AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): There has been a sevenfold increase in Islamophobic attacks in the United Kingdom from October 7 to December 13, according to Tell MAMA, a group that monitors anti-Muslim hate incidents in the UK.
The group reported 1,432 cases in this period, compared to 195 cases (153 offline and 42 online) in 2022. This is the highest spike in reports to their service in 68 days.
The incidents included 387 cases of abusive behavior, 52 threats, 49 assaults, 46 acts of vandalism, 40 cases of discrimination, 28 acts of hate speech, and 11 examples of anti-Muslim literature.
Online, there were 819 cases, such as racist memes, calls for violence against Muslims, and racist conspiracy theories propagated by white supremacists and far-right extremists.
Tell MAMA advised mosques and Islamic centers to use its mosque safety advice resources and its updated mosque security advice service.
The rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes coincided with the Israeli war on Gaza, which began on October 7. The war also triggered anti-Muslim bigotry in other western countries.
For instance, in the US, a Palestinian American boy named Wadea al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times by a 71-year-old landlord who was allegedly angry about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its affiliates across the US also recorded more cases of anti-Muslim discrimination and harassment following the violence in Gaza.
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