Tell MAMA recorded 1,202 anti-Muslim cases as of November 30 following the deadly Hamas terror attacks on October 7.
Our latest figures cover October 7 to November 30, demonstrating a seven-fold increase in cases from the 2022 figure of 172 cases (135 offline, 37 online).
The 1,202 cases* reported to Tell MAMA represents the biggest and most sustained spike in reports to our service across a 55-day reporting period.
Like with our previous statistical bulletins, we provide a brief geographic breakdown of where offline cases occurred.
Of the 505 offline cases, 324 occurred in London, 47 in the northwest, 13 in South Yorkshire, 27 in West Yorkshire, 17 in the East Midlands and 27 in the West Midlands. In other areas, like the Southeast and Southwest of England, we recorded 11 cases in each area, respectively. The final geographic areas concern Scotland (9), Wales (2), and the Northeast (17).
In terms of categories, Tell MAMA received 331 cases of abusive behaviour, 37 threats, 43 assaults, 33 acts of vandalism, 31 cases of discrimination, 23 acts of hate speech and 7 examples of anti-Muslim literature.
Examples include the harassment and abuse towards Muslims in public spaces wearing clothing or colours in support of Palestine – with some told to “cover it up.” Other offline reports concern abuse towards Muslims when out shopping or exiting major supermarkets – including racist slurs like the P-word.
Across the online sphere, including major social media platforms to Telegram and other digital platforms, we received 697 cases.
*Like all Tell MAMA cases, the figures are subject to further revision and analysis.
Tell MAMA continues to report extreme, racist, and dehumanising materials to the police – during the latest bulletin period, we flagged accounts which called Muslims and Palestinians “rats” that should be “stamped out” to menacing calls for violence towards Muslim women (including the use of the P-word).
More broadly, a far-right tweet that dehumanised Muslim women as “breeding machines” and that pushed racist conspiracies like the so-called “Great Replacement” appeared in this reporting cycle.
Our previous bulletins highlighted the worrying levels of anti-Muslim dehumanisation online, the targeting of mosques, and concerns about anti-Muslim language and behaviours at places of education.
We told the Guardian newspaper earlier this month that: “Students and staff are feeling particularly anxious and unsafe at the moment and questioning whether they should wear Islamic clothing on campus, show solidarity for Palestine, or even discuss publicly what is happening in Israel and Palestine, for fear of being targeted.” In response, both UCL and the University of Manchester promote Tell MAMA’s service on their website, a step we encourage other universities to follow (if they do not already do so).
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 crime, and 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.
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 there for anyone in need. If you would like to access the service or find out more about it, e-mail us at counselling@tellmamauk.org
In any emergency, dial 999.