A lot has been written about this topic, is it real or is it a figment of the imagination of Muslims.
Islamophobia has been on the rise for some three decades with little or no action taken against it. The research on this strand of bigotry is extensive, yet what is most puzzling is the
inaction or even acknowledgement of the problem. An admission of the problem would require action, hence conversely ignoring it leaves us scope or inaction.
If we look at some simple facts, some 20 plus mosques were attacked post Woolwich. Never has a community nor their places of worship been subject to such hatred in Britain.
The sex grooming debate is another example of this, it lends itself to belief that it's just Muslim's abusing and grooming children. Yet we've had decades of expose re abuse in churches, personalities or other institutions that are not Muslim. The terrorist threat has been sold as a predominately Islamist based threat, yet Eurpol has consistently shown the biggest threat to Europe from terrorists comes from other strands. Research on the actual Bomb attacks or Explosives finds in Northern Ireland in the last two or three years may clear this debate for some with amnesia. This is not to say that there isn't a threat from so called Islamist terrorists. 'Home grown terrorists' is another new phrase invented to refer specifically to Muslims and not to others e.g. IRA or far right.Where were they born?
As a result some 4 million of our citizens are constantly held responsible for the actions of a few. They are treated as suspect communities e.g. CT legislation like S7 stops at ports. Daily attacks range from verbal, online, physical attacks or now even murders and bomb attacks to mosques. Why are the innocent 4 million rendered directly responsible for the actions of a few? Would it be right to demand that from other communities for individuals such as Sutcliffe, Shipman etc?
Regrettably, our media, government and the justice system takes little or no notice e.g. recent CJS stastics show the discrimination faced by BME and Muslims in the CJS. 'Tell Mama' an organisation that monitors and records hate offences against Muslims shows a damning trend. The BBC report from Bristol recently verified the discrimination faced by Muslims in a real life programme.
Government and institutions need to acknowledge the problem and thus an analysis will lead to some key solutions:
•Strategic thinking on how to deal with this
•Islamophobia to be on par with other forms of hate and discrimination
•Legislation that is fit for purpose
•The police, CPS and government need to connect and acknowledge reality on this topic rather than turning a blind eye to the real issues.
Everyone talks of 'them' and 'us' and the incompatibility of Islam with the west and democracy. This is highly inaccurate; referral to human rights within the Quran will show that there is no such clash. Indeed there is little adherence to Islamic values by so called Islamic countries. Islam, Christianity and Judaism have more in common than some would lead us to believe. Abrahamic strands of faith are called people of the book and not kaffirs or unbelievers.
Hate speakers who propagate this are well documented and are not just Muslims, some main stream media personalities and politicians would need to re-evaluate their stance. A read of Anders Breviks thoughts may shed some light on some in our society living in a darkened room, who perceive Muslims as a source of threat.
There needs to a consistent approach to hate crime or for that matter any problem, we cannot have a two tier system where one community is treated in an unfair manner. The revelations by Snowden show to what depth this inequality has stooped to. I could be forgiven to think that I'm living in another country or era. Britain does not and should not practice hypocrisy. We have been a fair and caring society but unfortunately recently we have harmed our core values. Evidence on our part in rendition adds to this debate or the alleged torture claims by some terrorist detainees.
We need to adhere to so called British values rather than talk of them as some politicians do on a regular basis when it suits.