Anti-Muslim hate crimes have been reported from various parts of Britain since Wednesday’s murder of drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich.
Organisations working to reduce hate crimes are reporting a 10-fold increase in the number of such attacks.
Faith Matters, an organisation that works to reduce extremism, said it has received 150 complaints of hate crimes in just 48 hours compared to between four to eight cases a day before.
A government-backed hotline to report hate crimes hasn’t stopped ringing since Thursday after the Woolwich killing. Northumbria Police have arrested three people who are part of the English Defence League for planning to hold an anti-Muslim rally in Newcastle. They have been charged with posting racist tweets.
Fayaz Mughal, head of Faith Matters, said hate attacks were not just happening in person but also online. “Freedom of speech is fine. But not right to freedom of hate. Vulnerable youngsters are being radicalised through toxic material online which needs to be taken off immediately,” Mughal said. Mosques across the UK have been attacked by small groups.
Hate crime statistics from police forces in 2011/2012 show that there were 35,816 race hate crimes in the year with 1,621 faith hate crimes being recorded. Visibly identified far-right British National Party (BNP) or English Defence League (EDL) members were linked to over half (54 percent) of all incidents.
The EDL on Friday came out with a strong statement.
It said, “The terrible events in Woolwich were a reminder of something very few are willing to accept: we are at war. We must criticise the Muslim community’s failure to deal with the extremists in their midst.”
EDL has announced that a large demonstration in support of the armed forces will be held on Downing Street on Monday.
It added, “In fact, Islam has been at war with its neighbours since its inception. We need to clamp down on extremist preachers and the mosques that continue to host them. We need to kick the extremists off our streets and out of our country. We need to cut out the cancer that is Islamic extremism.”
It said further, “No one is claiming that all Muslims are extremists or that they should be treated as if they are.”
Anti-Muslim backlash on rise in UK
