The role of politics and decision makers is critical to addressing the scale and scope of Islamophobia in our society, and so the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) continues to bring it to their attention. This November, the MCB joined Afzal Khan MP, Amnesty International and Muslim Women’s Network in hosting an Islamophobia Awareness Month 2023 parliamentary drop-in session.
Today I marked Islamophobia Awareness Month with @MuslimCouncil @AmnestyUK @MuslimWomenUK
Thank you to all MPs who came to show their commitment to fighting Islamophobia. Cross-party action is vital if we are to effectively tackle this hatred for good. #IAM2023 pic.twitter.com/h0RnMWkRxA
— Afzal Khan MP (@AfzalKhanMCR) November 14, 2023
We were pleased to see so many MPs from across parties attend, all pledging their support in tackling Islamophobia. Constructive dialogue is always a powerful connector, and it was heartening to see MPs be receptive to it, listening and learning about the pervasiveness of Islamophobia in our midst, how it manifests and how we can come together to tackle it.
In terms of Islamophobic hate crime alone, per Home Office data, where the perceived religion of the victim was recorded, 2 in 5 of all religious hate crime offences were targeted against Muslims, as of March 2023. As such, 39% of all religiously motivated hate crimes targeted Muslims, making Muslims the most targeted faith group.
Muslims have, in fact, remained consistently, and especially, vulnerable to religiously motivated hate crime offences; in the year ending March 2021, 45% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims, and in the year ending March 2019, 47% of all recorded religious hate crime offences in England & Wales were targeted against Muslims.
Over the course of the now month-long attack on the Gaza Strip, we have seen a surge of hate crime at home, with a 140% increase in Islamophobic offences in London alone. We have also seen Islamophobic attacks across the UK, including: the attempted arson on an Oxford Mosque in which the perpetrator threw a petrol can at the Mosque that had ‘IDF’ scrawled over it, a man attacking a Muslim woman with a concrete slab in broad daylight and alcohol being poured over Muslim worshippers praying at a protest.
Islamophobia cannot continue to be as pervasive as it has become in recent decades. Failure to tackle Islamophobia as a matter of urgency poses a continued threat to the safety and success of British Muslims, and the diverse communities of which they are a part.
Political parties must begin by looking inwards to address Islamophobia, however it may manifest, within their rank and file. In addition, the Government must take definitive steps towards tackling Islamophobia, by first and foremost adopting the APPG on British Muslims definition of Islamophobia, the most widely recognised and endorsed in the UK.
It also needs to proactively engage with a cross-section of Muslim-led organisations on the issue and provide regular updates on actions it has taken to tackle Islamophobia within its own party since the release of the Singh Investigation in May 2021.
The MCB remains committed to engaging parliamentarians on this vital issue.
For more information and resources on Islamophobia, visit our dedicated webpage here.