Les musulmans britanniques subissent des « représailles » islamophobes suite aux attaques de l’EI

British journalist Zab Mustefa some shocking stories to tell about Islamophobia in the UK, from both their own experience and those of people she interviewed.

Now based between Amman and Beirut, the women's rights expert from Scotland is no stranger to Islamophobic attacks, his family either.

"I was assaulted online and offline because of my beliefs," she told Middle East Eye. "On Twitter, supporters of the EDL [English defense league] and other fascist groups threatened to rape me, even calling me a slut Muslim (a tasteless insult than usual), and another man threatened to come to my house to beat me. "

Zab Mustefa reported that, each time, the police advised him to ignore these attacks.

"Islamophobia has significantly increased over the last five years," she added. "Parties like Britain First and UKIP constantly displayed Islamophobic or anti-immigration views that reached the general public. These groups need a scapegoat and, obviously, it was the turn of Muslims. "

According to the findings of a recent study, the attacks by the Islamic State (EI) in Syria, Iraq and now in Tunisia have a direct impact on Muslims living elsewhere in the world, which are rapidly becoming the target of motivated crimes by hatred and Islamophobia.

A recent report from the University of Teeside in the UK, based on data compiled by the monitoring group of hate crimes Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (TellMAMA) shows that attacks by self-proclaimed activists result in a peak 'Islamophobic incidents, both online and in real life.

The nature of attacks abroad also changes the nature of the language used against Muslims.

Fiyaz Mughal, director of TellMAMA, told MEE there was a direct correlation between the activities of the EI group covered by the media and discussed on social networks and insults suffered by British Muslims.

"After the decapitation of Alan Henning [volunteer aid worker killed by the organization Islamic state in Syria in September 2014], hate speech turned accordingly. For example, we identified an incident where a man said to a Muslim: "I will cut your head off." "

"This kind of rhetoric comes from the crisis in Syria and elsewhere. We have documented cases where there is a direct correlation between what is happening in Syria and the threat professed in the place of members of the Muslim community in the UK. "

"Unfortunately we can not but note that Syria constantly reinforces key words like extreme, terrorist and jihadist decapitation. The vocabulary is changing rapidly due to the international context. "

Fiyaz Mughal explained that when the media covered the scandal of pedophilia in Rotherham, many Muslims in the region have been treated "pedophile". Once attention has again turned to the EI group, the vocabulary has changed and "terrorist" has become the most common insult.

Between March 2014 and February 2015, there were 548 confirmed cases of Islamophobic attacks reported to TellMAMA and 729 total (including aggression that could not be substantiated).

"Cumulative Extremism"

The report also examined three specific attacks, Charlie Hebdo, Copenhagen and Sydney, which have occurred during the past year. In all three cases, there was an increase in attacks against Muslims and Islam on the internet.

Fiyaz Mughal told MEE that social networks and the language used by journalists covering the attacks played a great role in the wave of violence that followed.

The smallest increase came after the attack on Sydney ten incidents were reported within seven days preceding twelve seat and within seven days.

This, according to the report, could be due to media coverage of the event, centered more on mental disorders of the aggressor rather than the fact that he had stirred banner of EI group. Therefore, ties with Islam were covered in a more sober way during attacks Copenhagen and Paris, and the impact was lower.

"The press bears a heavy responsibility," said Fiyaz Mughal. "Sidney has not had a significant impact as the comment of the press [is directed] early on mental health issues [the kidnapper], so it did not cause much religious intolerance. "

"If there is anything to be learned from this report is that the press has an enormous responsibility in relation to the way it chronicles the events and the impact it has on communities. "

In the case of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, the links of the attackers to al Qaeda in Yemen and their religious motivations kept returning in public discourse. During the seven days following the shootings in Paris, incidents have increased from twelve to forty-five reported cases.

This idea of ​​retribution is indicated in the report under the name of "cumulative extremism."

"The most striking data 2014-2015 is the extremism phenomenon called 'cumulative' '... or reciprocal acts of violence perpetrated by a subgroup of a given community (though minority) against members another community triggering violent reprisals, "the report said.

Even the decrease in incidents compared to last year's report, which identified 734 confirmed cases, may be related to "the cumulative extremism" following the killing of the soldier Lee Rigby.

Targeted women

Families, particularly women, who left the Middle East would be the most vulnerable to assault because those who wear traditional clothes are more often targeted, according to the report's conclusions.

Among the confirmed physical assaults, the majority of victims were women and, in most cases, victims reported wearing Islamic clothing that time. Twenty-nine cases of verbal threats were counted, twenty-one fifteen assaults and incidents involving property damage. September incidents were described as "extreme violence".

According Mughal, it is likely that many Gulf women are abused because they often wear the niqab, but it is also a fact difficult to verify because women often do not know how or where to report such incidents.

The journalist told Zab Mustefa MEE that often women do not report abuse because of a lack of confidence in the police.

"Women are the most affected mainly due to their clothes. Now we hear most often speak of deplorable incidents where the hijab or niqab Muslim woman is torn and unfortunately, many of these women do not report these crimes to the authorities because they do not trust the police " she wrote in an email to MEE.

"Just last week, photos were broadcast in various media showing policemen laughing after a mother wearing the hijab was assaulted and that her headscarf was ripped off in London. How women can they trust when such things happen? I interviewed a Somali in London there is a certain time, who had told me she had been assaulted by a group of men in broad daylight. They pulled her niqab, beat and urinated on it. I remember I was shocked to learn that she did not call the police for the same reasons. "

Zab Mustefa and his family were also victims of aggression, both online and on the street.

"I was treated Osama bin Laden, terrorist Paki and probably the most ridiculous insult, of Muslim sheep fucker [sic] - which made ​​me laugh. A guy was arrested because, fortunately, the police went close when he insulted me in Glasgow. "

"I need only turn to my own family to see hatred against Muslims. Earlier this year, my mother was verbally assaulted on a bus because she wore a headscarf. He was told to return to his country. How does it feel after that? Banished from society. "

Online attacks are far more common than attacks on the street, but as for street harassment, the majority of cases are not reported to police.

Lack of confidence

Of the 111 attacks offline covered in the report, only 46 were reported to police. Among the attacks on the internet, which include insults against Muslims, attacks Islam and some cases of direct threats, only 186 of the 402 incidents reported to TellMAMA have also been reported to the police.

"When Muslims are attacked, almost nobody reacts. Just look at the comments section on social networks to see derogatory remarks and it's perfectly accepted, "Mustefa said.

MEE contacted the Metropolitan Police Service but has not received a response at the time of publication.

Given the lack of trust and reluctance to report violence to the police, community groups are involved more and more essential.

Azad Ali, head of development and community relations Mend said that there was a certain apathy when hate crime victims reported the incident to the police.

"People feel they are losing time to the police or wonder what the police can actually do. In addition, there is a lack of awareness among police officers, specifying their particular they should save Islamophobic incidents. "

Mend has worked with police forces across the country over the past two years and now eleven police record Islamophobia as a specific type of aggression.

"This will help ensure that such acts are considered crimes. Furthermore, in raising awareness of concerted efforts must be made. "

Institutional denial

Ali however says some in the government refuse to admit the rising anti-Muslim prejudice. "I think Islamophobia is denied at the institutional level. I work in this field for about fifteen years and I remember a conversation with the Home Office [Interior Ministry] in 2007: they were in total denial.

"No minister made very definite statement about Islamophobia. "

Mughal TellMAMA also thinks that the lack of political interest in the fight against Islamophobia is part of the problem.

"Supporting the work of organizations like TellMAMA does not raise a lot of votes. In some parts of the government, this can make you lose votes; So we can see that there is no strategy or committed support for this long-term work, which is necessary to address the issue. "

Do not trust the police, however, could have disastrous consequences and finally to push some British Muslims in the hands of the Islamic State.

"There is a political goal [behind the fact advise not to trust the police]. Many Islamic groups say '' do not share your data, do not report the incidents ''.

"If they continue to make the same speech, that the situation is deplorable in the UK, it is a problem because it echoes the jihadist mentality EI group and gives it weight when its members say to people leaving Europe, saying, "Europe does not want you, come to Syria." "Translation of English (original) by VECTranslation.