gillingham is part of Gillingham and Rainham constituency (current MP is Rehman Chishti)
• The proposal is to replace an existing mosque and it will also include a restaurant, shops and mortuary prior to Islamic burials. To imply it’s just a mosque is disingenuous.
• Sound restrictions mean there will be no audible call to prayer
• Worshippers will privately buy their own parking spaces to ensure less disruption
• The current mosque on Canterbury Street was attacked in the aftermath of Lee Rigby’s murder

Britain First are using the Rochester by-election to align themselves with UKIP. The Telegraph quoted Ms Fransen: “There’s only two parties in this election who are worthy of the people’s vote, and that’s Ukip and Britain First.

“Ukip are going to sweep up, and we are one hundred per cent behind Mark Reckless. That’s going to wipe the smile off their faces!”

On October 28, a photo Ukip activists alongside Ms Fransen flooded social media. But Ukip rejected any association in a statement to the Independent.

A recent Britain First ‘day of action’ in Rochester attracted 35 supporters as 70 people counter-protested. Police recorded zero arrests.

The incoherent and single issue campaign implies Britain First is using the by-election for two reasons: a) to jump on the rising support of Ukip and b) continue their ongoing anti-mosque campaign in Medway.

Britain First has used the time to effectively harass peaceful worshippers in the area over the new mosque. In the previous by-election, Britain First encouraged support for Ukip.

Social Media

Britain First are the most popular British political party on Facebook, when not posting racist and/or anti-Muslim memes, the group finds other ways to increase its online presence. Take the image below. It has over 70,000 online shares:

There is nothing on the image to suggest it originates from Britain First and many will share it unaware of Britain First’s true intention. Britain First routinely exploit the tragic murder of Lee Ribgy and the horrific abuse of women and girls in Rotherham.  The group captions Rotherham as the ‘Islamic paedophile capital of Britain’.

Again, Britain First appeal to national sentiment and the ‘feel good’ factor by encouraging participation on their social media channel. How many of the 66,247 likes and 1,946 shares would consider themselves far-right white nationalists? It remains to be seen. But this strategy ensures an active social media channel.

Repetition is key to the online Britain First strategy. Between Nov 4 and Oct 1 2014, Britain First posted 21 images encouraging people to either join as members or become party activists.

This Britain First image exploited the horrific murder of Alan Henning – look closely and note that the image received 14,701 likes and 43,644 shares. The tag also implies Henning is a ‘Holy Martyr’ but there’s little evidence on offer that Henning was Christian – Britain First hijack the religion for their own end.

Ideology

For a background on ideology read: http://tellmamauk.org/britain-first-far-right-fundamentalism-steve-rose/

For background into their mosque ‘invasion’ campaign: http://tellmamauk.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Britain-first-mosque-timelime.pdf

For their anti-Roma campaign: http://tellmamauk.org/britain-first-supporters-shout-roma-gypsy-streets-south-yorks/

The full list of our Britain First monitoring is found here: http://tellmamauk.org/tag/britain-first

The post Britain First ‘Mega Mosque’ Campaign in Rochester and Stroode By-Election Shows Desperation appeared first on TELL MAMA.

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The closest anti-Muslim backlash incident that we can overlay is the period during and after the murder of Lee Rigby in May 2013. The figures that we have used are Metropolitan Police hate crime figures on anti-Muslim hatred (Islamophobia), and we will also be releasing our 2013/2014 annual figures on Friday the 4th of July 2014 in partnership with Teesside University. Our report will provide an independent assessment on anti-Muslim hate incidents and crimes from 2013 to 2014.

What is clear from the graph showing anti-Muslim and antisemitic peaks and troughs is the similarity of the graphs though there is one key difference. The graph on anti-Muslim hate crimes takes longer to drop down and even when it does, the base-line of anti-Muslim hate crimes has shifted upwards and this is worrying. However, what is clear is that major incidents show a similar pattern for antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate incidents and crimes and this is corroborated through the evidence sources that we have used.

Lastly, there may be reasons for the higher baseline of anti-Muslim hate crimes. International incidents in Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and other countries may well be adding to the higher baseline as they maintain framing Muslims and Islam as topics in the social sphere.

Graphs Showing Anti-Muslim and Antisemitic peaks and troughs
Download

CST Incidents Report 2010
Download

The post The Similarity of Peaks and Troughs of Anti-Muslim Hate and Antisemitism appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Speaking during a constant round of (48) media appearances in the immediate aftermath of the Rigby murder, I said in one interview that we had faced a “wave of attacks”. In the interviews we also repeatedly asked for calm, urged the public to report in hate incidents and stated that the United Kingdom was one of the safest places in Europe to be. The last thing we needed, was a further instigation of what was then, a very fast moving and sensitive environment with the English Defence League and its sympathisers looking for further confrontations.

Some asked: ‘How can you claim there is an unprecedented cycle of attacks, if your project is only a year old?’ Others told us that: ‘Most of these incidents were online, so they don’t really count’. Others suggested that we were not telling the truth and that Muslims lie to achieve the spread of Islam with a heavy dose of the prejudicial term ‘taqiyya’ thrown in.

Well, don’t just take our word for it – here are 10 incontrovertible facts about anti-Muslim hatred:

1. In December, the Press Association revealed that UK anti-Muslim hate crime ‘soars’ across police forces in England & Wales, with 500 “Islamophobic crimes” recorded by the MET police alone (the figures could be much higher: nearly half of the 43 forces failed to reveal how many hate crimes had targeted Muslims).
2. The MET Police figures remain stubbornly high – up +60% year-on-year (to February 2014) – and which have increased every month since Woolwich, not just in its immediate aftermath,
3. We have recorded more than 1,000 cases ourselves since May 2013, which includes both online and offline incidents,
4. There have been at least 35 attacks against mosques since Woolwich,
5. Ukrainian neo-Nazi Pavlo Lapshyn let off bombs outside three mosques in the West Midlands during June and July 2013, motivated by “racial and religious hatred” according to his trial judge. Lapshyn also murdered 82-year-old grandfather, Mohammed Saleem, in April 2013, stabbing him in the back and stamping on his head,
6. Two ex-soldiers who firebombed a mosque four days after the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby were recently jailed for six years.
7. Arsonists burned down a mosque in Muswell Hill, North London, in June 2013 and attempted to burn down an Islamic school in Chislehurst with the pupils still inside, leading the MET Police Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and Commander Simon Letchford to speak of an “eightfold” increase in Islamophobic attacks & leading to 24-hour protection for key Islamic sites
8. The far-right EDL grew to over 150,000 Facebook ‘likes’ following Woolwich, starting a mini-riot the night of the killing and with supporters writing social media statements such as – “get as many of the rag-head dogs as yous can lads!! much support and best wishes from ulster.. NO SURRENDER!! – Kill any muslim u see!!!! – cause carnage on them mother fuckers!!!!!!!!!!!” Several EDL sympathisers were jailed after calling for attacks against mosques
9. Policing EDL street demonstrations has cost the country more than £10m.
10. There is serious under-reporting of hate crimes – evidence from the British Crime Survey (2009/10; 2010/11) suggests that over 50 per cent of hate crime incidents go unreported and “therefore the majority of victims suffer in silence”

We have three staff working full-time and flat out chronicling incidents and attempting to provide support for victims. We take little joy from the fact that anti-Muslim hate needs tackling and we take little joy from the fact that the murder of Lee Rigby led to serious issues around cohesion in our country. If there was one thing that we have worked towards, it is trying to get Muslims to take control when they are subjected to anti-Muslim hate and to demonstrate to them that they are part of the mainstream and that there are ways to seek redress rather than building on a sense of grievances.

Our work has ensured that TELL MAMA and myself have been attacked from all angles: by far-right activists, by Muslim haters, by hostile voices even within the Muslim community itself.

When we appointed both gay rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, and prominent Jewish leader, Richard Benson, as patron and co-chair respectively, we received further opprobrium from those who said that Muslims can’t unite with the LGBT community, that homosexuality is unacceptable or that Muslims must oppose ‘Zionists’.

We have also been attacked by some in the media, who claim we have exaggerated our claims. We simply don’t accept that analysis and we realize that more work needs to be done to develop the platform of work on anti-Muslim prejudice, yet we have always striven to document the facts and reduce conjecture, whilst caught within finite resources and covering the whole country.

We are, and have been, on a journey. Not an easy one at that. We are making progress: we now have academic verification of our work from analysts at Teesside University, for example, and we have worked with experts at Birmingham University to produce reports on the impact of anti-Muslim incidents upon women. We have further reports in the pipeline.

Let us not downplay the very real fear and harm generated by anti-Muslim hatred, whether it be on social media or in the streets. And let all those who ‘hate hatred’ unite with us to fight for a better Britain – for all our communities.

The post THE INCONTROVERTIBLE FACTS ABOUT ANTI-MUSLIM HATRED SINCE WOOLWICH – RESPONSE BY FIYAZ MUGHAL appeared first on TELL MAMA.

The latest hate crime figures from the Metropolitan Police Service once again show a startling set of data. Take for example a 68% increase in Islamophobic hate crime from September 2012 to September 2013 in Tower Hamlets. Or the 475% increase in the London Borough of Greenwich during the same period, or the 50% increase in Islamophobic hate crimes in Hackney when comparing the same time periods; or take the 200% increase in Lambeth or Southwark during the same time periods.

What these figures show are a 55% increase in Islamophobic hate crimes when compared between September 2012 to 2013. Thankfully, the spike in Islamophobic hate crimes in London is reducing from the figure of 815 in August 2013 to 680, though it should be noted that the figures are coming down after the peak post Woolwich and the murder of drummer Lee Rigby. Nonetheless, what it shows is that there was a post Woolwich peak and that Islamophobic crimes remain an issue across the capital.

On a final note, could there be the possibility that people are better informed and are more confident in reporting in Islamophobic hate crimes? Well that could be the case, though such large rises take decades of work and resources to build community confidence in reporting in. We, TELL MAMA, have been  working over the last 18 months on community education programmes and therefore the spike in reporting, we believe, is strongly due to the post-Woolwich backlash. We will, no doubt, continue to keep an eye on the data coming through from mulitple sources, including our casework.

The post The latest MET Islamophobic hate crime figures to September 2013 appeared first on TELL MAMA.

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We would like to draw your attention to the intended entry to the UK next week of Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, two American nationals, and Anders Gravers Pederson, a Danish national, all associated with extreme anti-Muslim views and the promotion of violent Islamophobic groups. We, and other civil rights organisations, believe there are compelling reasons to refuse them entry to the UK.

These individuals, who are notorious for their anti-Muslim rhetoric, have been invited to address a public gathering of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) on Armed Forces Day, Saturday 29^th June. The gathering is due to place in Woolwich, near where Drummer Lee Rigby was murdered a month ago. A petition calling upon you to deny them entry to the UK, on the grounds of their likelihood to promote hatred and potentially provoke serious criminal activity, has recently been organised by anti-extremism campaigners HOPE not hate. As an organisation with a similar history of opposing religiously-motivated hate crime and tackling extremist movements, we at Faith Matters would also like to express our alarm at the planned visit by these speakers, and urge you to take seriously the threat they pose to equality, peace, and inter-religious coexistence in the UK.

HOPE not hate’s letter calls upon you to bar Geller and Spencer from entering the UK, and lists some of the pair’s recent anti-Muslim activism as evidence of why their presence is likely to encourage violent hatred and racist/anti-Muslim prejudice in the UK. Pamela Geller has led strident opposition to an Islamic centre in New York City; has referred to Palestinians/Muslims as ‘savages’; has denied the Srebrenica genocide; has called Islam “an extreme ideology”; claims Barrack Obama is a “muhammadan… who wants jihad to win”; and says that the EDL are “courageus English patriots”.

Spencer’s meanwhile has been labeled as “The principal leader…in the new academic field of Islam-bashing” by a former aide to Richard Nixon and was, along with Geller, quoted significantly by Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik in his ‘manifesto’. Having examined and come into contact with Geller and Spencer’s work in the past, we would suggest that the pair are some of the main figures involved in stirring up organised anti-Muslim prejudice in the Western world today. Just as we ban religious hate preachers who stir up sectarian and other tensions, so too should we prevent those such as Geller and Spencer whose words have led to so much division and damage to community cohesion.

HOPE not hate and Faith Matters are not the only organisations that have expressed serious concerns about the impact of the rhetoric and activities of Spencer, Gravers, Geller, and their close network of organisations (including the American Freedom Defense Initiative, Stop the Islamisation of America, and Stop the Islamisation of Nations). The highly-respected Community Security Trust (an organisation working against antisemitic hate crime) has described SIOE(Stop The Islamization of Europe), an organisation run by Anders Gravers and that is closely associated with Geller and Spencer, as filled with ‘anti-Muslim bigotry’ and as a ‘recruiting sergeant for … the far right [that] provides the fuel for terrorism’. US organisations have similarly condemned the pair and the movement they represent – the Southern Poverty Law Centre has described SIOA as a ‘hate group’ that ‘mingles comfortably with European racists and fascists’, while the Anti-Defamation League has described it as promulgating ‘virulent anti-Muslim bigotry and conspiracy theories’, actions that it calls ‘abhorrent and morally repugnant’. The ADL cites in particular the militant nature of her rhetoric – she suggests that, if her supposed Muslim enemies sought to prevent her from speaking, she and her followers ‘have no other recourse but to resort to violence’. In addition, Media Matters for America, a media watchdog group, has noted her ‘history of outrageous, inflammatory, and false claims’ citing her tendency to engage in anti-Muslim, racist, anti-Semitic and transphobic rhetoric when given a public platform. In short, Geller, Spencer, Gravers and their organisations are widely recognised to be closely linked to a range of violent anti-minority activities, and have a history of using their platforms to spur violent prejudice against minorities and their opponents.

The Home Secretary is capable, under the unacceptable behavior policy, of denying entry permits to hate promoters and supporters of ‘violent extremism’. These include those who, through public speaking or the distribution of printed or online material, seek to ‘foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK’, foment or ‘seek to provoke others to serious criminal activity’ (see attachment 4). Indeed, a precedent for denying entry on these grounds has previously been set by former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in 2009, when the UK refused to admit the controversial American ‘shock jock’ Michael Savage (whose UK travel ban was upheld by the Coalition Government in July 2010), the white supremacist Stephen Donald Black (founder of ‘Stormfront’, a major white separatist/Neo-Nazi website), Fred Waldron Phelps (a Christian hate preacher who intended to picket the funerals of British soldiers), and Abdul Alim Musa (an anti-Semitic hate preacher). As far as we are aware, this policy is still in place, and we would suggest that given Geller’s/Spencer’s/Gravers’ history of promoting anti-Muslim prejudice and hatred (as well as hatred against other minority groups), they would certainly fall into this category.

Following the tragic murder of Lee Rigby, police and monitoring agencies across the country have seen a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes and incidents, with many – like the recent arson of the Al Rahma Islamic Centre in London – seeming to suggest clear ties to the EDL. Given existing tensions in the UK surrounding this issue, we would strongly suggest that the presence of Geller and Spencer as speakers would do only inflame sentiments on all sides, encourage violence, and serve as a rallying point both for violent anti-Muslim groups (such as the EDL) and proscribed extreme groups such as al-Muhajiroun and Muslims Against the Crusades. Given their long-term reporting on Muslim issues, Spencer and Geller are most likely aware of this potential for ‘tit-for-tat radicalisation’.

For all these reasons, we strongly urge you to exercise your powers as Home Secretary and block Geller, Spencer and Gravers from entering the country and from being allowed to address the EDL gathering on Saturday 29^th June.

Yours sincerely,

TELL MAMA TEAM

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