Anti-Muslim hate in UK ‘hits highest level in more than a decade’

Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate in the UK has risen to the highest total in more than a decade, according to a charity monitoring such incidents.

Tell Mama said it recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hate and discrimination in the year since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The incidents, to the end of September this year, mostly took the form of abusive behaviour (63%), the organisation said.

Threatening behaviour

Just over a quarter of cases (27%) involved what it described as threatening behaviour.

Most incidents took place in London, the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, the group said.

The figures come in the same week as a Jewish charity said it had recorded more than 5,500 antisemitic incidents in the UK in the year since the Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said the 5,583 incidents recorded between October 7 2023 and September 30 is the highest total of any 12-month period.

The figure is three times that of the previous 12-month period, which saw 1,830 incidents recorded in total.

The charity, which monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, said most incidents took the form of abusive behaviour (4,583), while others involved threats (401) or assault (302).