Between October 7 and October 19, Tell MAMA recorded 291 cases of anti-Muslim hate – a six-fold increase from the same period in 2022, as of yesterday evening.
Of the 291 anti-Muslim cases, we observed a two-fold increase in London alone.
Consistent with our previous bulletins, we continue to see how racist, dehumanising and threatening behaviours target Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities offline and online. Alarmingly, we’ve had further cases of death threats made, including towards visible Muslim women and staff at a Palestinian restaurant. Tell MAMA is in contact with the owner and will continue to provide them with assistance. We will also be liaising further with the Met Police.
Here is a breakdown of cases to Tell MAMA:
132 offline cases – (8 assaults, 11 threats, 5 acts of vandalism, and 57 cases of abusive behaviour). Cases occurred in areas like London (88, a two-fold increase), Greater Manchester (15), Lancashire (5), South Yorkshire (3), West Yorkshire (6), East Midlands (5) and West Midlands (7), the Southwest (1), and Northeast (2).
159 online cases – consistent with last week, a majority of which contained dehumanising anti-Muslim language and tropes, equating communities with terrorism and violence.
Again, the numbers remain, like all Tell MAMA cases, subject to further revision and analysis.
Muslims faced abuse and dehumanising slurs online and offline, referred to as terrorists for their support of Palestine publicly, or told to “f*** off back to Palestine” or called ‘bombers’.
A man harassed a visible Muslim woman and kept shouting “Hamas terrorist” at her in the street.
Twitter/X removed a post from a woman in Staffordshire who called for the bombing of Muslims in reply to a viral photo of Muslims praying from a far-right account. Tell MAMA followed up with a police report after a member of the public got in touch.
Issues in schools also concern students and teachers – we spoke with a Muslim teacher who wears a headscarf who described facing remarks linking them to terrorism from a group of students.
Further notes:
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.