ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORT

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN United Kingdom
The sexual groomer, peadophile, predator (reference the Rotherham and Oxford
scandals), harking back to the idea of the seraglio. Tied to this is the idea of perverse
and extreme violence, sexual depravity, misogyny and disloyalty. All of these feed into
the idea of inferiority to a Western, i.e. white British majority, but also to that of an
inherent lack of values, a deficiency that can never be overcome. Privot 69 argues that
gender equality is one such idea; this is used to define a sense of identity of the ‘European’
against the ‘Muslim’ and has dovetailed with the reporting of stories surrounding
even education and gender segregation as an aspiration in schooling for many Muslims.
Tied to this is an obsession with the veil, in particular face veils. The face veil continued
to be discussed through the prism of security, gender equality and British values.
Despotism 70 , was another longstanding trope that was regurgitated in the reporting
of Islam and Muslims, tying them to images of Daesh/ISIL. In a piece in which
he claims radicalisation should be seen as a form of child abuse 71 , London mayor Boris
Johnson writes again about ’Our values’, setting them against Islamic ones (earlier in
the piece he refers to British values again). By associating paedophilia and FGM with
Islamic radicalisation he further catalyses the imagery of the Muslim as sexual predator.
This can be said to characterise most negative reporting of Muslims.
CONCLUSION:
Policy Recommendations for Politics and CSO’s / Best Practices
The following recommendations come from an overview of the findings of Ameli and
Merali 72 as suggested by respondents, as well as a review of civil society initiatives.
Education, Interfaith and Awareness Raising
Many respondents stated that the general public required education. There have
been many civil society initiatives that show the efficacy of such an approach, notably
the so-called ‘tea and biscuits with the EDL’ episode, where members of a mosque
in a northern town invited in protestors from the right-wing street movement, the
EDL. The EDL members accepted the invitation and ended up also playing football
with the members of the mosque. Other initiatives like the MCB’s National Open
Mosque Day are further such good practice. Likewise, many interfaith programmes
already exist, and more should be organised. However, the independence and diversity
of such programmes must be preserved and enhanced.
69. Privot, M. (11 November 2014). ‘Islamophobia, a foreseeable consequence of ultra-liberalism?’ Accessed at:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/michaël-privot.
70. Progler, Y. (2008) Encountering Islam: The Politics of Knowledge and Scholarship. Penang: Citizens International
71. Johnson, B. (2014) The children taught at home about murder and bombings – The Telegraph. [Online] Available
at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10671841/The- children-taught-at-home-about-murder-andbombings.html.
72. Ameli, S.R. & Merali, A. (2015) Environment of Hate: The New Normal for Muslims in the UK. Wembley:
Islamic Human Rights Commission
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