How state Islamophobia could come back to bite the West

Hatred against Muslims is going through the roof. In the US, public prejudice against Muslims is highest among all religious groups, according to a new Brookings Institution poll. 

In the UK, 92 percent of Muslims surveyed said they felt less safe living in Britain after the recent riots, and one in six had personally experienced an Islamophobic or racist incident in the week after the Southport stabbings.

The drop in positive attitudes towards Muslims in the US is especially prominent among Democrats, voters who would naturally identify themselves as progressive.

The Brookings poll found that after years of improvement, favourable views of Muslims decreased overall to 64 percent from 78 percent two years earlier, but the drop was more pronounced among Democrats.

Brookings identified a number of factors in this, including a generational change, a gap between public perceptions of Judaism and Islam, race, and college education - but the most eye-catching was evidence that opinion towards Islam was being affected by the statements and positions of public leaders.

Read more: How state Islamophobia could come back to bite the West