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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the United Kingdom, a new survey has found that four in 10 Britons feel Muslim migrants have a “negative impact on the UK”, with more than half thinking “Islam is not compatible with British values”, meanwhile police in Essex have described claims they bussed anti-racism demonstrators to a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers as “categorically wrong” after Nigel Farage and others repeated the allegation, and in the US, the California chapter of CAIR has released a case study on the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of Muslims or those who visibly identify as Muslim in contemporary media. Our recommended read of the day is by Hannah Al-Othman for The Guardian on how new research by People’s Health Trust says that the racially motivated riots which swept England in 2024 had a “devastating” long-term impact on the mental and physical health of affected communities, in particular with Muslim women and girls.
United Kingdom
Last year’s unrest in England ‘has caused lasting harm to communities’ | Recommended Read
A report has found that the violent disorder that swept parts of England in summer 2024 had a “devastating” long-term impact on the mental and physical health of affected communities. The research, by the charity People’s Health Trust, drew on the experiences of more than 50 community organisations working with tens of thousands of people in the neighbourhoods hit hardest by the racially motivated unrest. Almost two-thirds of those groups said they thought it was likely the people they work with would experience racist hate crime and violence in the near future. Violence broke out in England and Northern Ireland after the murder of three young girls in Southport, amid the spread of false information online that the perpetrator was an asylum seeker. The research in England found that racialised communities in particular reported hyper-vigilance, heightened anxiety, chronic stress and fear of using public spaces. Muslim girls and women have been particularly affected, experiencing increasing levels of Islamophobia, racism and misogyny. Many reported increased anxiety and isolation. read the complete article
Poll shows 4 in 10 hold negative views on Muslim migrants
FOUR in 10 Britons feel Muslim migrants have a negative impact on the UK – and more than half think Islam is not compatible with British values, according to a survey. The findings have been described by an imam as “deeply worrying”, and showing “high levels of anti-Muslim sentiment” in Britain. The polling was commissioned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The YouGov survey of 2,130 adults in the UK in mid-July asked people if they felt different groups of migrants by religion generally have a positive or negative impact on the UK. While 41% said Muslim migrants have a negative impact, the proportions feeling this way were much lower for other groups. Just under a quarter (24%) of respondents felt Muslim migrants had a positive impact on the UK, lower than for any of the other religions stated. Some 53% of those polled said they believed Islam is not compatible with British values, while 25% said it is and 22% said they did not know. read the complete article
Police dismiss claims they bussed anti-racists to Epping asylum hotel protest
Police have described claims they bussed anti-racism demonstrators to a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers as “categorically wrong” after Nigel Farage and others repeated the allegation. The response from the Essex police chief constable, Ben-Julian Harrington, came as his force said 10 people had now been arrested in connection with violence that erupted after protests outside the hotel in Epping. Police are braced for further protests outside the Bell hotel in the town as early as Thursday evening, and on Sunday. Local people have been involved in the protests – which broke out after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault – but far-right activists have played a key role in promoting them online and have been present. Essex police have issued a dispersal order in Epping that is in place from 2pm on Thursday until 8am on Friday, covering an area including the town centre, transport hubs and networks such as the underground station. The order gives officers the power to tell anyone suspected of committing or planning antisocial behaviour to leave the area or face arrest. read the complete article
United States
New Judge Assigned to 9/11 Case Ahead of 24th Anniversary of Attacks
An Air Force judge who was in college at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has been named as the new judge in the long-running terrorism case at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Lt. Col. Michael Schrama is the fifth judge in the case against five men who are accused of conspiring in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The case has been stuck in pretrial hearings since 2012. Prosecutors made a deal last summer with three of the defendants, including the man accused of being the mastermind of the plot, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences. That would have averted their death-penalty trial. But the agreement has been revoked twice, including this month by an appeals court in Washington, potentially returning the case to the question of whether the defendants’ torture from 2002 to 2006 while they were in C.I.A. detention has rendered their confessions inadmissible. read the complete article
Muslims in the Media: Who Gets To Tell Our Stories?
For decades, Hollywood has crafted stories about Muslim communities that are filled with fear, war, and suspicion, where Muslims are often the villains that need to be defeated or the victims that need to be saved. This singular narrative, rooted in harmful stereotypes, recycled over and over again, continues to erase the real stories of our diverse communities, marginalize our voices, and contribute to the rise in anti-Muslim hate. In 2021, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a report showing that one-third of primary Muslim characters in popular films were presented as perpetrators of violence. The age-old depiction of Muslim characters as “barbaric,” “evil,” or “the enemy” reinforces the false and dangerous narrative that Muslims are not your neighbors, coworkers, or friends, but threats. When the only time you see a Muslim on screen is when they are the villain, it contributes to the widespread fear and misunderstanding of Islam, fostering discrimination and prejudice that spills off our screens and into our lives. read the complete article