The Guardian view on Islamophobia: political rhetoric is fuelling hate crime | Editorial

The chilling attacks that injured five men in Edinburgh at the weekend, including two who were struck as they left a mosque, have deepened the fear that many Muslims in Britain feel today. The case received remarkably little attention south of the border. A man has now been charged with five counts of attempted murder, allegedly “aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection”. The facts of these attacks must now be examined in court in due course.

What is beyond doubt is the real and growing fear experienced by Muslim communities in the UK, Europe and elsewhere. The US president has said that “I think Islam hates us”. Increasingly open Islamophobic rhetoric from political figures, and a muted response from others, as well as violence towards Muslims, have left many feeling vulnerable and frustrated.

More than half of Muslims (56%) said that they had experienced prejudice based on their religion in the last year, according to a survey from the British Muslim Trust, the government’s official partner for monitoring Islamophobia. The Tell Mama project tallied 6,313 anti-Muslim hate cases in 2024. Religious hate crimes hit record levels in England and Wales last year; 45% were directed at Muslims. Mosques are targeted so frequently that the Muslim Council of Britain has urged them to carry out lockdown drills. In the US, two white supremacist shooters killed three people at a mosque in San Diego last month.

Whether people are singled out for their ethnicity or religion can be unclear – including, perhaps, for the perpetrators. Some people are targeted because they are wrongly believed to be Muslim. A crime may be recorded as anti-Muslim if a woman has her hijab pulled off, but not if she is spat at by someone telling her to “get out of my country”. Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director suggested that anti-Muslim sentiment appeared to be a “more prominent feature” in the anti-migrant riots in Belfast this month than in previous racist violence there.

Sayeeda Warsi. Photograph: Jonathan Hordle/Shutterstock

Islamophobic incidents, like antisemitic ones, have risen sharply following the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 and the war in Gaza. But the roots go deep. Last year, the authors of the independent academic European Islamophobia Report warned of “a disturbing normalization of anti-Muslim racism”. Nearly a quarter of voters in Europe now back far-right parties. But as the report’s authors argue, such movements are also pushing centrist politicians “to adopt exclusionary, securitized rhetoric targeting Muslim communities”. A Runnymede Trust report in 2024 similarly argued that Muslims were increasingly portrayed as a menace to society. The result, said the peer Sayeeda Warsi, was that they were “seen as fair game”.

A new hate crime strategy would be helpful. Critics say embedding the issue in the broader action plan to strengthen communities has diluted the focus. The government should also rethink its handling of funding to help places such as schools and mosques: the current requirement that applicants must prove they have already faced hate crime risks leaves vulnerable sites unprotected. Better regulation of social media is crucial, as disinformation, often promoted for profit or by foreign actors seeking to spread division, fans the flames.

But a much more fundamental shift is needed. Condemnation of hate crime is the bare minimum required. Politicians, and the public too, must be willing and ready to challenge the broader rise in anti-Muslim sentiment that feeds it.

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