The Times ran three front-page headlines in August 2017 after the five-year-old child was removed from her mother’s care and placed with a Muslim family until assessments about the suitability of the child’s maternal grandmother, herself Muslim, were complete.

Notice of the ruling appeared on the Times front page on April 25, and the ruling will enforce a larger apology on page six, or further forward.

Tower Hamlets Borough Council complained about the accuracy (Clause 1) in an article headlined “Judge rules child must leave Muslim foster home” published on August 30, 2017.

The August 30 story followed earlier coverage which focused on the cultural and religious needs of a Christian child which were alleged to have not been by met by her Muslim foster carers. Allegations later rejected or found to be unsubstantiated by Tower Hamlets borough council.

Ipso upheld the complaint, noting that the council had every intention of placing the child with her maternal grandmother once assessments were complete. The original article gave the impression that the judge’s decision had ruled against the council’s assessment in organising the foster placements. The adjudication adds this was not “what the court had decided, or an implication of what the court had decided.”

Ipso, however, did not uphold the complaint that it was an omission to exclude the Muslim background of her maternal grandmother in the August 30 coverage, as she was a non-practising Muslim. Information the committee pointed out was included in the Times coverage a day later.

The Times coverage alleged that foster family had prevented the child from wearing a crucifix and consuming her favourite meal because it contained bacon and forcing her to learn Arabic.

Subsequent coverage claimed the child had informed her biological mother that “European women are stupid and alcoholic” and “Christmas and Easter are stupid”, adding that she ‘sobbed’ and ‘begged’ not to return to the foster family because they ‘did not’ speak English.

Tower Hamlets Council investigated the claims in November and said the allegations were unfounded, which the biological mother disputes.

The child’s maternal grandmother said that the child could or would not make such statements about European women. A social worker found that the child could not identify where Europe is.

A social worker found that the child had no negative views of Christmas and Easter. In fact, the opposite was true, as the child spoke of their excitement about such holidays, adding that she partook in an Easter egg hunt at the foster carer’s home and was given an egg by this carer. She even brought this egg with her to contact with her biological mother to share.

East London family court found the girl had a “warm and appropriate” relationship with her foster carers and missed them after she went to live with her maternal grandmother. Her maternal grandmother was angry with the press coverage as she appreciated the care and commitment the foster carers had provided. The child had even requested to see the family again.

Nor was the child prevented from eating bacon or forced to speak Arabic.

The first foster carer, with whom the child spent most of the time with, wore the hijab (headscarf), not the niqab or burqa. Her respite foster carer did wear such clothing outside of the home. This photograph, while pixellated, appeared on the Times front page on August 28, 2017, leaving some in Tower Hamlets borough council fearing that the coverage would identify the child and foster carers, according to the Guardian.

A decision was taken to place the child into care in March 2017 after the police exercised their powers of protection. There was, however, no ‘culturally matched’ placement available at the time.

The mother continued to have regular supervised visits with her daughter, which extended to telephone calls and calls to her grandmother.

Due to the intense media coverage of the story, which extended far beyond the Times coverage and into other tabloids, a rare decision was taken to publish the court order on August 29, 2017.

It emerged that the mother had to voluntarily submit hair and liver samples to test for cocaine and alcohol.

Others criticised the coverage of the MailOnline and the Daily Mail which included the editing of a stock photo of a Muslim woman.

The furore even had a political dimension, with some MPs calling for an enquiry.

The British far-right seized upon the story. On YouTube, a video by the ex-leader and founder of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, has been viewed over fifty-thousand times. Katie Hopkins tweeted: “Which individual at Tower Hamlets was responsible for the abuse of this little girl?”

The story took on an international dimension with the American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones highlighting the story on August 28, 2017. Kirralie Smith, the political activist in the far-right Australian Liberty Alliance party, tweeted the MailOnline’s initial coverage while criticising multiculturalism.

Several months later, and a day before Ipso upheld the council’s complaint, a senior Times executive acknowledged the story caused “enormous offence and enormous upset” but defended the coverage, adding that the judge agreed that their coverage raised important questions and was in the public interest.

The Times did also make serious allegations that the local authority had attempted to block the story, including preventing court access for their journalists, which was lifted by Judge Sapnara.

In broader terms, however, the story does point to a gap in recruiting minority groups to become foster carers.

A BuzzFeed News investigation by Aisha Gani detailed how some Muslims have or fear discrimination when applying to become foster carers.

The most recent data shows that almost a quarter (24 per cent) of fostered children are from minority ethnic backgrounds (up 2 per cent on the previous year) and 14 per cent of all foster carers come from minority ethnic backgrounds. There was, however, a slight increase in the number of approved foster carers from minority ethnic backgrounds last year.

Credit: Ofsted/Gov.uk

Local authorities are recruiting a far higher number of white foster carers when compared to independent fostering agencies. And given that two-thirds of placements involve local authorities there “continues to be a risk that some children may be placed in households or with carers who are not able to meet all their needs.”

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The five-year-old girl, described by her mother as Christian, is now in the care of her maternal grandmother, at the request of her mother, and the local authority.

This interim care order came about thanks to the evidence presented in family court, and not influenced by media reporting.

The judge, Khatun Sapnara, disclosed that an assessment of the maternal grandparents revealed their non-practicing Muslim background.

The timetable of proceedings has changed to reflect the complexities of the case, which includes ‘criminal and family law proceedings’ and an international dimension.

Supervised contact between mother and daughter will continue following the council’s request to place the child in the care of her maternal grandmother for the interim, as the mother wants to resume care of her daughter. Tower Hamlets Council hopes to place the child with her maternal grandmother in the long-term, but this may involve the child leaving the country.

Tower Hamlets Council took the child into care in March after police exercised their powers of protection. There was, however, no ‘culturally matched’ placement available at the time.

The mother continued to have regular supervised visits with her daughter, which extended to telephone calls and calls to her grandmother.

On June 27, 2017, the court ordered the local authority to address the mother’s concerns, which they continue to dispute.

Confidential reports seen by The Times newspaper alleged that the child had a necklace with a cross removed and was not allowed to eat carbonara as it contained bacon. Concerns raised by a social services supervisor that the child complained about a lack of spoken English in one foster carer’s home. The local authority disputes this claim.

The court has directed Tower Hamlets Council to address fresh allegations from the mother by 4 pm on September 8.

The mother will voluntarily submit hair and liver samples to test for cocaine and alcohol. Any criminal proceedings against the mother, including sentence and pre-sentence reports, must be filed with the court by the same date.

Tower Hamlet’s Council will translate the mother’s final statement into the native tongue of the grandmother. It is understood the child also speaks this language but did not understand the Arabic spoken, according to an article in the Times.

The Times has made serious allegations that the local authority had attempted to block the story, including preventing court access for their journalists, which was lifted by Judge Sapnara.

A damning Ofsted report last July had rated child services in Tower Hamlets as inadequate. The council said it was taking steps to address the concerns raised.

There are strict rules around fostering, and the BBC spoke to Esmat Jeraj and her family’s long record of fostering children.

Far-right groups in the UK, including the British National Party, English Defence League, and Britain First seized on the initial coverage.

Kirralie Smith, the political activist in the far-right Australian Liberty Alliance party, tweeted the MailOnline’s initial coverage while criticising multiculturalism.

Others raised concerns about MailOnline journalists editing a stock photo of a Muslim family to include a face veil. The photo was then re-edited to remove the veil, and pixelating her face.

The print edition of the Metro had published the edited face veil photo.

The Sun’s editorial bellowed that the decision ‘beggars belief’ on August 29, its front page for that day made passing reference to the story.

A day earlier, MPs were urged to call for a public inquiry, which became the Daily Mail’s front page lead the next day, which referenced the child’s faith. Katie Hopkins had tweeted this front page, posing the question: “Which individual at Tower Hamlets was responsible for the abuse of this little girl?”

The Daily Mail’s front page on August 30 gave further coverage to the story.

Every front page from the Times between August 28 and August 31 referenced the foster case, including two front page leads, per social media posts. Every headline referenced Muslims or Muslims, with two headlines, made contrasting reference to the child’s faith.

Other media outlets including the Independent, Metro, and Mirror referenced the faith of the parties involved and the child’s ethnicity.

The newspaper regulator Ipso has received complaints about the Times and Mail’s coverage of the story.

The next hearing for this foster case is on October 2.

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The circular which was sent to subscribers makes the usual call for ‘donations’ and openly suggests that far right Britain First sympathisers are

“happy to go into the most militant Muslim areas and carry out dangerous Britain First operations.”

Are these the same ‘militant Muslim areas’ that has seen them previously go into the boroughs of Waltham Forest and Tower Hamlets and stand outside the East London mosque, whilst posturing and being abusive to worshippers? To describe Tower Hamlets as a ‘militant Muslim area’ shows how deluded this group has become and how they are part of the problem and not a solution for communities in our country.

The bulletin goes onto highlight a video of Paul Golding undertaking a ‘self defence’ class and with the bulletin suggesting that,

“our activists have stood in the face of mad Muslims and crazed leftists.”

This extremist group simply seems to have forgotten that its actions have been instrumental in creating fear and counter-extremism in some areas.

However, there are two elements in the circular bulletin that are deeply worrying. The first is that two young girls are shown wearing the extremist far right sweatshirts of Britain First. This is deeply worrying and raises into question safeguarding issues. We will no doubt be passing on the pictures to the relevant authorities, given that young children are included in material related to this extremist far right group.

The bulletin goes onto suggest that Britain First will be providing martial arts training to its activists in Krav Maga and Thai boxing. The end of the bulletin makes a chilling call showing the extremist far right rhetoric and mindset of this group. It states,

“The fact is that our people are not breeding.”

“The situation is only going to have one outcome: civil war.”

Given that Britain First is becoming more militant and aggressive in the make-up of its material, we urge authorities to continue to look carefully at this material and to act against the group where appropriate. The only thing that will make ‘Britain First’ globally is hard work, communities working together for a better social and economic future and where citizens value and safeguard our collective safety. Groups like this are a hindrance to these laudable objectives and simply serve their own deluded extremist ideologies.

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Before we continue, we usually refer to Islamophobia through the more specific term of anti-Muslim hate, though we are aware that the term Islamophobia is well recognised and does include anti-Muslim hate incidents. This is also one of the reasons for a need to respond to the headlines that have been associated with the Lutfur Rahman case.

Findings of the Court: Mawrey’s findings have been damning and open up the way for new elections in Tower Hamlets.

We are not going to focus on the politics of Tower Hamlets and this is not our role. Yet, this case is damaging for trust and confidence in the term Islamophobia and we have repeatedly made clear that clarion calls of Islamophobia, when there is no clear evidential basis to it, not only damages the term, it also reduces trust and confidence in victims of anti-Muslim hate when they raise such issues. Therefore, not only have Tower Hamlets residents been affected by the political limelight on the area, victims of anti-Muslim hate have also been affected by the actions of those who chose to highlight racism and prejudice as the primary reason for a focus on their local actions. Only time will really tell how much of an impact this affair has had on access to justice for victims of anti-Muslim hate.

Islamophobia Abound: Yet, there is another issue that needs raising here and which is troubling. There are groups who are travelling the length and breadth of our country promoting the notion that this country is one that is Islamophobic and that this is a major issue affecting Muslim communities. In fact, there are lots of issues that are affecting Muslim communities from employment rates through to housing and poor health indicators.

These groups who place Islamophobia as the key issue affecting Muslim communities are also doing what Mawrey stated. They are playing politics on an issue which Muslim communities are sensitive to and trying to build support whilst caustically talking about our country in the bleakest of ways. Such groups play down our country, insinuate that most non-Muslims are Islamophobic and that the future of Muslims in the UK is bleak. These statements are simply not true and simply keep individuals in a mindset where they feel dis-empowered. This is the last thing that Muslim communities need.

In fact, if there is one organisation that has systematically documented and methodically worked with police forces and Central Government to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, it is TELL MAMA. As we have stated, hyping up the issue and building a sense of fear as though it is overwhelming, is neither healthy for Muslim communities, nor does it warrant such talk. This country is one of the safest in Europe and we need to bear this in mind.

The risks to Muslim communities are low, yet, the impacts of hate crimes on victims are significant and this is why our work is important. Whilst we must not be complacent to such threats, (and the anti-Muslim backlash after the murder of Lee Rigby was a clear example of such a community threat), these risks are few and far between and are being actively managed within resources by local police forces.

Victims of anti-Muslim hate: It is important to support victims of anti-Muslim hate, ensure access to justice and to show victims that the system works and where it does not, to ensure that problems are quickly rectified. Hyperbolic statements that Islamophobia are all consuming in our country are simply false and this is also why the Lutfur Rahman judgement is damning. It is damning since it calls out those who used this term for political gain, whilst also sending a clear message to those working in this area that it is essential that we also call out those using the term in a corrosive manner for political gain.

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These cases will no doubt include both on-line and off-line hate crimes that are registered by the MET.

The post Met Figures for Islamophobic Crimes in London – March 2014 appeared first on TELL MAMA.