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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, a stabbing at a train station, which occurred before far-right protesters began to gather outside a popular city mosque, has left Liverpool’s Muslim community on edge, while elsewhere in the UK, Muslim community groups have urged the police to ramp up security and patrols outside mosques and community centers as far-right groups planned at least 19 rallies across England over the weekend, and Tell MAMA has said death and rape threats targeting Muslims in Britain has increased fivefold with a threefold increase in hate crimes after fake news spread online concerning the stabbing attack at a dance studio in Southport. Our recommended read of the day is by Nadine White for The Independent on how experts and religious groups are warning that anti-Muslim sentiment is “simmering under the surface” of British society and that the ugly scenes unfolding on UK streets are only the tip of the iceberg. This and more below.
United Kingdom
How UK’s deep rooted Islamophobia problem stoked far-right riots | Recommended Read
More ugly scenes have unfolded on the UK’s streets on Saturday, as police continue to grapple with a wave of far-right disorder across the country. Cities in England and Northern Ireland saw violence perpetrated by anti-immigration rioters with police officers injured as objects such as bricks, chairs and bottles were thrown at them. The far-right has drawn condemnation from MPs across the political spectrum after race riots in London, Manchester, Southport, Hartlepool and Sunderland over the past week, many of which have seen mosques and other Muslim religious buildings targeted. With more marches planned in the coming days, experts have warned such demonstrations are being driven by deep-rooted Islamophobic sentiment among some sections of the population. Racial equality and civil rights think tank the Runnymede Trust warned that this “violent racism has long been simmering under the surface” of society. “What is happening is the direct result of years of normalised racism and Islamophobia, enabled by politicians and the British media,” a charity spokesperson said. read the complete article
Far-right violence against small UK Muslim communities sets a worrying precedent for all minorities
A young South Asian man is walking alone down a normal-looking English street. Suddenly, he is punched hard in the face. Onlookers cheer, laugh and yell racial slurs. “A Paki got banged,” one shouts as those around him begin to smash the windows of small businesses and kick down the front door of a house. The day before, similar scenes occurred elsewhere. In headline-grabbing riots, a mosque was bricked and the garden walls of nearby homes were torn down and turned into missiles to throw at police and local residents. These are not stories from the 1970s. They are all-too-recent events in Hartlepool, County Durham, and Southport, Merseyside. The last week of July 2024 will be remembered for the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport and the violent unrest that has followed. Fuelled by online misinformation about the identity of the suspect — now confirmed to not be Muslim — Muslim communities have been blamed, harassed and assaulted, and mosques across the country have been threatened. Emboldened by social media provocateurs, sections of the conservative media and a number of political figures, including the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, the far-right has gone on the rampage. Now, there are reports of further rallies being planned in Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Bristol, Belfast and Hull, with some organisers reportedly urging protesters to congregate outside Muslim places of worship. read the complete article
Far-right protesters clash with police in UK cities as unrest spreads
Far-right protesters have clashed with police at several rallies as unrest linked to misinformation about the murder of three young girls in a stabbing attack spread across the United Kingdom. Riots involving hundreds of far-right anti-immigration protesters have erupted in several towns and cities in recent days after false information spread rapidly on social media that the suspect in Monday’s knife attack at a dance class for children in Southport was a Muslim immigrant. Police have said the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff, Wales, but protests by anti-immigration and anti-Muslim demonstrators have continued, descending into violence and rioting, including in the northeastern city of Sunderland on Friday evening. read the complete article
‘Get rid of hatred’: Muslim chaplain invites protesters for burgers as mosques step up security
Mosques across the country are strengthening their security measures ahead of planned far-right protests – as one Muslim chaplain pledges to hand out burgers and chips to demonstrators in a gesture of peace. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said hundreds of mosques are taking protective measures, such as checking windows and doors and bringing in extra security staff, ahead of the weekend. Disorder by the far-right first sprang up in Southport after the killing of three children in an attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday. Misinformation online led to violent scenes outside a mosque. More than 30 protests are planned between Friday and Sunday across Britain and Northern Ireland. Anti-fascist charity Hope not Hate said all the protests are anti-multiculturalism, anti-Muslim and anti-government, with two mosques named as targets. Nine anti-racism counter-protests are also being planned. A leader at one Liverpool mosque, Adam Kelwick, has pledged to greet any protesters with free food and welcome them in. Mr Kelwick, who worships at Abdullah Quilliam, Britain’s oldest mosque, said any protesters who wished to “genuinely engage with us” would be welcomed in to “discuss with us issues which all of us face in society today”. read the complete article
Who Are the Far-Right Groups Behind the U.K. Riots?
The violence has been driven by online disinformation and extremist right-wing groups intent on creating disorder after a deadly knife attack on a children’s event in northwestern England, experts said. A range of far-right factions and individuals, including neo-Nazis, violent soccer fans and anti-Muslim campaigners, have promoted and taken part in the unrest, which has also been stoked by online influencers. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to deploy additional police officers to crack down on the disorder. “This is not a protest that has got out of hand,” he said on Thursday. “It is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence.” Over 200 people descended on Southport on Tuesday night, many traveling by train from elsewhere in Britain, the police said. Rioters attacked a mosque, wounded more than 50 police officers and set vehicles alight. On Wednesday night, another far-right demonstration brought clashes with the police in central London, leading to over 100 arrests. Smaller pockets of disorder broke out in Hartlepool, in northeastern England; in the city of Manchester; and in Aldershot, a town southeast of London. On Friday night, Northumbria Police said its officers had been “subjected to serious violence” as far-right demonstrators set fires and attacked officers in Sunderland, a city in the northeast. Several far-right groups have been at the riots or promoted them on social media. David Miles, a prominent member of Patriotic Alternative, a fascist group, shared photographs of himself in Southport, according to Hope Not Hate, a Britain-based advocacy group that researches extremist organizations. Other far-right agitators spread information about the protest on social media, including British Movement, a neo-Nazi group. Images of the protests examined by Hope not Hate showed some people with Nazi tattoos. After the disorder in Southport, the police said that supporters of the English Defence League had been involved. The riots have also attracted people linked to soccer violence, or hooliganism, which has long overlapped with nationalist movements in Britain. read the complete article
Muslim community fears for safety amid UK far-right riots
Muslims across the UK have raised alarm over their safety amidst ongoing Islamophobic attacks and far-right riots following a stabbing attack in Southport which killed three girls. Muslim community groups have urged the police to ramp up security and patrols outside mosques as far-right groups have planned at least 19 rallies across England in the coming days. Violent riots have already taken place in Southport, Manchester and London as well as other cities and towns after the girls were stabbed at a children’s holiday club on Monday. The teenager charged with murder after the stabbing has been named as Axel Rudakubana. Although the defendant is 17 which typically means he would be granted anonymity, the court judge made his name public due to fake news spread by far-right groups that he was Muslim and because he is set to turn 18 in six days. In the days following the stabbing, riots spread across cities after misinformation spread online about the identity and nationality of the suspect. Mosques were aggressively attacked in the aftermath, as false rumours about his religious identity spread, despite their being little information regarding him. read the complete article
Locals shower Southport Mosque with solidarity after Islamophobic riots
TRT World spoke to locals that witnessed the far-right riots outside Southport Mosque earlier this week, which was targeted over misinformation campaign online that falsely blamed Muslims for the killing of three children. However, after far-right riots against Muslims in Britain, police revealed the identity of knife attack suspect as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in UK to Christian parents. Locals talk of the communal solidarity shared amid these combined tragedies. read the complete article
Church leaders condemn 'anti-Islamic' protests
Church leaders in Northern Ireland say they are "appalled" by calls for "anti-Islamic" protests this weekend. A number of social media posts have been shared asking for people to gather and block roads in the greater Belfast area and elsewhere. The police have said they are aware of the social media posts and are planning a "proportionate policing response". It comes after two nights of violent protest in English towns this week, following a knife attack in Southport. In a statement, Ch Supt Stephen Murray said police are aware of social media posts calling for protests across Northern Ireland including "specific calls to block roads using women and children". "It is unclear at this time what the actual provenance for these posts or appetite for this activity is," he added. "We will continue to plan a proportionate policing response and will continue to engage with those groups likely to be affected by any protest activity." read the complete article
Southport stabbing: What led to the spread of disinformation?
At the core of the protests was the belief that the suspect, identified as Axel Rudakubana, 17, and born to Rwandan parents in Cardiff, was a Muslim immigrant, which he was not. In the absence of information from media organisations and the local Merseyside Police, unfounded speculation resulted in a slew of Islamophobic and anti-immigrant posts on social media. False claims about the suspect’s origins spread like wildfire with some falsely naming him as “Ali al-Shakati” with no official source for the name. There were also claims that the suspect had arrived in the UK on a small boat in 2023, which was also false. Massive, according to Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor of Middle Eastern studies at Doha’s Hamad bin Khalifa University, where his research focuses on information control strategies. By July 30, a day after the incident, Jones had tracked “at least 27 million impressions [on social media] for posts stating or speculating that the attacker was Muslim, a migrant, refugee or foreigner”, he said on X. Influencer Andrew Tate also said in a video on X that an “undocumented migrant” who had “arrived on a boat” had attacked the girls in Southport. “The soul of the Western man is so broken that when the invaders slaughter your daughters, you do absolutely f****** nothing,” Tate said. Other accounts on X also blamed Muslims for the attack, including Channel 3 Now, purporting to be a news organisation but whose background remains clear, which later issued a “sincere apology and correction” to the spread of the false information. read the complete article
Muslim stabbed at train station hours before far-right demo at Liverpool mosque
A train station stabbing left Liverpool’s Muslim community on edge today, even before far-right protesters gathered outside a city mosque. Megan Rimmer, 36, was getting the train back from Liverpool with her daughters when she saw the attack in Blundellsands & Crosby train station just after 2pm. As she wheeled her buggy off the platform, a man turned around and stabbed a man, believed to be Muslim, who had been walking out of the station behind him. ‘They were both going through the same gate and the white guy just turned around and lunged at him with a knife’, she told Metro. After barricading herself and her daughters in the station waiting room until she was certain the attacker had run away, Megan emerged to help the man. He was still in shock as she removed her keffiyeh, wrapped it around his hand and told him to apply pressure to the wound. The whole ordeal horrified Megan, who said: ‘I’m just sad and scared. It was really, really upsetting.’ read the complete article
Extreme-right activists are terrorising UK’s Muslims, says charity
The surge in extreme rightwing activity in the past week has led to a fivefold increase in threats to Muslims, such as of rape and death, and a threefold increase in hate crime incidents, a national monitoring group said on Sunday. Muslims in Britain have been left “terrorised” by the increase in extreme rightwing activity since Monday, which is directly linked to a large increase in anti-Islamic hate crimes, according to initial analysis from Tell Mama. Tell Mama is a monitoring group that tracks complaints of anti-Muslim hate crimes. It says the increase in fear Muslims have experienced is directly linked to the extreme far right. A total of 10 mosques, the charity says, have faced attacks or threats, including Islamic places of worship in Southport, Liverpool and Hartlepool. read the complete article
Night of violence leaves community in fear
A faith leader has told how some members of the Muslim community were left terrified and did not want to leave their homes after a night of unrest in the city. Rioters in Sunderland attacked police officers, damaged buildings and targeted mosques on Friday in an outbreak of violence following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport. Zaf Iqbal and three other people locked themselves inside Masjid E Anwaar E Madinah mosque on St Mark's Road for safety. Mr Iqbal, who co-chairs the Sunderland Inter Faith Forum, said it had been "very frightening". "You have a mob attacking a building, which is a place of worship," he said. Mr Iqbal said that following the rioting some Muslim people were scared to leave their homes, with members of other faiths also feeling concerned. "Older men are terrified. The women, they don't want to come out," he said. "I've heard from the Sikh community, that they had to be vigilant and make sure that the gurdwara didn't get attacked. Fortunately, it didn't. "We had to close the mosques on Friday night and not go about our normal business, because we didn't want our elders to be put at risk." read the complete article
United States
Once Popular With Arabs and Muslims, Josh Shapiro Has Alienated Supporters With His Views on Israel-Palestine
Within days, Vice President Kamala Harris will be picking her running mate for the November election. Among the contenders under consideration is Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has drawn ire from the political left over a range of issues, but the one that has most contributed to turning him into a lightning rod is the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Shapiro’s progressive critics have pointed to, among other things, his steadfast backing of the Israeli government during the present war in Gaza, his likening of some Palestinian solidarity protesters to the Ku Klux Klan, his support for ousting University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill for her failure to crack down on speech that was harshly critical of Israel and his support for laws that would punish institutions that divest from Israel or Israeli settlements. Meanwhile, his defenders argue that Shapiro is being unfairly singled out for criticism, perhaps due to his faith — he is an observant Conservative Jew. He has, as some point out, harshly criticized Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “one of the worst leaders of all time.” It might seem, then, that Shapiro was merely one among many candidates with similar views on a polarizing foreign conflict. Yet that line of defense appeared to collapse on Friday, when the Philadelphia Inquirer published a story about an op-ed that a 20-year-old Josh Shapiro wrote in 1993 while a student at the University of Rochester. In that op-ed, Shapiro expressed deep pessimism about peace in the Middle East. “Using history as a precedent, peace between Arabs and Israelis is virtually impossible and will never come,” he wrote. One reason why, he wrote, is because Palestinians “will not coexist peacefully. They do not have the capabilities to establish their own homeland and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States. They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own.” read the complete article
India
India’s Anti-Muslim Apartheid
From discriminatory laws to lynchings, things have gone from bad to worse for India’s Muslims. Rana Ayyub sits down with Tribune to discuss the historic roots of Hindutva extremism, their global connections and whether there is any hope on the horizon. read the complete article