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Good morning……
This week is Hate Crime Awareness Week. Local Authorities, universities, police forces and community groups are organising events around the UK.
Last week the Home Office released it’s latest figures on hate crime in England and Wales. More than ten thousand religious hate crimes were recorded up to March, a rise of 25% on the previous year. The rise is attributed to offences mostly against Jews and Muslims and include everything from harassment and violence to malicious communications and criminal damage to property. And it is well known that many people don’t report what happens to them so these figures will be much higher.
A couple of weeks ago I was walking in London at night and a man followed me for quite a while then came alongside me and made a gesture like he intended to strangle me. The way he acted made me very sure that my headscarf was a motivating factor. I felt scared but like so many other Muslim women, I didn’t report it anywhere. How could I prove it? How would I explain it to the police? He disappeared before I could get a proper look at him. I spent the rest of my two hour journey home feeling unsafe and uncertain of where he was.
Last Friday a swastika and other antisemitic slogans were raked into bunkers at a golf course in Hendon where there is a large Jewish community.
These sit alongside incidents from all over the country and online which all create fear and unease within and between communities.
Prophet Muhammad taught that we should not hold spite in our heart and that when we fill that small organ with hate it can prevent it from being filled with the love of God and the love of others.
Organisation HOPE not hate have a new report out today, with some shocking but not surprising findings.
People’s views on immigration and multiculturalism are shaped by their attitudes towards Muslims more than other ethnic and religious minorities. People are around three times more likely to believe that Muslims cause problems in the UK than other religious groups.
As we saw from the riots in the Summer, there are very close links between anti Muslim hate and anti-migrant narratives. 72% of people polled think the Government has an important role to play in improving cohesion between different communities.
As I read the alarming and sobering statistics and mull over the work we have ahead of us, I remain hopeful of what communities can and are doing together to counter hate but the data and real stories show that none of us have room to be complacent.